Scriptures and Reflection Questions for July 3

Scriptures and Reflection Questions
Third Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 9, Year A, Track 1
July 3, 2011
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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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Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary
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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).  We've written some instructions on
how to use Lectio with the Sunday Scriptures at this link.

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The Lessons

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Psalm 45
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19,25-30

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Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

The servant said to Laban, "I am Abraham's servant. The LORD has greatly blessed
 my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver
 and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master's wife
bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has.
My master made me swear, saying, `You shall not take a wife for my son from the
daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall go to my father's
house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.'

"I came today to the spring, and said, `O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if
 now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the
 spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say,
"Please give me a little water from your jar to drink," and who will say to me,
"Drink, and I will draw for your camels also" -- let her be the woman whom the LORD
has appointed for my master's son.'

"Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her
water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to
her, `Please let me drink.' She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and
said, `Drink, and I will also water your camels.' So I drank, and she also watered
the camels. Then I asked her, `Whose daughter are you?' She said, `The daughter
of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the ring on her nose,
and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and
blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way
to obtain the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will
 deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I
may turn either to the right hand or to the left."

And they called Rebekah, and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" She said,
 "I will." So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham's
servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "May you, our sister,
become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of
their foes." Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed
the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. Now Isaac had come from
Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. Isaac went out in the evening to walk
in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. And Rebekah looked up, and when
she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, and said to the servant, "Who
 is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It
is my master." So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac
all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's
tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted
after his mother's death.

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What stands out to you in this story about Isaac's marriage to Rebekah?
How might this story instruct us?
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Psalm 45:11-18

"Hear, O daughter, consider and listen closely; *
     forget your people and your father's house.

The king will have pleasure in your beauty; *
     he is your master, therefore do him honor.

The people of Tyre are here with a gift; *
     the rich among the people seek your favor."

All glorious is the princess as she enters; *
     her gown is cloth-of-gold.

In embroidered apparel she is brought to the king; *
     after her the bridesmaids follow in procession.

With joy and gladness they are brought *
     and enter into the palace of the king.

"In place of fathers, O king, you shall have sons; *
     you shall make them princes over all the earth.

I will make your name to be remembered from one generation to another, *
     therefore nations will praise you for ever and ever."

                                        St. Helena Psalter

________

Here is a psalm that was probably written for a royal wedding.
How might you profitably read this psalm?
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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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When do you find yourself doing things that violate your own sense of right?
How does Paul's lamentation address you?______________________________________________

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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Sometimes we get so contorted by complexities that nothing seems clear.  Jesus criticizes
those who criticized John for his ascetic life while criticizing Jesus for his celebratory
life.

What simple truths do you find help guide and direct you?
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The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

Our Rule of Life:
   We aspire to...
     worship weekly
     pray daily
     learn constantly
     serve joyfully
     live generously.

Check our website:  www.stpaulsfay.org