|
||||||
|
Serving God and Sharing Good News |
Weekly Bible Notes
Ordinary 19 - Year B
Liturgical Colour - Green
Introduction
We live in a consumer society in which it is assumed that happiness is determined by the ability to purchase and enjoy material possessions. This is not just a modern problem. Jesus warned of the dangers of gathering more than we need, telling people to be more concerned with the stuff that rust and moths cannot destroy. Jesus understood the real needs of the human heart, it is not what you have that counts, but what you are. It isn't what we can purchase that matters but what we can give of ourselves to others.
In our reading from John today, Jesus tells people that they need to be concerned about their spiritual diet, to be discriminating about what we allow into our minds and hearts. It makes little sense to be concerned about our calorie intake if randomly inundate our minds with malicious gossip and hateful thoughts. What use is daily exercise if we never exercise our minds with new learning or our souls with prayer?
Real life transcends our physical needs and involves our spirits, only when we recognise do we have the possibility of finding true happiness and fulfilment.
Opening Verses of Scripture John 6:35
"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who
believes in me will never be thirsty.
Collect Prayer for the Day - Before
we read we pray
Almighty God, who sent your Holy Spirit to be the life and light of your
Church: open our hearts to the riches of your grace, that we may bring forth
the fruit of the Spirit in love and joy and peace; 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. Common Worship
Gracious Father, revive your Church in our day, and make her holy, strong and faithful, for your glory’s sake in Jesus Christ our Lord. Common Worship Shorter Collect
Living God, you have placed in the hearts of your children a longing for your word and a hunger for your truth. Grant that, believing in the One whom you have sent, we may know him to be the true bread of heaven, your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Methodist Worship
O God, the protector of all who put their trust in you, without whom nothing
is strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply upon us your mercy that
with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that
we finally lose not the things eternal; grant this, heavenly Father, for the
sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Methodist Worship
First Bible Reading 1 Kings 19:4-8
Verse 3 (Not sure why the lectionary does not include this verse!)
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah,
he left his servant there,
4-8 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
Alternate reading 2 Samuel 18: 5-9, 15, 31-33
The king [David] commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the
young man Absolom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving
orders concerning Absolom to each of the commanders. The army marched into
the field to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of
Ephraim. There the army of Israel was defeated by David’s men, and the
casualties that day were great – twenty thousand men. The battle spread out
over the whole countryside, and the forest claimed more lives that day than
the sword. Now Absolom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule,
and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absolom’s head
got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in mid-air, while the mule he
was riding on kept going. And ten of Joab’s armour-bearers surrounded
Absolom, struck him and killed him.
Then the Cushite arrived [before David] and said,” My lord the king, hear
the good news! The Lord has delivered you today from all who rose up against
you.” The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absolom safe?” The
Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to
harm you be like that young man.” The king was shaken. He went up to the
room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said, “O my son Absolom! My
son, my son Absolom! If only I had died instead of you – O Absolom, my son,
my son.”
Second Reading Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his
neighbour, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin" :
Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the
devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must
work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something
to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is
helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit
those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you
were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and
anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God
forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and
live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a
fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)
Gospel Reading
John 6:35, 41-51
35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to
me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
36-40 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not
believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to
me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my
will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who
sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them
up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the
Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at
the last day."
41-51At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?" "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)
Post Communion Sentence
Holy Father, who gathered us here around the table of your Son to share this meal with the whole household of God: in that new world where you reveal the fullness of your peace, gather people of every race and language to share in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary
The story of David and his son Absolom needs
to be set in context. Some years earlier, Absolom had killed his brother,
Amnon; you may think that he was justified in being angry, since Amnon had
raped his half-sister, Tamar, but as a murderer, he fled. However, David was
persuaded that it was better to lose one son than two and he agreed to be
reconciled with Absolom, welcoming him back into the family. But Absolom was
ambitious and hungry for power, so he began to manipulate the people and
turn them against his father. He instigated a rebellion to oust David and it
was in trying to defeat this rebellion that David lost his beloved son.
Amidst the gory details of battle, the circumstances of Absolom’s death seem
almost like something out of a cartoon, but the effect on David is clear and
his grief at his loss is deeply moving.
If we read the story of David, it is a story to rival any of our present day soap operas. If you have the opportunity to look at the section from 2 Samuel 11, you will find a catalogue of horrors: adultery, murder, the death of a child, rape, war and civil war, power struggles, conspiracies, deception and suicide. The family certainly had turbulent lives, complicated by the tradition of the day that men had many wives. You may think that David is hardly a good role model, and yet we know that God revealed him to Samuel as his chosen successor to King Saul. He was in many ways a great king, faithful to God, successful in battle and bringing prosperity to his people. He established Jerusalem as a religious as well as a political centre. David was also a great psalmist and, of course, the ancestor and forerunner of Jesus.
David’s sin of adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband Uriah killed (Chapter 11) was to have terrible consequences, both for David’s family and for Israel. He repented deeply, but even so, it was to haunt him for the rest of his life. It is a reminder to us that our actions have consequences which we must address. However, there is also reassurance for us in that God did not give up on David. There are many echoes of Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal son in David’s story: David himself welcomed Absolom back despite his crime. Even when Absolom rebelled against him, David still wanted to keep his son safe and was devastated that this proved impossible. God also continued to welcome David, despite his crimes, and to love him.
If only David and his family had been able to live as Paul urges the Ephesians to do! We can only imagine what a difference that would have made to family relationships and to history. The same is true for us. We are called to accept the consequences of our sin, but also to rejoice in a God who loves us whatever we do, who continually offers us forgiveness and the strength to do better, a God who can use each one of us, however imperfect, in His service. Mrs Liz Little
Meditation
It sounds so easy, loving God, to follow your commandments,
to live as you would have me live. I know that when I do follow your way,
life is so much better. I know that your way transforms me, transforms my
relationships, transforms the lives of people around me.
So why do I find it so hard, Lord?
Why do I keep on failing, keep on repeating the same old faults?
Why can I still not resist temptation, even when I see it coming?
Lord, I need your forgiveness.
I need your strength.
I need your assurance that you love me no matter what I have done.
And I need you to show me the sins that I keep hidden, even from myself.
Thank you, Lord, that you keep on welcoming me back.
Help me to commit myself anew to your ways; to focus on Jesus, my example
and my guide; to allow your Holy Spirit to work in me and through me. Then
you will transform me into the person you want me to be, to live for your
praise and glory.
Hymns
-
H&P500 Lord God, your love has called us here
-
H&P258 Jesu, thou joy of loving hearts
-
H&P 467 Break thou the bread of life
-
MP 613, Spirit of the living God AND 389, Jesus, you are changing me
-
H&P 374 Thou God of truth and love
-
Praise my soul 13
-
Who put the colours in the rainbow (On notices)
-
Immortal Invisible 9
-
Who would true valour 688
-
Lift up your hearts 405 (Tune Woodlands)
Prayers for Sunday and the week aheadd
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
God of the way, you are the road we travel, and the sign we
follow; you are bread for the journey, and the wine of arrival. Guide us as
we follow in your way, holding on to each other, reaching out to your
beloved world. And when we stray, seek us out and find us, set our feet on
the path again, and lead us safely home. In the name of Jesus, our Lord we
pray. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank you for your love, for how you provide all things that
we need. We thank you and we ask you, O God, to continue to feed us, to work
on us - and to move us to feed others. Father, just as you graciously
provide for our spiritual nourishment through the Word revealed to us by
your Son, Jesus Christ, so we bring our physical needs and the needs of
others before you, in the faith and confidence that you are willing to hear
our prayers. We pray, O God, for the needs of our brothers and sisters
throughout the world, those who are united with us at the one table of the
Lord, and also for the people of his Church, that they may continue to
illuminate the Word by their words and example.
Creator God, Give us a heart for simple things: love and laughter, bread and
wine, tales and dreams. Fill our lives with green and growing hope; make us
a people of justice whose song is Alleluia and whose name breathes love.
Additional Material
Commentary
It has been a very depressing week in many ways, with
continued war and renewed trouble over possible terrorist attacks. It might
be tempting to despair of the human race and our capacity to destroy and
hurt each other. However as Christians we have a message of hope and we are
called by God to be an eternally optimistic people, not a people who fail to
see the reality of the world, but a people who see beyond it - to the God of
eternity who holds us all in his hands. The Christian perspective is one
which allows us to live through difficult times, and it is a message which
our world badly needs.
As we read the Bible passages today we can see each of them as an
encouragement to live our Christian lives and to apply the demands of our
faith in the contemporary world.
Elijah tried his best to live out faith and follow the commandments of God.
He spoke up about what was right and because of this he angered the powerful
people around him. He was no pleaser of people and now he is in trouble
because the Jezebel wants to kill him. Elijah is tired, the situation has
overwhelmed him and he feels as we all do from time to time in the face of
the task before him, discouraged. He is so absolutely overwhelmed by
everything that he wants to die. He is not unlike many men and women across
the world today who work hard to bring about peace and change the balance in
favour of those who suffer. Elijah was a worker for justice and peace and
inevitably like all who engage in God’s work he encountered "failure" and
opposition. In the midst of complex social problems that are hard to "fix,"
we can feel overwhelmed and get discouraged. We may be criticized. In
speaking up for what is right, we can encounter opposition, threats and even
death. War, poverty, and injustice, seem at times to be so persistent and
"unfixable."
In the letter to the Ephesians, we are reminded, "All bitterness, fury,
anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all
malice." (As always, we are invited to apply this wisdom not only to our
personal life but also to relationships between groups of people and
nations.)
Both the first reading and the gospel talk about divine "bread" and
nourishment for the journey. Elijah receives a hearth cake and a jug of
water and is able to complete the journey to the mountain of God. In the New
Testament, Jesus promises to be the "living bread" which is "for the life of
the world." God wants to strengthen us for the journey.
In order to be faithful and to put our faith into practice, we need to be
supported by our God. We need the support and challenge of a community of
believers. In the Christian tradition this is made real in the celebration
of the Eucharist - where we receive the "bread of life." When the church is
at her best, her social ministry flows out from the Eucharist, for as Jesus
says, ". . . the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the
world." We are not alone as we strive to put our faith into action in the
pursuit of justice.