Author: Harold

Psalm 81
Praise to God because this is what we heard God saying: God longs that the people would respond so that God could give them everything they need.

Psalm 82
God is accusing all the other gods who do not care for the poor. Hurry up, God, and take your place as the just ruler of the whole world.

There are many gods today who care nothing for the poor. We, too, are to cultivate longing for the God of justice to rule.

2 Samuel 9: 1-13 What’s Samuel about?
King David seeks a descendant of King Saul to honour as he had promised Jonathan he would. Jonathan had a son and even though he is severely crippled, a disability which would normally preclude him from any place in a royal family, David provides him permanent residence with the royal family in his own palace. All this continues to describe how David affirmed God’s original choice of king for Israel even despite Saul’s grandson being severely disabled.

Mark 8: 34- 9:1 What’s Mark about?
Jesus speaks dramatically and with undeniable clarity, about the fact that there will be a cost for being part of the kingdom, but says that regardless of our reluctance to make such sacrifices, we will see the resurrection and the kingdom happening anyway.

This week’s collect:

Almighty God,
your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry
with the bread of his life
and the word of his kingdom.
Renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your true and living bread,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings for Tuesday August 3

Tuesday August 3 Pentecost 10

Psalm 78 Part 2
When they were in the desert escaping from Egypt, the people ignored God in spite of God’s immense commitment to them in utterly defeating the Egyptians with plagues. When they finally arrived in the land God had promised, they did the same thing, ignoring God again. That’s why God allowed the foreigners to capture the ark which contained the original stone ten commandments and to kill the priests. But in spite of that, like a warrior waking up refreshed, God completely defeated their enemies and established a temple in Jerusalem and gathered the people together like a skillful shepherd under the leadership of King David.

The poet expresses his interpretation that behind the chaos of victories and defeats lies God whose commitment to the people is permanent despite their lack of commitment to God and the overwhelming military power of their enemies. A good challenge to us as we wonder about the chaos of our time and in what way God is being faithful to humanity now.

2 Samuel 7: 18-29 What’s Samuel about?
God has asserted his authority over David in refusing to accept David’s consolidation of power by building a ‘house’ for God—a temple of immense wealth, but promises David his own ‘house’ of an eternal royal lineage. David prays this prayer of thanksgiving and requests that God indeed make his lineage permanent.

Early Christians, who were all Jews, applied this idea of David’s permanent house to Jesus, calling him Son of David, thus claiming for Jesus the mantle of Israel’s greatest king who had brought to Jerusalem the essence of justice—the ark with the original ten commandments.

Mark 8:22-33 What’s Mark about?
At the mid-point of Mark’s gospel the tone completely changes. There are few miracles from this point onwards. Jesus speaks from now on about how the kingdom, which the disciples have welcomed enthusiastically up to this point, can only come through death and resurrection. Peter refuses this call, as will all the other disciples. The stories of how the disciples refused Jesus’ invitation to death and resurrection begins with the story of a blind man healed by Jesus who at first sees only partly and then sees well. That is what is about to happen to the disciples. They can’t ‘see’ how God is bringing in the kingdom in this way—they want it without sacrifice. But later, like today’s blind man, they will see clearly and follow Jesus’s way.

It’s a pretty good description of disciples in all times and places.

This week’s collect:

Readings for Monday August 2

Monday August 2 Pentecost 10

Psalm 77
God is not responding when I call in trouble. But I will not forget the amazing things God did in the past.

Psalm 79
Evil people have destroyed your temple. Come and help because we are your sheep.

