The Collect of the Day
O Lord God, you have taught us that
without love whatever we do is worth nothing:
Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which
is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives
is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus
Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for
ever. Amen.
The First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Chapters 29 & 30 of Deuteronomy are part of a
covenant ceremony, wherein Moses is calling upon the people to commit
themselves to the way of life about which he has expounded throughout the book.
His final message is that living outside this covenant can only lead to death.
The Israelites will need constantly to choose life by their obedience.
30:15 See, I have set
before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you
today, by loving the Lord your
God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and
ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
that you are entering to possess. 17 But
if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to
other gods and serve them, 18 I
declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land
that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against
you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.
Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the Lord
your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and
length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Or this
The First Reading: Sirach 15:15-20
Sirach (traditionally known as “Ecclesiasticus”) is
a book of the Apocrypha, a set of books not considered Scripture by Jews, but
included in the Old Testament by Roman Catholics. Anglicans read them “for
example of life and instruction of manners,” yet not to be used in the
establishment of any doctrine. Our passage today emphasizes human
responsibility in obeying the commandments.
God does not cause sin.
15:15 If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is
a matter of your own choice. 16 He
has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you
choose. 17 Before each person are
life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given. 18 For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is
mighty in power and sees everything; 19 his
eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every human action. 20 He has not commanded anyone to be wicked,
and he has not given anyone permission to sin.
Psalm 119:1-8
1 Happy are they whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of
the Lord!
2 Happy are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all
their hearts!
3 Who never do any wrong, *
but always walk in his
ways.
4 You laid down your commandments, *
that we should fully keep
them.
5 Oh, that my ways were made so direct *
that I might keep your
statutes!
6 Then I should not be put to shame, *
when I regard all your
commandments.
7 I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, *
when I have learned your
righteous judgments.
8 I will keep your statutes; *
do not utterly forsake
me.
The Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Paul is
writing to a divided and conflicted community. The divisions have partially to
do with factions loyal to one of their two early teachers, Paul and Apollos.
Paul tells them the quarrel is a symptom of their immaturity in the faith. It
is simply a matter of one person’s ministry following on another within the
purposes of God.
3:1 And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual
people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you
were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For as long
as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and
behaving according to human inclinations? 4 For
when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you
not merely human? 5 What then is
Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord
assigned to each. 6 I planted,
Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So
neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who
gives the growth. 8 The one who
plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive
wages according to the labor of each. 9 For
we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
The Holy Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37
The Sermon on the Mount continues. Jesus has just declared that he has
come not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.
Verses 21-48 then offer six examples of that fulfillment (we have four
today and two next week). In some cases (murder and adultery), Jesus demands we
go deeper into the desires of our hearts. In others (divorce, oaths) he does
away with provisions that made some allowances. In bringing these sayings
together, Matthew is trying to show that Jesus is the authoritative interpreter
of the law. The exhortation to remove body parts that offend was never meant to
be taken literally, but is simply Jesus’ use of hyperbole to make a point.
5:21 Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient
times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’
22 But I say to you that if you are
angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you
insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say,
‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So when you are offering your gift at the
altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and
go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your
gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with
your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may
hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown
into prison. 26 Truly I tell you,
you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. 27 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall
not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say
to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. 29 If
your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better
for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into
hell. 30 And if your right hand
causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose
one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. 31 It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife,
let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But
I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of
unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman
commits adultery. 33 Again, you
have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear
falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all,
either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35
or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it
is the city of the great King. 36 And
do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’;
anything more than this comes from the evil one.”
The
Scripture quotations (except for the psalm) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ
in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.
All rights reserved. The Collect
of the Day and the Psalm translation are from The Book of Common Prayer. Commentaries
are copyright © 2017, Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843, www.epiphanyesources.com. All
rights reserved. Copying for study groups is encouraged with attribution.
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