Jesus said, Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.
1st Reading (Track 1):
1 Samuel 8:4-11(12-15)16-20(11:14-15)
Our passage today is something
of a turning point in the story of biblical Israel. The people have had no other king but
God. A series of “judges” have ruled
Israel in the name of God. They people
see no successor to Samuel as judge, and so they ask for a king. Their reasoning is significant: they want to be like other nations. Samuel knows this is disaster, and so does
God, but God says to give them what they want, just make sure they know the
consequences. “Damn the consequences,”
is the reply. So Saul becomes the first
anointed king of Israel.
8:4 All the elders of Israel
gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5
and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your
ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they
said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, 7 and
the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen
to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not
rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 Just as they have done to me, from the day I
brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods,
so also they are doing to you. 9 Now
then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them
the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” 10
So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the
king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his
chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots.
[12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of
thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap
his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his
chariots. 13 He will take your
daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive
orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15 He
will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his
officers and his courtiers.]
16 He will take your male and female slaves, and the
best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and
you shall be his slaves. 18 And in
that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for
yourselves; but the Lord will not
answer you in that day.” 19 But
the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are
determined to have a king over us, 20 so
that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go
out before us and fight our battles.’
[11:14 Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us
go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” 15 So
all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed
offerings of well-being before the Lord,
and there Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.]
Psalm
138 (Track 1)
Psalm 138 is an individual’s prayer of confidence in
God. This confidence rests on the
promise of God’s steadfast love, which is for the lowly as well as the mighty.
1 I
will give thanks to you, O Lord, with
my whole heart; *
before
the gods I will sing your praise.
2 I
will bow down toward your holy temple
and
praise your Name, *
because
of your love and faithfulness;
3 For
you have glorified your Name *
and
your word above all things.
4 When
I called, you answered me; *
you
increased my strength within me.
5 All
the kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord;
*
when
they have heard the words of your mouth.
6 They
will sing of the ways of the Lord,
*
that
great is the glory of the Lord.
7 Though
the Lord be high, he cares for the
lowly; *
he
perceives the haughty from afar.
8 Though
I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; *
you
stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies;
your
right hand shall save me.
9 The
Lord will make good his purpose
for me; *
O
Lord, your love endures for ever;
do
not abandon the works of your hands.
Or this
1st Reading (Track 2): Genesis 3:8-15
What follows is the second half of the temptation story
(sometimes called “the fall.” The crafty
serpent has revealed that the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden (of
which God has commanded they shall not eat) will not cause them to die, but to
be like God, that is, wise, “knowing good and evil.” They ate, but their first knowledge is
actually of shame. They “knew that they were naked.” Shame distorts their relationship with God,
as the second part of the story tells us.
The tragedy of the whole of the Bible can be summarized in Adam’s
response to God, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid…” The “original sin” may be disobedience of
God’s command, or is it the refusal to take responsibility for one’s own
actions?
3:8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the
time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord God among the
trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to
him, “Where are you?” 10 He said,
“I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked;
and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who
told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded
you not to eat?” 12 The man said,
:The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I
ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this
that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord
God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all
animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust
you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I
will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Psalm
130 (Track 2)
Psalm 130 is one of the “Songs of Ascent,” pilgrim
songs sung on the way to Jerusalem. This
psalm is a prayer for deliverance from personal trouble. The psalmist knows the “depths,” but also
trusts the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy.
1 Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear
my voice; *
let your ears consider
well the voice of my supplication.
2 If you, Lord,
were to note what is done amiss, *
O Lord, who could stand?
3 For there is forgiveness with you; *
therefore you shall be
feared.
4 I wait for the Lord;
my soul waits for him; *
in his word is my hope.
5 My soul waits for the Lord,
more than
watchmen for the morning, *
more than watchmen for the
morning.
6 O Israel, wait for the Lord, *
for with the Lord there is mercy;
7 With him there is plenteous redemption, *
and he shall redeem Israel
2nd Reading:
2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1
Paul begins this paragraph by referencing the faith of
the psalmist in the midst of trouble.
The exact reference is to Psalm 116:10, but the same sentiment is in
Psalm 130, today’s psalm. He has been
talking about the experience of suffering, both by himself and the Christian
community in general. He encourages the
Corinthians to experience it as “a slight momentary affliction.” It is not God’s ultimate plan for us.
4:13 Just as we have the same spirit
of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we
also believe, and so we speak, 14 because
we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus,
and will bring us with you into his presence. 15
Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to
more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our
outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is
preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18 because we look not at what can be seen but
at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be
seen is eternal. 5:1 For we know
that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Gospel Reading: Mark 3:20-35
Jesus has just
called his twelve disciples. Now there
is a troubling encounter with his family, who attempt to restrain him because
there is a rumor that he is insane. The
religious authorities also claim that he is in league with Satan. (“Beelzebul” is a form of Baal-zebub, a
widely known pagan God, see 2 Kings 1:2).
He responds with his well-known saying about sins against the Holy
Spirit being “eternal,” i.e., unforgivable.
Bible interpreters have spent two millennia trying to figure out exactly
what constitutes a “sin against the Holy Spirit.” More importantly, as the story moves on, his
family attempts to intervene again and he more or less turns his back on
them. He has created a new family.
3:20 The crowd came together again,
so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to
restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22 And the scribes who came down from
Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out
demons.” 23 And he called them to
him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself,
that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And
if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself
and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house
and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the
house can be plundered. 28 Truly I
tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they
utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal
sin”—30 for they had said, “He has
an unclean spirit.” 31 Then his
mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called
him. 32 A crowd was sitting around
him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are
outside, asking for you.” 33 And he
replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34
And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my
mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever
does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
The Scripture passages (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 Psalm translation is 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. Permission is given to copy for congregational use with this
attribution.
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