2 Pentecost 2020, Proper 6A Readings & Commentaries

 The end of Matthew 9 serves as a summary of what has happened with a transition sentence:  Jesus longs for laborers to go out as he has done.

The Collect of the Day

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

1^st Reading (Track 1):  Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)

This story is rich in biblical fundamentals. The tendency is to focus on confusion regarding the “visitors.” Is it three men/angels (vv. 2-12) or the Lord himself (v.1, vv. 13-15)? Christians have seen the Trinity at work here, but that is surely not the agenda of the text. More important are two crucial matters:  First, the biblical mandate of hospitality, a value of the highest priority. Second is the question, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” Abraham and Sarah are not ready to believe this in their advanced old age. They are “as good as dead” (Hebrews 11:12). Yet as we skip to chapter 21, the Lord defies their doubt and they laugh not in doubt but in joy. The birth of Isaac (whose name means “laughter”) is a critical moment in the biblical story. Without the possibility that God can shatter our impossibilities and make them new, there is, in fact, no biblical story at all.

^18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. ² He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. ³ He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷ Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. ⁸ Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. ⁹ They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh;” for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

[^21:1 The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. ² Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. ⁴ And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” ⁷ And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”]

Psalm 116:1, 10-17 (Track 1)

Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving for deliverance from something that has threatened life itself. Part of the psalm’s vision is that fulfilling one’s vows to the Lord (a sacrifice of thanksgiving) brings salvation and freedom.

1      I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of

                                                my supplication, *

                because he has inclined his ear to me whenever

                                                I called upon him.

10   How shall I repay the Lord *

                for all the good things he has done for me?.

11   I will lift up the cup of salvation *

                and call upon the Name of the Lord.

12   I will fulfill my vows to the Lord *

                in the presence of all his people.

13   Precious in the sight of the Lord *

                is the death of his servants.

14   O Lord, I am your servant; *

                I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;

                you have freed me from my bonds.

15   I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving *

                and call upon the Name of the Lord.

16   I will fulfill my vows to the Lord *

                in the presence of all his people,

17   In the courts of the Lord’s house, *

                in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

1^st Reading (Track 2):  Exodus 19:2-8a

After their escape from Egypt, the Israelites camped at Rephidim for a time. As chapter 19 begins, they are ready to start their journey through the wilderness. They travel until they reach “the mountain” (sometimes called Sinai, sometimes Horeb). Moses’ first trip up the mountain results in what we might call the “vision statement” for Israel:  They will be God’s special people, a holy nation belonging to God and a priestly kingdom in God’s service. The commandments are yet to come, the means by which Israel will live (or not) into this vision.

^19:2 When the people of Israel had journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ³ Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites:  ⁴ You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, ⁶ but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.” ⁷ So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸ The people all answered as one: "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

Psalm 100 (Track 2)

Psalm 100 (familiar to generations of Episcopalians as the Jubilate from Morning Prayer) is a song of thanksgiving calling Israel to worship the Lord. Notice the seven invitations to worship:  Be joyful, serve with gladness, come with song, know (proclaim) we are his, enter with praise, give thanks, and call upon him.

1   Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands; *

         serve the Lord with gladness

              and come before his presence with a song.

2   Know this: The Lord himself is God; *

              he himself has made us, and we are his;

              we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

3   Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

              go into his courts with praise; *

              give thanks to him and call upon his Name.

4   For the Lord is good;

     his mercy is everlasting; *

              and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

2^nd Reading:  Romans 5:1-8

Paul has spent the first four chapters of Romans arguing the point that we are justified by faith and not by any works of the law. So, he says, here are the consequences of this truth.  It is peace with God and the hope of sharing glory with God. This hope cannot disappoint, even in the face of suffering, because no matter our state, Christ died for us, proving God’s love.

^5:1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. ⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 9:35—10:8 (9-23)

We pick up Matthew’s Gospel after the Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5-7) and a number of healing stories. The end of chapter 9 serves as a summary of what has happened with a transition sentence:  Jesus longs for laborers to go out as he has done. Matthew begins chapter 10 with a “summoning” of the 12, who are named. They are then sent with specific instructions and a warning about potential suffering. The good news they are called to spread will not be received as good news by everyone.

