Author: Harold

Thursday November 7          Pentecost 24

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Psalm 70
God can be trusted to deliver the poor from evil.

These two psalms are often used on Thursdays, the mini-anniversaries of the approach of Jesus’ death in the Garden of Gethsemane. Much of the imagery in these two psalms can be applied to Jesus being hunted, attacked, and seized, and to Jesus’ passionate prayers to be rescued by God.

Psalm 71
In old age I am filled with praise for the God who has rescued me in so many ways throughout my long life. People are attacking me now, but I trust in your salvation as you have acted for me all my life.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 44.1-15                            What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
Whether or not one is famous, one’s faithfulness is never lost. The first part of this passage, “Let us sing the praises of famous men,” has become popular to be read at funerals as a tribute to the person who had died. But the writer intended us to continue with the second half which gives equal praise and assurance for those who were not famous. The writer is insisting that the goodness of people lasts forever regardless of whether or not they are powerful and famous. All are equally of value.

Luke 13.18-30                            What’s Luke about?
Jesus says the kingdom will come as certainly as tiny seeds grow or as the pinch of yeast leavens a whole loaf. But at the same time there is urgency-we cannot passively rely on the kingdom arriving-that way lies failure to become alive as surely as if we had never responded to God.

This week’s collect:

Almighty God,
whose chosen servant Abraham obeyed your call,
rejoicing in your promise
that in him the family of the earth is blessed,
give us faith like his,
that in us your promises may be fulfilled;
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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Wednesday November 6          Pentecost 24

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Psalm 72
A prayer that the king will rule with justice for the poor, and that as a result all will have more than enough to live fully. This can easily applied as a prayer for our political leaders today.

Early Christians saw in this psalm, perhaps originally intended as a prayer that king David would rule with justice, an affirmation of the new world order being instituted by the birth of Christ.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 43.23-33                            What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
God is amazing to have created the world and we are in awe of God and give all the praise we are capable of.

Luke 13.10-17                            What’s Luke about?
Jesus is criticized for healing a woman bent over for eighteen years on the Sabbath. He points out that the religious rules allowed people to rescue an ox or donkey on the Sabbath but not a woman. The common people are delighted.

This week’s collect:

Almighty God,
whose chosen servant Abraham obeyed your call,
rejoicing in your promise
that in him the family of the earth is blessed,
give us faith like his,
that in us your promises may be fulfilled;
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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Tuesday November 5          Pentecost 24

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Psalm 61
I was burdened and God became my strength-be with me always.

Psalm 62
In face of evil, we trust in God to be our solid foundation.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 43.1-22                            What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
God is amazing to have created the various natural processes.

Luke 13.1-9                            What’s Luke about?
Groups of people have died in a massacre and another group in a construction accident. Jesus insists this was not because of any immoral act, but that if we aren’t enacting the kingdom we will lose our life just as certainly. Like a barren fig tree, there is still time left for us to bear fruit of love, but it is urgent that we do so.

This week’s collect:

Almighty God,
whose chosen servant Abraham obeyed your call,
rejoicing in your promise
that in him the family of the earth is blessed,
give us faith like his,
that in us your promises may be fulfilled;
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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Monday November 4          Pentecost 24

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Psalm 56
In the face of intense attack by evil, we trust that God will act for what is right.

Psalm 57
Another psalm expressing our trust that God will act for what is right in the face of intense attack by evil.

Psalm 58
An impassioned plea for evil to be overcome. We should read the violence not literally but as an expression of our determination that good will prevail.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 38.24-34                            What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
Although we are amazed at, and dependent upon, the skill of highly trained workers, it is those who give attention to God’s commands who lead the people. In this list of trades we see something of the variety of jobs in the Greek culture in which Israel was then immersed, and how their identity was under threat by impressive technology. It’s still true in our day-technology is impressive but it’s wisdom from God’s justice that will make the world a livable place.

Luke 12.49-59                            What’s Luke about?
Being committed to the kingdom involves painful decisions-you can predict the weather, so why aren’t you equally able to predict that the kingdom will come? It’s urgent and we must not avoid the possibility the kingdom can arrive at any moment.

