Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 14, 2021

First Reading (Track One): 1 Samuel 1:4-20

Almost six months ago, as the long season after Pentecost began, we heard several readings about the Prophet Samuel, who followed God’s commands to go out and find the youth – the shepherd David – who would grow up to become Israel’s king.

Now, as the Pentecost season approaches its end, we return to the first chapter of Samuel time to hear the story of Samuel’s mother, Hannah. Troubled in her heart because she is unable to bear children, Hannah is also verbally abused by a friend over her barrenness. She prayed constantly, and her prayers were answered: She gives birth to Samuel, who will become the last of the judges who governed Israel, and who would anoint Saul to be its first king.

First Reading (Track One): Daniel 12:1-3

The long Pentecost season is drawing to its close. In two weeks Advent will begin, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day. Sunday’s readings foreshadow a central theme of Advent: our hope of resurrection and new life. Our Track Two first reading is from the book of Daniel, one of the last books written in the Old Testament. Its narrative reflects Israel’s persecution under Greek rule in the 2nd century BCE. This reading begins Daniel’s lengthy “apocalyptic” vision – a genre similar to Revelation – that envisions ultimate triumph. It introduces the idea of a physical, bodily resurrection of the dead, the first time that this theological concept is raised in the First Testament.

Alternative to the Psalm (Track One): 1 Samuel 2:1-10

In place of a passage from the Psalms this week we sing the prayer of Hannah, in which she celebrates her joy over the birth of her child in words that are mirrored in the New Testament in Mary’s song, the Magnificat. Both prayers sing of God lifting up the lowly and the poor while casting down the rich and powerful. But Mary, bearing the child who will become the Prince of Peace, will not repeat the words of vengeance, battle, and judgment of enemies that we hear in Hannah’s song.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 16

The reading from Daniel promises a heavenly reward to those who remain faithful, and the Psalmist reassures the people that God will not abandon those who always follow God. A different fate awaits the unfaithful who follow other gods: They may see their troubles multiplied, and God will not so much as speak the names of their gods. But God will never abandon those who remain faithful, the Psalmist sings in reassuring tones: The hearts of the faithful will be glad and their spirits will rejoice.

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25

Now we reach the last of our seven Sunday readings from the letter to the Hebrews. Two chapters remain in the full letter, but this passage concludes the extended narrative that we have been following: Jesus is the great high priest who offered for all times a single sacrifice superior to those of the old priests in the Temple of Jerusalem. This passage calls on its readers to hold fast without wavering, to provoke each other to love one another and do good deeds, and to encourage one another all the more as they see the day of God’s coming draw near.

Gospel: Mark 13:1-8

Our yearlong journey through Mark’s Gospel comes to its end Sunday. These concluding verses follow immediately after last week’s account of the poor woman who gave her last two small coins to the Temple treasury. Jesus, still angered by the hypocrisy of the scribes, prophesies the destruction of the Temple, declaring that all the great buildings on the Temple Mount will be destroyed, thrown down, not one stone left upon another. These are the words that the high priest will hold against Jesus, but we will set that narrative aside now as we approach Advent and prepare to celebrate the Incarnation, Jesus as God with us.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 11, 2018

First Reading (Track One): Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

In the midst of the Old Testament books that tell the story of Israel and its kingdom – tucked in between Joshua and Judges, Samuel and Kings – we find the short, charming book of Ruth. This is a love story about Ruth, a young Moabite widow, who follows her beloved mother-in-law, Naomi, back home to Bethlehem after Ruth’s husband’s death. Through a bit of trickery suggested by Naomi, Ruth persuades her kinsman Moab to marry her, and they have a child named Obed. Why is this little story placed in context with the books about Israel’s kings? The final verses reveal the rest of the story: Obed will be the grandfather of King David, and thus he and his parents are in the genealogical line of Israel’s Messiah.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 17:8-16

Sunday’s readings begin with the story of a poor widow who answers a difficult call from Elijah; and they end with Mark’s story about a poor but generous widow who gives all that she has to the Temple treasury. God cares for widows, the weak, the stranger and the oppressed, and we are called to do the same. In our first reading, we hear of a widow who trusted God’s promise and fed Elijah out of her meager fare, even though she had so little to eat that she believed she and her son would soon die of starvation. God provides, and her bit of oil and meal prove enough to feed everyone and to last until the drought ends.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 127

Psalm 127 delves into ideas of maintaining home and family consistent with the story of Ruth. In the ancient Near East, it was difficult for a family to survive without strong sons to build the home, grow crops, and protect the family from invaders. Sons like these are gifts that can come only as a blessing from God, says the Psalmist. God builds the house, watches over the city like a watchman keeping vigil, and provides children as a gift to God’s people, a quiver full of God-given arrows to help protect against enemies.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 146

“Praise God, O my soul!” This ringing hymn of praise begins the first of the final five Psalms, concluding the book with powerful songs of exultation in God’s greatness. But after the first joyous verse its tone shifts to a theme of caution: Take care, for while God can always be trusted, earthly rulers cannot. We can count on God, our creator, to give hope to widows and orphans; help for the poor, justice for the oppressed, freedom for the prisoner, and help for those who are disabled, to those who are alone, and to strangers in strange lands. This is the pledge of God’s covenant with the people through Abraham, Noah and Moses, and they remain the priorities that Jesus taught about the Kingdom of Heaven.