2 Samuel 7: 1-17 What’s Samuel about?
David wants to build a temple (“a house”) for the Lord intending to consolidate his power as military and religious leader. But God’s response is to say that the ark, with the original ten commandments, had never been lodged in a house but had always been housed in a tent ready to move and lead the people in new directions. We are hearing one argument from the time of the Babylonian exile that what went wrong was that the king attempted to control the religion. The response of those writers is that God turns the tables and and says that David will not build a house for God, but God will build a house for David—but a “house” in the form of an eternal dynasty, and from that “house” David’s son Solomon will build a permanent house—the temple—for God. We are overhearing the struggle between the king thinking he is in charge of the Jewish faith, and the writer believing that God is in charge of David and of all kings. The description of God disciplining an unfaithful king as if disciplining a child is the writers’ interpretation of why the final kings were abused by the Babylonians. Nevertheless, the writers say, God will remain faithful. Early followers of Jesus understood Jesus to be the fulfillment of God’s promise to David, and to be a descendent of David and to be born in David’s city.

Mark 8: 11-21 What’s Mark about?
The conflict with the religious leaders continues. They want Jesus to demonstrate that he is God. Jesus refuses because his role is not to prove who belongs and who doesn’t, but to initiate the kingdom based on inclusion of all. He then tells his disciples that everyone belongs, as he demonstrated in the two overwhelmingly generous feedings—one for the Jews and one for the non-Jews. But the disciples do not understand—the idea that everyone belongs to the kingdom of fulfilment is impossible for them to imagine. Soon they will begin to see, but as we will find in the next passage, they start to see only imperfectly.

This week’s collect:

Readings for Sunday August 1

Sunday August 1 Pentecost 10

Psalm 34
I will praise God because God rescued me when I was in trouble. God will always support those who live with integrity and the evil people will not get away with it forever.

2 Samuel 6: 12-23 What’s Samuel about?
David arranges to have the ark (which contained the actual 10 commandments) brought to Jerusalem. His first wife, Michal, the daughter of Saul, despises him for dancing naked in front of the ark, and in punishment for despising David and the ark, Michal has no children. Saul’s line is dying out. The consequences of not taking the ark seriously, and not respecting the deep commitment for justice and inclusion of all, means that we will not give birth to new life.

John 1: 43-51 What’s John about?
For the next six weeks on Sundays we will read from the Gospel of John.

One of John’s major themes is how we experience Jesus as the image of God. In this passage, the early disciples are attracted to Jesus by how deeply he knows and understands them, and this is especially true of people and places of no importance. Nathaniel cannot believe that someone bearing the image of God could come from an insignificant place such as Nazareth, but is convinced by how profoundly he himself, perhaps he felt himself a nobody, is known.

This week’s collect:

Readings for Saturday July 31

Saturday July 31 Pentecost 9

Psalm 23
I am like a sheep being looked after by God. Even when death comes close, you look after me and feed me and I will live always in your presence.

Psalm 27
Even though there is trouble all around, I am glad that God is with me. Even if my parents were to disown me, you, God, will stay faithful to me.

These two psalms are often used on Saturdays when Jesus lies dead in the grave. God is now the only hope.

2 Samuel 5: 22—6: 11 What’s Samuel about?
David wins a battle against the Philistines with God’s mysterious help. David intends to bring the ark, which held the actual stone 10 commandments of justice, to his new city of Jerusalem thus consolidating his power as king and as chief protector of the religion. The presence of God is so powerful in the ark that when there is danger of it falling off the wagon and someone steadies it, God kills that person for touching it. This is not a story about an arbitrarily violent God, but an insistence that there will be consequences for being casual about justice. The stone commandments inside are the quintessential nature of justice and David is rightly afraid that he may not be able to stand before God’s demand for justice, so David sends the ark to be kept by a Philistine—just in case! But when the ark blesses the Philistine with prosperity, David is encouraged and will complete his plan to house the ark in Jerusalem.

Mark 8: 1-10 What’s Mark about?
Jesus is still in the province where the aboriginal people lived. He feeds them from almost nothing, exactly the same way he fed the Jewish people earlier. And just as there had been so much food that there were twelve baskets left over—a superabundance of food for every Jewish tribe, now there are seven baskets left over—one for each of the aboriginal nations that the Israelites had been told to exterminate when they entered the land. Jesus is enacting God’s decision to include the former enemies as equals in the kingdom—an unimaginable, almost sacrilegious act in that time. In our time when divisions between people are being encouraged, can we imagine the radical inclusion of outsiders to which we are called?

