6/14/20
Sermon Notes:
The Lectionary readings for this week seem less thematically cohesive than usual. I thought it was just me until I began consulting commentaries and found other readers/writers having the same response. However, all of the Bible concerns God’s dealings with and great love for humanity: and this week’s readings are no exception. Here are some brief gleanings…
Genesis 17: 1-15 - The Genesis account tells the story of Abraham and Sara given a promise by God that in very old age they would become parents (and Sara laughs!). Not only would they be parents, but they would be the founding father and mother of a great nation God would build up from them and their offspring.
Psalm 116 - The psalmist cries out with gladness to the Lord for the unending faithfulness God shows humankind. The psalmist marvels that God listens to our prayers and hovers near us as we live the joys and sorrows of life.
Romans 5: 1-8 – Paul, too, expresses gladness, explaining that we can have peace with God through our trust and faith in Jesus Christ. The covenant promises God made to Abraham and Sara to raise up Israel extend through Jesus Christ to all.
Matthew: 9:35 through 10:8 - In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus calls his disciples and declares that God’s harvest is vast and that there are not enough workers to gather in this great harvest.
We too are called. Called to share the centering, healing, encouraging love of God to all and to each other, called to invite the people we encounter to God’s table. In this long reading, Jesus gives the disciples instructions and bestows upon them the power to heal in God’s name.
The beginning lines of the reading from Matthew have been ringing in my heart all week thus far. “As Jesus saw the crowds, his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” Something about this verse brings tears to my eyes and opens my heart. Perhaps it is just knowing that Jesus sees our human condition and aches for us, knowing we need a true shepherd and offering us his very own body and blood to show that, despite our darkest fears, nothing comes between us and the love of God, neither powers nor principalities.
See you Sunday!
Yours in Christ,
Jane