Saturday September 4 Pentecost 14
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Psalm 30
Because of its references to being in the grave, followed by joy, this psalm is often used on Saturdays, the weekly mini-anniversary of Jesus’ being in the grave.
God’s wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye—it’s not that God is losing God’s temper, but that God made the world so that actions have consequences—anything else would produce chaos. It’s inevitable that evil selfish actions on our part have consequences but the psalm proclaims that God’s goodness acts to overcome the evils that we have caused. Christians interpret Jesus’ dying and rising as the process by which God accomplishes fulfilment and joy for us despite our evil.
Psalm 32
When I acknowledged my sin, I received immense joy. When we acknowledge our participation in oppressive policies, we know God will overcome those, and we can also be in joy instead of living in denial or guilt. Then we will have the energy to act against those oppressions.
1 Kings 12: 1-20 What’s Kings about?
One of Solomon’s sons, Rehoboam, has become king after Solomon’s death. However, he rejects the wise advice of his father’s servants to treat the people well, and instead listens to the young men who recommend he use violence and oppression to rule the people. The people of the northern tribes follow Jeroboam add their king. We see how injustice is seeping into the royal culture—the next generation put their trust in violence instead of justice and the country begins to disintegrate.
The people of the northern territory, the tribe called Israel, rebel against Rehoboam as their king and appoint Jeroboam as king. Jeroboam had rebelled against Rehoboam’s father Solomon. By choosing Jeroboam the people are rebelling against a son of king David.
By the time of Jesus the descendants of these people have taken the name of their capital town—Samaria. This explains why there were ongoing tensions between the two tribes who survived the Assyrian invasion—the tribe of Judah lived in the south around Jerusalem and hated the tribe of Israel, by then called “Samaritans,” who lived north of Jerusalem and whose ancestors had rebelled against King David’s son. The writers are describing the long-term consequences of unjust and oppressive rule.
Mark 15: 33-39 What’s Mark about?
Jesus dies amidst abuse and ominous events happen. Mark, assuming his readers are familiar with crucifixion, describes none of the horror and torture involved. As typical in Mark, only a Roman soldier, a foreign oppressor, recognizes the significance of Jesus.
This week’s collect:
Author and Giver of all good things,
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us in all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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