This week’s collect:

Almighty God,
whose chosen servant Abraham obeyed your call,
rejoicing in your promise
that in him the family of the earth is blessed,
give us faith like his,
that in us your promises may be fulfilled;
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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Sunday November 3          Pentecost 24

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Psalm 24
While entering through the doors of the temple the poet sings a hymn of praise to God who brought order out of the dangerous primordial ocean. Appropriate for a Sunday as we enter into our worship.

Psalm 29
Astonishment at the overwhelming presence of God in nature who rules the untameable ocean and even makes mountains cavort like calves and oak trees “writhe” in a gale! We worship such a God, who makes such strength and peace available to us.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 36.1-17                           What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
Prayers that God will favour Jerusalem and the people against their oppressors.

Matthew 18.21-35                            What’s Matthew about?
Peter has realised that an expectation of extreme generosity is the norm in Jesus’ new society but Peter is sure there have to be limits. In response, Jesus makes the expectation of generosity virtually infinite. He illustrates this with a story he tells to Peter about a high-status slave who must have been a skilled accountant and has borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from his owner. When the slave pleads for mercy and for time to repay, his owner cancels the entire amount as if it were a trifle. But the same slave is then merciless to a poor slave and his family who owe him a trifling amount of money. Peter is right about their being limits to forgiving, but not in the way he thought. If we do not enact the unlimited forgiveness we have received, we put ourselves outside the kingdom of Jesus’ new society, the kingdom of life. That’s how serious Jesus is about enacting the generous inclusion of all-including even those who have hurt us.

This week’s collect:

Almighty God,
whose chosen servant Abraham obeyed your call,
rejoicing in your promise
that in him the family of the earth is blessed,
give us faith like his,
that in us your promises may be fulfilled;
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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Saturday November 2          Pentecost 23

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Psalm 55
I am terrified at what is happening. The city is full of corruption and my dear familiar friend has betrayed me. I will not cease imploring God to intervene and put things right.

Appropriate for a Saturday, when Jesus, betrayed by friends, waits in silence in the grave.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 35.1-17                            What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
How to pray well in the temple-God responds to acts of generosity.

Luke 12.32-48                            What’s Luke about?
Jesus says if we trust the kingdom we will be enabled to be more generous than we thought possible. Then we will be ready whenever the end of time, or our lives, comes. We would have been ready to defend our belongings if we knew when a thief was going to break in. How much more should we be alert and ready to act in ways that enable the kingdom to happen.

This week’s collect:

Lord God our redeemer,
who heard the cry of your people
and sent your servant Moses
to lead them out of slavery,
free us from the tyranny of sin and death,
and by the leading of your Spirit
bring us to our promised land;
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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Friday November 1          Pentecost 23

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Psalm 40
All my life God lifted me up and I rejoiced in God’s care. But now my own sin, and my enemies, have nearly destroyed me. Do not wait any longer, God!

Psalm 54
I am in dire straights. Put everything back to right, God. I praise you, because you have done that.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 34.1-8, 18-22                            What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
Using your dreams as a way of predicting the future or controlling life is to put your trust in illusions. The only priority which really pays off is trust in the God of justice. Then we will be safe.

Luke 12.13-31                            What’s Luke about?
Jesus rejects someone who wants to use him to enforce greed. Even if our greed succeeds, there is no knowing if that very night we might die – so what is the point of greed? Crows and flowers are looked after by God, so how much more must we be, so there’s no point in being greedy!

This week’s collect:

Lord God our redeemer,
who heard the cry of your people
and sent your servant Moses
to lead them out of slavery,
free us from the tyranny of sin and death,
and by the leading of your Spirit
bring us to our promised land;
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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Thursday October 31          Pentecost 23

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Psalm 50
This psalm imagines God’s response to the people carrying out their religious practices but doing evil and abandoning justice. Rather than simply reacting or punishing, God lays out the case as if God were taking them to court-the idea is that God is being completely fair and getting an unbiased opinion about what the people have done. They have refused to be thankful for what God has done for them in rescuing them from Egypt and have substituted religion for being just to their own poor people and if this continues there will be consequences, but if they return to justice and thanksgiving all will be well.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 31.12-18, 25-32.2                            What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
Advice about good table manners regarding food and wine and presiding at feasts.