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.

Readings for Friday July 30

Friday July 30 Pentecost 9

Psalm 73
I almost joined the proud and evil people, who get away with anything. But I continue to suffer in spite of being faithful to God. I could not understand this, until in your temple I realised that you are in charge in the end.

2 Samuel 5: 1-12 What’s Samuel about?
David is anointed king, and takes the city of Zion, which will later be called Jeru-Zion or Jerusalem. Jerusalem becomes the capital of the country and David later composes songs about how great it is.

Mark 7: 24-37 What’s Mark about?
Jesus goes into the province where the aboriginal people live, the people who Joshua had tried to exterminate when they first entered the promised land. An aboriginal woman argues with Jesus (an unimaginable insult) and wins the argument! And her child is healed. Jesus then heals an aboriginal man whose friends trust Jesus completely. We see a theme emerging: disgusting foreigners respond to Jesus more than the “people of God.” He is clearly undoing the abuse carried out by his ancestors. In verse 34, the translation says “sighed” but more accurately it means something like “groaned” or “grunted with anger”—it means that Jesus is incensed that people—especially those who had been abused in the past—are still suffering like this deaf man.

This week’s collect:

Readings for Thursday July 29

Thursday July 29 Pentecost 9

Psalm 74
About 600 years before Jesus, the Babylonians invaded Israel and the Jerusalem temple was completely destroyed. This was a time of deep despair, and many thought Judaism would disappear forever. The psalm asks God to remember what great things God did in controlling the forces of nature when God made the world, and how God rescued the people from Egypt, and to do great things again to rescue the people. They trust this is possible because God is in charge of the whole earth. We face similar issues in terms of the entire planet in our time.

2 Samuel 4: 1-12 What’s Samuel about?
People loyal to David kill the last of Saul’s sons, thus ensuring that the royal line of Saul will die out and never be a threat to David. But David, contrary to the practice of rulers at that time has them killed for executing a just person in his own home. David has Saul’s last son buried with honours.

Violent as these stories are, we see a pattern emerging: David refuses to follow normal custom by taking revenge on his enemies, and instead David respects God’s original choice of king even at the cost of endangering his own future. David has taken the same action in regard to Saul himself. We see the writer of these stories assuring us that David was always loyal to God’s original intention that Saul should be king.

Mark 7: 1-23 What’s Mark about?
Jesus is in conflict with the religious leaders. They insist that loyalty to God requires demonstrating that loyalty through religious practices such as ritual washing before eating. This was not modern washing for the purpose of sanitation, but a holiness ceremony. Jesus insists that justice, in caring for parents for example, is more important than religious holiness. Evil does not arise from being complacent about religious ceremonies, but from lack of love that comes from inside us.

This week’s collect:

Readings for Wednesday July 28

Wednesday July 28 Pentecost 9

Psalm 119 Part 4
Psalm 119 is a meditation on responding to God’s call to justice. Every verse contains some synonym for “justice”, such as “word”, “statute”, “commandment” or the like. The psalm is arranged in groups of eight verses. Each verse in the group starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet – the first group of eight verses all start with A, the second group all start with B and so on. The first seven verses mirror the seven days of creation, with the eighth sometimes pointing to the next group. This very careful construction mirrors God’s creating the universe by overcoming chaos with order. In the human world, justice, dignity and fulfilment – the outcomes of justice – are the expressions of order in the human world. The human world and the rest of creation are thus united. Today’s three sections begin with the letters Y, K and L (in Hebrew alphabetical order). As you read them, imagine the effect of each line in today’s first section beginning with “Y” and so on.

