Monday June 14 Pentecost 3
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Psalm 80
After rescuing us from slavery in Egypt, God had planted us in new ground like a well-watered vine, and we grew and filled the whole land. But now we are being attacked by a foreign power and God’s vine is being uprooted. God, rescue us so that we may be a healthy vine again.
1 Samuel 1: 1-20 What’s Samuel about?
For the next four months we will be reading the stories of 500 years of rule by kings of Israel, from the time of Saul and David about 1,100 B.C. until the Israelites were conquered by the Babylonians and the ruling court was exiled to Babylon around 600 B.C.
These accounts were written down around the time of this disastrous exile, and the authors were interested not in detailed historical data but in the meanings behind these events. Their underlying analysis was that the reason for the destruction of Jerusalem and their capture by the Babylonians was that the kings had gradually became more and more unjust, abandoning the poor and those without power. God could not allow that to continue and still be the God of justice. The two books of Samuel (the prophet who crowned the first two kings) and the two books of Kings, tell that story.
We start with the books of Samuel. In today’s passage, Samuel’s life begins with a miraculous conception by his barren mother. Early Christians used this story as background for stories about Mary’s miraculous conception of Jesus. The lesson is that, in spite of it appearing impossible, God does indeed act to ensure that justice and inclusion are done. As we grow in trust of that, our own lives are transformed.
Luke 20.9-19 What’s Luke about?
Towards the end of Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ confrontation with the religious authorities deepens. In this story Jesus confronts those who run the vineyard (code for the traitorous religious leaders exploiting the common people in Jerusalem). Luke imagines that Jesus has special knowledge of the fact that Rome will destroy Jerusalem 40 years later, and the early Christians interpreted this as God’s putting an end to religious exploitation.
In our day we might interpret this story as confronting us with the inevitable outcome of rejecting the role we have in caring for creation in favour of enslaving creation for our own satisfaction. Destruction is the inevitable outcome if we don’t change.
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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