Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 13, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Whether our lives are going well or whether things are going badly, trust in God. Trust, and be thankful for God’s blessings. This is the theme that runs through Sunday’s readings.

In Sunday’s Track One first reading, the Prophet Jeremiah, who in recent weeks we have heard weeping in anguish over the loss and destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, now dries his tears and, speaking on God’s behalf, gives practical advice to Judah in exile: Face your new reality. God has sent you here, so live, love and flourish as well as you can. Babylon is your city now, and you have a stake in its condition. But don’t forget God. Even in exile, don’t forget to pray.

First Reading (Track Two): 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c

In Sunday’s Track Two first reading we meet Naaman, a proud commander of the Aramean army. Although he was a mighty warrior, Naaman had contracted leprosy, a disfiguring disease that in those days would have cost him not only his military rank but his high place in society. Although Aram was Israel’s enemy, Naaman took the advice of an Israelite maid to go to Israel and ask the Prophet Elisha to cure him. As it turned out, Elisha wouldn’t even see Naaman, but simply sent a servant to tell him to bathe in the Jordan, a measure that sounded too simple to be true. Naaman was beyond angry, but his servants urged him to try, and Naaman was cured; and through his cure he finds faith in Israel’s God.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 66:1-11

Sunday’s Track One psalm at first appears to be in a familiar genre. a hymn of praise for God’s glory, power and awesome deeds. It describes God’s mighty works in the Exodus, leading the people out of Egypt, through the Red Sea and toward the Promised Land. But then it takes an unexpected turn: God not only leads us but tests us, too. We may groan under burdens, as Judah found in exile in Babylon. Even God’s own people may be conquered. They may suffer fire and flood. Yet after everything there is joy at the end, and praise.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 111

The Psalms, the hymnal of the ancient Temple, consist of many genres, from lament to complaint to petition to thanksgiving and praise. In Sunday’s Track Two psalm we hear a powerful song of praise and thanksgiving. We applaud God’s many acts of power and majesty, righteousness and justice; and at the end we sing our praise and gratitude for God’s gifts. All who practice wisdom have a good understanding of God, the psalm proclaims; all the wise are in awe of what God has done.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

The young, growing Christian movement faced frightening persecution by the Romans when this letter was written near the end of the first century in the names of Paul and Timothy. These verses contain a strong call to faith. Recalling Paul’s suffering in chains in prison and facing death, the writer reminds us that God’s word cannot be held in chains. Remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are reminded that, through we die with Jesus, we live in Christ.

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

The Gospels give us a sense that Samaritans are bad, yet Jesus keeps showing us good Samaritans. The parable of the Good Samaritan who stops to help an injured stranger is one of the most beloved, but there’s also the story of Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at the well in her village. Sunday’s Gospel shows us another: the single leper out of ten who comes back to thank Jesus for his healing is a Samaritan. While the other nine were healed, this one was saved. He not only became well, but Jesus opened for him the doors to the kingdom. In fascinating parallels with the story of Namaan in Sunday’s Track Two first reading, Jesus too cures the lepers at a distance, without touching them; and like Elisha, Jesus’ actions bring a despised foreigner to faith in God.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sept. 18, 2016

First Reading: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

The prophet Jeremiah grieves, because the people are breaking God’s covenants: They’re not being righteous; they’re not caring for the poor, widows, orphans, or strangers in their land. And Jeremiah knows this will lead them to destruction and exile. In beautifully poetic words of sadness, the prophet mourns deeply, imagining God’s own mourning. “Is there no balm in Gilead?”

First Reading (Track Two): Amos 8:4-7

If any one message resounds loud, clear and consistently through all the prophets, it is this: The people made covenant with God to deal fairly with the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, aliens and and all in need. If we try to cheat on this agreement, trample the needy and ruin the poor in pursuit of profit, Amos warns, God will grow righteously angry, and the people will not like the consequences.

Psalm 79:1-9

Today’s Psalm mourns for desolate and shattered Jerusalem after the Exile, echoing Jeremiah’s weeping prophesy of the destruction that he saw coming. Jerusalem is rubble. The unburied bodies of martyred faithful are food for birds and beasts; their blood runs like water around the city. The people are the objects of scorn, and they feel only God’s fury blazing like fire. The Psalm ends with prayers for God’s mercy and forgiveness, but we don’t hear God’s answer here.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 113

Today’s Psalm of praise for God’s glory seems to answer the question that Amos raised in the First Reading: The Lord looks down from a seat high above the nations, sees humanity and gently reaches down to lift up the needy, the poor and the disappointed. Take care, however, not to read this as reason to leave the weak and the oppressed to God’s efforts. Amos has already told us what God thinks of that!

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-7

These verses tell us that there are four different ways to pray: Supplications (specific requests of God through Jesus as mediator between God and humankind); prayers (simple conversation with God); intercessions (calls for God’s help in urgent need); and finally, thanksgiving (expressing our gratitude for favors received). We should pray for everyone, family, friends and neighbors, and kings and leaders too, for high and low alike need God’s help, and God desires to bring everyone to the truth and salvation.

Gospel: Luke 16:1-13

Jesus’ parables often seem confusing, and that may be their point: Jesus does not spoon-feed us but rather makes us think; so when we finally get the point, we’ve learned something. In today’s Gospel, it might seem that Jesus is telling us that the dishonest steward’s trickery is a good thing. After all, the rich man rewards him! But remember that Jesus does not admire the rich. He usually holds them up as bad examples. Indeed, he hammers home his simple point: If you’re dishonest about wealth, you can’t be trusted with truly valuable things. We must choose between God and wealth. In Jesus’ mind, we can’t have both.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013.

First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
The Israelites have been wandering 40 years in the desert, according to the ancestral stories, and now they have reached the banks of the River Jordan and are preparing to cross into the Promised Land. But first Moses reminds them of the covenant they made at Mount Sinai: Love God and walk in God’s ways, follow God’s laws and you will thrive and prosper. But turn away from God and you will lose the land and God’s blessings. This simple call to follow God’s way lies at the center of Scripture, and it shapes Jesus’s message to us, too.

Psalm: Psalm 1
The opening book of Psalms restates Moses’ theme. The world is made up of two kinds of people, those who follow God’s laws and those who do not. Follow God’s laws and be happy and prosper; follow the way of the wicked and perish. Scripture is far more nuanced than this black-and-white understanding, of course. Still, “follow God’s ways and win, follow evil ways and lose,” neatly sums up the Covenant.

Second Reading: Philemon 1-21
Paul, having befriended young Onesimus, a slave, in prison, writes a letter about the youth to his master, Philemon. We might wish that Paul had taken a strong stand against slavery, offering clear guidance on this evil practice that would ring through the ages. But read it closely, and we see that Paul is gently guiding Philemon to a deeper truth: Christians should love each other as brothers and sisters, and where’s the room for slavery in that?

Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
Things are getting exciting as we continue following Jesus’s long march toward Jerusalem and the cross. Large crowds are gathering, and the authorities are surely getting nervous about this uproar headed toward the capital at Passover. Jesus, hammering on the point he makes so often along this journey, wants everyone to know that following him will not be easy. “Hate” your family and even life itself? Give up all your possessions? Don’t start the journey unless you’re ready to stay the course. Jesus wants us to follow him, but with our whole hearts. Not just halfway!