As there is a combined July/August issue of the Methodist Newsletter, the July Lectionary has been published in that issue and the August Lectionary is as below:
AUGUST
This month we abandon Mark’s Gospel temporarily, to look in some detail at John chapter 6, which we began last week. Jesus teases out the different dimension of life which He offers. Other readings tease out the connections between private and public life, sorrow and forgiveness, wisdom and prayer, seeing and doing…
August 1st: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
2Samuel 11:26-12:13a or Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15; Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 78:23-29; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35
Life as a whole
Be sure your sins will find you out! Despite all David’s attempts at a cover-up, which we saw last week, the prophet Nathan confronts him and tells him a parable of injustice, which leads him to pronounce judgement on himself – unwittingly, until Nathan tells him: ‘You are the man!’ (v7). ‘I have sinned,’ David confesses. Psalm 51 relates to this, as is made clear in its heading. Nathan predicts (13:10-12) that trouble will dog the royal family henceforth; and sadly, as we shall discover next week, David’s immorality and violence are replicated in his sons, and the kingdom starts to fall apart. We could perhaps think of contemporary examples of the impossibility of keeping one’s private life separate from a high-profile public life.
Balance your diet! In John 6, a crowd of people who were among those miraculously fed by Jesus (v1-13) have followed Him, keen to make Him their leader. But they are only interested in what Jesus can do for them physically: feeding and healing. Jesus wants them to pay more attention to what He can do for them spiritually (27). Only He, the bread of life, can provide complete satisfaction: food for the whole person -body, mind and spirit.
Paul in Ephesians 4 describes the wholeness of life in the way that God’s various gifts are distributed to different people. All combined, they bring completeness to the whole community of Christ, preparing them for service and enabling them to grow in the faith. I love the idea of ‘supporting ligaments’ (v16, NIV.) Ligaments are a part of us which we might ignore until they’re damaged, and then we realise how important they are!
Help us, Lord, to spend less time working for what’s perishable, and more seeking what’s truly life-giving. Amen.
One human family God has made, and all for each to care.
One world, to be the home of all, with all its wealth to share.
One Christ, to manifest on earth love’s ultimate design,
One Church to know the mystery of broken bread and wine. (StF 687)
August 8th: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
2Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 or 1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 130 or Psalm 34:1-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
Sorrow
My son! My Son! In today’s reading from 2Samuel, David loses a much-loved son. In between last week’s passage and this week’s is the account of how David’s sons followed in their father’s footsteps: one, Amnon, rapes his sister, and another, Absalom, kills Amnon and eventually conspires against David, sleeps with David’s concubines, and is accepted by many as king. Today we read of how even now, David wishes no harm to his son (v5), but that during the battle Joab ignores David’s instructions, seizes his opportunity and kills Absalom (14-15). When a messenger arrives to report on the battle, David’s first thought is for his son (v32). He’s devastated at the news: If only I had died instead of you! (v33).
In John 6, Jesus, still talking about the living bread, tells the people, ‘This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ (v51)
During the crucifixion scene in Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ, a large tear is seen falling from heaven as the Son of God dies. As Jesus literally gives His flesh for the life of the world, we might imagine the Father echoing David’s words: My Son! My Son! We might also note the same attitude in David as we experience in God: despite Absalom’s rebellion, he still loves him. Despite all of our rebellious ways, God still loves us, (Psalm 130:4 affirms, ‘With you is forgiveness’) and in Jesus, God has indeed died instead of us.
Sorrow is inescapable in this life. Sometimes it can make us bitter. But Paul counsels the Ephesians to copy God (5:1): to renounce negative emotions and behaviour, and forgive one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. (4:31-32)
Lord, forgiving can be hard, but help me to remember how much you have forgiven me, and to do as you did. Amen.
How deep the pain of searing loss – the Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the chosen one bring many sons to glory. (MP 988)
August 15th: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 or Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 111 or Psalm 34:9-14; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
The need for wisdom
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10.) David when he’s about to die gives Solomon instructions about how to treat various men who have served under him (1Kings 2:1-9) and he twice refers to Solomon’s wisdom (v6&9).
Perhaps Solomon is less convinced of his wisdom than David is! – and in chapter 3 we read that when in a dream he’s invited to make a request, he asks the Lord for wisdom. Faced with disputes within his family and a less than stable coalition of tribes in the nation of Israel, he needs all the wisdom he can get!
