Sunday July 28 Pentecost 10
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Psalm 24
While entering through the doors of the temple the poet sings a hymn of praise to God who brought order out of the dangerous primordial ocean. Appropriate for a Sunday as we enter into our worship.
Psalm 29
Astonishment at the overwhelming presence of God in nature who rules the untameable ocean and even makes mountains cavort like calves and oak trees “writhe” in a gale! We worship such a God, who makes such strength and peace available to us.
Joshua 24.1-15 What’s Joshua about?
Joshua recounts the history of God’s care for the people since the time of Abraham, almost in the form of a traditional credal statement about their origins and how God repeatedly came to their rescue. Joshua places before the people the choice of being committed to this God of justice and commitment to them, or to the local gods whom God has defeated so many times.
For us in the modern world, the choice remains the same. The church has the role of giving loyalty to justice which comes from God and thereby to stand against the gods of wealth, violence, and exploitation who claim to rule our world.
Mark 2.23-28 What’s Mark about?
The Sabbath was originally intended as a weekly re-enactment of the joy of the completed creation when every part of creation had dignity and fulfilment. Jesus and his disciples pick grain to eat on a sabbath, which technically is to break the sabbath by doing work. Jesus is accused of desecrating the Sabbath. Jesus responds by quoting an Old Testament text in which David’s followers ate forbidden holy bread. This demonstrates that Biblical commands should sometimes be broken. Jesus then deliberately reverses the normal assumptions about the purpose of the sabbath saying that the Sabbath is intended for human health, not for religious observance.
This week’s collect:
O God,
the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy,
increase and multiply upon us your mercy,
that with you as our ruler and guide,
we may so pass through things temporal,
that we lose not the things eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.