Lectionary Reading for the Week

  Readings for July 18, 2010 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Amos 8:1-12. Context. Amos was active most likely between 760 and 750 BCE. He is the first of the religious figures in the biblical story that proclaim the end of Israel. This week’s reading consists of the fourth and last of the visions revealed to Amos. As in the previous vision, the Lord shows Amos and object, the word for which becomes the basis of a word play: "summer fruit" in Hebrew is kayits (rhymes with "buy its") echoed in the Lord’s next pronouncement with the word kets (rhymes with "baits") meaning "end". Understood this way, the vision isn’t so cryptic. As with the previous vision, the destruction of Israel that is about to happen is the consequence of economic injustice and the plight of the poor in a land that claims to follow a God that stands up for the poor.

This is what the Lord GOD showed me--a basket of summer fruit. He said, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day," says the Lord GOD; "the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!" Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, "When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat." The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? On that day, says the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day. The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.

Reflection. The Bible speaks again and again about God’s "preferential option" for the poor. This week’s reading suggests what is in store for those who don’t share God’s preference. While there will always be some people who will have more than others, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened almost beyond comprehension in recent decades. What is a Christian response to this situation? What is your response?

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Psalm 52. Context. This week's psalm pits the "mighty one," who trusts in his fleeting, worldly wealth and power and will countenance any evil to maintain them, against the "righteous" who find their security in trusting in God’s love. The superscription of the psalm suggests that it was written by David while he was being persecuted by King Saul.

Why do you boast, O mighty one, of mischief done against the godly? All day long you are plotting destruction. Your tongue is like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery. You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking the truth. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous will see, and fear, and will laugh at the evildoer, saying, "See the one who would not take refuge in God, but trusted in abundant riches, and sought refuge in wealth!" But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because of what you have done. In the presence of the faithful I will proclaim your name, for it is good.

Reflection. When we look around us, it seems like the "mighty ones" do quite well for themselves. Occasionally one gets caught in a lie or a shady deal, but for the most part they live quite comfortably. The children of the poor fight their wars for them, while they and their friends reap the material benefits. It’s tempting to emulate their example. If we believe that true wealth and security comes from trusting in a loving God, how will that shape our witness in the world?

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Colossians 1:15-28. Context. Colossae was a small town in the Lycus Valley in central Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) that was destroyed by an earthquake around 61 AD. It is generally thought that the letter to the Christians at Colossae was written by one of Paul's disciples following Paul's death – perhaps Timothy, the co-

sender of this letter. It shares with the "undisputed" letters of Paul an emphasis on the all-sufficiency of Christ for our reconciliation with God. It takes a cosmic view of Christ's reconciling work, including not just human beings but all of creation, and criticizes those who advocated a certain "philosophy" based on a cycle of fasting and other ascetical practices with the goal of invoking "angels" and the "elemental powers of the universe" in a semi-magical attempt at controlling their lives apart from their relationship with Christ. This week’s reading falls into three parts: the first part is a description of the cosmic Christ, in whom "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell," stressing the all-sufficiency of Christ. The second part reminds the letter’s readers and hearers of their reconciliation to God through Christ. And the third part is the Apostle’s commendation of his mission to proclaim the Gospel and make known the "mystery," the now "opened secret" of God’s love even for Gentiles.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-- provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Reflection. In these verses, the author stresses the cosmic fullness of Christ: there is no other way to get to God. No gimmicks, no tricks. Just living our lives in the knowledge and love of God, sure of our reconciliation with God through Christ, and steadfast in doing what is pleasing to God. That should be enough for anyone!

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Luke 10:38-42. Context. This week’s reading that tells the story of Mary and Martha is a complement to the story of the lawyer’s question and the parable of the Good Samaritan: the parable shows the outcast Samaritan to be the one who loves his neighbor; the story of Mary and Martha portrays a woman as a disciple and lover of God – she would be excluded from this role in her society. Martha becomes the foil: a would-be disciple distracted, even overwhelmed, by the mundane details of life.

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

Reflection. If you would follow Jesus, you needs must love both God and neighbor: to be deliberate in helping those who lack the necessities of life: food, shelter, security, justice, love; and to be deliberate in loving God through study and reflection, praise and prayer. How do you score on this two-fold scale

 
 

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