Daily Lectionary Readings for Year A
The Psalm turns our hearts to God again and again. ”How majestic is your name on all the earth!” When we go to God in prayer, we can lose all pretense. We can be honest about our fears. We can be open with our questions. We can trust in God’s grace. Prayer is that safe place for us to go, especially when very little feels safe. The King James Version poetically declares, ”Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” I saw a video of 6-year-old Gianna Floyd. Gianna is George Floyd’s daughter. She was sitting up high on a man’s shoulders. The man wore a hat that simply said FAITH. A week before her father had been killed on a Minneapolis street. Now she looked at the thousands who gathered, praying silently and collectively for 8 minutes, peaceful witnesses as far as the eye could see. With arms outstretched, she said with wonder, pride, and love, ”My Daddy changed the world.” Out of the mouths of babes. The Rev. Bill Johnson and I have invited you to pray today. Join the 104 congregations in the Midwest District, the 1,400 people who received the email invite, and all who find it on Facebook in prayer. Sit with God for two hours. Allow God to speak to your heart. Petition God on Gianna’s behalf that real change can come to make this a less divided, more just world. Please see the invitation below. Peace, Dean https://mailchi.mp/michiganumc/midwest-district-june-5-prayer-vigil?e=7eb298fc60 Dear Midwest District, We invite you to enter into prayer in the way of your choosing from Noon until 2 pm Friday, June 5, 2020. Issues of racism and violence are out in the open and on the streets around the country. The Holy Spirit gives breath to the declaration that Black Lives Matter. Despite the threats of violence, the calls for justice continue. God is at work. Erin Hawkins, the General Secretary of the United Methodist General Commission on Religion and Race, encourages the church to "Move Toward the Pain." Now is the time for prayer. We pray for justice, accountability, and a transformation of our society through policies and practice. We pray for every person of color who feels threatened and unsafe. We pray for an end to the destruction of lives, as well as to the destruction of property. We pray to be open to the ways we need to change. You may spend time in silence or ringing the church bell. You might connect with others through Zoom and pray together. Perhaps it would be a reflective prayer time of reading or writing. May God turn our prayers into action. Reflect on the words of Bishop Woodie White in his 1996 General Conference Benediction: And now, May the Lord torment you. May the Lord keep before you the faces of the hungry, the lonely, the rejected and the despised. May the Lord afflict you with pain for the hurt, the wounded, the oppressed, the abused, the victims of violence. May God grace you with agony, a burning thirst for justice and righteousness. May the Lord give you courage, and strength, and compassion to make ours a better world, to make your community a better community, to make your church a better church. And may you do your best to make it so, and after you have done your best, may the Lord grant you Peace. Amen. Pray for peace. Work for justice. Rev. Bill Johnson Rev. Dean N. Prentiss
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Daily Lectionary Readings for Year A
Suffering. It is difficult to get through this life without suffering. Anguish, disappointment, and grief seem to visit us at points along our life journey. The Book of Job (rhymes with lobe) is an exploration of the reason for suffering. Job is the source of the question, "why do bad things happen to good people?" 1 Timothy seeks to remind followers of Christ that they will suffer for the Gospel and that through the good news, the world will be changed. We follow a Savior who knew the epitome of suffering. Jesus was beaten, spit upon, whipped, and crucified. Church tradition holds that the apostles were martyred (see below). Of course, suffering is not sought out. But it exemplifies the ways sin is entrenched in our world and how difficult it is to make fundamental changes. Perhaps that is what we are experiencing in these days. Racism does not go away easily. Society does not evolve without pain and loss. Perhaps through the hurt, there is hope. The Good News of the Kingdom of God will continue to impact the world. But there will be sacrifices and there will be suffering. As followers of Christ, maybe we should not be surprised when we are bruised for his higher purpose. The Suffering and Death of the Apostles According to the Church Tradition (Warning, Not Pleasant):
Daily Lectionary Readings for Year A
I enjoy these daily lectionary readings and sharing a short reflection. My hope in all the ways I pastor is not to be the last word but to initiate avenues for dialogue. After reading what I offer, I pray that each of you will continue the conversation with God, with others, and in your own heart. I am blessed to have such a way to share. I am humbled that many of you have woven this spiritual discipline into our time in the wilderness. Sometimes I will read the lectionary texts the night before and allow them to visit me in my dreams. Always I read them in the morning. And then I write whatever comes to mind, a free-form flow of consciousness and prayer. Finally, I send it to you and Facebook and Twitter, post it on our website, and trust that God will infuse it with love and grace. Yesterday was a difficult day. It disturbed me as I perceived the president using things that are sacred as political messages when there are so many people crying out through pain for justice. I try hard to be considerate and mindful of the variety of beliefs and life experiences in our faith community. I try to be careful with what I say and how I say it. But yesterday I was upset. And one of you wrote to let me know that made you upset. And it dawned on me that the last thing I need to do is to divide God's people. We are being pitted against one another relentlessly these days. Partisanship runs deep right now, and we are encouraged to distrust the other. I don't want to play that game. I don't want to contribute toward pulling us apart from our shared baptism in Christ. We are one body, and we need each other now more than ever. I apologize for the things that I say which might be hurtful or offensive. I will focus even harder on speaking love to you, the people I love. As a descendant of Eldad and Medad, I will still prophesy and trust in God's Spirit. And as a follower of Christ, I will endeavor that from my heart will flow rivers of living water. These are stressful and turbulent times. I trust that God will help us find our way. Let us pray for Peace. Let us work for Justice. Dean Daily Lectionary Readings for Year A
What a time this is in our nation and our life. Protests fill the streets. The demands are for justice, accountability, an end to racial discrimination and violence, and recognition in policy and practice that black lives matter. Peaceful protests are seeking a fundamental change in how we treat one another. This outpouring of people seeking a better world can remold and remake us if we let it. Sadly, peaceful marches are shoved out of the way with images of fires, destruction, police brutality, looting, and people who seek to provoke more violence. With blasts echoing through the streets of our nation's capital, the president threatened additional violence. He then stood in front of St. John's Church holding up a Bible, perhaps unaware of the liberation found in the Word. Are you feeling angry? Scared? Frustrated? May the Spirit of God help us in our weakness. When our hearts are overwhelmed, may the Spirit intercede with sighs too deep for words. And may God, who knows our prayers, lead us into a more just and equitable future. Pray for peace and work for justice, Dean Daily Lectionary Readings for Year A
It is the first of June. I don't need to mention all that is happening, but I'll mention a few of the big ones. Worldwide pandemic, social distancing, no in-person worship, homeschooling, virtual graduations, high unemployment, signs of recession, marches for justice against police brutality, and for a more equitable society, rioting in cities, killer wasps, locusts (pending). Life these days can seem overwhelming. Paul writes a letter to the people of Rome. The Romans were dealing with the army in the street, revolution and rioting, a large gulf between the haves and the have-nots, and a struggle with holding onto hope when the world seemed to be falling apart. Paul's encouragement to the Romans and us is that Jesus has ushered in a new age. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus gives us a future and a life. Our sufferings are real. But we wait with anticipation, like a mother who is pregnant with child. We wait, knowing the pains of labor will be intense, but also hoping for new life to come. So, maybe you could print out Romans 8:18-25 and tape it to the back of your television remote control. Or place it near your bedstand to read each morning and each night again. These are difficult days; there is no doubt. We have a lot of work to do. But in hope, we are saved. Peace, Dean Romans 8:18-25 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? |
REv. Dean N. PrentissI am blessed to be the Pastor at Wesley Park UMC. Find Daily Lectionary Readings Here. Archives
February 2021
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