Luke 11.53-12.12                            What’s Luke about?
After Jesus’ scathing criticism of religious leaders yesterday it is no wonder they begin to plan to execute him. If Jesus is in danger, that means his disciples will be, too. But Jesus encourages his disciples not to be concerned about physical persecution but to be concerned about those who could take away their trust in the kingdom. If sparrows and hairs are individually counted by God, how much more we can trust in God’s power and care for us. Abandoning the kingdom by following greed is to abandon life because we already have everything we need in God’s kingdom.
The “sin against the Holy Spirit” is best understood where Jesus first mentioned it, in Mark’s gospel, the one written closest to Jesus’ life. In Mark it is clear that people who deliberately describe love and truth as if they were evil have crossed a boundary after which, if they continue to deny that good things that are actually good, then they don’t want to change, and so forgiveness doesn’t happen for them. If they really insist good things are evil, then they are rejecting the good forgiveness that God wants them to have and they will call that forgiveness evil. God’s love is so deep God won’t force them to accept forgiveness and so they aren’t because they don’t want to be forgiven. Have a look at Mark 3: 21-30.

This week’s collect:

Lord God our redeemer,
who heard the cry of your people
and sent your servant Moses
to lead them out of slavery,
free us from the tyranny of sin and death,
and by the leading of your Spirit
bring us to our promised land;
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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Wednesday October 30          Pentecost 23

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Psalm 119 Part 3
Psalm 119 is a meditation on responding to God’s call to justice. Each of the 176 verses is a variation on the theme of what it means to follow God’s call to justice, using terms such as “command”,”law”, “word”, “statute”, and the like. The psalm is arranged in 22 groups of eight verses-one group for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Within a group, each of the eight verses starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the groups are in Hebrew alphabetical order. So 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 human expressions of order. Thus the human world and the rest of creation are united in the same foundation. Today’s three sections begin with the letters Z, H, and Th (in Hebrew alphabetical order). As you read them, imagine the effect of each line in today’s first section beginning with “Z” and so on.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 28.14-26                            What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
Slandering people has terrible consequences-keep your tongue under control or you will become the victim.

Luke 11.37-52                            What’s Luke about?
Washing before a meal was not about hygiene as it would be for us, but was a religious ceremony to demonstrate that you were worthy to eat the meal. When Jesus omits this ceremony he is criticized and uses that as an opportunity to call for a deeper worthiness demonstrated not by ceremony but by commitment to care for the poor. For wealthy people to think that tithing the tiniest herbs, which cost them nothing, or being a person of public honour is the way to be holy is actually to have died and to be forgotten in your grave. Religious lawyers, too, who pride themselves on knowledge of scripture, are using that knowledge to make peoples’ lives more difficult and to support attacks on people who are following God’s call to justice. These are excoriating criticisms of using faith and religion as a way to get rich and powerful. No wonder the powerful leaders are beginning to plan Jesus’ execution.

This week’s collect:

Lord God our redeemer,
who heard the cry of your people
and sent your servant Moses
to lead them out of slavery,
free us from the tyranny of sin and death,
and by the leading of your Spirit
bring us to our promised land;
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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Tuesday October 29          Pentecost 23

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Psalm 45
A poem about King David, using the imagery of an ancient oriental king, describing his personal and public magnificence and the glory of his relationship with the queen. Note that his prime duty is to serve truth and justice.

We can read this poem as a description of our own fulfilled self and relationships which have been made possible for us in union with Christ’s resurrection.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 24.1-12                           What’s Ecclesiasticus about?
Wisdom speaks of her role in creating the world and that God has assigned Jerusalem as her home. This was of great support to Jews living in the culture where Greek thought and religion were universally affirmed and where Jewish faith was despised.

Luke 11.27-36                            What’s Luke about?
Jesus challenges assumptions about the absolute priority of deep family loyalty-those who follow God’s justice are closer to him than his own mother. Jesus challenges the demand for proof of his right to speak for God-the only proof that will be given is that of demanding repentance from siding with oppression -as Jonah demanded repentance from Ninevah. Jesus is demanding the same from his own people, but great sinners from the past will criticize his own people for not having welcomed the kingdom. He insists that if we have seen the kingdom we must show it-like a lamp raised up to give light, the kingdom isn’t for our private comfort but for the life of the whole world.

This week’s collect:

Lord God our redeemer,
who heard the cry of your people
and sent your servant Moses
to lead them out of slavery,
free us from the tyranny of sin and death,
and by the leading of your Spirit
bring us to our promised land;
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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