Looking At the Lectionary Passages

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Looking towards January 26. The texts I have chosen are:
Isaiah 9: 2-4 / Psalm 27: 1; 4-5 / Matthew 25: 14-28

First Impressions:

We have two short texts and one a bit longer. We begin with Isaiah who speaks of persons lost in the dark. These see a light and this turns them from sorrow to joy. This because God has broken the chains of injustice.

Then, in the Psalm, we hear testimony from a person who walks in the light of God’s word. That light casts out all fear and sets us free to celebrate the presence of God in creation. Troubled times have no effect on those who trust in the goodness of God.

The Matthew text presents a parable of Jesus. It is about three persons who have been trusted with resources by their master. Each is given an amount of money. Two of them invest this money and earn a return on that investment. These are rewarded with praise and invited to the experience of joy. One of them is insecure and decides to simply keep the money in a safe place. This leads to reproach from the master. This parable gives opportunity to explore how it is that we live our lives of faith. Are we investing that faith in the hope of positive outcomes or are we keeping that faith private and to ourselves? The lesson available for learning points us to active lives of faith in the hope of serving the coming of God’s will on earth as in heaven.
 
My selected texts for Sunday, February 2, are:

Psalm 84:5-8 / Hebrews 2: 14-18 / Luke 2: 25-40

Here are my first impressions after reading the texts for next Sunday:

The Psalm speaks about the blessing that follows trust in the sufficiency of God. We notice that it is within us that the path to heaven resides. This interior world is rich with blessings that bring forth life. The Psalm ends with a prayer expressing desire to be united with God.

Hebrews lets us know that Jesus was a human being just like us. In facing death on the cross and accepting this as the will of God Jesus takes away the fear of death which has the whole world in bondage. This fear of death is stimulated by the presence of a divisive spirit. This traces back to the garden of Eden and the temptation of Adam and Eve. From that point human being has been divided from God by the hunger for power. We are reminded that Jesus was human in every way. As he faced death without fear we too may follow in faith, trusting that death leads to resurrection. Jesus continues to be present with us by the Holy Spirit.

Luke speaks about two elderly persons who welcome the appearing of the baby Jesus. Each has heard from the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the one who will bring change. That change overcoming the darkness of the time and opening to new possibility. We are wise to remember that salvation has to do with life on earth as it is in heaven. God’s desire is for us to follow Jesus and accomplish the work of revival and renewal. Like the two persons, we find hope in the presence of Jesus. Through Jesus what was lost will be found. That being the true meaning and purpose of our human being.
 
What lectionary are you using, George? We had Matthew 5:1-12 and Micah 6:1-8 as options for today's readings, and we're following the standard lectionary. We often hear our words back at us on Sunday if the Rev is leading/attends the bible study (leadership rotates among she, 4 VAMs and an Emeritus; we are somewhat minister-heavy around here).
 
I was just about to ask the same question as BetteTheRed. The thread is called "Lectionary Passages" but your readings don't correspond to the RCL (not even close). In the RCL this is a "Matthew" year. The Narrative Lectionary is into Luke I believe, but Luke 2:25-40 isn't on at this time of year. So, same question - what lectionary are you using?
 
Free choice wins ... as dark's wands ...

Yeah, we get a spreadsheet giving us the main lectionary options, Hebrew, Gospel, Epistles, and the minister in charge. Can't prep, because they decide which one we're going to talk about. It's usually the gospel passage, although today we heard the Micah passage, which contains the favourite, "seek Justice love Mercy and walk Humbly with Godde"... We still talked about the Beatitudes, but we started by reading the Micah, which was nice.
 
“Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly” stand near the heart of my consciousness.
It is my text for Sunday - with a plea that we take it seriously and not just mouth it as empty words.

To be honest, my sense in the United Church is that we're pretty good at the justice part, kind of so-so at the mercy part and not good at all at the humble part, but that's just my impression.
 
It is my text for Sunday - with a plea that we take it seriously and not just mouth it as empty words.

To be honest, my sense in the United Church is that we're pretty good at the justice part, kind of so-so at the mercy part and not good at all at the humble part, but that's just my impression.

Humility is a lesser power and all the corruptive fallout of heaven wouldn't have that ... would they ... Oh din! Moor madness ...
 
What does "walk humbly with God" mean to you? Is it an idea of submission to God, to learning to listen for God's leading?
 
What does "walk humbly with God" mean to you? Is it an idea of submission to God, to learning to listen for God's leading?
I don't equate humility with "submission" really. Learning to listen for God's leaning is a part of it. I think we tend to make too many decisions without really considering what God's leading might be. We tend to be reactive without thought or prayer or reflection. I think it's also a recognition of God as "I am what I am" - so recognizing that God and God's way is actually beyond our ability to fully understand. That's another problem. We have this strange tendency to criticize other Christians who are convinced that they and they alone know "the truth" for arrogance - but contained within that attitude is the arrogance of us assuming that we know "the truth."
 
contained within that attitude is the arrogance of us assuming that we know "the truth."

Friggin' pronouns. I argue all the time that if I were taking notes at a Jesus sermon, that I'd write down "way, truth, life".
 
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