Sunday, June 3rd, 2018

9^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (2^nd Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 4)

The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:

First Reading: I Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20), Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Gospel Reading: Mark 2:23-3:5

The liturgical color for the day is: Green

The great stretch of time between Trinity Sunday and Christ the King Sunday begins with this Sunday – the 9^th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  There are two periods of time that fall under that label of “Ordinary Time.”  The time we are now in and the time that stretches from the Sunday after the Epiphany to the Transfiguration of the Lord.

The designation “Ordinary Time” sounds so—well, ordinary.  Too often we think of “ordinary” in the way that designates it as common or uninteresting.  The different perspective on “Ordinary Time” is that it is ordered time—and orderly time when we consider the growth of the church and take deliberate steps to growing the church.  Hence, the liturgical color is the color of growth—green.

A preacher who regularly preaches lectionary has not seen these Year B texts as the texts for the 9^th Sunday in Ordinary Time in over a decade.  The way the calendar falls with the position of Eastertide determines when the ordered time of Ordinary Time begins.

All four texts for the Lord’s Day are rich and could serve as a wonderful preaching opportunity for a vibrant Christ-centered community.  The first reading from I Samuel is the incredible recounting of the call of the Lord to Samuel.  With this text one can deal with the notion of the call of God and how it requires community in order for us to realize that call.  Even Eli (who we are explicitly told has grown dim in his vision)—his perception is necessary for Samuel to perceive the origin and identity of the one who is calling him.

The psalter lesson provides the wonderful comfort that has been read at so many Services of Witness to the Resurrection where we hear again: “You know me when I sit down…you search out my path…even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely. You hem me in…such knowledge is too wonderful for me…”  A sermon based on this text can recount the rhythm of our living and that of the church where we are known through and through by this God of steadfast love.

“But we have this treasure in clay jars,” –those incredible words belong to the Second Lesson from 2 Corinthians for this Lord’s Day.  A sermon based on this text helps us (like all the lessons this week) to locate ourselves in position with the Author of Creation.  Here we grow our comfort and resilience in the knowledge that even in our broken vessel nature we carry in us the life of the Living Lord too.  In that, the Church becomes that vessel through which the world witnesses life abundant.

The Gospel Lesson from Mark carries us back towards the beginning of the ministry of Jesus as Mark tells it.  Here we encounter the first prominent clash of Jesus with those who are paying strict attention to sabbath laws.  In Mark it is this early encounter where we hear there are those conspiring against Jesus.  This sermon might ask how we pursue righteousness in a world of competition and clashing value systems.  The sermon may, too, check us into looking at how our strict and stringent views (and laws, and order) can sometimes prevent us from seeing the new movement of God as witnessed through the Church in our contemporary encounters with the Living Christ.

Daris Bultena
PTF General Presbyter