^9:35 Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” ^10:1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ ⁸ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

[^10:9 Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. ¹¹ Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. ¹² As you enter the house, greet it. ¹³ If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. ¹⁶ “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; ¹⁸ and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. ¹⁹ When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; ²⁰ for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ²¹ Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; ²² and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.]

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 © 2020 Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843. www.EpiphanyEsources.com. All rights reserved. Permission is given to copy for group study with this attribution.  Digital bulletin inserts are available. Go to our website for more information (click on “subscribe”).

The Story of Romans

On 14 successive Sundays beginning June 14 we will be hearing from Paul’s Letter to the Romans.  Romans is by far the longest of Paul’s letters and it is unique in that it is the only one of his letters written to a community that he did not know in a place he had never been.

We often treat the letters of the New Testament as if they were little theological treatises.  Yet reading them is more like reading a stranger’s mail.  There’s a relationship—a story—that is the context of each letter, even Romans.  It is not easy to get at that context.  There are clues in the letters themselves and there is history written by other sources.  And there is conjecture, of course, somewhat akin to “reading between the lines.”

Since we’re going to spend so much time with Romans, I thought it would be good to summarize current thinking on the story behind the letter.

Paul was on an extended stay in Corinth, in southern Greece. It was the end of a long journey that had taken him through Asia minor and into Macedonia and Greece.  In addition to spreading the message of Jesus, he had been taking up a collection for impoverished believers in Jerusalem, which was to be his next stop.  This was around the year 58 c.e.  After Jerusalem, Paul’s hope was to visit Rome and press on to Spain.  Paul was aware that he was a controversial figure and his letter to the Christians in Rome was primarily meant as a “get to know you” letter.  He wanted to present himself and his teaching to them on a personal level.

Paul certainly would have known something of what was going on in Rome.  His good friends Prisca and Aquila, whom he met in Corinth, had been banished from Rome.  Christianity had come to Rome at a very early date. By the early 40’s there was a community there, probably predominantly Jewish Christians, and it may have been controversy among the Jews of Rome (a much older community) that caused the Emperor Claudius to expel all Jews from Rome around the year 49.  That expulsion may have led to Gentile believers coming to the fore in Rome.  We know that many Jewish Christians returned to Rome after Claudius’ death in 54 (including Prisca and Aquila).  So the Christian community in Rome was mixed Jewish and Gentile with the inherent tensions this caused in many early Christian communities.

In his letter Paul addresses both Jewish and Gentile Christians. He highlights the heritage of Judaism, which he sees as vitally important.  He goes so far as to defend the co-existence of Judaism and Christianity.  But the bulk of his letter is addressed to Gentiles. To them he seeks to establish a shared understanding of Christian belief and practice.  Among the many people Paul mentions at the end of the letter is a deacon named Phoebe, who may very well have carried the letter to Rome.

Paul did eventually arrive in Rome, as the Acts of the Apostles testifies.  It was probably around the year 62.  He never made it to Spain. He was martyred along with many other Christians, sometime during the reign of Emperor Nero, probably after the great Roman fire of 64 c.e., which Nero blamed on Christians.

When reading Paul’s letter, it is important to take the long view.  Paul was carefully making arguments, not listing out doctrines and moral precepts.  When reading Romans, it is important to pay little attention to chapter and verse numbers.  Paul’s first argument, for instance, runs from 1:18 through 4:25:  the Gentiles are included as believers based not on nature, but on faith.  We won’t, by the way, be reading from this first part of the letter.  We will begin on June 14 with Romans 5:1-8, where Paul begins a section (through 8:39) on the hope that faith brings, where one can find some of the most inspiring things that Paul ever says.  Then in 9:1 to 11:36 Paul speaks of his own people—the Jews—and their inclusion in the plan of God.  Finally, in chapters 12-15, Paul speaks of what it means to live as Christians.

A Roman Catholic Bible scholar, Brenden Byrne, in a recent commentary on Romans, calls it a letter of inclusion.  He divides the letter into three major sections:  In section one, he argues for the inclusion of the Gentiles.  In section two he argues for the inclusion of the Jews.  In the third section he talks about what it means to live in inclusive community.

