Weekly Bible Notes Ordinary 10
Year C, Colour = Green
Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 8:1
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have
set your glory above the heavens.
Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray
O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
God of truth, help us to keep your law of love and to walk in ways of wisdom, that we may find true life in Jesus Christ your Son.
God of constant mercy, who sent your Son to save us: remind us of your goodness, increase your grace within us, that our thankfulness may grow, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lord God, your Son left the riches of heaven and became poor for our sake: when we prosper save us from pride, when we are needy save us from despair, that we may trust in you alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God our saviour, look on this wounded world in pity and in power; hold us fast to your promises of peace won for us by your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
First Bible Reading 1 Kings 17:8-16,17 - end
Then the word of the LORD came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”
Second Reading Galatians 1:11-24
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles – only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie. Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me.
Gospel Reading Luke 7:11-17
Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Post Communion Prayer
Eternal father, we thank you for nourishing us with these heavenly gifts: may our communion strengthen us in faith, build us in hope, and make us grow in love, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
In the last couple of weeks I have conducted funerals for young mothers who have left behind loving families after losing battles with cancer. Why do good people die young? Why when folks live good lives and do the right thing, do tragedies happen to them? Life seems so unfair and there is seemingly no reason to any of it. What does the Bible say about all of this? Is there something which we can do to change the odds in our favour when the chance of finding justice in life apparently lacks fairness and appears more to do with luck and chance, like a game of roulette?
Sometimes people will seek to provide pious platitudes in the face of these deep questions, but truthfully there are no easy answers. The best that we can do is to hold alongside these issues which trouble us, some important truths which help maintain our faith. We recognise that we do not have the answers, as the Apostle Paul said, ‘we see only a poor reflection in a mirror.’
We had a long version of the Old Testament reading today because it speaks to these questions, as does the Gospel reading. Due to a drought a widow expects to die. She decides to gather sticks, build a fire, cook a small meal with the last morsel of grain and oil and then she and her son will die. It is not an uncommon event even today in parts of the world where people die because they lack the most basic needs of life. Elijah, the man of God, does not try and talk her out of it but asks the widow to feed him first. The woman is asked to share food from her starvation. What happens next is a miracle, it is as though God has rewarded her kindness to the prophet by providing food miraculously. The story might end there and we would draw the conclusion that if we live good lives tragedy will be averted.
However the story goes on, the son gets sick and dies (or stops breathing). Then what follows is characteristic after somebody dies, everybody looks around for somebody to blame. Somebody must be guilty, so the widow blames Elijah and blames herself. She thinks that God has brought death to punish her past sins, that happenss lots too. Elijah responds perhaps as we often do, he is utterly confused and angry with God at the lack of justice in the world. “You repay this woman’s generosity by killing her son?” We are told that Elijah managed to resuscitate the man, but sadly such miracles are rare and so how do we respond when the dead cannot be brought again to life?
Then we come to the Gospel reading and we have an equally disturbing scene with the Widow of Nain. It was the practice of the ancient Jews to bury their dead outside the city, usually on the day of death or the next day. There is a funeral procession on the way to bury a young man who has died. Imagine the pallbearers carrying the body aloft, the widowed mother who is following the professional mourners with their cymbals, flutes and high-pitched shrieking and wailing. The dead man was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Not only had she lost a child, from now she would have little hope, widows were vulnerable, weak and without much opportunity for economic support. Her loss of a child would have also brought back memories of the loss of her husband and she would have been desperate with grief, feeling that life for herself was now as good as over.
Into this scene of desperation comes Jesus. He sees the widowed, desolate mother, and we are told by Luke that he has compassion for her. "Do not weep." Jesus ignores ceremonial impurity, reaches out and touches the funeral bier. Can you imagine the scene and what must have been going on in the minds of those around? Imagine a stranger today stopping a hearse, telling folks not to weep and touching the coffin ! We are told the young man sat up and began to speak, and so Jesus like Elijah and Elisha before him, gave the son back to his mother.
