Sunday School Lesson - August 7 - Year A - Pentecost +8

This week's scripture: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28;  Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b;  1 Kings 19:9-18;  Psalm 85:8-13; Romans 10:5-15;  and Matthew 14:22-33.

How and when do we encounter the risen Christ? This week we study Matthew's account of Peter walking on water and starting to sink, summoned by Jesus. What did it take for Peter to do this? Why did he start to sink? What did Jesus say to him? What was Peter's response?

The Rev. John Jewell gives us four different themes to remember and apply as we analyze, or better, live through this story with Peter in his sermon "If you want to walk on water...you gotta get out of the boat!" First, he says if you're going to make any gains, you have to take risks - and Peter was certainly a risk taker in this story, and on other occasions, too. Can you recall some of his daring acts, speech or bravado? How about some of his weakest acts, and even acts of cowardice and shame?

Jewell says we encounter Christ in faith, fear, as friend, and in the foundational statement that "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" How is this evident in the gospel account this week? How is this evident in our own lives? Jesus tells Peter to "Take heart, take courage" - θαρσαι - tharsai - the same thing he says to the paralytic lowered into his presence by his friends, and to the woman who touched his cloak, as he healed them. He said that their faith has made them whole.

How and when have you encountered God? It is written that we may entertain angels unawares. How does God come to Elijah who has run for his life, and withdrawn in despair?

Sunday School Lesson - July 31 - Year A - Pentecost +7

 The Scripture. Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 17:1-7, 16; Isaiah 55:1-5; Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21.

The feeding of the 5,000. Something St. Mark's does well. That's the subject of our gospel lesson this week. Looking at it through modern, and post modern points of view, many ask how that could happen. Katerina Whitley tells us "Now, the temptation is great – and thousands have succumbed to it – to try to explain away what happened that day, on a deserted stretch of land near the Sea of Galilee. Interpreters have tried to rationalize the resulting abundance of food. The reaction is understandable: It is frightening to stand in the real presence of the creative energy of God! In order not to be afraid, we try to explain it according to the laws of nature. But we cannot. When the eternal enters the temporal with such force, our finite minds either close up or become arrogant. So it doesn’t help to argue about the word “miracle” when we are confronted with this story. What matters here is that they were all fed." Read all of Katerina Whitley's message.

Note how Jesus makes this happen. Again, Katerina Whitley, "Jesus sets an example for his church in this act of feeding the five thousand. The living Christ wants us to take what we have and offer it to God, no matter how little it is, no matter how meager our resources are. When it comes to the needs of his people, God will not take no for an answer. God will bless, but the rest is up to us. We bring the resources, and we do the work. It was the disciples who were asked to organize the people and who served the food that continued to increase because it was blessed by the loving energy of the Creator. How can the church do less?"

A few weeks ago, we asked, "What is enough?" This week we learn that what we bring to God is enough, with God's blessing, and with God's help, all will be fed, be filled, and will have an abundance to share with our brothers and sisters. Amen. And thank you St. Mark's - compassionately feeding all people.

Sunday School Lesson – July 24 – Year A - Pentecost +6

 

 

The scripture this week: Genesis 29:15-28 , Psalm 105:1-11, 45b, Psalm 128, 1 Kings 3:5-12, Psalm 119:129-136, Romans 8:26-39 and Romans 8:26-39.
In our Gospel reading this week, Jesus gives us five parables in rapid succession - glimpses of the kingdom of God. The Rev, Charles Hoffacker treats us to a lesson about the kingdom of God from the briefest, and often over-shadowed parable - the parable of yeast and the leavening of bread. I have mentioned it several times over the last couple of years - we are going to have to have a class where we all bring in some baked bread, and talk about its significance for us. What do we learn about the kingdom of God from this parable? What do we learn about how we can see and experience the kingdom now? What is the significance of being able to recognize, experience and live in the kingdom of God now? How does this affect our relationships with God and each other - even with "strangers, others, and even our enemies?

 

Once again The Rev. Dr. M. Craig Barnes captures our attention with the catchy title of his sermon "The Problem with two spouses," using the story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel to teach us about our relationships with not only our spouses and family, but with others - especially when we see that the other person is not who we thought he or she was. How we deal with that, and how we even see others tells us a lot about ourselves, and our relationship with God, and how God's love can transform us, our relationships, and how we see others: 

 

"...the people who were supposed to love you hurt you. When we are hurt, the temptation is great to put as much distance between them and us as possible. But Jesus is persistent in calling you to return the hurt with love. Sometimes it seems like there is no human way you are going to be able to do that. And that is exactly the right starting point. There is no human way to love this person. You will have to turn to something sacred. If you choose to be more loving, the first place to turn is not to your strained relationship, but to your God who is love. (1 John 4:8) And what do you find when you turn to God? The most amazing grace - God really knows you and God really loves you. Most of the time we think we can have this one or the other - either we can be really known or loved; but if we want people to love us, then we are terrified of letting them know all the truth about us. God really knows and really loves you. That fills our hearts with so much gratitude that the love spills over into our relationships. If your heart is not filled with gratitude, even for the Leah or Jacob in your life, then you missed the miracle of the Gospel."

