OCTOBER 5-11, 2020
Below are our lectionary passages for this week in the Church calendar. For those unfamiliar, the lectionary is a resource that churches all over the world use to consistently and uniformly read through the scriptures every week as we gather for worship. The lectionary passages typically consist of a combination of Old Testament readings, a Psalm, a New Testament letter, and a Gospel reading.
We dwell on these passages throughout the week so that when we gather together on Sunday we may proclaim these truths together in worship. We encourage you to find some rhythm of reading and meditating on these passages throughout the course of the week, whether that’s reading through all of the passages daily or reading a single passage a day until you’ve read them all. We have included below some commentary and thought for guided prayer and reflection.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. - Psalm 119:105
EXODUS 32:1-14 (click here for passage)
The last we had heard from Moses and the Israelites, Moses had just received the ten commandments from God on the top of Mount Sinai to give to the Israelites. These ten commandments were the terms outlining the relationship between God and Israel. Now, Moses received the commandments back in chapter 20 which marked a break in the narrative, and the 12 or so chapters that follow outline further law and requirements for worship including the construction of the tabernacle, a sanctuary that would host the presence of God as he dwelled with Israel. Now here in chapter 32 we pick up the narrative again. Moses is still on Sinai and the people are beginning to think that he might not return, or at the very least that he’s certainly taking too long. So they have Aaron, Moses’ brother, construct for them a statue of a golden calf that they might worship it as the god that delivered them from Egypt. It can be easy to look at the Israelites and think and point to the obvious error of their ways. The presence of God is literally with Moses just up the mountain and in their impatience they build the likeness of a deity to worship before Moses can even return. As Pastor Doug mentioned this last week, we are just as quick to build our own idols whether those idols be the illusion of control, mindless entertainment, or the constant scrolling through social media. We might not call these things “gods” but we worship them all the same.
What might be the things or activities in our own lives that we give our worship to that is not God?
What are the idols that we construct that we attach our value and narratives to?
PSALM 23 (click here for passage)
Our next reading is somewhat of antidote to the misplaced worship of Exodus 32. Psalm 23 is one of the most iconic of the Psalms and maybe one of the most recognized pieces of scripture in general. If Exodus 32 and the episode with Israel and the golden calf is a warning against giving our worship to that which is not God then Psalm 23 is the imagery of what contented worship looks like even in the chaos of life. This Psalm is primarily a song of trust. The psalm writer seems to be in a place of turmoil and rather than waiting to praise after the promise of deliverance, he chooses to praise in the midst of the turmoil; while walking through the darkest valley, while seated in the presence of the enemy. What is particularly striking to me in this passage is the tension of conflict within the psalmist and yet in verse 6 the declaration that “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” Despite the difficulties of the present, the psalmist chooses to trust in the Lord and seek what it is to dwell in the presence of God.
What does it mean to dwell in the house of the Lord? Is the house of the Lord a place? A state of being? Can you come and go from the house of the Lord?
As you spend time in prayer, consider what it looks like in your own life to dwell intimately with God.
PHILIPPIANS 3:4-14 (click here for passage)
“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” This is, to me, a compelling thought; that God might be present in the thoughts and actions of that which is honorable, just and pure. Paul says, if you continue to dwell on and act on that which is admirable, God will be with you. This should challenge the way that we think of worship. If this is really the case, then God actually cares about what it is we dwell on and how it is we live. Our worship in this sense isn’t only in the gathering but also in how we live and think. Even our imagination is an act of worship!
How does Paul challenge us to think about worship in a new way and how does this affect how we live?
MATTHEW 22:1-14 (click here for passage)
Our final reading this week is yet another of Jesus’ parables, The Parable of the Wedding Banquet. Presumably, Jesus is still talking to the chief priests and Pharisees and he tells them a story of a man who has invited guests to his son’s wedding only to find that they have no interest in the banquet. So, after a violent altercation with those guests, the man sends his servants out into the streets to invite whomever they can find. Like the following parables, it surely would not have been lost on those to whom Jesus was speaking that he was talking about them. He warns them that self-righteousness is not a characteristic that will afford them a seat at the table. Similarly we are reminded that the kingdom of heaven is a feast that we participate in and respond to.
REFLECTION
In our readings this week we have spent some time with the theme of worship. Often in our context we tend to think of worship as the activity of singing together and where this is certainly a form of worship we’re reminded in our lectionary readings that we are to live lives of worship; that our thoughts and actions are also forms of worship. And this is a compelling idea that seems we give little thought to culturally; that our thoughtlife, what it is we think about, actually matters to God. The things we dwell on are an act of worship that are either directed towards God or are misaligned and directed towards ourselves or elsewhere. We tend to think that thoughts are, for the most part, innocuous. However, our thoughts are the forerunners of what will be. The people of Israel dwelled on the notion that Moses would not return and that God had led them to their death in the wilderness. So that thought gave life to an action; the construction of an idol, the golden calf. Our thoughts have the power to take us farther from or bring us closer to God.
As you dwell and meditate on these scriptures, would they also inform your prayer life. Might these scriptures of the revelation of the Triune God shape how you experience and interact with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As a church we also support many local, domestic and international ministries that are serving as the hands and feet of Christ. Not only do we support these Faith Promise Partners financially, we have also committed to supporting them in prayer. This week, would you be in prayer for Soldiers of Honor, a local boxing gym that is working with the youth of Lima to provide meaningful activity and guidance.
For more information on our Faith Promise partners, click here.