AUGUST 24-30, 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
Reading One
EXODUS 3:1-15
Comprising one of the most iconic scenes in the Old Testament, God calls Moses through a most unlikely means; a burning bush. Moses, in his captivation of the strange sight, approaches to hear the voice of God speaking to him from out of the bush. After revealing himself to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and telling Moses that He has heard the cries and the misery of Israel, God commissions Moses to lead His people out of the oppression of Egypt and to the land of the promise, a land “flowing with milk and honey.” It’s in this episode also that God reveals his cryptic name, “I AM WHO I AM.” Or, in Hebrew, Yahweh. However the name of God may be interpreted, it is clear that what God is to Moses in this instance is present. And that is what God promises to be, faithfully present in the lives of His people. He hears the desperate cries for deliverance and for healing and in response God calls, equips, and intercedes.
Reading Two
JEREMIAH 15:15-21
In this short passage in Jeremiah the reader receives a candid glimpse of the conversation between the prophet and God. What we find is maybe not what we might come to expect from such a righteous and devout figure such as Jeremiah. We hear complaining and doubt! “Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.” To be clear, Jeremiah is telling God that God seems to him in this moment to be a deception, a farce, waters that seemed good but ultimately did not give life. What’s interesting is that God does not chastise Jeremiah for speaking so profanely. He does not rebuke him for blasphemy. Rather, like a good parent, God gives Jeremiah options. “You can walk away from your calling and pursue what is meaningless (“utter what is worthless”), or you can turn back to me and to your calling and I will use you to bring about redemption and deliverance to My people.”
Reading Three
ROMANS 12:9-21
In my Bible this passage in Romans is entitled Marks of the True Christian. That is, these are the qualities that Paul thinks constitutes the character of one that is following Christ. If we are to take the scriptures seriously then we must recognize that, although not an exhaustive list, these are the standards to which followers of Christ are to operate from. The commonality to be found in each of these commands is that they require the denial of self. They run contrary to the expectations of the world and if we’re honest with ourselves they run contrary to our own nature. Could there be a more absurd calling than to bless your enemies? Yet this is the reality that we have been called to and, furthermore, it is the covenant that the people of God have entered into since it was first made with Abraham.
Reading Four
MATTHEW 16:21-28
This passage in Matthew depicts the decisive moment wherein Jesus chooses to go to Jerusalem knowing that, ultimately, it will mean His death. He chooses to go knowing that there will be no returning without first taking up his cross and passing through the valley of the shadow of death. His calling leads Him to deny Himself and take up His cross. This is the ministry that we too are being called to. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” The way to life in Christ, that is life in communion with God and with creation, is by way of the path of denying ourselves of what we thought were our rights. For what will all of our rights and entitlements profit us if we gain the whole world and forfeit our lives?
REFLECTION
It would seem that one of the underlying themes that is woven throughout our lectionary passages this week is this theme of calling. It becomes evident in the passage from Jeremiah that God will not force us to do what we don’t want to do. But in love he calls us to participate in his ministry of healing and reconciliation in the world. Furthermore, when He calls, we are reminded in the story of Moses that He often does so in our weakness and insecurity and uses what it is that we bring to Him. And it would seem that from our New Testament readings in Romans and Matthew that what God is calling us to is the denial of ourselves for the sake of the world. We are being called to deny ourselves that we might be a blessing to our world, the nations, our neighbors, and our enemies. This week as we spend time reflecting on and praying through these Scriptures, would we ask God what it is that He is calling us to today and how we might deny ourselves in order to take up His cross and follow after Him. Would we pray that the Spirit might reveal to us the rights and entitlements that we have so clung to that we might surrender them in our pursuit of Christ.