Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 23, 2023 (Pentecost 8A)

First Reading (Track One): Genesis 28:10-19a

God knows us. God sees us. God cares for us, and God calls us. Look for signals of love and grace throughout Sunday’s Lectionary readings.

Buckwheat Harvest, Summer (1868-74), oil painting on canvas by Jean-François Millet (1814-1875). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Click image to enlarge)

In the first reading, Jacob is in trouble and is running away for his own safety. He is afraid of the murderous wrath of his older twin Esau, whom he has tricked out of his inheritance and their father’s blessing. In this passage Jacob stops to rest. He dreams an amazing dream about angels ascending and descending a heavenly ladder. Then he hears the voice of God, offering a promise like the one that his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac received: God is with him, and his offspring will fill the Earth. Jacob receives God’s promise in spite of his trickery. God  knows full well that humankind is far from perfect, and so God works with broken, troubled people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and on down the line.

First Reading (Track Two): Isaiah 44:6-8

Our Track Two first reading excerpts a short, poetic prayer of praise from within Isaiah’s prophecy. The prophet assures the people that they will eventually return home to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon. Isaiah imagines the voice of God proclaiming God’s own power and majesty in these simple terms: Never mind the beliefs that their captors may hold about other gods and other prophesies. Israel need not fear or be afraid. God is not only the nation’s redeemer and leader, but the first and last of all creation. The prophet hears the Creator saying, “Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.”

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23

If Jacob in the first reading had taken a moment of introspection and examined his conscience, he might then have lain awake on that desert night, fearing Esau’s revenge and meditating on something like these ideas from Psalm 139: Even if we run from God, we cannot hide from God. In heaven or in the grave, in darkness or in light, up in the sunrise sky or down in the deepest part of the sea, no matter where we go or how we try to hide, God knows where we are and what we are thinking. Even when we are wicked, God will lead us back onto right paths.

Alternate Psalm (Track One): Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19

The Wisdom of Solomon, a short book in the Apocrypha, was written in King Solomon’s name not long before, or even possibly during or after, the time of Jesus and the evangelists. These verses seem to echo the faith of Psalm 139 – for which this passage is available as an alternative – in their ringing praise for a powerful, righteous God who reigns over all creation. In spite of this omnipotent state, this is a God who guides the people mildly and with forbearance, showing us that to be righteous requires us to be kind.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 86:11-17

The Psalmist is grateful for God’s abundant love shown in protection against the violence and threats of enemies. Like the people in exile in the Track Two first reading from Isaiah, they face difficulties – even being pursued by a band of violent, murderous men. In the midst of fear and desperation the Psalmist turns to God with faith and trust, calling on God to respond out of grace and compassion, kindness and truth, and to have mercy, shaming the people’s foes with a sign of God’s favor.

Second Reading: Romans 8:12-25

As we read portions of Paul’s letter to the Romans through this summer, you may have noticed that he uses consistent language to teach a specific idea: In flesh there is death; in the spirit of Christ there is life. Paul emphasizes these points once more in this passage: If we live by our own selfish desires, he says, we eventually die. But if we live in the Spirit through Christ, loving God and our neighbor even while we suffer with Christ – just as the early Christians of Rome suffered persecution – we are glorified with him and become beloved children of God, literally God’s adopted children and thus God’s heirs.

Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Following immediately upon last week’s Gospel about the sower and the soil, we meet another sower in another of Jesus’ parables as told by Matthew. This time the soil is good, and so is the seed. The sower is planting wheat in the rich soil of his own field. But now a new challenge arises: An unidentified enemy sneaks in at night and plants weeds among the good wheat. The sower can’t simply uproot the weeds without disturbing the wheat, so the good growth and the bad must grow together until harvest, when the weeds can finally be torn out and discarded. Jesus explains the parable in terms that may feel disturbing with his talk of hellfire and damnation for the weeds. But in a promise reminiscent of God’s covenant with Moses at Mount Sinai, Jesus makes it clear that those who live righteously will enjoy God’s kingdom.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 26, 2020

First Reading (Track One): Genesis 29:15-28


The concept of “biblical marriage” gets complicated in Sunday’s Track One first reading.

Parable of the hidden treasure (c.1630), painting, possibly by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) or by Gerrit Dou (1613-1675). Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. (Click image to enlarge.)

First, tricky Jacob gets tricked in his turn by Laban, who puts him to work for seven years to earn Laban’s daughter Rachel as his bride. But then, much to Jacob’s consternation, Laban switches his older daughter, Leah, for Rachel on their wedding night. Only after working for Laban another seven years does Jacob eventually marry Rachel, too. When we consider scripture’s seemingly casual acceptance of arranged, polygamous marriages, with the women given no opportunity to participate or object, it makes little sense to hold up Scripture as the example of a marital ideal. What remains timeless is the celebration of God’s faithfulness, shown in the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants who will go on to populate all nations.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 3:5-12


Known in tradition for his great wisdom, King Solomon may be most often remembered by the story – just a few verses after this one – of how he revealed the real mother in two women’s dispute over a baby by proposing to cut the infant in half. Here in Sunday’s Track Two first reading we meet Solomon – the son of King David and Bathsheba – as the young, new king, uncertain and uneasy. Dreaming of God asking what he would like to be given, Solomon chose not long life, riches or power, but only wisdom to govern the people well. Pleased by this choice, God grants Solomon a wise and discerning mind greater than any earlier or later king.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 105:1-11, 45b

This Track One Psalm, a ringing hymn of praise to God and God’s works, offers thanksgiving for just the reward that the story of Laban’s daughters foretells: God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God promises that their children would inherit the Promised Land for a thousand generations, in return for their covenant to follow God’s teaching and obey God’s laws.

