Scriptures & Questions for August 17

14 Pentecost, Proper 15
Year A
August 17, 2008
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

How to use this page:

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.

For a method to read and pray with the scriptures you might try to use the ancient practice of Lectio Divina (Divine Reading). I've written some instructions on how to use Lectio with the Sunday Scriptures at the following link:
Using Lectio Divina to pray the lections – http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id272.html

We use the Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary.

Collect
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Scriptures

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
Psalm 67
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15: 21-28

Isaiah 56:1,6-8

Thus says the LORD:
Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.
And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
and hold fast my covenant--
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord GOD,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.

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In a tribal culture, how surprising must this prophesy have been?
What does this say to us?
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Psalm 67 Deus misereatur

Be merciful to us, O God, and bless us, *
show us the light of your countenance and come to us.

Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations upon earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has brought forth its increase; *
may you, our own God, give us your blessing.

May you give us your blessing, *
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of you.

(St. Helena Psalter)

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Imagine you are reading this as a Hindu in India, a Buddhist in Vietnam, a Muslim in Iran. How would you hear this psalm?
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Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

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The Jews have rejected Jesus. They do not acknowledge him as Messiah. Christians are being expelled from synagogues. Paul is certain that Jews have failed to recognize God's Messiah in Jesus. Yet, Paul is certain that the Jews are included in God's salvation, and he rejoices that their "disobedience" has opened the way of God to Gentiles. What might this say to us about other non-Christians?
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Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus left Gennesaret and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.

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Imagine the cultural prejudices present in this story. This person is a Canaanite (dog). This person is a woman. The barriers between her and a Jewish Rabbi are profound. What happens?
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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:
Praying the Scriptures with Lectio (http://www.stpaulsfay.org/id272.html)