Pentecost 3

Sunday, July 3, 2011
Lectionary 14
Proper 9
Third Sunday after Pentecost

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Deb Johnson

INTRODUCTION
The mystery of God's ways is sometimes hidden from the wise and intelligent. Jesus associates with the lowly and outcast. Like Paul, we struggle with our own selfish desires and seek God's mercy and forgiveness. We gather to be refreshed by Christ's invitation: "Come to me, all you that are weary." Gathered around word, water, and meal, we find rest for our souls.

Thomas, Apostle
Though frequently remembered as "doubting Thomas," this apostle also demonstrated a willingness to suffer and die with Jesus (John 11:16), and finally claimed the risen Christ as "my Lord and my God!" By tradition, he later worked as a missionary in India. Long commemorated on December 21, Thomas's celebration is moved to July 3 in agreement with ecumenical calendars.

PRAYER OF THE DAY (ELW)

You are great, O God, and greatly to be praised. You have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Grant that we may believe in you, call upon you, know you, and serve you, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

FIRST READING

Zechariah 9:9–12

The coming messianic king will inaugurate an era of disarmament and prosperity. Because of God's covenant with Israel, they are designated as "prisoners of hope."

⁹Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war-horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
¹²Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.

PSALM (ELW)

Psalm 145:8–14

The LORD is gracious and full of compassion. (Ps. 145:8)

⁸The LORD is gracious and full ^| of compassion,

slow to anger and abounding in ^| steadfast love.

⁹LORD, you are ^| good to all,

and your compassion is over ^| all your works.

¹⁰All your works shall praise ^| you, O LORD,

and your faithful ^| ones shall bless you.

¹¹They shall tell of the glory ^| of your kingdom

and speak ^| of your power,

¹²that all people may know ^| of your power

and the glorious splendor ^| of your kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your dominion endures through- ^| out all ages.

You, LORD, are faithful in all your words,

and loving in ^| all your works.

¹⁴The Lord upholds all ^| those who fall

and lifts up those who ^| are bowed down.

SECOND READING

Romans 7:15–25a

Life enslaved under sin is a catch-22 existence in which we know good but do not do it and do things we know to be bad. Through Jesus Christ, God has set us free from such a futile existence.

¹⁵I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.¹⁷But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

GOSPEL

Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30

Jesus chides people who find fault with both his ministry and that of John the Baptist. He thanks God that wisdom and intelligence are not needed to receive what God has to offer.

¹⁶But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
¹⁷'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.'
¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; ¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
²⁵At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
²⁸Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Musings

As I approach these I read the scriptures several times and wait. Sometimes it is a millisecond and other times I wait and wait and wait. What am I waiting for, you ask? For the spirit to leap into my consciousness and say "this is it". Well for these readings it came not once, but twice ... now the dilemma, what do I focus on? Paul's writings to Romans have had special meaning to me, beginning as an adolescent. His words "do not be conformed by this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." This was so important as a teen as the word expanded and I wasn't sure what to do. Then suddenly this popped out at me "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." A constant struggle for me … and my guess some of you that are reading this as well. Thanks be to God for forgiveness. The second call out in the scripture this week was "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

We are forever in a developmental process in our understanding and living with God. The days of infancy are long past, the struggles of discovering ones identity in adolescence creates new challenges, then we live in a world full of wonder, temptation, stress, money, no money, relationships comes to our being.

The final words bring comfort in our struggles: “²⁸Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

While Jesus gives these words to us collectively, let us reach out and be of comfort to one another.

Let us pray.

For the men, women and children who live in oppression in our country and around the world

For those who come into this world, that they may be filled with your spirit and love.

For those who leave this world to continue to live in eternal life.

For the waters, that they may be clean.

For freedom to live and love one another