Musings for Pentecost 10

Sunday, August 9, 2009
Lectionary 19
Proper 14
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Midweek Musings
Reflection by Elizabeth Hanks-Ovando

INTRODUCTION
Jesus says that the bread he gives for the life of the world is his flesh, and whoever eats this bread has eternal life now and will be raised on the last day. In Ephesians Paul tells us what this life Jesus gives us looks like, this life we live as those marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit in baptism. We live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. The whole purpose of life is giving yourself for the other.

PRAYER OF THE DAY
Gracious God, your blessed Son came down from heaven to be the true bread that gives life to the world. Give us this bread always, that he may live in us and we in him, and that, strengthened by this food, we may live as his body in the world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.


FIRST READING 1 Kings 19:4–8
First Kings chapter 18 describes the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The contest proves that the Lord is God; and afterwards Elijah orders the killing of the Baal prophets. Angered by the deaths of her prophets, Queen Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah. This reading finds Elijah fleeing, fatigued, and in utter despair.

4But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." 5Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." 6He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you." 8He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.


PSALM 34:1–8
Taste and see that the LORD is good. (Ps. 34:8)
1I will bless the LORD at all times;
the praise of God shall ever be in my mouth.
2I will glory in the LORD;
let the lowly hear and rejoice.
3Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD;
let us exalt God's name together.
4I sought the LORD, who answered me
and delivered me from all my terrors.
5Look upon the LORD and be radiant,
and let not your faces be ashamed.
6I called in my affliction, and the LORD heard me
and saved me from all my troubles.
7The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear the LORD
and de- livers them.
8Taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are they who take ref- uge in God!


SECOND READING Ephesians 4:25—5:2
Christians are called to be imitators of God. This does not mean Christians are perfect. Rather, the Spirit is at work in our lives so that our actions and attitudes genuinely reflect the love and forgiveness we have received through Christ and his death.
Chapter 4
25So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not make room for the devil. 28Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Chapter 5
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.


GOSPEL John 6:35, 41–51
After feeding more than five thousand people in the wilderness, Jesus teaches them regarding the true significance of this remarkable sign.

35Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" 43Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

REFLECTION
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, between 2 and 5 million Americans have an eating disorder. We live one of the most prosperous countries in the world and according to the Surgeon General 2 out of 3 Americans are overweight or obese.

Geneen Roth writes in When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair, in a chapter entitled “and stop when you've had enough” that “It's about what you hear when you hear the word 'enough'. It's about taking more than enough of something you know you can get-food-because you believe it's impossible to get enough of what you really, really want.”

Ok, so what scripture is saying is not the literal hunger and thirst but it gives us cause to think about what we really, really want. Coming to Jesus, believing in Him can give us love, peace, simplicity, and joy. And that's what we all really crave anyway.

WE PRAY FOR:
• Those struggling with eating disorders
• Families struggling to feed themselves
• The unemployed and underemployed

Musings for Pentecost 3

Sunday, June 21, 2009

3rd Sunday in Pentecost

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Deb Johnson

INTRODUCTION

Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation! Now we are in the storm, the boat almost swamped; but Jesus is here now, and when we call him he will calm the storm. Even the wind and waves listen to him as they would to their creator. We also listen to him and are called to believe in the power of God's word in him, a power greater than all that we fear

Prayer of the Day

O God of creation, eternal majesty, you preside over land and sea, sunshine and storm. By your strength pilot us, by your power preserve us, by your wisdom instruct us, and by your hand protect us, 
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

First Reading

At the end of the book of Job, after Job and his companions have argued about the cause of the great suffering Job endures, God finally speaks. These verses begin that speech, which is a grand vision of creation, describing God’s ordering of the cosmos and inviting Job to marvel at its beauty.

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 4"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5Who determined its measurements — surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone7when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? 8"Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? —9when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,10and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, 11and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?

Psalm 107

1Give thanks to the LORD, for the LORD is good,

for God's mercy en- dures forever.

2Let the redeemed of the LORD proclaim

that God redeemed them from the hand of the foe,

3gathering them in from the lands;

from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

23Some went down to the sea in ships,

plying their trade in deep waters.

24They beheld the works of the LORD,

God's wonderful works in the deep.

25Then God spoke, and a stormy wind arose,

which tossed high the waves of the sea.

26They mounted up to the heavens and descended to the depths;

their souls melted away in their peril.

27They staggered and reeled like drunkards,

and all their skill was of no avail.

28Then in their trouble they cried to the LORD,

and you delivered them from their distress.

29You stilled the storm to a whisper

and silenced the waves of the sea.

30Then were they glad when it grew calm,

when you guided them to the harbor they desired.

31Let them give thanks to you, LORD, for your steadfast love

and your wonderful works for all people.

32Let them exalt you in the assembly of the people;

in the council of the elders, let them sing hallelujah!

Second Reading

Paul and his fellow workers experience great hardships and even rejection while carrying out their missionary work. Nevertheless, Paul continuously proclaims that God has not rejected us but is graciously working for our salvation.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2For he says, "At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you." See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.11We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13In return — I speak as to children — open wide your hearts also.

Gospel

Jesus’ calming of the storm on the sea reveals his power over evil, since the sea represents evil and chaos. The boat on the sea is a symbol of the church and invites us to trust God amid life’s turbulence.

35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

REFLECTION

This is such a well-known story from the Gospel and the visual images are such that we can easily imagine. I have difficulty with the burning bush, standing at the well, etc. but I certainly imagine great windstorms, rough seas, and being tossed about in a boat. Both literally and figuratively this passage seems so relevant to daily life. There are three very simple words in this passage that we can draw upon: Peace! Be still! Three little words. Not much talk is needed … Peace! Be still! Whatever is going on around you in your life this day know that Christ is the Lord. He brings us the peace. Peace! Be still!

Let us pray.

For children who live in tumult in the world

For those who these days are graduating and moving forward to new opportunities

For the underemployed that struggle to meet their daily needs

For those who serve in our communities to protect and lead us.

Quote

“The sea is so wide and the boat is so small” Marian Wright Edelman