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You are here: Home / News / Readings and stuff for Sunday (Oct 10)

Readings and stuff for Sunday (Oct 10)

10/07/2010 by Luann McIlvaine

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Sunday closest to October 12

Proper 23
Year C
RCL

FIRST READER:

IN THIS MORNING’S FIRST READING, THE PROPHET JEREMIAH OFFERS SURPRISING COUNSEL FROM JERUSALEM TO THE ELDERS, PRIESTS AND PROPHETS NOW IN EXILE IN BABYLON.  RATHER THAN LOOK FOR A SPEEDY END TO THEIR CAPTIVITY, THEY SHOULD GET ON WITH THE BUSINESS OF LIFE AS BEST THEY ARE ABLE IN THEIR NEW CIRCUMSTANCES.  THEY ARE TO BUILD HOUSES, HAVE CHILDREN AND SEEK AFTER THE WELFARE OF BABYLON, KNOWING THAT IN DUE COURSE THE LORD WILL BRING THEM HOME.

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH

These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom [neba – ca – nezzer] Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

THE WORD OF THE LORD


 

SECOND READER:

IN THIS MORNING’S SECOND READING, SAINT PAUL BIDS TOMOTHY TO BE A FAITHFUL WORKER, REMINDING HIMSELF AND OTHERS OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS, AND NEW LIFE THAT IS TO BE KNOWN THROUGH HIM.  ALTHOUGH PAUL IS SHUT UP IN PRISON, THE GOSPEL REMAINS FREE IN THE WORLD AS LONG AS THERE ARE DISCIPLES SUCH AS TIMOTHY TO PROCLAIM THE LIFE-GIVING WORD OF THE LORD.

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David– that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he will also deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful–

for he cannot deny himself.

Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

THE WORD OF THE LORD

___

Hi Everyone.
 
This Sunday is the 20th Sunday after Pentecost.  Don't forget that the Sunday after this is Consecration Sunday (Oct 17) and we will be having two services only: 7:45 and 10:00, followed by a brunch.
 
U.N. Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld used to speak of living on the "border of the unheard of".  That's usually interpreted as meaning the future, but it could mean all sorts of things.  When I was in seminary, it was "unheard of" for a woman to become a priest (let alone a bishop, let alone a Presiding Bishop).  But somewhere along the line that border got crossed.
 
In many ways, the readings for this Sunday have to do with "border crossings".  The Prophet Jeremiah speaks in God's name to the exiles now living in Babylon against their will.  Even though they are living in a place not of their choosing, God calls them to proceed with their lives anyway.  Build houses and have children and seek the welfare of this alien city God tells them.  Part of Jeremiah's message is to remind the Israelites that the power and presence of God does not stop at the border between Jerusalem and Babylon. 
 
When Saint Paul writes his second letter to St. Timothy, he presents his whole gospel in one sentence.  He remembers Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, who was raised from the dead.  That's his whole gospel!  What I love about it is that it is a memory which touches two worlds: the earthly, temporal world of Jesus the Son of David; a world of politics and the day-to-day necessities of life (like building houses and having families).  But he also touches the future world of the Kingdom of God, a world inaugurated by the resurrection of the Christ, where the reign of God will be supreme.  Jesus crossed the boundary between life and death, between present necessity and future possibility.  Paul has ventured his life on this resurrected Jesus, and he calls Timothy to do the same.
 
The Gospel reading takes place on the boundary between Samaria and Galilee.  There Jesus meets some lepers who must always remain on the right side (that is, on THEIR side) of the boundary between the sick and the well, the unclean and the clean, the outcasts and the in-crowd.  As Jesus crosses the boundary between Samaria and Galilee, so do the lepers cross the boundary between lost and saved.  And so can we.  That's why Luke wrote all this stuff down.
 
Thank you for your ministries with us, and God bless. 

-Tim

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