Scriptures and Reflection Questions for October 2

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior;  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
Year A
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Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

From Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die." Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin." "

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How might you incorporate the 10 Commandments into your own life?

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Psalm 19

The heavens declare your glory, O God, *

      and the firmament shows your handiwork.

One day tells its tale to another, *
     and one night imparts knowledge to another.

Although they have no words or language, *

     and their voices are not heard,

Their sound has gone out into all lands, *

     and their message to the ends of the world.

In the deep you have set a pavilion for the sun; *

     it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
     it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; *

     nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

Your law, O God, is perfect and revives the soul; *

     your testimony is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.

Your statutes are just and rejoice the heart; *

     your commandment is clear and gives light to the eyes.

The fear of you is clean and endures for ever; *

     your judgments are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, *

      sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

By them also is your servant enlightened, *

     and in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern unwitting sins? *

     Cleanse me from my secret faults.

Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; *

     then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, *

     O God, my strength and my redeemer.

Saint Helena Psalter

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What do you desire "more than much fine gold"?

What are your "secret faults" and "presumptuous sins"?  _______________________________________

Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

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Paul claims that he met the requirements for righteousness as an observant Jew, but it did not satisfy him. What would you say might have been missing for him?

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Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time."

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures:

`The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes'?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

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What does this parable mean to you?

What do you think Matthew wants to say when he interprets the parable as speaking about the chief priests and Pharisees?

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