July 6, 2008; Proper 9

Collect

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor:
Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole
heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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The Scriptures

Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145: 8 - 15
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

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Zechariah 9:9-12

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.

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The prophet imagines the restoration of a Messianic reign.
What are the features of the Reign of God's Anointed?
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Psalm 145:8-15 Exaltabo te, Deus

You are gracious and full of compassion, *
slow to anger and of great kindness.

You are loving to everyone, *and your compassion is over all your works.

All your works praise you, O God, *
and your faithful servants bless you.

They make known the glory of your realm *
and speak of your power,

That the peoples may know of your power *
and the glorious splendor of your dominion.

Yours, O God, is an everlasting reign; *
your dominion endures throughout all ages.

You are faithful in all your words *
and merciful in all your deeds.

You uphold all those who fall; *
you lift up those who are bowed down.

(St. Helena Psalter)

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How is this a psalm you can pray during the week of our Independence Day?
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Romans 7:15-25a

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do
the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that
the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin
that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me,
that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not
do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I
do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but
sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when
I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in
the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law
at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin
that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me
from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our
Lord!
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How does this passage connect with your own life? Do you ever find yourself in
a similar condition to what Paul describes? How do you resolve it?
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Matthew 11:16-19,25-30

Jesus said to the crowd, "To what will I compare this generation? It is like
children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
`We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.'

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a demon';
the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Look, a glutton
and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is
vindicated by her deeds."

At that time Jesus said, "I thank you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things
from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;
yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been
handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the
Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom
the Son chooses to reveal him.

"Come to me, all you that are
weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light."

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Why do the crowds criticize both John the Baptist and Jesus?
What is it about the "wise and intelligent" that puts them at risk from knowing
what the infants know?
How do you find rest for your soul?

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For a way to Pray with these scriptures, go to the following link for instructions about how to use Lectio Divina with the Sunday readings:
http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id272.html

June 29, 2008; Proper 8

The Scriptures Jeremiah 28:5-9 Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18 Romans 6:12-23 Matthew 10:40-42 Jeremiah 28:5-9 The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD; and the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet." _________________ This is prophet vs. prophet. The optimistic Hananiah has prophesied "peace," saying within two years the vessels of the Temple will be returned from Babylon back to Jerusalem. Jeremiah has prophesied bad news (as, he says, the prophets of old). Jeremiah snarls that it would be nice if Hananiah's happy words would come true, but he is skeptical. How much easier is it for you to hear good news, or news that matches your expectations? When have you heard bad news that yet rings true? What did you do in response? Who are the "bad news" prophets in our time? __________________________________________________________ Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18 Misericordias Domini Your love, O God, for ever will I sing; * from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness. For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever; * you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens. "I have made a covenant with my chosen one; * I have sworn an oath to David my servant: 'I will establish your line for ever, * and preserve your throne for all generations.' " Happy are the people who know the festal shout; * they walk, O God, in the light of your presence. They rejoice daily in your Name; * they are jubilant in your righteousness. For you are the glory of their strength, * and by your favor our might is exalted. Truly, God is our Ruler; * the Holy One of Israel is our Sovereign. (St. Helena Psalter) __________________ In this portion of Psalm 89 we rejoice in the rule of God accomplised through the faithful monarch. (Later in the psalm, we learn that the Davidic line has been defeated and cut off.) For what do you express hope and thanks for your nation? For what do you cry out in anguish and supplication for your nation? _________________________________________________________ Romans 6:12-23 Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. _______________________ What is your motivation for doing what is right? The avoidance of punishment? An attraction toward the good? Your sense of identity? How would you describe your motivation? __________________________________________________________ Matthew 10:40-42 Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward." ____________________ Imagine who might be a prophet, a righteous person, and a little one in our society? How might you welcome them? How is that a way to welcome Jesus? __________________________________________________________ For a way to Pray with these scriptures, go to the following link for instructions about how to use Lectio Divina with the Sunday readings: Praying the Scriptures with Lectio (http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id272.html)