Musings for Epiphany 8

Reflections by Joshua Brown and Elizabeth Dollhopf-Brown

INTRODUCTION
Christians recognize that the source of all good things is the God who feeds the birds and clothes the grass of the field. We rejoice that we are held in the palm of God's hand. God cannot forget us any more than a woman could forget her nursing child. Nourished at the Lord's table, we share these gifts with those who are anxious, hungry, poor, or in any kind of need.

Prayer of the Day (ELW)

God of tender care, like a mother, like a father, you never forget your children, and you know already what we need. In all our anxiety give us trusting and faithful hearts, that in confidence we may embody the peace and justice of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord

First Reading Isaiah 49:8–16a

The Lord shows motherly compassion for God's suffering people. Even if a nursing mother could under rare circumstances forget her child, God will never forget us.

⁸Thus says the LORD:
In a time of favor I have answered you,
on a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages;
⁹saying to the prisoners, "Come out,"
to those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves."
They shall feed along the ways,
on all the bare heights shall be their pasture;
¹⁰they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
¹¹And I will turn all my mountains into a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
¹²Lo, these shall come from far away,
and lo, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.
¹³Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his suffering ones.
¹⁴But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,
my LORD has forgotten me."
¹⁵Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.

Psalm (ELW) Psalm 131

Like a child upon its mother's breast, my soul is quieted within me. (Ps. 131:2)

¹O LORD, I am not proud; I have no ^| haughty looks.

I do not occupy myself with great matters,

nor with things that are too ^| hard for me.

²But I still my soul and make it quiet,

like a child upon its ^| mother's breast;

my soul is quiet- ^| ed within me.

³O Israel, wait up- ^| on the LORD,

from this time forth for- ^| evermore.

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 4:1–5

We are servants and stewards of Christ whose primary responsibility is to be trustworthy. We do not stand over others as their judge, but we stand under Christ to whom we will be held accountable.

Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. ²Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. ³But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. ⁴I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.

Gospel Matthew 6:24–34

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encourages his followers to trust in God rather than material wealth.

²⁴No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
²⁵Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ²⁸And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' ³²For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
³⁴So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.

Reflection

We have reached the dregs of winter in Rochester. The beautiful snowy white blanket now lays in dingy dirty spots. Grey days follow grey days. Forecasts of another week of 20 degree temperatures leads one to question the sanity of anyone who suggests that someday in August the air will feel uncomfortably hot and humid. It must be tough to be a bird this time of year too. November’s plentiful nuts and berries have been picked over, birdfeeders sit empty as some humans cannot traverse the snow banks to fill them, and ice covers most of the water. Somehow, those cardinals, wrens, and sparrows find a way to make it through the winter. They find the food that God has provided to sustain them and in a few months they’ll start singing in spring’s sunlight again.

Like the birds, we too make our way through the winters of our own lives. The long shadows of our burdens frighten us into worrying. We delude ourselves into thinking that our worries will somehow make the future more secure or help prepare us for all potential outcomes of uncertain circumstances. Instead, worrying feeds on our insecurity and multiplies our fear. God’s message to us is the same as to those birds: God will provide what we need to make it through our long dark nights. The Creator will work through us, and though others, to sustain us, heal us, and comfort us, so that we too may sing with joy in the spring.

Prayer Concerns

Knowing that God provides all we need we pray for:

• Health and healing for those who suffer infirmity of body or mind
• Visionary leadership for our public education systems
• The building up of nonprofit and humanitarian organizations that work for peace and justice throughout the world
• For the continued calling of men and women into religious and spiritual vocation

QUOTE

“If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily”

- Chinese Proverb

Therefore, to be possess'd with double pomp,
To guard a title that was rich before,
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

- William Shakespeare