Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness cannot ask; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
1st Reading (Track 1): Amos 8:1-12
Today’s reading is from near the end of the book of Amos It is the fourth vision given to the prophet regarding Israel’s end. Ripe summer fruit (which will quickly spoil) speaks to the immediacy of Israel’s situation. As in last week’s reading from Amos, God’s judgment is that in a time of “prosperity,” fraudulent business practices oppress the poor. Amos announces that it is too late. When the crisis comes (the invasion of the Assyrians), people will seek a word from God and there will be none.
8:1 This is what the Lord God showed me—a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. 3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord God; “the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!” 4 Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 6 buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” 7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 8 Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? 9 On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day. 11 The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.
Psalm 52 (Track 1)
Psalm 52 is testimony against wickedness. The Hebrew word translated “tyrant” is literally “Mighty One.” There is sarcasm at use here. The introduction to the psalm puts it in the context of “When Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech” (1 Samuel 21 & 22). If that is the case than the object of scorn here is the treacherous Doeg, whose tongue has indeed “plotted ruin” and caused many deaths.
1 You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness *
against the godly all day long?
2 You plot ruin; your tongue is like a sharpened razor, *
O worker of deception.
3 You love evil more than good *
and lying more than speaking the truth.
4 You love all words that hurt, *
O you deceitful tongue.
5 Oh, that God would demolish you utterly, *
topple you, and snatch you from your dwelling,
and root you out of the land of the living!
6 The righteous shall see and tremble, *
and they shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “This is the one who did not take God for a refuge, *
but trusted in great wealth and relied upon wickedness.”
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; *
I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
9 I will give you thanks for what you have done *
and declare the goodness of your Name
in the presence of the godly.
1st Reading (Track 2): Genesis 18:1-10a
God promised Abraham and Sarah a son
(and that his heirs would become a great nation) in Genesis 12:1-4. Much has
happened since that promise. The two have journeyed from their homeland to the
land of Canaan, taken a side trip to Egypt, divided the land between themselves
and their nephew Lot, defeated several kings, received a second iteration of
the promise (ch. 15), tried having a surrogate son through Sarah’s slave-girl
Hagar, and received a third iteration of the promise (ch. 17) during which they
received a change to their names and received the commandment of male
circumcision. Now comes the promise
again—a fourth time. This story is a
fine example of Middle Eastern hospitality. It will be chapter 21 before Sarah
bears a child. There are many odd things about this reading. Are the three visitors
indeed “men” or are they angels? Why are they referred to sometimes as “they”
and sometimes as “he”? Because of this inconsistency, Christians have tended to
read back into the story an appearance of the Trinity.
18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. 3 He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. 9 They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.”
Psalm 15 (Track 2)
Psalm 15 sets forth the characteristics of a righteous person, especially
as he approaches worship in the Temple.
In the time of the psalm’s writing, access to the Temple was
restricted. Certain people were not
admitted (see, for example, Deuteronomy 23:1-8). The Babylonian Talmud claims that David
summarized the 613 laws of the Torah into the ten found here in verses 2—5. The
structure of ten is certainly meant to tie directly to the Decalogue (Ten
Commandments) tradition.
1 Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
who may abide upon your holy hill?
2 Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
who speaks truth from his heart.
3 There is no guile upon his tongues;
he does no evil to his friend; *
he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.
4 In his sight the wicked is rejected, *
but he honors those who fear the Lord.
5 He has sworn to do no wrong *
and does not take back his word.
6 He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
7 Whoever does these things *
shall never be overthrown.
2nd Reading: Colossians 1:15-28
The first portion of today’s reading is most likely an early hymn to Christ as “firstborn of all creation.” The reading then continues to speak of the effect of this “cosmic” Christ on the ministry of the Colossians and of Paul himself. The Christ who holds all things together, has done so with the Colossians. They are reconciled in him. Paul understands himself to be continuing Christ’s work, offering himself for the sake of the church, revealing the mystery: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
1:15 Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. 24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Gospel
Reading: Luke 10:38-42
This well-known story is only told by Luke. The Gospel of John knows Mary and Martha of Bethany (and their brother Lazarus), and there is a meal scene with them in that Gospel (12:1-3), but it is lacking the details in this story. This story highlights Jesus’ willingness to push the social and religious boundaries between men and women (particularly for a rabbi). It is easy to be critical of Martha and her busy-ness, but that is not necessarily Jesus’ point. He has just said to the lawyer in the Good Samaritan story, “Go and do likewise.” Here he commends Mary’s passivity. The point is, perhaps, that in the life of Jesus’ followers there is a time for both ways of being. Perhaps another point centers on the words “distraction” and “worry.” It is not so much that Martha should not be about her tasks, but distracted and worried living are not helpful among Jesus’ disciples, partially because they typically lead to resentment, as they do here.
10:38 Now as Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
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. All
rights reserved. The Collect of the Day
and the Psalm translation are from The
Book of Common Prayer. Commentaries
are copyright © 2022 Epiphany ESources, 67. E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843, www.EpiphanyEsources.com. All rights
reserved. Permission is given to copy for
group study.
No comments:
Post a Comment