Saturday July 20 Pentecost 8
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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 predictable 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.
Joshua 6.1-14 What’s Joshua about?
The people place the first city they encounter, the walled city of Jericho, under siege.
The six days of circling the city parallels the six days of creation. The seventh day on which the city falls parallels the seventh day in which creation was complete. The seven priests carrying seven trumpets proclaim that the world is about to be completed—the seventh day of fulfilled creation is about to happen.
The writers understand that this conquering of the promised land is God’s new act of creating the perfect world. This creation of a good world from the chaos of floods happened first in Genesis at the creation, then with Noah’s ark at the great flood, then at the Red Sea and now yet again as the people enter the new land. The stories are making clear God’s determination that in every age humanity will live fulfilled lives in a complete world safe from chaos.
Matthew 26.26-35 What’s Matthew about?
Jesus turns the Passover meal into a participation in his death and resurrection, which we now call communion. Jesus and the disciples go from communion to Gethsemane where they will all participate in Jesus’ death. Peter and the others insist they will never abandon Jesus, but they will shortly experience the death of their illusions about themselves.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless
until they find their rest in you.
May we find peace in your service,
and in the world to come, see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.