Second Reading: Hebrews 9:24-28

Hebrews continues in its extended discussion of the differences between the eternal sacrifice of Jesus against the more transient sacrifices of the old Temple’s earthly high priests. The earthly high priest was required to return to the sanctuary annually to atone for his sins, repeating an animal sacrifice over and over again “with blood that is not his own.” But Jesus, having borne the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin – that has already been done in Jesus’s sacrifice once and for all – but to save his faithful people.

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem on his final journey, and he is challenging the religious and political establishment in ways that will turn them angrily against him. First he scorns the scribes for their arrogance and hypocrisy, mocking them for flaunting their wealth and power with ostentatious dress and prayer while they “devour widows’ houses.” Then, as Jesus sits near the Temple treasury, watching believers make their donations, a poor widow appears. She has little, but in contrast with the scribes, she gives two small coins: all that she has. Jesus praises her, not for giving all that she had, but because she gave it from her heart. It was not the quantity but the quality of her giving that matters.

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.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Nov. 15, 2015

First Reading: Daniel 12:1-3

The long Pentecost season is drawing to its close. In two weeks Advent will begin, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day. Today’s readings foreshadow a central theme of Advent: our hope of resurrection and new life. Daniel, one of the last books written in the Old Testament, reflects Israel’s 2nd century BCE persecution under Greek rule. Today’s reading begins Daniel’s lengthy “apocalyptic” vision – similar to Revelation – that envisions ultimate triumph. It introduces the idea of a physical, bodily resurrection of the dead, the first time that this theological concept is raised in the First Testament.

Psalm: Psalm 16

Just as the Daniel reading promised a heavenly reward to those who remain faithful, the Psalmist reassures the people that God will not abandon those who bless God and set God always before them. The unfaithful, those who follow other gods, may see their troubles multiplied; but God will not abandon those who do not abandon God.

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-25

We reach the end of our seven-week journey through Hebrews today, continuing with the idea of Jesus as our great high priest whose sacrifice has saved us from our sin. As we live together in unwavering hope, we are called to encourage one another with hope and good deeds as we await the day of God’s coming.

Gospel: Mark 13:1-8

Our yearlong journey through Mark’s Gospel (with occasional excursions into John) comes to its end today. These verses follow immediately after last week’s account of Jesus watching the poor woman giving her last two coins to the Temple treasury. Jesus, still angered by the hypocrisy of the scribes, utters his own version of an apocalypse, declaring that the Temple will be destroyed, thrown down, not one stone left upon another. As Mark’s Gospel now turns toward the cross, these words will soon be held against Jesus before the Temple’s high priest. As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s incarnation, we remember his death and resurrection.

em>Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012.

First Reading: 1 Samuel 1:4-20
Today we hear of Hannah, who is anguished and suffers verbal abuse because she can’t bear a child. She opens her heart in prayer … and discovers that God is with us in times of trouble and pain. Her prayers are answered. She finds joy, and later gives birth to Samuel, who will become a prophet and the last of the great judges who preceded the kings of Israel. When our lives are filled with “great anxiety and vexation,” let’s remember to look for God.

1 Samuel 2:1-10
In place of our usual psalm today we sing the prayer of Hannah, who celebrates her joy at the birth of her child in words that we will hear reflected in the New Testament in Mary’s song, the Magnificat. Both prayers sing of God lifting up the lowly and the poor while casting down the rich and powerful, but Mary doesn’t echo the words of vengeance that we hear in Hannah’s song. When we enjoy God’s blessings after suffering conflict in our lives, let’s try to model Mary’s grace in victory.

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14
Today’s lesson from Hebrews continues to celebrate Christ’s priesthood and Christ’s sacrifice as superior to the sacrifices of the old priests in the Temple of Jerusalem, whose sacrifices “can never take away sins.” Most New Testament scholars agree that the author of Hebrews is trying lure back Jewish Christians who had returned to Judaism to escape persecution. Still, it’s hard to envision Christ as waiting for his enemies to “be a footstool for his feet.” Would you rather think of Jesus in this way, or as gentle Good Shepherd, when you pray?

Gospel: Mark 13:1-8
Jesus’s words about wars, earthquakes and famines in today’s Gospel give us a taste of the apocalyptic prophecies that will draw our attention through Advent next month. Today, Mark tells of Jesus in Jerusalem on his final journey toward the cross. He foretells the destruction of the Temple, a prophecy that will soon be held against him before the high priest. As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s incarnation, we remember his death and resurrection.