 

And finally we have that strong and reassuring statement of faith and grace in Paul's letter to the Romans: "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

 

Sunday School Lesson - July 17 - Year A - Pentecost +5

This week's scripture is the story of Jacob's ladder and a different sower parable in which Jesus tells us to leave the weeds with the wheat, along with beautiful Psalms and wise words of wisdom from the Wisdom of Solomon that the righteous must be kind. 

The Rev. Dr. M. Craig Barnes offers important life lessons from Jacob's story, and Jacob's dream - our dreams.  One of his insights about Jacob, and us,  is: "You see, when it comes to dreams, the only good ones come from God. And God insists on just giving them to us. The most important dreams are things like being loved, having a child, beholding beauty, discovering your purpose in life, finding joy in your work, or finding a friend who will stick with you through anything, even the truth. Those dreams, the things for which we yearn most in life, come only as blessings from God. And blessings can only be received. There is, however, one thing we can do to prevent ourselves from enjoying these sacred gifts. We can insist on getting them for ourselves. That is the great flaw in Jacob's life. And my life. And maybe yours also. We keep trying to achieve what we can only receive as a gift.There is, however, one thing we can do to prevent ourselves from enjoying these sacred gifts - the stuff of our dreams. We can insist on getting them for ourselves. That is the great flaw in Jacob's life. And my life. And maybe yours also. We keep trying to achieve what we can only receive as a gift." Read more from Day 1.

The Rev. Dr. Joanna Adams gives us answers as to  "Why can't we pull up the weeds from the wheat?" Consider: "On a vastly greater and more serious scale, there are extremists all over the world today who believe they have a mandate from their god literally to destroy those whom they deem to be enemies of God. Surely the Christian church in a world so polarized and filled with terror because of religious excess, surely Christ's people have a special responsibility to bear witness to a better way." She says that Jesus tells us to just leave the weeds alone? What does she mean "Weeds to wheat?"  Read more from Day 1. [The ocean sunset picture was taken by a friend, Alan Rezek, July 2011.]

Sunday School Lesson - July 10 - Year A - Pentecost +4

Link to this week's scripture  Genesis 25:19-34 ; Psalm 119:105-112; Isaiah 55:10-13; Psalm 65:(1-8), 9-13; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Such beautiful psalms this week, and Jesus' parable of the sower. Sarah Dylan Breuer offers a different perspective on this parable than we usually consider. She considers the sower in "God is a Foolish Farmer,, from her blog, Dylan's lectionary blog." Think about her discussion of a koan as we read, not only this parable, but all of God's word. She says "the story pulls us out of entrenched patterns of relationship and ways of being in the world; it dislocates us from what’s comfortable to free us to establish new kinds of relationship, new ways of being... There is room in your heart and in mine for more compassion, more peace, more freedom than we'd thought...The Good News we experience as we wrestle with scripture in community is well worth the hard work we put into it... we need to be born again, and again, and again..."

She also considers the worries and concerns of "scarcity" in her church, St. Martins: "There's been a lot of talk at St. Martin's about scarcity, about guarding closely what's precious because it seems to be rare. Money is tight; time is hard to spare. Even when we're looking at less tangible and measurable qualities we value, like love and blessing, there's sometimes a sense that the good things God has for us are in such limited supply that the only kind of good and responsible stewardship is to guard it very carefully, give it only to those we're sure are worthy, protect it like the last egg of the rarest endangered bird. Predictions of peril and doom provoke a great deal of anxiety, and living on a knife edge like that not only causes constant unrest, but also tends to shut down the kind of creative and life-giving vision that energizes us to live more deeply into God's dreams for us as individuals, in community, and for the world. That's not the Good News God has for us:

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
-- Romans 8:15-17

"The kingdom of God has come among us. God has blessed us richly, and God’s people have been entrusted with that which is most precious in the world. But ironically, these priceless commodities only gain value – the seed of God’s word only bears fruit – when God’s people scatter it absolutely heedless of who is worthy to receive it."

 

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