Scriptures for August 13

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.)

August 13, 2006
10th Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 14, Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 34:1-8
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51

1 Kings 19:4-8
But Elijah himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came
and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might
die: "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no
better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the broom tree
and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,
"Get up and eat." He looked, and there at his head was a cake
baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and
lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched
him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too
much for you." He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the
strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the
mount of God.
______________

Elijah has just finished the successful conflict with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel where he demonstrated the power of God and killed these rivals. He has called for an end of the drought and the rain began. Yet, Jezebel has sworn to kill Elijah, so in fear Elijah flees for his life. He travels to Horeb (also called Sinai) the mountain of God, nurtured by the angel and fasting like Moses forty days and forty nights.

Have you ever accomplished something important only to find yourself stuck or challenged beyond your capacity? What happened? What did you do? What does this story say about those situations?
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Psalm 34:1-8
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; *
his praise shall ever be in my mouth.
2 I will glory in the Lord; *
let the humble hear and rejoice.
3 Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord;
let us exalt his Name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me *
and delivered me out of all my terror.
5 Look upon him and be radiant, *
and let not your faces be ashamed.
6 I called in my affliction and the Lord heard me *
and saved me from all my troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encompasses those who fear him, *
and he will deliver them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; *
happy are they who trust in him!
_______________

This is the psalm of one who is living with great threat and fear.
Remember a time when you were greatly afraid. Re-read this psalm. What does it say to you?
____________________________________________________

Ephesians 4:25-32, 5:1-2
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to
our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do
not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not
make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather
let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to
have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out
of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there
is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And
do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked
with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all
bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander,
together with all malice, and be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has
forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,
and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a
fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
________________

There is conflict within the church underlying these admonitions. How does this read to you as advice given for people who live as a community that is experiencing conflict?
_________________________________________________________

John 6:35, 41-51
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me
will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty.

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said,
"I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying,
"Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we
know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus
answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can
come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise
that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets,
'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and
learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the
Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.
Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am
the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the
wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from
heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will
live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the
world is my flesh."
_________________________

In John's Gospel, the people who listen to the words of Jesus and think of them literally always miss the point and fall into argument. Those who can listen metaphorically and believe receive the gift of "eternal life." (And in John's Gospel, "eternal life" is a quality of life, not a quantity of life.)

What does the metaphor "I am the bread of life" mean to you?
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On most weekdays I send a Morning Reflection to this same list, offering a thought about the readings from the Daily Office.

Lowell

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