As they say, it’s easy to be wise after the event. For us who know the end of the gospel story, as well as having the benefit of two thousand years of Church history behind us, it’s easy to see what Jesus is driving at when He talks about His flesh giving life to the world. But it’s also easy to see how the Jews could misinterpret it (v51.) The thought of drinking blood would have been shocking to a Jew, who was to avoid ingesting blood (Leviticus 7:26-27.) Talk of eating human flesh would have smacked of cannibalism.
Paul stresses to the Ephesians the importance of living wisely: Watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times. (v16, TM). These are still desperate times! Wisdom for navigating the minefields of modern living only comes as we feed on Jesus – physically, mentally and spiritually, in Holy Communion, and through the Bible and prayer – and allow him to permeate our whole being. Not only do we need wisdom, but so do national and local governments as they try to deal with crises, prejudices and corruption. Let’s not neglect to pray for them.
Lord, would you please grant wisdom and compassion to leaders of nations and enable them to make good decisions. Amen.
Speak, O Lord, as we come to you to receive the truth of your holy word.
Take your truth, plant it deep in us; shape and fashion us in your likeness…
(StF 161)
August 22nd: Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time
1Kings 8:(1,6,10-11) 22-30, 41-43 or Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18; Psalm 84 or Psalm 34:15-22; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-79
Prayerfulness
How lovely is your dwelling place. O LORD Almighty! So begins Psalm 84, which speaks of the joy of God’s house and the protection it affords (v3.)
This psalm was obviously written after David’s death, since David was told not to build a temple but to leave it for his son Solomon to accomplish. We read today how Solomon has now finished the building, and we have part of his prayer of dedication; it’s worth reading the whole thing.
Paul writes to the Ephesians of the importance for Christians of being fully armed against evil and temptation. As well as all the defensive pieces – helmet, body armour, shield etc – he mentions one means of attack: the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. But then he mentions a surrounding bulwark: prayer. Pray ‘all kinds of prayers’ ‘on all occasions’ ‘for all the saints.’ Always keep on praying!
The start of this week’s reading from John 6 revisits a couple of verses which we read last week. Look at verse 57: Jesus lives, He says, because of the living Father who sent Him. Jesus, the Word spoken by the Father, maintains His earthly life and close connection with His Father by prayer; we often read that He steals away on His own, early in the morning and late at night, to pray. If Jesus needs to stay connected in this way, how much more do we!
Free to choose! When some of the disciples, made uncomfortable by Jesus’ talk of eating His flesh, decide to leave, the Twelve remain. Where else would they go? They sense that Jesus is the connecting link between earth and heaven, flesh and spirit. This is a moment when they own their faith – something each of us has to do for him- or herself.
We taste thee, O Thou living bread, and long to feast upon thee still…
(H&P 258; StF 365)
August 29th: Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Song of Solomon 2:8-13 or Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 45:1-2,6-9 or Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
The time has come!
The Song of Songs is a book often avoided as too racy! or else it’s over-spiritualised. Today’s passage includes an invitation from a young man to his beloved: Come with me! The time is right! She has been eagerly watching for him (v8), and now he’s here!
The time has come! Psalm 45 celebrates the king on his wedding day. How we look forward to occasions like this – our own or someone else’s – and how glad we are when the day arrives!
The time has come! Jesus begins His ministry with these words (Mark 1:15.) In today’s gospel we see Him apparently contradicting the food laws laid down in the Law of Moses, although it isn’t something He says publicly! He only says it to His disciples (v17.) There are no ‘unclean’ foods which can defile a person; only thoughts coming from within oneself can do that (20-22.) But the point of what He says is that with Him, a new age is beginning, when the truth will make people free (John 8:32.) Mark is probably writing somewhere outside the Holy Land and so presumably for Gentiles (hence his explanation of Jewish traditions in v4) and he wants to make clear that Jewish food laws don’t need to be followed by Gentile Christians. Acts 15:28-29 bears this out.
While we may look forward to pleasant events (maybe just recently it was the relaxing of lock-down restrictions!) there are other things we don’t look forward to and would put off for as long as possible! James’ letter counsels us to act on what we see; God’s word holds up a mirror to our inner selves, and sometimes we may prefer not to look, for fear of what we might see. But putting off the encounter only makes it harder. Having glimpsed our sorry state, we should want to make changes. It’s all too easy to put it off. However, Jesus invites us to deal with it; and the time is now – or else, it may be never…
Lord, may I never simply pay you lip service. Help me to repent of what needs to be dealt with, and to deal with it – now! Amen.
Almighty God, we come to make confession,
for we have sinned in thought and word and deed.
We now repent in honesty and sorrow; forgive us, Lord, and meet us in our need. (StF 419)
