Friday October 11 Pentecost 20
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Psalm 141
Help me to be faithful to you, O God, and not be caught in evil.
Psalm 143
I am almost crushed by my enemy, and by my own weakness. But I remember how good you were in the past, and I still hope in you. Otherwise, there is no hope.
Micah 3.9-4.5 What’s Micah about?
God’s accuses the leaders of terribly exploiting the people. The consequences will be that Jerusalem will be ploughed under. “The mountain of the house shall become a wooded height” means “Mount Zion (Jerusalem) where the temple is located (i.e. the ‘house’) shall become an overgrown waste land.” But Micah proclaims that God can overcome even that disaster and God’s justice will become central to all nations.
Luke 8.1-15 What’s Luke about?
Jesus and his disciples are accompanied by a large group of women who financially support them. He tells the first of a series of stories about seeds. In this story the harvest of the seeds is far beyond what was planted, meaning that although the arrival of the kingdom may seem tiny, the end result will be overwhelming good and justice.
The following interpretation of the seeds as various kinds of response was probably invented later by an early Christian who thought Jesus had been teaching about people’s varied responses to the proclamation of the kingdom rather than trusting in its ultimate victory.
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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