Sunday, August 12, 2018

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (12th Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 14)

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

First Reading: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 Psalm 130:1-8
Second Reading: Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Gospel Reading: John 6:35, 41-51

The liturgical color for the day is: Green

It is Personal: Seriously now, David’s family is so much more of a mess than any of ours. Wow, just wow. His family is even more of a mess than those on the Young and the Restless or Days of Life.

All these people who are at war with one another—they are David’s own children. Its sibling versus sibling. So, when David says to Joab to “deal gently” with Absalom, he’s saying to deal gently with his own brother.

We are to take it personally and “deal gently” with others. Complicated and complex relationships are the only kind of relationships that really exist. There is something to that idea that we are all connected, and we are our brother and sister’s keeper. “Deal gently.” It is personal.

Stop Faking It: Its Ephesians 4:25 – “So then, putting away all falsehood.”

Stop faking it. Really. Just stop it. Stop trying to be something that you are not. Stop trying to pretend.

Stop faking it. Because you do not need to. You do not need to be anything other than the beautiful creation of God that you are. Socks mismatched and mood not Hollywood bright—it is all good! The writer of Ephesians puts it this way, “We are members of one another.”

It is Incarnational: “I am the bread of life.” To make that claim is an incarnational claim. “I am the bread of life.” We are so accustomed to those words. We hear them frequently at the Lord’s Table. “Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’”

Incarnational. Takes on flesh. Right here. Alongside.

He is right here with you. He is more than near. He is right beside you. Lean in. He is shoulder to shoulder with you. Present. Closer than the person who is closest to you in this moment.

SO, CHURCH: Lean in. Stop faking it. It is personal. He is should to shoulder with you. So close, you can taste it—“Bread of Life.”

Daris Bultena
General Presbytery