Scriptures for July 16

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.

(St. Paul's uses the Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary readings which are a little different from the Prayer Book Lections. The recent General Convention authorized the RCL as our official lectionary.)

July 16, 2006
6 Pentecost, (Proper 10) Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29

Amos 7:7-15
This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall
built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the
Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb
line." Then the Lord said,
"See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass them by;
the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel,sent to King Jeroboam of Israel,
saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the
house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus
Amos has said,
'Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'"
And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of
Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again
prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple
of the kingdom."

Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's
son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and
the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said
to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
________________

Amaziah the priest of the official sanctuary at Bethel rebukes Amos for speaking what he believes to be against Israel's King Jeroboam. Amos claims he speaks for God.

Power never likes to be challenged by religious voices. Usually there are religious authorities who will speak on both sides of political issues. How do you know who speaks for God?
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Psalm 85:8-13
8 I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, *
for he is speaking peace to his faithful people
and to those who turn their hearts to him.
9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, *
that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together; *
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring up from the earth, *
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 The Lord will indeed grant prosperity, *
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him, *
and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.
_________________

This is a prayer for a nation. Read it as if it were written for our people.
What thoughts come to you?
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Ephesians 1:3-14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in
love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus
Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise
of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the
Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his
grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has
made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness
of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and
things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,
having been destined according to the purpose of him who
accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so
that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live
for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed
in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;
this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's
own people, to the praise of his glory.
______________

Read this lyrical passage as your own prayer of thanksgiving and praise for all that God has done for us.
(Note: the "we" probably refers to Paul and other Jewish Christians who first proclaimed Jesus as Messiah; the "you" probably refers to the Gentile Christians who heard the teaching of the church.)
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Mark 6:14-29
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some
were saying, "John the baptizer has been raised from the dead;
and for this reason these powers are at work in him." But others
said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one
of the prophets of old." But when Herod heard of it, he said,
"John, whom I beheaded, has been raised."

For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him,
and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's
wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling
Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him.
But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was
a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard
him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him.
But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a
banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of
Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she
pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl,
"Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it." And he
solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you,
even half of my kingdom." She went out and said to her
mother, "What should I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John
the baptizer." Immediately she rushed back to the king and
requested, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the
Baptist on a platter." The king was deeply grieved; yet out of
regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to
refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with
orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the
prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl.
Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard
about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
____________

How would you describe the relationship between Herod and John as Mark presents it?
Have you ever made a decision out of regard for something outside yourself which may have conflicted with your inner convictions? Did you feel haunted by that decision?
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Lowell

The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas