August 2021 – A Preacher’s Ponderings

Delight and disgust

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost; 29 August 2021; Proper 17B (RCL); Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23.

We’re following Track 1, the semi-continuous track. Today’s Old Testament reading takes a big leap from last Sunday’s — hardly semi-continuous. I suspect the lectionary places it here because of its purported authorship by King Solomon — we’ve just heard of his dedication of the Temple. But, we take the jump from historical account to love poetry. Whew!

Words of life

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost; 22 August 2021; Proper 16B (RCL); 1 Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69.

Last week, we heard Jesus say, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” This week, we hear him say, “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.” So, which is it?

Drinking blood?

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost; 15 August 2021; Proper 15B (RCL); 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58.

In writing the Gospel, John, the evangelist embarked on a daring theological project. The crisis of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE raised serious questions of identity for those who had centered their worship of God on the cult of the Temple (they weren’t really yet called Jews as we think of the term). Where, now, do we encounter God?

The bread of life

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost; 8 August 2021; Proper 14B (RCL); 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-31; Psalm 130; Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2; John 6:35, 41-51.

Last week, we heard Nathan tell David that the sword would never depart from his house. We skip over a bunch of material to arrive at our reading for this week. Amnon rapes his sister Tamar, Absolom kills Amnon, and then sets up a seat of judgment in the gate in opposition to David’s seat, hearing cases only of Israelites (not Judahites). David flees Jerusalem, and Absolom lies with his wives on the roof the palace. David eventually musters his army and defeats the Israelites. The unity of the two kingdoms was always fragile.