Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
1st Reading (Track 1): Ruth 1:1-18
Ruth is a story about two valiant women, Naomi and her servant Ruth, who make a life for themselves after the death of all the males in the family. Widows were without social power in the ancient Near East, but their commitment to each other (which is the climax of the following passage) carries them through and Ruth eventually makes a good marriage to Boaz, and is celebrated in history as the great-grandmother of King David.
1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. 6 Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. 10 They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.” 14 Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” 18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
Psalm
146 (Track 1)
The
last five psalms are hymns of praise to God, each beginning and ending with the
Hebrew word “Hallelujah” (English: “Praise the Lord”). Psalm 146 praises the faithfulness of God and
exhorts us to put our trust in that faithfulness rather than any earthly
ruler. It is only the God of Israel who
will reign for ever.
Praise the Lord, O my soul! *
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
2 Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.
3 When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.
4 Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! *
whose hope is in the Lord their God;
5 Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;
6 Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.
7 The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; *
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.
8 The Lord loves the righteous;
the Lord cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
9 The Lord shall reign for ever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations
Hallelujah!
1st Reading (Track 2): Deuteronomy 6:1-9
In this passage, Moses summarizes the law for the people (the summary sometimes called the Shema) and promises them that their days will go well if they heed the commandments and teach them to their children. The final two verses are the basis for the Jewish prayer practice of wearing a “phylactery” (a box containing the commandments worn on the forehead, affixed with leather bands that also wrap around the left arm) and the “mezuzah,” a small receptacle also containing the commandments which is affixed on the right side of the doorway. (These practices, however, did not develop until much later in Israel’s history).
6:1 Moses convened all Israel and said to them: Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 2 so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Psalm 119:1-8 (Track 2)
Psalm
119, the longest of the psalms at 176 verses, is a long acrostic poem celebrating
the Law. Each succeeding eight verses
begins with a subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet (vv. 1-8, with Aleph, which begins
the Hebrew alphabet). In addition, every
verse of this poem contains a word that is a synonym for the law. It is written in the Wisdom tradition, i.e.,
the promise is made over and over that if one follows the law, one will be blessed.
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Happy are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all their hearts!
3 Who never do any wrong, *
but always walk in his ways.
4 You laid down your commandments, *
that we should fully keep them.
5 Oh, that my ways were made so direct *
that I might keep your statutes!
6 Then I should not be put to shame, *
when I regard all your commandments.
7 I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, *
when I have learned your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep your statutes; *
do not utterly forsake me.
2nd Reading: Hebrews 9:11-14
Our passage from the Letter to the Hebrews today continues the use of the image of the high priest for Jesus. Here the Day of Atonement is referenced, the one day when the high priest enters the inner sanctuary to plead for the people. Jesus has done this once and for all, offering his own self so that we may worship the living God with confidence.
9:11 When Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!
Gospel Reading: Mark 12:28-34
In Mark 12:13-37, Jesus is asked four questions about the Torah and the teaching of Moses. The first was the question about paying taxes, the second about the resurrection, the third (below) the greatest commandment, and the fourth the sonship of the Messiah. In this passage Jesus weaves together Moses’ summary of the law from Deuteronomy (6:4-5), and the commandment to love the neighbor from Leviticus (19:2). Note Jesus adds “and with all your mind” to the Deuteronomy quote. One aspect of this passage that is often overlooked is the fact that there is agreement between Jesus and this scribe. Not all of Israel’s teachers and religious leaders were at odds with Jesus.
12:28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.
The Scripture quotations (except
for the psalm) are from the New Revised
Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. The Collect of the Day and the Psalm translation
are from The Book of Common Prayer. Commentaries are copyright © 2021, Epiphany
ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY
14843, www.epiphanyesources.com. All
rights reserved. Permission is given to
copy for group study.
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