George Love, Pastor of Hebron Presbyterian Church, continues sharing his thoughts on the Daily Lectionary Series of Bible readings. You will find his most recent comments at the top, with earlier ones below. See earlier ones in previous months by following this link.
We have also added daily links to Presbyterian Church (USA) website where you will find the Scripture readings for that day. We hope you will find this a helpful way to join us in seeking God's message for our daily lives.
September 4
First Reading: Job 19:1-29
Psalm: Psalm 25, 40, 84
Second Reading: Acts 13:13-25
Gospel: John 9:18-41
"'Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people give it.'" -Acts 13:15
I don't think Paul had to be asked twice to speak. The leaders of the synagogue in Antioch make the invitation to offer a word of exhortation and Paul is off and running. His life's purpose has become that he has a story to tell. He usually just goes forward with his witness on his own - how happy he must have been to have someone actually asking if he had anything to say. Now that you ask, Paul must have thought, yes I do.
One of the great lessons Paul teaches is being aware of opportunities to share our faith. Paul is not trying to grow an institution. He's not trying to figure out how to meet a budget. His whole motivation is he knows Jesus and he wants others to know Jesus. And the reason he wants others to know Jesus is he believes with all of his heart that life is better when one knows Jesus.
Followers of Jesus have a great story to tell and a great Lord to share. The story is the source of hope for all of our days, especially the ones that want to push us to despair. Our Lord is the very one who loved us all the way to the cross and then to the tomb and then to new life. Paul was ready. Any time the opportunity was there to share Jesus, Paul couldn't wait to get started. Are we looking for opportunities to offer a word of exhortation? Are we ready to share Jesus?
September 3
First Reading:
Job 16:6-22, 17:1, 13-16
Psalm: Psalm 26
Second Reading: Acts 13:1-12
Gospel: John 9:1-17
"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." - John 9:5
"Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he fumbled about for someone to lead him by the hand." - Acts 13:11
Paul has this confrontation with a man described both as a magician and false prophet by the name of Bar-Jesus or Elymas. Elymas is trying to convince the Roman proconsul, Segius Paulus, not to listen to the message of Paul and Barnabas. Paul rebukes Elymas and says that Elymas will now be blind "for a while." (13:11) Elymas must search around at this point for someone to help him find his way. This must have felt very familiar to Paul. It had not been that long ago that he was the one who would be blind for a while and had needed to find help from Ananias.
The gospel story today is the story of Jesus healing a man who is blind. It is a fantastic story with quite a bit of humor in it if you are looking for it. One of the main points of the story is that Jesus is the answer to our blindness. Not only to the physical blindness of the man in the story, but the answer to the spiritual blindness of all of us. Jesus reminds us here, "I am the light of the world." Jesus is doing what light does, illuminating darkness and making it possible to see.
Things got better, vision wise, for Paul, for the man Jesus healed, and possibly for Elymas - "for a while" sounds hopeful for him. Jesus makes things better, vision wise, for all of us. Jesus is the light that came into the world, the light that the darkness could not overcome. When we read a passage like today's from Job, we are confronted with the reality that life can bring quite a bit of darkness at times and it can be hard to find a way forward. Jesus is the light that can help us find that way forward at any moment, whatever the darkness.
September 2
First Reading: Job 12:1, 14:1-22
Psalm: Psalm 132
Second Reading: Acts 12:18-25
Gospel: John 8:47-59
"Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am." - John 8:58
"But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents." - Acts 12:24
When we make the decision to engage in the life of following Jesus, we are stepping into an awareness of a story much larger than our own. In worship recently our texts have been from the book of Genesis and Exodus, stories of the patriarchs and matriarchs and of Moses and the liberation of the Hebrew people. That becomes our story. We read today in the book of Acts of a very particular moment when Peter escaped prison and an angry Herod has guards executed for what he perceives to be their failure. A few sentences later in the passage, Herod loses his own life. We read it because it's a part of our story now.
Jesus gets caught up in this conversation with the religious leadership in John's gospel. They are trying to get a handle on who Jesus is - who he claims to be and how they are to get their minds around what he is suggesting. Jesus is talking of history and his place in it on a scale that pushes past their reason and logic. "Before Abraham was, I am." Abraham lived probably a minimum of fifteen hundred years before the moment that conversation was taking place and Jesus is not more than fifteen hundred years old - there is a level at which their confusion and lack of understanding makes sense.
"But the word of God continues to advance…." The story continues to move forward. We are as far from the time of the story in John's gospel as the people in that story were away from Abraham. But the whole thing - Abraham, Jesus, the early church - it's all part of the story we woke up to this morning. God's word and God's will continue to advance as history moves from today into tomorrow. Whatever is happening in your life at this moment, pause for a moment and reflect on the timeless story of God's love in which we each have a part.
September 1
First Reading: Job 12:1, 13:1-27
Psalm: Psalm 7
Second Reading: Acts 12:1-17
Gospel: John 8:33-47
"Meanwhile Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the gate they saw him and were amazed." - Acts 12:16
The story from Acts 12 is a powerful story in a number of ways. It almost always strikes me as a compelling story about the power of prayer. James, the brother of John, has been executed by Herod. Peter has been arrested. These are very hard times and the faithful are trying to persevere and are busy lifting up Peter in prayer. We are told "the church prayed fervently for him." (12:5) We don't know exactly what they were praying for, but it seems safe to think there were prayers for Peter's safety and deliverance from his imprisonment.
It works. It happens. An angel appears to Peter in prison and walks him past the guards and to the prison gates. Scripture reports that Peter is not certain if what he is experiencing is real or a vision. Imagine what it would have been like to be in such a hopeless circumstance and suddenly an angel is leading you past your captors and the gate is opening for you. He walks through the gate and perhaps it was like coming awake from a dream and discovering it was true. He goes to where he knows the believers are gathered. And he knocks and knocks. Eventually a "maid named Rhoda came to answer." (12:13) She is so excited she leaves Peter outside the door and runs to tell the others that Peter is there. They do not believe her. Peter keeps knocking, "and when they opened the gate they saw him and were amazed." (12:16)
I would have likely done everything they did. Questioned what Rhoda reported. Eventually, opened the door and been amazed to find Peter standing there. It is interesting to consider that they got the very thing they were praying for and when they were told it had happened and the result of the prayer was standing at the door, they doubted the messenger and questioned her message. Prayer is a powerful resource that is available to us at all times. This story reminds us of how very powerful it truly is. And it reminds us that when we pray, things may very well happen. Have we ever left the answer to prayer knocking at the door, because we dismissed the possibility that it could be there?