Tuesday October 1 Pentecost 19
Click here for simplified daily office prayers
Psalm 94
Those who oppress and abuse think that God does not care. How wrong they are! God created us, do they think God doesn’t know what is going on? God will act to remove the evil and support us. Some of the feelings in this psalm sound vindictive, but the underlying intention is that God should restore order in the world of human relationships. If oppression has full reign, there will be chaos.
Note that “just deserts” means “what is deserved,” not miles of sand or miss-spelled sweet food at the end of a meal!
Psalm 95
The daily office uses the first half of this psalm every morning. We praise God for God’s creation of the world and for our safety in God. Notice that the psalm assumes there are many gods, but that our God (of justice) is in charge of all of them. The second half is a warning that abandoning God by following evil ways, as the people did in the wilderness, will have consequences.
Hosea 4.1-11 What’s Hosea about?
God speaks, as if giving evidence in court, about how terrible are the actions of the people. The priests are to keep silent because they have been part of this abuse.
Luke 5.12-26 What’s Luke about?
Leprosy was considered incurable and caused absolute social isolation. Only at the end of the world would leprosy be conquered. For Jesus to heal the disease and enable a person to return to full relationships is another example of God’s kingdom arriving.
The people climbing a roof to get their friend to Jesus are sure the kingdom has arrived. When Jesus removes the man’s sins, the kingdom has fully arrived and he is well physically and morally. No wonder there is enormous response.
In our day, leprosy and paralysis of the will and of hope may happen in the form of unending exploitation by various forces in our society. Do we anticipate the kingdom arriving among us anyway?
This week’s collect:
Grant, O merciful God,
that your Church,
being gathered by your Holy Spirit into one,
may show forth your power among all peoples,
to the glory of your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Click here to share your thoughts on the web site.