Thursday February 11 Epiphany 5
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Psalm 83
We are under terrible attack. God, act quickly and utterly defeat them. We can say the same: that our world is under attack from forces of greed and exploitation, and we desperately need to be rescued. We can interpret the almost violent images in this psalm, as an expression of our deep determination that nothing will overcome the work of justice, inclusion and dignity for all. If our culture felt that strongly about dignity of all, what a wonderful world we would live in!
Isaiah 60.1-17
God is speaking to Jerusalem as if the city were a person. God promises light in its darkness, and overwhelming prosperity as her children return and surrounding nations respond with tribute. The reference to camels and gold and frankincense being given as tribute likely was in the minds of early Christians when they told the story of the wise ones coming from the east to worship the new-born Jesus. The following images are of prosperity beyond anything imaginable for the people of a devastated city—it would have taken courage to insist on such a vision when all the evidence pointed otherwise.
Isaiah challenges us to have an equal confidence in God’s intent for the planet in our day.
Mark 10.17-31
A wealthy young man is determined to follow Jesus, but when Jesus says he must personally treat the poor as equal in importance to himself, the young man is shocked and leaves. Counter-intuitively, the more wealth one has the more difficult it is to be deeply generous. So the disciples are astounded when Jesus says rich people will have a hard time entering the kingdom. Jesus’ point is that it is almost impossible to make dignity and justice for others our priority, but nevertheless God is able to change our priorities if we assent. When we give ourselves away in love, then everything turns up-side down in most people’s eyes, but is actually right-way up—the least important and the most important change roles!
This week’s collect:
Merciful Lord,
grant to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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