Scriptures for July 2

Here are the scripture readings for this upcoming Sunday.

Suggestion: Print this and read a different passage each day and think about it (some questions are offered to help stimulate your reflection).

You'll find your experience of worship on Sunday will be intensified.

If you would like to comment on these scriptures or have some on-line conversation about them, please go to sundayscriptures@blogspot.com, find these readings, and click the "comments" button at the bottom.


July 2, 2006
4 Pentecost, (Proper 8) Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
Psalm 30
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Mark 5:21-43


Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
God did not make death, and he does not delight in the
death of the living. For he created all things so that they might
exist; the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and
there is no destructive poison in them, and the dominion of Hades
is not on earth. For righteousness is immortal.
For God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image
of his own eternity, but through the devil's envy death entered the
world, and those who belong to his company experience it.
___________

What do you make of this passage?
(note: the book of Wisdom is from the Apocrypha)
___________________________________________________

Psalm 30
1 I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have lifted me up *
and have not let my enemies triumph over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried out to you, *
and you restored me to health.
3 You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead; *
you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.
4 Sing to the Lord, you servants of his; *
give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.
5 For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, *
his favor for a lifetime.
6 Weeping may spend the night, *
but joy comes in the morning.
7 While I felt secure, I said, "I shall never be disturbed. *
You, Lord, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains."
8 Then you hid your face, *
and I was filled with fear.
9 I cried to you, O Lord; *
I pleaded with the Lord, saying,
10 "What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit? *
will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?
11 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; *
O Lord, be my helper."
12 You have turned my wailing into dancing; *
you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.
13 Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; *
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever.
________________

Have you ever experienced desperation like the psalmist in verses 8-11?
Have you ever experienced deliverance as it verses 1-7, 12-13?
How was your response like that of the psalmist?
How was your response different from the psalmist?
________________

2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Now as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in
knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you --
so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the
genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.
For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this
matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who
began last year not only to do something but even to desire
to do something-- now finish doing it, so that your eagerness
may be matched by completing it according to your means.
For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according
to what one has--not according to what one does not have.
I do not mean that there should be relief for others and
pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between
your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance
may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.
As it is written,
"The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little."
___________

The subject of this passage is fund raising. Paul is raising a collection for the poor and beleaguered church in Judea. Read the passage again with that in mind.
What do you think of appeals like this?
How does this connect with your own stewardship?
Your pledge to St. Paul's? Your other charity?
Your own views of our financial interdependency?
________________________________________________

Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a
great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one
of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he
saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, "My little
daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on
her, so that she may be made well, and live." So he went with
him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now
there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for
twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had
spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew
worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the
crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his
clothes, I will be made well." Immediately her hemorrhage
stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her
disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my
clothes?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd
pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'" He looked
all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what
had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before
him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter,
your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your
disease."
While he was still speaking, some people came from the
leader's house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the
teacher any further?" But overhearing what they said, Jesus said
to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe." He
allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the
brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of
the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing
loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, "Why do you make a
commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping." And they
laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the
child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went
in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her,
"Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" And
immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was
twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.
He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told
them to give her something to eat.
___________

What strikes you first about this story?

According to 1st century Jewish law, a woman who has a hemorrhage is ritually unclean. Anyone who touches her is unclean also. Presumably she would also be infertile. A girl of twelve is at the onset of womanhood, and thus able to become a mother. How do those cultural understandings affect your reading and interpretation of this story?