Wednesday June 23 Pentecost 4
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Psalm 101
I am determined to live a life of justice and not to support exploitation.
Psalm 109
A desperate plea for God’s assistance, and rejoicing that God is faithful to the poor. The middle section, which uses violent images against those who oppress the powerless, expresses a profound desire that oppression be removed from the world. At the conclusion the writer rejoices that God is committed to the needy and to protecting those who are unjustly accused.
1 Samuel 7: 2-17 What’s Samuel about?
After the ark returns to them, the people of Israel spend twenty years repenting of the injustice into which they had been led by the priest Eli and his two sons. That is how seriously they take God’s call for justice and dignity for every person. Then Samuel leads the people in returning to loyalty to the God of justice. Repeating the events of the escape from Egypt, Samuel sacrifices a lamb and God thunders at the Philistines and defeats them, and during Samuel’s life Israelite territory is never again invaded by the Philistines.
God’s justice is indeed very powerful. If we were as sure of that, our lives and hopes would be transformed.
Luke 22: 14-23 What’s Luke about?
As the kingdom comes ever closer, Jesus gives himself to us under the signs of bread and wine, so that we may feast forever with him. It is clear that he makes an enormous sacrifice to do so—Judas is at the table, and yet Jesus feeds him. The other disciples are all worried it will be them who betray Jesus. They are beginning to realize any of them might betray Jesus. In a moment, in tomorrow’s reading, they will do so.
God, in Jesus, is prepared to accept any level of betrayal to ensure we are embraced by God anyway. Nothing could be more astonishing or affirming.
This week’s collect:
O God our defender,
storms rage about us and cause us to be afraid.
Rescue your people from despair,
deliver your sons and daughters from fear,
and preserve us all from unbelief;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and ever. Amen.
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