Scriptures for September 10

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 and click the "comments" button at the bottom.

(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.)

September 10, 2006
14th Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 18, Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm 146
James 2:1-10,(11-13),14-17
Mark 7:24-37

Isaiah 35:4-7a
Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible
recompense. He will come and save you."
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of
the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the
tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth
in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand
shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.
___________________

Imagine living your life with no fears. How does that feel?
What would it take to trust God so much that you had no fear?
___________________________________________________

Psalm 146
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, O my soul! *
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
2 Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.
3 When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.
4 Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! *
whose hope is in the Lord their God;
5 Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;
6 Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.
7 The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; *
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
8 The Lord loves the righteous;
the Lord cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
9 The Lord shall reign for ever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!
________________

What differences does this psalm emphasize between the rule of human powers and the rule of God?
What attitudes reflect the priorities of God?
__________________________________________________

James 2:1-17
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism
really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person
with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and
if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take
notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat
here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand
there," or, "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions
among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen,
my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in
the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that
he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored
the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who
drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent
name that was invoked over you?
You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you
show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one
point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said,
"You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder."
Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have
become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those
who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be
without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy
triumphs over judgment.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have
faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or
sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to
them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do
not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith
by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
__________________

Where do you see advocacy for the poor in our culture?
Where do you see partiality against the poor?
What does it mean to say that "mercy triumphs over judgment"?
What does it mean to say that faith without works is dead?
__________________________________________________

Mark 7:24-37
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He
entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet
he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had
an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and
bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of
Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of
her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for
it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the
dogs." But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table
eat the children's crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying
that, you may go -- the demon has left your daughter." So she went
home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of
Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.
They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his
speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him
aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his
ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven,
he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And
immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he
spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the
more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They
were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything
well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
___________________

Who in our age do some think of as the dogs under the table?
When have you felt that you have had an experience of opening?
When have you found yourself being given voice to some new consciousness?
_____________________________________________________

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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