Saturday October 12 Pentecost 20
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Psalm 104
God has wondrously set everything in its place—from oceans to storks to whales to the sun. Praise to God who has made this earth and whose power and care is expressed in every part of the world.
Micah 5.1-4, 10-15 What’s Micah about?
Micah is holding out hope that God will act to rescue the people from captivity. The first part of this passage was interpreted by early Christians as foretelling the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, but the prophet probably meant that another king would rise in his own time who would bring justice to the land. God will do this by removing from the land all the signs of their commitment to exploitation and will cause nations from around the world to flock to the God of justice. We can join that longing in our time and so stand against the oppression that tells us there is no hope for global justice.
Luke 8.16-25 What’s Luke about?
Short pieces of good advice: we are to be like light in the world so others can see clearly what is going on beneath the surface; we are to listen carefully to what God is doing, otherwise we will have nothing to contribute to the world; Jesus’ true relatives are not those related by genetics but those who live in his family of love. All these challenges are summed up in Jesus overcoming a storm which had threatened to drown the disciples.
Drowning in private or global dangers sometimes feels immanent to us—Jesus’ call to live in awareness of God’s victory is what calms those storms.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
you have built your Church
on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
Join us together in unity of spirit by their teaching,
that we may become a holy temple, acceptable to you;
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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