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Luke 14:15-24 - Lectionary for Trinity 2

6/18/2020

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6/18/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

“I can’t come to your event, because I don’t want to.” True, this is not a way we would likely treat others. I am of a slightly older generation in my culture, one in which we might deal with invitations in a different way. When invited to something we don’t want to go to, we might go anyway, since it is a polite thing to do. We also might simply say, “No, thank you.” No explanation is really needed, we simply declined the invitation and won’t be going. People a generation younger than myself will, on the other hand, often not respond in any way to an invitation, then decide at the last minute whether they will come or not. Or they may do something I find very rude, accept the invitation and then decline it at the last minute because something else came up. We have all sorts of ways of deciding what our priorities are.

In the world of Christianity, great amounts of time and effort have been expended trying to figure out why more people from one group, fewer people from another, will attend an event. Do some activities reach different ages or demographics differently than others? These are, perhaps, valid questions to ask. However, they all miss the point of our Gospel reading from Luke 14:15-24. Jesus tells a parable about people who have been invited to a banquet. Apparently it is a big deal. When the servants try to get the banquet hall filled, they have to do a lot of recruiting.

The respondents didn’t want to go to the banquet. They all make excuses which are pretty lame.  “Oh, I have some real estate I need to look at.” “I have some cattle I want to meet.” “I got married so I can’t do anything.” All are ridiculous excuses. They can’t come to the banquet because they don’t want to.

Jesus invites us to a banquet in his presence. He gives us his broken body and shed blood to eat and drink, distributing forgiveness and peace with God at the same time. He gives us a feast centered around His Word, which creates faith in our hearts and lets us see the goodness of God. 

The feast spread by God is available to all who believe. Why do so many reject? They don’t want God to mess with them. Changing the message or the method of presentation won’t fix anything. We need to pray that God will change the hearts and minds of those we invite. Some might come simply because they are polite. But some will come and receive God’s banquet with joy.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Ephesians 2:13-22 - Lectionary for Trinity 2

6/17/2020

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6/17/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

In recent weeks the idea of reconciliation has once again cropped up to the center of many Americans’ attention. The tensions have perhaps been more intense because of the pandemic which has prevented many meetings and appearances of Christian leaders, who have typically been a voice for reconciliation among different racial and cultural groups. 

The Bible has a great deal to say about reconciliation. This week, in particular, the Epistle reading from Ephesians 2 points out that the most serious conflict in the world, the conflict between the perfectly holy God and sinful humans, has been resolved by Jesus, who broke down the separation between God and man. This is particularly important when we remember this letter was written to Christians at Ephesus. The Ephesians, in the Greek world, and the Jews, would have very little to do with one another. There was a lot of tension. Virtually nowhere in the Mediterranean world was Judaism accepted, primarily because the pagans had little patience with a people who were monotheistic and who believed in a transcendent God, rather than a group of gods who were more like long living and very powerful humans. 

“Everyone” in Christianity recognized that the Jews would become Christians by God’s grace. However, there wa still some doubt about the legitimacy of a Greek becoming a Christian without first converting to Judaism. Paul says that Jesus has made the Ephesians also partakers of his divine nature, breaking down their separation from God through his own work. The Ephesians, just like the Jews from Jerusalem, were citizens in the kingdom of God. They too were built up on the foundation of Christ and were a holy dwelling for God.

It is in Christ and His reconciling work that we have hope for reconciliation with one another. It is in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice and his love for all humans that we can hope to see one another as bearers of God’s image and as those who are worthy of love and respect. This is the message of Christianity, that though we are sinners, God has esteemed us highly as those created in His image, and that he has reconciled us to himself, at his own expense. Our role is to acknowledge his work. That acknowledgement automatically brings us to see other humans, no matter their background, as His precious children. So we treat one another well, with respect, with dignity. Here we can find peace.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Psalm 34:12-22 - Lectionary for Trinity 2

6/16/2020

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6/16/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our reading in Psalm 34 speaks of the Lord’s care for his righteous people. He is the Lord who hears the cries of the righteous, who rescues them from trouble, who cares for those who are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit. God redeems his people. They don’t need to have any eternal fear. 

We often ask ourselves about the heroic deeds that must be necessary to be one of the righteous people. Do we need to engage in special meditations on Scripture, staying up late at night to study and pray? Do we lay down our lives for the last, the least, and the lost? Do we give of our finances until we have no more?

All those may be appropriate responses to need around us. However, in Psalm 34 the righteous are engaged in speaking truth and good, in turning from evil and in pursuing peace. Sometimes that entails sacrifice. Sometimes it is very serious sacrifice. But in most people’s minds, telling the truth, speaking about what is good, turning toward what is good, and trying to live peaceably with others is not considered extreme behavior. 

The biggest difficulty in all this is probably remembering that the mercy we receive isn’t something we earn but something the Lord gives us out of his gracious care for his people. 

We may be surrounded by trials on every side. All our truth telling and turning from evil to good might not do us any earthly good. But God promises to give us eternal good. This is the good news we need. In Christ we have no need for fear of eternity. We’ll be all right, as we are trusting in the Lord.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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Proverbs 9:1-10 - Lectionary for Trinity 2

6/15/2020

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6/15/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament passage this week speaks to the invitation made by “wisdom,” normally understood as an expression of the person of God through one of His attributes, for everyone to come and receive the blessings which are stored up for all. 

Verses 7-10 then provide counsel which not only calls us to action, but helps us understand the way the Proverbs are interpreted. We are told not to reprove a scoffer, to reprove a wise man, to instruct a wise man, and to teach a wise man.  All would make sense in isolation except for the first. How do we know who the scoffer is? People change their attitudes over time. They may be scoffers sometimes, then ready to accept instruction at other times. What do we do?

Very simply, as well as understanding that many of the ideas in Proverbs are truisms rather than hard and fast commands, or promises, we also realize that the worst which will happen if we try to instruct a scoffer will be to create animosity. It could be worse than that. What if the person just appears to be a scoffer but is actually asking hard questions because he wants to learn? The instruction will be a delight to us and to him.

God’s Word works in His people. We pray that we will be fair and charitable, sharing the words of God which bring life and light into our world.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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    About Throwing Inkwells

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