Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 24, 2022 (Pentecost 7C)

First Reading (Track One): Hosea 1:2-10

“Your Kingdom come.” In Sunday’s Gospel we will hear Luke’s version of Jesus teaching his apostles to pray.

Sunday’s Track One readings begin, though, with a prophecy of the loss and restoration of another kingdom, Israel. Using language as grim as we heard from the prophet Amos in the past two weeks, the prophet Hosea uses the disturbing metaphor of marriage to a prostitute to warn Israel and Judah that they face destruction. Even the names of the children of this marriage, translated from the original Hebrew, hold up startling images: “God Sows,” “Not Pitied,” and “Not My People.” The concluding verses of this passage offer hope for the future, though, as “not my people” becomes “children of the living God.”

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:20-32

The Track Two first reading last week told of Abraham meeting three strangers in the desert and hearing from them that he and his wife, Sarah, will have offspring as plentiful as the stars. By this point Abraham has apparently become comfortable in his relationship with God. He bargains and argues with the Creator in hope of saving Sodom from violent destruction. Why did Sodom deserve this? God’s wrath with the Sodomites did not have to do with sexual sin, but with their selfish failure to be righteous. As the Prophet Ezekiel will later declare, “Sodom and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” This covenantal call to righteous action runs through the Bible from Moses through the prophets to Jesus.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 85

Harmonizing with Hosea’s vision of an angry God, today’s Psalm speaks of a thankful people’s grateful relief. They had feared that their sins would earn God’s fury and wrathful indignation. But now they look forward to the mercy and salvation that they hope to receive from a God who remains faithful regardless of their wrongs. When we listen to God, the Psalmist sings, we hear mercy meeting truth while righteousness and peace join in a kiss.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 138

The relationship of this Psalm to the destruction of Sodom may not seem apparent at first. Listen closely, though, and you may hear a distant echo of Abraham persuading God not to give up on the people but to look to those who remain righteous and who thank God for their many blessings. God responds when we call, the Psalmist sings; we know that God’s right hand will save us; God’s steadfast love endures.

Second Reading: Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

The church at Colossae was a community of new believers, looking forward to being raised with Christ through faith in God’s power. But they were a Gentile community, too, still wrestling with the pagan beliefs of their Greek culture. The author of this letter, thought to be a later follower writing in Paul’s name, warns against false teachings, “philosophy and empty deceit … festivals, new moons or sabbaths.” God sets that aside with earthly rules and law. In words reflecting those of Jesus teaching his followers how to pray, the writer of Colossians assures them that God has forgiven our trespasses.

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

Using tropes that would have been familiar to the apostles from Jewish prayers, the prayer that Jesus teaches them speaks of righteousness in terms that the prophets might have used: Honor God’s name, share our food, forgive our debts, do to others as we would have them do to us. Do these things and we help build God’s kingdom, not only in Heaven but right here on Earth. After teaching the apostles this prayer, Jesus went on in the following verses to talk about prayer in language rich in metaphor. Perhaps the demanding friend who won’t give up asking his neighbor for bread at midnight underscores the importance of sharing our bread and loving our neighbors no matter what the circumstances. Just as God opens the door when we knock, so should we do the same for our neighbor.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for July 3, 2016

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-14

In the time of the Kings, the Arameans and Israel were enemies. So Naaman, an Aramean military leader, must have been wary when his servant suggested that he go to Israel to heal his leprosy. But leprosy was a terrible disease, disfiguring and contagious; its victims were ritually unclean. So Naaman complied, but then the prophet Elisha wouldn’t even see him, sending a servant with advice that sounded too simple to be true. But Naaman’s servants urged him to try Elisha’s proposed sevenfold bath in the Jordan, and just like that, Naaman was cured.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 66:10-14

In the final chapter of Isaiah, the people have returned from exile to Jerusalem, full of joy at the return but facing the hard work of rebuilding the city and a new Temple. It is a time for rejoicing, the prophet declares, and a time for healing. God will shower prosperity on the city, and, in beautiful language envisioning God as a loving mother, God will nurse and carry the people as a mother comforts her child.

Psalm 30

Can you imagine Naaman praying this beloved Psalm of thanksgiving for recovery from a grave illness? The Psalmist thanks God: ” I cried out to you, and you restored me to health.” Then he urges everyone, all of us who are God’s servants, to give thanks for all God’s gifts; to be thankful for an end to the sadness that often accompanies illness. We thank God for turning the weeping of those long dark hours of night into the celebration that comes at dawn, when our mourning turns to joyful dancing.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 66:1-8

Echoing the trust in God’s protective power that we heard in the Isaiah reading, the Pslamist calls on all the earth to be joyful in God and sing the glory of God’s name. Recalling how God protected the people of Israel escaping slavery in Egypt by turning the sea into dry land, the Psalm reminds us to sing in full voice to praise the God who protects us, making our voices heard.

Second Reading: Galatians 6:1-16

Our journey in Paul’s letter to the Galatians comes to an end today. We have heard Paul declare repeatedly that Christ’s message is for all humankind – Jew and Gentile, man and woman, slave and free. He has stood strong against opponents who argued for a more exclusive way. Now, his letter ends with a strong reminder not only to accept one another but to do as Jesus taught us: Share all good things , carry each other’s burdens, and in so doing, fulfill the law of Christ. In other words, love our neighbors as ourselves.

Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

In last week’s Gospel, we heard Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” demanding that those who would follow him leave everything else behind. Now Jesus enlists a crowd to help him spread the Good News: He calls 70 followers to hurry through the countryside, “like lambs in the midst of wolves,” to tell villagers that the Kingdom of God is drawing near. Those who reject them, like the Samarian villagers in last week’s Gospel, are rejecting Jesus; those who welcome them are welcoming Jesus.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, June 23, 2013.

First Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-15
The prophet Elijah foretold destruction and exile in a time when the Kingdom of Israel was falling apart. A bold man in violent times, he fought the priests of Baal and spoke truth to King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. In acts that might make us think of Jesus, he made a poor widow’s food last for months; restored her son to life, and finally went up to heaven in a fiery chariot. But now Elijah is worn down and afraid. Fighting despair, he hides under a broom tree and begs God to take his life. But God has other plans, and sends winds, an earthquake and fire to get Elijah back to God’s work.

Psalm: Psalm 42
The beautiful, lyrical language that opens today’s Psalm softens the deep sorrow and lamentation that fill its verses. “Why is my soul cast down? Why has God forgotten me? Where is God?” Elijah might have asked these questions when he cried beneath the broom tree. But finally, for the Psalmist as for Elijah, there is hope in God.

Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-29
Paul’s letter to the people of Galatia continues this week, reminding us in ringing words that we are all equals in Jesus: As it was then, so it is now: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of us are one in Jesus.

Gospel: Luke 8:26-39
This may be the strangest of all the Gospel stories about Jesus healing. Jesus meets a loud, scary man, naked and in chains, and he sends the demons that possess him into a herd of pigs, who rush into the Sea of Galilee and drown! What were Jesus and the apostles doing in a graveyard in the first place, which would have made them unclean under Jewish law? Why did the demons talk to Jesus, and why did he answer them!? Why did the whole thing scare the neighbors so much that they asked Jesus to leave town? And when the healed man wanted to follow Jesus, why did Jesus tell him no, go back to your people and tell them what God has done? This story shows us Jesus’s power, but it leaves us wondering. So many questions!