Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for June 25, 2023 (Pentecost 4A)

First Reading (Track One): Genesis 21:8-21

Even the greatest Bible heroes are hardly plaster saints. Sometimes they seem the furthest thing from role models.

The banishment of Hagar and Ishmael (1653-1654), oil painting on canvas by Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667). Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, The Netherlands. (Click image to enlarge)

From Adam and Eve’s taste for forbidden fruit down through Joseph, Jacob, Moses and King David to doubting Thomas and denying Peter, the great figures in Scripture are just about all flawed and broken. Yet God loves them all the same, just as God loves us. In Sunday’s Track One first reading we hear a particularly troubling story about Abraham. Even the patriarch of the Judeo-Christian family, we discover, was capable of such disturbing behavior as sending his slave, Hagar, and their son, Ishmael, into the desert to die. But God intervened, and promised them a future as bountiful as that of Abraham and Sarah’s own son, Isaac.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 20:7-13

The prophet Jeremiah is angry and upset. God has called him to prophesy to the people about the destruction that their failure to be righteous and just will bring upon them, but they will not listen. Worse, they laugh and deride him when he shouts about their impending peril. Anger scorches his bones like a burning fire, and he cannot hold it in. Even his close friends wait for him to stumble. But Jeremiah knows that it is his persecutors who will stumble, for God is with him like a warrior at his side.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17

As our Genesis reading reminds us that God loves us even when we aren’t very nice, the Psalmist sings out the prayerful assurance that God loves us even when we aren’t very happy. Poor and needy, fearing death, the Psalmist cries out, trusting in a good and forgiving God to answer their prayers and make their hearts glad.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 69: 8-11, (12-17), 18-20

This Psalm echoes the themes in the Jeremiah reading that we hear just before it. Like Jeremiah, the Psalmist spoke for God, only to become the subject of scorn and reproach from his own friends and family, and even had songs sung about him by drunkards at the city gate. The Psalmist calls on God to save him from their hatred, to turn to him in compassion and save him from his enemies.

Second Reading: Romans 6:1b-11

If Paul’s tone in this short passage from his letter to the early church in Rome seems intense, that may be because Paul so fiercely wants us to grasp his theological point: In baptism, everything changes, and that matters! Baptism unites us with Christ so that we share in his death and resurrection. In baptism we symbolically “die” to our old life enslaved by sin. In baptism we are born to a new life, freed from sin through God’s abounding grace, dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus.

Gospel: Matthew 10:24-39

We think of Jesus as the Prince of Peace, yet here we find him telling his disciples that he has not come to bring peace but a sword! Family members will be set against each other, he goes on, warning his followers that they must leave their families to follow him. These disturbing verses continue Jesus’s stern instructions to the apostles that we heard last Sunday. This may reflect the difficult times when the evangelist we know as Matthew was writing his Gospel: The Roman Empire had crushed a Jewish rebellion, leaving Jerusalem shattered and the Temple in ruins. Jewish Christians and Rabbinic Judaism were splitting apart in angry rivalry. In such a time it would have been not only difficult but dangerous to follow Jesus’s Way.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for June 28, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Genesis 22:1-14


We reflect on sacrifices as small as the gift of water to a child and as serious as the death of a child in Sunday’s Track One readings.

Sacrifice of Isaac (c.1603), oil painting on canvas by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). Uffizi Museum, Florence, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

Having sent his son, Ishmael, into the desert with his mother to die, as we heard in last Sunday’s reading, Abraham now receives an even more shocking command: God tells him to slay his beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice. What in Heaven’s name is going on here? Perhaps the easy answer is to recognize that these are these are ancient legends, difficult for us to understand in our own context, and not intended to be taken literally even in their original setting. For the ancients, perhaps this narrative showed that God does not desire human sacrifice. It reveals a compassionate God who, having subjected Abraham to a harsh test, then ultimately says “no” to death.

First Reading (Track One): Jeremiah 28:5-9


To understand this Track Two first reading, it is helpful to have the context of the verses just preceding it. Jeremiah had warned the priests and people of Israel in exile that their sojourn in Babylon had a long way to go, and that any prophets who told them otherwise were liars. Then the young prophet Hananiah stood up and challenged Jeremiah, prophesying that God had in fact broken the yoke of the Babylonian king and would bring all the exiles home within two years. Now in this short passage, Jeremiah responds. He agrees that God will indeed end the exile some day, but that will happen only when peace prevails and war, pestilence and famine come to an end.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 13

At first glance, this Psalm might not seem the best choice to read to someone who is grieving or afraid. The Psalmist speaks from the depths of fear and loss, suffering deep pain. Has God’s face turned away, leaving him alone and defenseless? But even in this dark place, hope remains; for God’s love is steadfast and abiding. God has been just and fair, and the Psalmist trusts that God will remain so.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 89:1-4,15-18

These two excerpts taken from a longer Psalm celebrate God’s covenant with King David, a royal lineage that God established to last forever as a sign of God’s righteousness and never-ending rule. Those who walk in God’s way and rejoice in the divine name will be full of joy, knowing that God is their ruler, the Psalmist sings: The Holy One of Israel is everlasting king.

Second Reading: Romans 6:12-23


Paul uses the idea of slavery to make his point in Sunday’s passage from his letter to the Romans: Through Christian baptism we have been spared from the slavery of sin, freeing us to joyously embrace a better kind of slavery, the “enslavement” of willing submission to God through Christ. In this way, Paul writes, we receive the free gift of grace that brings eternal life.

Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42


This is the third and final Sunday Gospel passage from Matthew’s account of Jesus teaching his recently commissioned apostles. In the first two readings we heard him warn about the challenges of discipleship. Now Jesus tells them about the rewards of following his way. Immediately following his troubling warning that those who follow him must leave friends and family behind, Jesus now echoes the Psalmist’s promise that God will be just and fair. Jesus promises that those who practice justice in his name – even in such small ways as offering water to a child – will receive God’s justice.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 2, 2017

Sacrifice of Isaac (c. 1603), oil painting on canvas by Caravaggio (1571–1610). Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

We reflect on sacrifices as small as the gift of water to a child and as serious as the death of a child in Sunday’s readings. Having sent his son, Ishmael, into the desert with his mother to die, Abraham now hears an even more shocking command: God tells him to slay his beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice. It’s hard to imagine a God who would order such a thing, but we rejoice with Abraham when God then forbids him to kill Isaac, offering a ram to sacrifice instead. As an ancestral legend, this established in law that the people would not sacrifice humans; and it showed a compassionate God, once Abraham’s faith was tested: a God who would say “no” to death in the resurrection of his own son, Jesus Christ.

First Reading (Track Two): Jeremiah 28:5-9

To place this short reading in context, go back and read the verses just before it. Jeremiah had warned the priests and people that their exile in Babylon had a long way to go, and that any prophets who say otherwise are liars. Then the young prophet Hananiah stood up and challenged that, prophesying that God had in fact broken the yoke of the Babylonian king and would bring all the exiles home within two years. Now Jeremiah responds, agreeing that God will indeed end the exile some day, but only when peace prevails and war, pestilence and famine come to an end.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 13
\
The opening verses of this short Psalm might not be well suited to bring comfort to a person who is grieving or afraid, but it gives us deep insight into the profound pain that exists at the depths of fear and loss. It would be only too human to be afraid that we have been forgotten, God’s face is turned away and hidden, leaving us defenseless and alone, victim to our enemies. But even in utter darkness, hope remains when we trust in God’s mercy. God has dealt with us fairly, and we can take joy in God’s saving help.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 89:1-4,15-18

In these two brief passages taken from a longer Psalm, we celebrate God’s covenant with King David, a royal lineage that God established to last forever as a sign of God’s righteousness and never-ending rule. Those who walk in God’s way and rejoice in the divine name will be full of joy, knowing that God is their ruler; the Holy One of Israel is everlasting king.

Second Reading: Romans 6:12-23

Who wants to be a slave? It is hard to imagine anyone who would willingly embrace this state, as Paul makes clear by using the idea of slavery to make a telling point: Baptism spared us from the slavery of sin, freeing us to embrace a better kind of slavery, the joyful “enslavement” of willing submission to God through Christ. In this way, Paul says, we receive the free gift of grace that brings eternal life.

Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42

This is the third and final passage from Matthew’s account of Jesus teaching his recently commissioned apostles about the challenges and rewards of discipleship. We have heard Jesus’ troubling warnings about bringing a sword and leaving friends and family behind in order to follow him. But now, turning to the rewards of following his way, Jesus – mirroring the Psalmist’s assurance that God is loving, just and fair – promises that those who practice justice in God’s name, even in such small ways as offering water to a child, will receive God’s justice.

____________
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 Sunday, July 6, 2014

Rebecca at the Well, 12th century mosaic at the Cappella Palatina di Palermo.

Rebekah’s response to Abraham’s servant reminds us of Abraham’s response to God’s call: Hearing God’s voice, both respond with faithful trust. Abraham uproots his family and moves to a new land. Rebekah leaves home and family to marry Abraham’s son, Isaac, a man she has not yet met, but who will come to love her. Abraham heard God’s promise that his offspring would become “a great and mighty nation”; Rebekah hears that her children will become “thousands of myriads.” Is this woman’s faith any less than that of Abraham?

First Reading (Track Two): Zechariah 9:9-12

The prophet Zechariah, celebrating the people’s return from exile and their hope of restoring the Temple, envisions a humble yet powerful king who will come to reign in peace and restore the nation’s prosperity. Matthew later will find Jesus so clearly foretold in these verses that he adopts the repetition of Hebrew poetry word for word in depicting Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem: “Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Psalm: Psalm 45:11-18

Today’s psalm is a wedding blessing addressed to a princess bride of Tyre, an ancient island kingdom and sometimes rival to Israel. These verses celebrate the pomp and joy in her impending wedding and its hope of lasting remembrance in future generations, a prayer for future blessing that might remind us God’s promise to Isaac and Rebekah.

Second Reading: Romans 7:15-25a

In recent readings, Paul has assured the Romans that as we “die” to our old lives enslaved to sin through baptism, we are “born” to a new life freed from sin through God’s grace. But now Paul admits that it’s not so easy to leave sin behind. Even when his mind wants to do what’s right, Paul confesses, he can’t get rid of the sin that lives within him. He can’t fight sin on his own – and neither can we – without God’s help through Jesus.

Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus seems frustrated. Preaching to crowds around Capernaum in Galilee, he calls them “children.” He may be irritable because some people who considered ascetic John’s call for repentance crazy and judgmental are now criticizing Jesus’ joyous embrace of life as evidence that he is a glutton and a drunk. But then he pauses and thanks God. Suddenly his hope for Israel’s children and infants turns gentle. Can we sense a little foretaste of the Beatitudes in this, the promise of God’s Kingdom coming to the poor, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, and all who bear burdens and labor under a heavy yoke?