Sunday School Lesson - July 3 - Year A - Pentecost +3

Have you ever thought, "No matter what I do, it is just never enough?" How many times have you been in "no-win" situations? What do you do when this happens? What is enough? Why even try? What does it matter? Sound familiar? In these situations, what would you give to be satisfied or relieved? What would that cost? God has provided us the answer in his Son, who has told us: "Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." What are your burdens? Give them to him. "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." Sin, from the Greek `aμαρtia, "falling short," "missing the mark."  For us, who feel we can never do enough, we mean enough to God, and can mean enough to each other, that he bids us "Come to me, beloved," for beloved we are. He gave his Son for us.

The Rev. Canon C.K. Robertson tells us "Nothing I do is ever enough!" Yes, that's right! And the sooner I recognize that truth, the sooner I can embrace the deeper reality that God already knows me more fully than I would like to admit, and still calls me "beloved." The devotional writer Henri Nouwen once said, "When you are able to create a lonely place in the midst of your actions and concerns, then somehow, slowly, your successes and failures lose their power over you." You and I, we are not God...and we don't have to try to be. You and I can dare to let go of the heavy, wearisome yokes we put on ourselves and allow others to thrust upon us, and instead take up that blessed yoke that is no burden, the yoke of acceptance of our own beloved self in Christ, the yoke of acceptance of the beloved nature of other weary, heavy-laden ones still striving all around us. "Come to me," Jesus invites, "come, my beloved." Read more from "Never Enough" in Day 1.

"Jesus implied that all humankind are in some way burdened. There is the burden of our anxieties and of our fears. There is the burden of our temptations and our responsibilities. I think of the burden of our loneliness, maybe after bereavement, and the burden people have when they sense that life has no meaning, and above all, there is the burden of our failures and of our guilt. What a burden they can be! Does our conscience never feel its guilt? Is our heart never bowed down with a sense of shame? It is such persons that Jesus invites to come to Him. He promises to ease our yoke, to lift our burden, to give us rest, and to set us free." Matthew 11:28: "Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Read more of Dr. John R.W. Stott "The Greatest Invitation Ever Made"

Sunday School Lesson - June 26 - Year A - Pentecost +2

This week we consider the Old Testament account of Abraham, God and the binding of Isaac for sacrifice, and God’s promises. We also will consider what “God will provide” means, and how we are called to a ministry of welcome and hospitality.

The Scripture (Click to read):

• Genesis 22:1-14 and Psalm 13
• Jeremiah 28:5-9 and Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18
• Romans 6:12-23
• Matthew 10:40-42

 "Job complained, Abraham negotiated, Jacob wrestled, Jesus pleaded. But in the end each one dared to trust, dared to believe that God could indeed be counted on to provide, especially when all seemed most hopeless. The promise has never been a lack of struggle...No wonder Jesus taught his friends to say to God, "Give us this day our daily bread; please give us what we need to make it through today." It is a comforting prayer because it is a realistic prayer. "God will provide." So let us be prepared to sacrifice our cleverness, our ability to get out of things, and most of all our naïve wishful thinking that somehow we are immune to the struggles and pain that faced the countless faithful who came before us. Let us instead dare to trust that God will indeed provide...not necessarily a way out, but always a way through. Read more from The Rev. Canon Charles K. Robertson in Day 1.

The Rev. Canon C. K. Robertson, Ph.D., is Canon to the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, headquartered in New York, NY.

"The Gospel today continues last week’s theme of “the cost of discipleship,” with the added motif of hospitality to the prophet (first reading). Following Jesus is a commitment to companionship and mission that can surpass the most precious things in life, relations with loved ones, and can bring about suffering and even loss of life. In rewriting an earlier saying, in which Jesus says the disciple must “hate” parents and relatives (Lk. 14:26-27), Matthew writes that the one who loves family “more than me” cannot be a true disciple. Family love is not abandoned but enhanced. Matthew also alters the harshness of the tradition by adding the sayings on hospitality, promising that everyone who gives one of the “little ones” even a glass of water will be rewarded.

Today, when the average life span is twice what it was in Jesus’ time, the love of Jesus, which transcends even natural affection, can paradoxically be expressed in care for those disciples of Jesus, parents and friends, who are aged and infirm, now “the little ones” who have received Jesus. Such love can be a daily taking of the cross and losing one’s life in care for those very people who literally gave life and lived in service of their children.

These demands of Jesus would seem harsh and unrealistic were it not for the insight Paul offers. Two weeks ago Paul proclaimed that “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8), and today he unfolds the implications of this gift—the Christian is one who through baptism has already lost his or her life by dying with Christ, but now can walk in the newness of life. The daily cost of discipleship and the ultimate surrender of ourselves to God are not simply ethical demands, but an expression of gratitude for gifts received." ~ John R. Donahue in America Magazine.

John R. Donahue, S.J., is the Raymond E. Brown Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies at St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, Md.

" It is noteworthy that in the Greek, the word for stranger-xenos-is also the word for guest and host. In this age of contemporary tribal warfare, of Balkanization and gated communities, most of us are all too aware of the term "xenophobia," or fear of the stranger. Such a fear leads to nationalism, racism and even genocide. As many scholars have noted, however, Jesus' call to welcome another is a call to xenophilia, or love of stranger, the stranger who is also guest, who as the embodiment of Christ after a long walk on the Emmaus road-is also host.

Hospitality should be the central practice of the Christian church today. As Arthur Sutherland states, "Hospitality is the practice by which the church stands or falls." Thus hospitality is the central practice that should receive attention by our pastoral leaders and theological educators, by Sunday school teachers and by local preachers. So how do we teach hospitality?

It all begins with practice: to offer hospitality, we simply bring who we are, what we have, where we are. At times that may be grand; at times that may be very little. In every case, it is the gesture itself-the practice-that shapes the character of the encounter, that shapes the character of the participants, of the story of grace that is the essence of the moment... Welcoming another requires attention to the other. It means often setting aside our discomfort for how one may be different or strange to us and meeting her or him as they are. Being an agent of God's hospitality makes Christ's presence known, for as Matthew reminds us, when two or more are gathered in Jesus' name, Jesus is present there as well." Read more from The Rev. Dr. Trace Hayhtorn in Day 1. 
The Rev. Dr. Trace Haythorn is President of the Fund for Theological Education in Atlanta, GA