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Lectionary Notes -19th Sunday after Pentecost
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Readings for
19th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/21/08:
Exodus 16:2-15, Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45, Philippians
1:21-30, Matthew 20:1-16
Exodus 16:2-15:
- "rain bread from heaven for you" I'm mindful of the
famine in Niger. If we can't take care of each other by feeding our neighbors,
perhaps God could rain down some more manna.
- the people must learn to depend on God day by day,
trusting for each moment in God's guidance. They aren't great at it, but they
learn that God can be trusted, their faith put in God. Could you live in such
a day-to-day way? We like to have our plans all laid out.
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45:
- Here we go - this Psalm showing up for the 4th time
this summer. Of course, parts of this Psalm have been following along with our
Exodus story. But still...
- Verses 1-5 are right on target for me: Remember to
praise God all the time, because God has done some pretty amazing things for
you. It is amazing how easily we forget God's role in all that we claim as our
own goodness.
- I do like verses 39-45: the people ask, God responds.
God tries to meet every need.
- 45b makes a nice end, while skipping many verses:
"praise God!"
Philippians 1:21-30:
- the dilemma - living in the world or retreating to a
spiritual place where we are 'safe' - this isn't exactly Paul's dilemma - he's
talking more literal life and death. but we can related to his dilemma maybe,
by thinking of the "in the world" or "of the world" tug of war.
- "live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of
Christ" - yes. The hard thing about sharing the gospel is when the sharers
aren't living the things they're sharing! We try, we are imperfect. But we
need to try!
Matthew
20:1-16:
- this is one of the hardest parables for us, I think. It
goes against everything about our values - American work ethic and all. You
work hard, you get rewarded proportionally. The idea that someone else could
do less than us and get the same pay is totally frustrating, isn't it?
- This is the side of grace we don't like to hear about,
I think. We struggle with whether or not we can accept grace for ourselves,
but when it comes to who else gets God's grace, and how they get it, it
becomes a lot trickier, and we wish there were more rules about it...
Pastor’s Note: (I use the Greek-English
Lexicon from Liddell and Scott, the “little Liddell”
and the Metzger et. al Greek New Testament in my translation work.)
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