2 Samuel 3: 22-39 What’s Samuel about?
After Abner leaves, the family whose son he had killed in battle falsely accuses him of betraying David. The family lure Abner back and murder him in revenge. Abner’s death would easily be interpreted as David attempting to wipe out the house of Saul, but David had vowed to Jonathan that he would protect the rest of Saul’s family. So, to demonstrate his innocence, David curses the family who had murdered Abner. David weeps for Abner and everyone understands that it was not David’s fault. It may be that the writer of this part of the saga was aware of accusations that David had broken his vow and was exacting revenge on his enemies, and so tells the story in this way to exonerate David.

Mark 6: 47-56 What’s Mark about?
Jesus walks on the water in a storm. This is another miracle with a meaning. Walking on the water in a storm (not walking across a swimming pool!) means that God is king over all storms. The storms are starting to arise—Herod has started hunting Jesus, and his hometown has turned against him. We have hope when under attack because God in Jesus can walk right through the storms in our lives.

This week’s collect:

Readings for Tuesday July 27

Tuesday July 27 Pentecost 9

Psalm 68
A song of joy that God drives away evil and cares for the needy just as God rescued God’s people long ago from Egypt and drove out all the other kings so they could settle in the land God had promised. Can we cultivate the expectation that God will triumph over all the selfish international powers of our day?

The violent images part way through are a way of expressing how completely God’s goodness and justice will remove all evil and exploitative powers.

2 Samuel 3: 6-21 What’s Samuel about?
Abner, one of the commanders serving Saul’s household is insulted by an accusation made by Saul’s son that he had violated one of Saul’s royal concubines and was thus trying to start a new royal lineage in his own name. Enraged by this accusation, Abner defects to join David and offers to bring the rest of the country into loyalty to David. David agrees on condition that Michal, Saul’s daughter to whom he was engaged (in this version of the story) be brought as his wife, thus ensuring that he, David, will be the head of a lineage that will unite his kingship with that of Saul. However, Michal is already married and her husband is in deep mourning that his wife will be given to King David. Yet again, the storyteller is saying, David takes someone else’s wife. David continues to consolidate power over the whole country by making peace with those still loyal to Saul.

There are perspectives in these stories from writers who thought of David as the ideal king loyal to God, and those who understood that he continued Saul’s infidelity to the God of justice and thus began the moral depravity that resulted in their being exiled to Babylon half a millennium later.

Mark 6:30-46 What’s Mark about?
Just when there is danger that Jesus may be suspected of being a terrorist, he feeds 5,000 people and has 12 baskets left over from a tiny amount of original food. It’s a miracle with a meaning. No matter how little food there is, or how little safety, or how little faith, God can take it and make it far more than we can imagine. The 12 baskets show that there is more than enough for all the Israelites who lived in 12 clans. In spite of King Herod starting to hunt Jesus, God will provide food of justice for the whole universe through Jesus’ execution and resurrection.

This week’s collect:

Readings for Monday July 26

Monday July 26 Pentecost 9

Psalm 64
The wicked are very clever, but God will defeat them, and everyone will be in awe at God’s power to restore goodness.

Psalm 65
God, you blot out our sins even though they are stronger than we, and just as generously you clothe creation with plenty, and with great goodness. God’s generosity extends to the furthermost ocean and to the gentle rain—water is a recurring image in this psalm. It ends with some other lovely images of hills, meadows, and valleys wearing clothes of joy and plenty.

2 Samuel 2: 1-11 What’s Samuel about?
David is anointed king by the people. But the commander of Saul’s army appoints one of Saul’s surviving sons as king in opposition to David. The struggle between the house of David and the house of Saul is continuing even after Saul’s death. How David responds to this act of treason will demonstrate his character.

Mark 6: 14-29 What’s Mark about?
King Herod executes Jesus’ cousin. Herod knew that John the Baptist was encouraging people to expect that God would overthrow the Roman empire, and so Herod considered John the Baptist to be a terrorist. Since Jesus was related to John and had joined John’s disciples and had been baptized by him not long before, it’s quite possible that Herod may execute Jesus, too, because anyone related to someone who has been beheaded is in imminent danger of execution themselves. As does indeed happen to Jesus. The threat to Jesus’ life is growing imminent.

This week’s collect: