Reflection on readings for June 30

Let us praise the name of the Lord.
Your name alone is exalted;
your glory is above earth and heaven.
(adapted from Psalm 148:13)

2 Kings 17:1-18:12
The powerful Assyria invaded Israel, took King Ahaz captive, and carried away much of the population, replacing them with foreigners. The writer of 2 Kings ascribes this tragedy to the sins of the people of Israel. "The Lord told you what to do, but you wouldn't obey."

In contrast to almost all the kings of Israel and of Judah, Hezekiah in his rule of Judah held fast to the Lord, destroyed false idols, and obeyed the commandments of the Lord.

Acts 20:1-38

Psalm 148:1-14

Here'a an excerpt from the Benedicite Aotearoa  in the New Zealand Book of Prayer:

10 All prophets and priests, all cleaners and clerks,
professors, shop workers, typists and teachers,
job-seekers, invalids, ' drivers • and ' doctors:
give to our ' God your ' thanks and ' praise.
11 All sweepers and diplomats, writers and artists,
grocers, carpenters, students and stock-agents,
seafarers, farmers, ' bakers • and ' mystics:
give to our ' God your ' thanks and ' praise.
12 All children and infants, all ' people • who ' play:
give to our ' God your ' thanks and ' praise.

Proverbs 18:6-7
A fool's lips bring strife,
and a fool's mouth invites a flogging.
The mouths of fools are their ruin,
and their lips a snare to themselves.

Prayer for Today: As you read verses 10 through 12 in Psalm 148, substitute persons appropriate for your own life and locale.

Reflection on readings for June 29

Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises 
    to our God;
for God is gracious, 
and a song of praise is fitting.
(adapted from Psalm 147:1)

2 Kings 15:1-16:20
Mixed results for Azariah and for Jotham, and Ahaz of Judah, but all bad for Zechariah, Menahem, and Pekah of Israel.

Acts 19:13-41
Seeing the response to Paul's work, some onlookers tried using the name of Jesus with bad results for them but good for Paul. For a while. A man who made his living by selling silver shrines of Artemis spoke to the artisans whose livelihood depended on these sales. He told them, "This Paul is hurting our business." A dangerous crowd formed. The town clerk calmed the situation by suggesting that they take the matter to court.

How upset do people become today if they think that a religion is interfering with their livelihood?

Psalm 147:1-21
Psalm 147 sings of the work that the Lord has done, the work that will continue to be done, and for whom this work is done: the outcasts, the brokenhearted, the downtrodden .

In return, we contemplate just what it is that the Lord wants for us to do, how to be. Well, it not just to be better than the people around us--richer or stronger or whatever: The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love (11).

James Newsome, in Texts for Preaching B, writes:

Power and weakness! It may be observed that the story of humankind is, in large measure, the pursuit of the former and the avoidance of the latter. The person who has no power is one who exercises no control over his or her life. .... Into this terrible arena the psalmist issues a different understanding of the nature of power and weakness and of the relation between the two. There is but a single Power; all other power is illusory and transient. To participate in this Power is to admit one's own weakness, one's own dependence on the Creator and Sustainer of life. And paradoxically, it is only in the admission of one's own finitude and impotence that there emerges hope and joy. For the Power that sets the stars and brings the rains is irrevocably committed to the cause of justice and compassion....

Proverbs 18:4-5
The words of the mouth are deep waters;
the fountain of wisdom is a gushing stream.
It is not right to be partial to the guilty,
or to subvert the innocent in judgment.

Prayer for Today: Choose a prayer from Joan Stott's website The Timeless Psalms.

Reflection on readings for June 28

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
(Psalm 146:1-2)

2 Kings 13:1-14:29
While Joash (also known as Jehoash) was ruling in Judah,  Jehoahaz begin his reign in Israel. [I am having trouble keeping these kings straight]. He was sinful. The Lord got angry. Things went bad for Israel. The king begged the Lord for help. The Lord helped by sending a savior.

In Israel, King Joash also did evil. He sought the help of Elisha but wasn't able to do what Elisha expected of him. Yet the Lord, remembering the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had compassion on Israel. Israel was able to regain some territory that had been lost to Aram.

After I had been wrestling with the confusion of the similar names, I looked them up in John Rogerson's Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings. He reports that "several factors point to the possibility that ...the biblical material has failed to register that Jehoram of Israel and Jehoram of Judah were one and the same person...."

The succeeding kings of Israel, Jeroboam II, and of Judah, Amaziah, had some accomplishments but some defaults.

Acts 18:23-19:12
Paul asked the new disciples whether they had received the Holy Spirit when they had become believers. Their answer was either truthful or clever or disappointing: "We didn't even know there was a Spirit."

Christian educators, do the people you serve even know there is a Spirit?

In many, many ways the Christian church has changed since the days of Paul. Yet, we do share some characteristics. For example, we still need to improve Christian education. While visiting Ephesus, Paul discovered that they lacked some theological grounding that he considered important. I'm trying to imagine some Paul showing up in any congregation today and asking seemingly simple questions that could well expose our, well, our not-knowing what Paul thought we should have already learned.

I don't know what to do with verse 6.

Psalm 146:1-10
Every once in a while I hear someone say to somebody who has just gotten something great, "That shows that God really loves you." And, sometimes, I read Psalm 146 and wonder.

This psalm begins by acclaiming praise for God and disdaining trust in powerful men. They won't last. God will.

According to this psalm, God cares about the oppressed, the hungry, prisoners, the blind, immigrants, orphans, and widows.

And this is what followers of God are called to do. God acts on earth through the people who are gathered to worship and to demonstrate God's power and love.

Psalm 146 provides a checklist for each church congregation: What have we done to ensure that prisoners can be released? What have we done to prevent blindness--have we opened a eye-clinic in a poor community, have we helped to distribute glasses to people who can't afford them? What are we doing about immigrants? What attention are we paying to people whose families aren't able to care for them, or to people without family?

Proverbs 18:2-3
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing personal opinion.
When wickedness comes, contempt comes also.
and with dishonor comes disgrace.

Prayer for Today: Choose a prayer from Joan Stott's website The Timeless Psalms.

Reflection on readings for June 27

I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
(Psalm 145:1)

2 Kings 10:32-12:21
In 10:29-30, the Lord promises a reward to Jehu because he has done what the Lord considered right, but after he returned to the regular king practices, the Lord starts trimming off parts of Israel.

After, Jehu's successor, Jehoahaz, died, his mother, Athaliah, assumed the reign of Judah. She tried to destroy all the royal relatives, but  one was hidden from her in the house of the Lord. Six years later,  the priest Jehoiada led the army in an attack against Athaliah and crowned the seven-year-old child Jehoash as king.

We are told that he did what was right as he was instructed by the priest. Yet, we are also told that the people continued to use the places and practices of other worship. Moreover, the priests didn't use the offerings of the people in the way that was intended. Eventually the king took the money that had been set aside for repairing the house of the Lord. His servants killed him.

Everybody who affects worship of the Lord is not sincere about it. Everyone who is in a position of trust is not always trustworthy. Despite our failings, the Lord remains Lord.

Acts 18:1-22

Psalm 145:1-21
Notice how this psalm begins with individual praise, "I will extol you....". But, this praise is not between just God and me: "One generation shall laud your work to another." Further, this praise is not just once in a while: "Every day I will bless you."

The next time you have to listen to someone disparage the one he calls "The Old Testament God," you might point out that, despite human intransigence that God kept loving them and caring for them. For example:

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (v.8)
This grace, mercy, and steadfast love is not restricted to just a few:
The Lord is good to all, and is compassion is over all that he has made (v.9).
Good to all--all who are falling, all who are bowed down. God's care includes basic necessities, like food, and also more than necessities.

We can be further reassured or perhaps not when we read that the Lord is just  in all his ways. We do read some qualification of God's qualities in verses 19 and 20.

We are part of a long line of worshippers who have praised God, learned about God's care, and told others:

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all flesh will bless his holy name foever and ever (v21).

It's a reminder, one that we may well need, that we're living in God's kingdom and that we should be living according to God's intentions for us. The Lord's desire is for all to be fed and attended to. Those who care what the Lord wants will work toward these goals.

Proverbs 18:1
The one who lives alone is self-indulgent,
showing contempt for all who
    have sound judgment.

Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to remember the mercy you have already shown us. Help us to remember your gifts. We ask you to continue to pick us up when we fall, to lighten our burdens, to satisfy our needs. Lord, as we remember what you have already done and as we ask for you to do even more, remind us to tell others what you have done and can do. Amen.

Reflection on readings for June 26

Bow your heavens, O Lord,
and come down;
touch the mountains so that 
they smoke.
I will sing a new song to you,
    O God;
upon a ten-stringed harp,
    I will play to you....
(Psalm 144:5, 9)

2 Kings 9:14-10:31
Jehu, after having been secretly anointed by Elisha, led his supporters to where the wounded King Joram,  had returned. King Ahaziah of Judah was also visiting there. The two kings went out to meet Jehu on the property that had been taken from Naboth. Jehu slayed both kings and ordered the murder of Jezebel. Further bloodbath ensued. To please Jehu, seventy sons of Ahab were killed, as were the entire household--leaders, close friends, and priests.  Jehu then had worshipers of Baal killed and their temple destroyed.

The Lord tells Jehu that he had done well and that four generations would rule Israel. But, Jehu continued in the tradition of not following the law of the Lord the God of Israel with all his heart and instead continued to sin as Jeroboam had.

Our modern question is whether the Lord actually approved of the slaughter.

Acts 17:1-34
Paul stood in front of the Areopagus in Athens. I looked it up. The word means "Temple of Ares (god of war)" or "Mars" (another name for Ares) Hill." This building in Paul's time was the meeting place for the highest judicial and legislative council.

He begins by complimenting the Athenians on how religious they are. Or is he being a little snarky when he says that they worship even an unknown god?

He continues "Although you may not know the god you worship, I can tell you about the God who made the world, everything in it, a God not confined to any building, a God who does not need anything but instead provides everything."

Paul then tells them that God is the source and director of all people, and that while we may be looking for God, God is not far from us.

The one-God part may have been difficult for the Athenians to grasp. We moderns on the other hand may not be able to admit how many temples of unknown gods we spend time in and money on. We think our jobs are important, as are our leisure activities. Like the ancients, we also search for meaning or affirmation or security, physical or psychological, and, of course, amusement.

And like them, God is not far from us--even when we are looking in the wrong direction. God has created us--all of us--and continues to provide us life.

Paul had been raised as a Jew and had lived among Jews. So, A god not made by human hands would have been a basic, long-accepted truth for him--but not so for the Athenians. As would the existence of God not lots of gods.

Paul is talking to people who would not have been brought up on the Scriptures that had formed and nurtured his understanding.

They may not have known about God, but God knows about them. "We are God's offspring," he tells them. It's hard for some of us to go this far. Although like Paul, we may believe that God created them since God created everything, we still aren't quite ready to accept that non-Christians are also God's children.

Paul then talks about the future, what is necessary for them and for all of us to do--Repent. We might be able to plead ignorance if we really had not been told something, but once we have been told, ignorance is no longer a valid excuse or even explanation. Paul tells them, "The day is coming when God will appoint a man to judge the world in righteousness."

What we do does matter. We will be judged. And since we will be judged righteously, that's the way we should be behaving.

"You can be assured of this," Paul tells them, "because he has raised this judge from the dead."

Also see John Holbert's commentary, Interreligious Dialogue or Interreligious Monologue?

Psalm 144:1-15

Proverbs 17:27-28
One who spares words is knowledgeable;
one who is cool in spirit has understanding.
Even fools who keep silent are considered wise;
when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent.

Prayer for Today: God, turn us away from relying on earthly successes to recognize our dependence on you. Help our belief. Amen.

Prayer for Today:

Reflection on readings for June 25

Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
answer me in your righteousness
(Psalm 143:1)

2 Kings 8:1-9:13
Restoration for one widow because Gehazi, one of Elisha's servants, intercedes with the king. [Tangent: is this the same Gehazi whose greed prompted Elisha to give him leprosy (5:15-27)]

Elisha directs one of his company of young prophets to anoint Jehu as king then flee. The prophet told Jehu that the Lord wanted to end the rule and lives of Ahab and Jezebel.

Acts 16:16-40
After baptizing Lydia and her household, Paul continues his evangelism in Philippi. He performs an exorcism on a slave girl. The consequent loss of her ability to tell fortunes so upsets her owner that he reports to the authorities that Paul and Cyrus are advocating customs unlawful for Romans to observe.

Being a Christian, doing Christian things does not impute immunity. They go to prison and are subjected to flogging. They pray and sing hymns.

Suddenly a violent earthquake shakes the prison, throwing open all the doors and unfastening everyone's chains.

Being a Christian, doing Christian things is not restricted to a church building. They witness to a jailer who then seeks baptism.

Notice that they stop and speak to the jailer rather than take the opportunity to escape. The prison doors are open, but they choose to comfort and protect their jailer.

Psalm 143:1-12

Proverbs 17:26
To impose  a fine on the innocent is not right,
or to flog the noble for their integrity.

Prayer for Today: O Lord our God, when we are in your sanctuary we can feel your presence, can experience warmth and joy.  Remind us in our lives today that  the choice to be a Christian extends beyond what happens to us in formal worship. Being a Christian may prompt us to choose to do the unpopular. Amen.

Reflection on readings for June 24

With my voice I cry to the Lord;
with my voice I make
supplication to the Lord.
(Psalm 142:1)

2 Kings 6:1-7:20
Threat of war. Elisha advises the king to feed the enemy troops. Peace breaks out--but only for a while.

Acts 15:36-16:15
Two Christian leaders disagree and split up.

Traveling through Macedonia, Paul and Cyrus come to the Roman colony Philippi. One sabbath when they are looking for a place of prayer they come across Lydia, a wealthy woman, a dealer in purple cloth. She is so impressed with their prayers that she and her whole household are baptized.

Psalm 142:1-7

Proverbs 17:24-25
The discerning person looks to wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool to the ends of the earth.
Foolish children are a grief to their father
and bitterness to her who bore them.

Prayer for Today: At those times when you are in distress because you are being mistreated, use the words of Psalm 142 as your prayer.

Reflection on readings for June 23

I call upon you, O Lord;
come quickly to me;
give ear to my voice 
    when I call to you.
(Psalm 141:1)

2 Kings 4:18-5:27
The son of the Shunammite widow falls ill and dies. She goes to Elisha demanding that he go with her to her home. Coming into her house, he lays hands on the dead boy and prays. The son awakes.

When he gets back to Gilgal, Elisha  ensures the the hungry no longer have to eat contaminated food and sees that  hungry people are fed.

Note the steps:
A single person is compassionate enough to give up some of his resources.
He doesn't give a whole lot, only twenty loaves of bread and some grain.
He gives them first to Elisha's servant who doesn't think they are sufficient for the task.
Elisha does.
He quotes what God wants.
A hundred people are fed, and they have leftovers.

Next, Elisha is called to help an army commander of Aram (Syria). Consider the contrasts:
Aram (Syria), strong/Israel, weak;  Naaman, army commander/nameless captive servant girl; Naaman's victory in war/Naaman's inability to heal himself; foreigner who knows something/important citizen who needs to know something.

Naaman, in hopes that his servant knows what she is talking about, goes to his king for permission to make the trip to Israel. The king, being a king, assumes that all power in Israel resides in the king of Israel. Being a king, he thinks he knows what kings want; so, he sends a letter and a lot of expensive gifts.

Naaman takes the letter and the gifts directly to the king of Israel. The king is nonplussed. And distrustful and fearful.

Why does the king of Israel react in this way?

Elisha, on the other hand, hears, understands, and acts.

Kings need a prophet.

Naaman, as powerful and successful as he had been, needed help. He was willing to listen to a captive girl, a servant. But, he and his king, thought that the person she had recommended, if he was as good as she said, must be working for the king of his country.

Who wouldn't think that? Where do we turn for help?

The prophet Elisha doesn't even bother to come out of his house to meet his powerful guest. Rather, he sends an emissary. "Go wash in the Jordan, and your flesh will be clean." Naaman reacts as if he has been told to go jump in the lake. He stalks off.

Why was he willing to listen to his servant but is insulted when Elisha sends a servant to convey instructions?

Is there any message in this passage that leads us to examine our own chauvinism?

One of my favorite authors is Walter Breuggemann. I not only buy his books; I also read them. Here's a portion of what he had to say about Naaman's acceptance of Elisha's odd medical prescription (Texts for Preaching, A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV-Year B):

The story ends in an act of submissive obedience of the commander to the plan of the prophet (v. 14). The commander acts "according to the word of the man of God" and engages in ritual washing, which is beneath his station. The result is the one he had hoped for but doubted possible! He is made whole! He is made clean! He is made ritually acceptable....The narrative stands as odd testimony that power for life is indeed offered and available. That power for life is not given in expected or even socially approved forms. It comes in primitive ways that live close to the gifts of the earth.Thus all the pretense of the Syrian leader with his entourage, his goods brought for gifts (for bribery or negotiation), turn out to be irrelevant.

Healing is an offer that is free, but only through the word and acts of this uncredentialed prophet.

Questions that arise:
Is there a modern-day analogy for "ritual washing"?

Does the place of the water matter, or would the healing have been just as effective if Elisha had sent him to some other river? That is, think about who really does the healing.

Do you agree with Bruggemann on the power of life coming from "primitive ways that live close to the gifts of the earth"?

Why did servants know what to do and a king did not?

What does it mean that two different servants were willing to give Naaman advice?

What does it mean that he was willing to follow their advice?

Acts 15:1-35
The council of Jerusalem wrestles with the question of whether someone could be a Christian unless he was first a Jew.  The Pharisees said non-Jews were not welcomed. After much debate and testimony by Barnabas and Paul, they agreed to accept non-Jews.

Psalm 141:1-10

Proverbs 17:23
The wicked accept a concealed bribe
to pervert the ways of justice.

Prayer for Today: O Lord, open us to your voice today. Give us the wisdom and the courage to follow your directions for us. Give us the wisdom and the courage to discern when you would have us follow a path that we aren't used to. Amen.

Reflection on readings for June 22

I say to the Lord,
"You are my God;
give ear, O Lord,
to the voice of my supplications."
(Psalm 140:6)

2 Kings 3:1-4:17
At first the prophet Elisha doesn't want to do anything to help the king of Israel (remember the conflicts between his mentor Elijah and King Ahab). Yet, the current king of Israel, Jehoram, is able to convince him to work with him, King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and their current ally, the king of Edom, in opposition to the king of Moab who has refused to deliver wool to Israel.

Elisha calls for a musician. As the music is played, the power of the Lord comes upon Elisha and sends convincing signs.

War begins. Israel triumphs at first, but withdraws when the king of Moab does something that seems very wrong to us.

Elisha is then called upon by a widow to protect her from a creditor who wants to take her two children as slaves. When he asks her if she anything of value, she responds that she has only a jar of oil. Through his intervention, so much oil appears that she has to borrow vessels from her neighbors. Elisha tells her "Sell the oil to pay your debts so you and your children can live on the rest."

Elisha next helps a wealthy widow.

Acts 14:8-28
Paul and Barnabus preach a message about the one God, Creator of all. Things go badly. In Lystra (Turkey), they heal a man who had been crippled from birth. The residents are joyous; they think their gods (Greek ones) have come to them in human form. Not so for Paul's and Barnabus' religious traditionalists. They excite the crowd to stone Paul, leaving him for dead. But, when the disciples surrounded him he got up. The next day he and Barnabas went to the neighboring Derbe where they made many disciples, then came back to Lystra then to Iconium and Antioch.

Psalm 140
The psalmist gives us words to pray when we are attacked by enemies--the violent and the snarky. Note that the psalmist is not opposed to all violence. Also note that the Psalmist affirms the knowledge that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy and executes justice for the poor.

Are we more willing to let the Lord handle the violence than for us to do that for ourselves? Are we more willing to let the Lord handle the cause of the needy without our help?

Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is a good medicine,
but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.

Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to sort out what part you would have us pay in resolving injustice. Amen.

Reflection on readings for June 21

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
(Psalm 139:1-2)

2 Kings 1:1-2:25
Elisha said, "I'm not ready to let you go. Stay here with me."

How hard is it for a disciple to move on and to let go?
The other prophets tried to help Elisha. Elijah tried to help him. Yet, Elisha is still not ready to let Elijah go.

The way he puts it is to repeat, "I won't abandon you."

What really is his objection?

Even when he is told that the Lord has ordained this move, Elisha objects. He continues to delay the departure. They travel from Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan. Breuggemann points out that they are moving into the wilderness.

Think about an earlier crossing of the Jordan--Moses couldn't go, but Joshua led the people across.

Elisha is bereaved.
...
Elisha asked for a double share of Elijah's spirit. Elijah reminded him that the Spirit is God's to share. Let us continue to pray for God's spirit to light on us as we face loss and challenge.

The other prophets tried to help Elisha. Elijah tried to help him. Yet, Elisha is still not ready to let Elijah go.

The way he puts it is to repeat, "I won't abandon you."

What really is his objection?

Acts 13:42-14:7

Psalm 139:1-24
My first appointment as a pastor was to a three-point charge in rural Scott and Smith Counties in central Mississippi. Each of the three churches had its own cemetery, and I was called to preside at many funerals.

Not uncommon was the situation that the deceased was not a church-goer but the mourners were.

I often relied on this psalm for the core of the funeral homily.

Read again verses 1-6: God knows where we are. God is paying attention. God is caring for us.

"No matter where we go, God knows where we are. No matter where we are, God is with us there."

Not everyone comes to realize the presence of God. But, the Psalmist does and offers words that we can use to express the knowledge and gratitude for God's presence.

Verses 13-18 emphasize the intimacy we have with God. And the response that is appropriate:
I acclaim You. I may not be able to figure out what you are thinking, but I know that I am with you.

"You know everything about me," the psalmist says. "You know where I'm going and when. You know what I'm going to say before I say it."

The psalmist admits, and we admit when we pray this psalm, that the Lord knows everything about us whenever or wherever we are. The Lord knows what we are going to say before we say it.

Do we read these verses as reassurance, or are they unsettling to us? How comfortable is it for us to admit that God already knows what we have been doing today--and every day? For Arminians, are we bothered by the predestination element in verses 7 and 16?

Proverbs 17:19-21
One who loves transgression loves strife;
one who builds a high threshold invites broken bones.
The crooked of mind do not prosper,
and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.
The one who begets a fool gets trouble;
the parent of a fool has no joy.

Prayer for Today: Choose a prayer from Joan Stott's website The Timeless Psalms.