The Rev. Michael W. Hopkins

Copyright (c) 2020 Epiphany ESources, Inc., 67 E Main St, Hornell, NY 14843.  All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce this article in parish newsletters or bulletins. Please inform us that you are doing so at info@epiphanyesources.com. 

Trinity Sunday A Readings & Commentaries

The Collect of the Day

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity:  Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal; glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

1^st Reading:  Genesis 1:1—2:4a

The Bible begins with a faith statement: “In the beginning, God…” The final form of this passage in Hebrew may have been intended for use in worship. The main point is that God and God’s creation are deeply intertwined. It is not only a story meant to help us understand God’s past action in creation; it is a claim on the present and on the future by this faithful God. This would have been especially important to those living in exile in Babylon, when most scholars believe this text took its final form. The Lord controls the future as he has created the past, not the gods of Babylon and its empire.

^1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ² the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. ⁶ And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. ⁸ God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. ⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. ¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. ²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. ²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. ²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” ²⁷ So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ²⁸ God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ²⁹ God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. ^2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. ² And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. ^4a These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Song of the Three 29-34 (BCP Canticle 13)

This canticle (known as the Benedictus es, Domine) is from an addition to the book of Daniel found in the Apocrypha (The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews).  It is from a longer piece, said to be the song of the three young men thrown into the fiery furnace. The last verse is an added doxology.

Glory to you, Lord God of our fathers; *

you are worthy of praise; glory to you.

Glory to you for the radiance of your holy Name; *

we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.

Glory to you in the splendor of your temple; *

on the throne of your majesty, glory to you.

Glory to you, seated between the Cherubim; *

we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.

Glory to you, beholding the depths; *

in the high vault of heaven, glory to you.

Glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; *

              we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.

Or this

Psalm 8

Psalm 8 is a creation hymn, and the first song of praise in the collection of the Psalms. The psalm begins and ends with praise, enveloping a poem about God’s gift of humankind’s place and responsibility in the creation.

1     O Lord our Governor, *

              how exalted is your Name in all the world!

2     Out of the mouths of infants and children *

              your majesty is praised above the heavens.

3     You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, *

              to quell the enemy and the avenger.

4     When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *

              the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

5     What is man that you should be mindful of him? *

              the son of man that you should seek him out?

6     You have made him but little lower than the angels; *

              you adorn him with glory and honor;

7     You give him mastery over the works of your hands; *

              you put all things under his feet:

8     All sheep and oxen, *

              even the wild beasts of the field,

9     The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, *

              and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.

10   O Lord our Governor, *

       how exalted is your Name in all the world!

2^nd Reading:  2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Paul ends his second letter to the church in Corinth with a final exhortation that sums up the themes of the letter. There is a greeting with what we would call today “the kiss of peace,” and a blessing with a Trinitarian structure. The doctrine of the Trinity is not directly defined in Scripture, but is implied by passages such as this one.

^13:11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. ¹² Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. ¹³ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 28:16-20

The theme of discipleship is strong in Matthew’s Gospel, so at its end Jesus gives a final commission to go into the world spreading this discipleship, with no regard to human divisions. His final words echo the title given him at his birth (Matt 1:23), “Emmanuel,” “God with us.” Jesus will be with us always. The reference to baptism with a Trinitarian formula may be a later addition, but it is also possible that the formula was in use in Matthew’s community at the time of this Gospel’s composition.

^28:16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Scripture quotations (except for the Canticle) 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, Canticle 13, and Psalm 8 are from The Book of Common Prayer.  Commentaries are copyright © 2020 Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843. www.EpiphanyEsources.com. All rights reserved. Permission is given to copy for group study with this attribution.

Day of Pentecost A Readings & Commentaries

 Pentecost was a major Jewish festival which occurred 50 days after Passover.  It is also known as the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot. 

