Sunday June 13 Pentecost 3
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Psalm 93
A psalm of praise to God who is forever and who makes the world secure. “The waters lifted up their voice” means that although the raging sea (the original chaos) is threatening to drown everything, God’s voice is stronger. Appropriate for a Sunday when we celebrate God’s victory in the resurrection.
The raging sea can be circumstances in our lives, in our inner life, or in the life of the world.
Psalm 96
Praise to God who really will bring equity (equality) and righteousness (which is the old English translation of dignity and justice) to the whole of humanity.
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 46: 11-20 What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
Sirach praises Samuel for his insistence upon following God. This makes a good segway into reading the books of Samuel over the next two months which we begin tomorrow.
Matthew 18: 1-14 What’s Matthew about?
Three of the disciples have just seen Jesus in his cosmic glory at his transfiguration. Following that, Jesus speaks of his impending death and pays a tax just like any subjugated person. The disciples then, in today’s reading, object to someone of cosmic glory accepting such humiliation. “What does it mean to be great?” Jesus responds that to be great is to become a child. “Child” was also used to refer to students or disciples, and Jesus asserts the greatness of being a learner, using deliberately exaggerated and impossible images of self-punishment and even death to illustrate the value of learners. Even a single sheep, almost worthless in comparison to an entire flock, is more important than ninety-nine sheep. None of these illustrations make sense until one realizes Jesus is saying that greatness consists in giving away the desire to be great. Which is exactly the character of God we experience in Jesus, who as a human lives out that character in everyday life. We, the beginning students, are that highly valued!
This week’s collect:
Almighty God, without you we are not able to please you.
Mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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