Alternate Psalm (Track One): Psalm 128

Available as an alternate to the Track One Psalm, this reflects similar ideas without specifically expressing the ancestral covenant. Still, its poetic cadences celebrate the joy and the rewards that come to those who follow in God’s way, the fruits of their labor, the happiness and prosperity that they will inherit. Thanks to God’s blessings from Zion, the Psalmist sings, they will be rewarded with secure homes and long and prosperous lives.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 119:129-136

The longest of all the Psalms, Psalm 119’s celebration of love for God’s law and teaching – Torah, the first five books of the Bible – is repeated often in brief selections through the Lectionary year. A different passage was used in Track One just two weeks ago. These verses celebrate the love of Torah in almost sensuous terms of open-mouthed, breathless longing. God’s statutes are so wonderful that the Psalmist sheds streams of tears at the recognition that some people do not follow the law.

Second Reading: Romans 8:26-39


Our extended journey through Paul’s letter to the people of Rome reaches a high point in this passage, as his long discussion contrasting life in the flesh against life in the spirit now comes to its conclusion in a burst of poetic words: If God is for us, who is against us? God’s abiding faithfulness was made manifest through God’s gift of God’s own son. If God gave him up for all of us, nothing in all creation – not hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword – can separate us from the love of God through Jesus.

Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52


What is the kingdom of heaven like? Jesus offers us quick, thought-provoking glimpses in a quick series of short parables this week. The kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed that grows into a mighty tree! Or yeast that leavens bread! Or wait, is it like buried treasure? A merchant with an expensive pearl? Fishers with a full net? And there’s that scary threat of the fiery furnace again, with the weeping and gnashing of teeth that awaits evildoers. Parables don’t tell us the whole story – they only offer ideas that flash through our consciousness – but every one of them sparks our imagination about God’s kingdom.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 30, 2017

Parable of the mustard seed. Etching by Jan Luyken in the Bowyer Bible (1795), Bolton Museum, Lancashire, England.

The notion of “biblical marriage” gets complicated in Sunday’s first reading, in which we see tricky Jacob marrying Laban’s sisters Rachel and Leah and their two maids! Scripture inspires us, but we still need to filter the culture of the Ancient Near East through tradition and reason before we draw specific lessons for our time. The ancestral legends of the chosen people are products of their time and culture. What remains timeless is the celebration of God’s faithfulness, shown in the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants who will go on to populate all nations.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 3:5-12

Known in tradition for his great wisdom, King Solomon may be most often remembered by the story – just a few verses after this one – of how he revealed the real mother in two women’s dispute over a baby by proposing to cut the infant in half. Here we meet Solomon – the son of King David and Bathsheba – as the young, new king, uncertain and uneasy. Dreaming of God asking what he would like to be given, Solomon chose not long life, riches or power, but only wisdom to govern the people well. Pleased by this choice, God grants Solomon a wise and discerning mind greater than any earlier or later king.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 105:1-11, 45b

This ringing hymn of praise to God and God’s works celebrates God’s promise that we have seen come to pass in this season’s first readings: God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – a covenant that we will later see worked out with Moses and the people at Mount Sinai. God promises that their children will inherit the Promised Land for a thousand generations, and this will be in response to their covenant to faithfully follow God’s teaching and obey God’s laws.

Alternative Psalm (Track One): Psalm 128

This short alternative Psalm echoes similar ideas without touching on the people’s ancestral covenant in so many words. Still, its quick cadences celebrate the joy and the rewards that come to those who follow in God’s way, the fruits of their labor, the happiness and prosperity that they will enjoy. Thanks to God’s blessings from Zion, they will be rewarded with secure homes and long and prosperous lives.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 119:129-136

The longest of all the Psalms, this celebration of love for God’s law and teaching that comprises the first five books of the Bible is repeated often in brief selections through the Lectionary year; another passage was used in Track One just two weeks ago. This week’s verses celebrate the love of Torah in almost sensuous terms of open-mouthed, breathless longing. God’s statutes are so wonderful that the Psalmist bursts into tears at the recognition that some people do not follow the law.

Second Reading: Romans 8:26-39

Our extended journey through Paul’s letter to the people of Rome reaches a high point in this passage, as his long discussion about life in the flesh versus life in the spirit reaches its conclusion in a burst of almost poetic words: If God is for us, who is against us? God’s abiding faithfulness, as we have seen in the First Reading and Psalm, was made manifest through God’s gift of God’s own son. If God gave him up for all of us, nothing in all creation, not hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword can separate us from the love of God through Jesus.

Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

What is the kingdom of heaven like? Today we hear Jesus offering five more striking, thought-provoking concepts in a quick series of parables. It’s like a tiny mustard seed that grows into a tree! It’s like yeast that makes bread rise! What’s more, it’s like buried treasure, a proud merchant with a valuable pearl, and fishers with a full net. All this concludes with another warning that a fiery furnace, weeping and gnashing of teeth wait for evildoers. Parables don’t tell us the whole story – they only offer flashing images – but every one of them makes us think.