Tuesday June 25 Pentecost 5
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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.
Numbers 16.20-35 What’s Numbers about?
Some of the people have decided not to trust in God, and there are terrible consequences—they are swallowed up by the earth. The intention of the story is not to portray God as a vindictive tyrannical monarch, but that we should take seriously the consequences of relying on our own tiny power rather than trusting in God’s underlying promise to give us all we need. When the earth swallows them, they are returning to the primeval “dust” or “mud” (which is what “Adam” means) from which the first humans were created. Perhaps there is a suggestion that God can create for us a new humanity even when we have rejected God.
Matthew 19.23-30 What’s Matthew about?
Jesus turns our assumptions about loyalty to God upside-down. Powerful people who can give immense sums and support to the faith are the most unlikely to experience God. Peter points out that he and the disciples have given up everything—exactly what the wealthy do not want to do—and they still have nothing, so whether wealthy or destitute no one can succeed! Jesus responds that when the kingdom arrives those who are generous and have given up everything for love will be truly alive and be blessed beyond imagining. But, Jesus says, this is a reversal of all the usual expectations.
This week’s collect:
O God our defender,
storms rage about us and cause us to be afraid.
Rescue your people from despair,
deliver your sons and daughters from fear,
and preserve us all from unbelief;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and ever. Amen.