The Collect of the Day

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit:  Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

1^st Reading:  Acts 2:1-21

Our first reading is the story of the Spirit’s manifestation on the Day of Pentecost.  Pentecost was a major Jewish festival which occurred 50 days after Passover.  It is also known as the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot. The Holy Spirit’s falling on everyone is a different phenomenon than the Spirit’s falling on individuals in the Hebrew Scriptures (and usually for a set period of time). Peter’s speech includes an extended quote from the prophet Joel (2:28-32).

^2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. ⁵ Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶ And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” ¹² All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” ¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵ Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:  ¹⁷ ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. ¹⁸ Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. ²⁰ The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. ²¹ Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Or this

1^st Reading:  Numbers 11:24-30

Wandering in the wilderness after the escape from Egypt, the people begin to complain. They are given the gift of manna, but it is not enough. They want meat, and Moses complains to God about the burden of leadership, which he alone bears. God’s answer is to create a larger circle of responsibility, seventy elders who are given a share of the spirit that rests on Moses.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s Spirit is given only to certain people and for certain tasks. The prophesying by the two in the camp is troubling to Moses’ aides, but he is simply relieved to have help and utters the desire that all God’s people shared this spirit.

^11:24 Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again. ²⁶ Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” ²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” ³⁰ And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Psalm 104:25-35, 37b

Psalm 104 is a hymn to God as creator and sustainer of all life. Our portion today concludes the psalm with a reference to God’s taming of the sea (seen by ancient peoples as the source of chaos represented here by the sea monster “Leviathan,” literally God’s” plaything”). It also includes a reference to the Spirit of God.  “Breath” in verse 30 and “Spirit” in verse 31 are the same Hebrew word ruaḥ.

25 O Lord, how manifold are your works! *

              in wisdom you have made them all;

              the earth is full of your creatures.

26 Yonder is the great and wide sea

     with its living things too many to number, *

              creatures both small and great.

27 There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, *

              which you have made for the sport of it.

28 All of them look to you *

              to give them their food in due season.

29 You give it to them; they gather it; *

              you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.

30 You hide your face, and they are terrified; *

              you take away their breath,

              and they die and return to their dust.

31 You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *

              and so you renew the face of the earth.

32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; *

              may the Lord rejoice in all his works.

33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; *

              he touches the mountains and they smoke.

34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; *

              I will praise my God while I have my being.

35 May these words of mine please him; *

              I will rejoice in the Lord.  [37b] Hallelujah!

2^nd Reading:  1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

Paul has begun chapter 12 introducing some teaching about “spiritual gifts.” There clearly was a problem with the Corinthian community about the nature of these gifts, and whether there was a hierarchy of gifts (and, therefore, of the people who had them). Paul is adamant that all are given gifts by the same Spirit and for the purpose of building up the church, which is one body. He recalls their baptisms, which erased the distinctions between them.

^12:3b No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. ⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ^{7 \} To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. ¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Or this

2^nd Reading:  Acts 2:1-21  (as above)

Gospel Reading:  John 7:37-39

Jesus is in Jerusalem with his disciples for the autumn Feast of Booths (Sukkot), commemorating the wandering in the wilderness. Part of this week-long festival was the carrying of water from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple, a remembrance of the water that flowed from the rock (Numbers 20:2-13). Jesus uses that image to proclaim himself as that very water, living and giving life. The quote in verse 38 has an unknown origin (there is a general sense of it in Isaiah 44:3, 58:11, and Proverbs 18:4).

^7:37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, ³⁸ and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Or this

Gospel Reading:  John 20:19-23

John’s version of the gift of the Holy Spirit is very different from Luke’s in the Acts of the Apostles. It happens on Easter evening, in the context of Jesus’ first appearance to his disciples. He comes in peace to those who had abandoned him, and gives them a gift in a way that is supposed to remind us of Genesis 1:1-2 when God’s breath first calls the creation into being (remembering that “breath,” “wind,” and “spirit” are the same word in Hebrew). He also leaves them with the power of forgiveness. The power to “retain” may not be so much a power as a warning. Withholding forgiveness is a serious matter given the imperative of the Gospel to forgive.

^20:19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

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 © 2020, Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY  14843, www.epiphanyesources.com. All rights reserved.  Permission is given to copy for group study. Bulletin inserts are available. For more information go to our website and click on “Subscribe.”