So what can we discern from these two episodes? We can see that misfortune is not brought about by God, who does not delight in our suffering. Perhaps the most important word in the two readings is found in verse 13 of Luke 7 7:13
kai idôn autên o kurios esplagchnisthê ep autê
And seeing her the Lord felt compassion over her
In our translation the words are translated, ‘his heart went out to her.’ The point is that when confronted by a funeral Jesus wants to touch the suffering with compassion and raise the dead. God doesn't cause death and suffering he wants to overcome it. We don’t understand why it happens, it makes no sense, but that is probably all we need to know, for now. Charles Royden
Meditation
Early in the Second World War, in May and June 1940, the German Army made great advances and kept pushing the British Expeditionary Force towards thesea, as well as the French and the Belgians. For a while, Hitler halted his advance outside the French port of Dunkirk. The Allied soldiers presumed they would all soon be captured as prisoners of war, and they destroyed much of their fighting equipment, to prevent the Germans using it. Ships, small fishing boats and pleasure craft set out from England to try to rescue some of the many soldiers trapped around Dunkirk. By June 4th 1940, almost by a miracle, over 330,000 British, French and Belgium troops had been evacuated from Dunkirk, under gunfire from the Germans. Would Hitler now invade Britain? On that same day, Winston Churchill, Britain’s Prime Minister, gave one of his most famous speeches in the House of Commons: “We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Dunkirk was a terrible and humiliating defeat for Britain and her allies, but most of the men were rescued. Four years and two days afterwards, Britain and her allies would return on D-Day to start to liberate the occupied countries of Europe.
Prayer of Saint Ignatius Loyola: Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and to ask for no reward, save that of knowing that we do your will. Amen.
Hymns
- Now the green blade riseth
- Life giving Christ (Tune Waly waly - see below)
- Jesus the name high over all
- Awake mysould and with the sun
- As the deer pants
- Lord for the years
- Rock of ages
- And can it be
- How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
"Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.
If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."
Lord our God, open us up to your Spirit living within us, that we may live fully each day of our lives. Touch us, that we may become more aware of all that is around us, growing in a sense of wonder and awe, and in appreciation for all that we see and hear and touch, taste and smell. May we live in such a way hat we never take anything for granted, but always be appreciative and express our thanks to those who are part of our lives. Amen.
God of truth, help us to keep your law of love and to walk in ways of wisdom, that we may find true life in Jesus Christ your Son. Into your hands, O Father, we commend our souls and our bodies; our loved ones and our neighbours; our benefactors and our friends; all who confess their faith and all who stand in need of your mercy and protection; bless us with your grace and grant that we may never be separated from you; but abide with you in time and in eternity, now and for ever. Amen Edmund of Abingdon, 1180-1240
Perfect within us, O Lord, the work of grace which you have begun. May we think, speak and do only what is pleasing in your sight. Keep us from falling back into the sins of which we have repented. May we live our lives in your presence and finish them in your fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen William Bright (1824-1901)
Additional Material
1 Life-giving Christ, our hope and head,
who met the sad and raised the dead;
new miracles of love begin
for mourners, and the dead in sin.
2 Draw near to homes of double death
where stirs no sign of pulse or breath:
confront this last of enemies;
command the dead, that they arise!
3 By the compassion of your heart,
your Spirit given, your hand stretched out,
by costly power and kingly word
bring life to lifeless ones, O Lord!
4 So shall they rise and breathe and speak;
death's powers dissolve, its shackles break:
old wounds are healed, old wrongs put right;
on ancient darkness shine your light!
5 Then filled with praise and holy fear
let all in wondering faith draw near
and know that Christ our hope, our home,
our prophet and our God, has come.
6 Praise Christ who raised a widow's son;
in Christ the Father's will be done:
Christ with the Spirit's fulness came;
all glory to the Saviour's name!
Tune Waly Waly