THE 7TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JULY 11, 2021
MORNING PRAYER
FIRST LESSON
Amos 7: 7-15
This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid In waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land. And Amaziah said to Amos, ‘O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and is a temple of the kingdom.’ Then Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me , “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
THE EPISTLE
EPHESIANS 1:3-14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
THE HOLEY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO:
MARK 6: 14-29
People: Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason, these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man and he protected him.
When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and for the leaders of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head or John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
SERMON
Measuring Up Lorna Mark
There is so much to learn in today’s lessons that is difficult to come up with just one idea. What is the common thread between all the lessons we have heard? My first thought was that throughout, God is the One and Only. Do we understand all that is happening in the 21st Century or that happened in the ancient times? I say, of course we do not, and not only that, God does not expect us to. In fact, He only reveals to each and everyone of us only to the degree each individual is able to understand. He does not hand us more that we are able to process at any one time or event. I believe that with each lesson He sends a curve ball of sorts to make us learn and to move forward in his teachings. Is this easy for us to comprehend? Not at all...all we can do is try our best and keep learning.
Our Old Testament passage from Amos 7:7-15 needs to start with a little history leading up to the lesson. I am not going to rehash all the chapters but give just a little taste of what I read. The Amos story dates back to somewhere between 760 and 750 BC. Amos was a shepherd and a fig tree farmer. In a vision to Amos sees the Lord standing beside a wall built with a plumb line. In this image the Lord indicates that Israel’s religious, political and social institutions have been tested and they do not measure up – they are out of alignment. Amos is now called by the Lord to be a prophet and he is directed primarily to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This all transpired around the time an earthquake occurred in the days of King Uziyah. Amos tells us that he is not trained as a prophet...”I own sheep and fig trees but God called me away to prophesy to his people Israel.” In verse 17 we are given the building plans from God. Amos explains that if a building is not built true to a plumb line (straight up and down) then will not stand for a long time.. The plumb line, of course, is a metaphor to show how off-kilter was the building or the people of Israel.
Amos is also threatening the kings authority and he is ordered to return to Judah. Amos tells again that he makes his living herding sheep and dressing fig trees. He again claims that the only reason he is prophesying in Israel is because the Lord called him to.
In one account I read told about the story of Amos’ prophesy is known to be one of the most vindictive in expression of all the prophets. Now this word “vindictive” reveals to me a relationship with the Gospel Story of today regarding John the Baptizer. Now...wait for it the story continues!!!!!
In our next lesson Psalm 85:8-13 we have another idea to think of how does it relate. What does the Psalmist (David) ask? He prays and says to God, “Grace and truth have met together, justice and peace have kissed each other.” This is clearly a picture of God’s love and faithfulness, his compassion and fairness.
Having said this, I do not quite understand in our Gospel reading today, how these traits of God’s character apply to John the Baptizer? Do you? I have to believe that as we dig deeper we will get a sense of how we can put it all together. So as we continue to compare, to learn, and continue forward to find out the what and why that is God that is all that we can do at this point.
In the Epistle lesson from Ephesians 1:3-14 I discovered this passage as well says something of the God traits. I found that this book of the Bible is read a lot of times and taken at face value but the more I read it the more I discovered the many hidden lessons that are being taught throughout.
The Letter from Paul to the Ephesians was written when the Apostle Paul was still imprisoned in Rome prior to him embarking on his third journey to In In Ephesus.Did the Apostles, the Ephesians or the Gentiles understand all that was happening? I for one do not think so. Ephesus, was a morally corrupt city of prostitutes, loose morals, witchcraft, lustfulness and the like. In this account, Paul reveals the Jewishness of this text signaled by the first words, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.” Before the world was created, God’s plan was to adopt us as his children, not on the basis of who we are and what we do but rather on who Jesus is andn what we should do. Our salvation in Jesus Christ is freely given as a gift of Graciousness. We are given the outline through Paul as to what God wants us to do going forward. All of this is a future hope and God has set forth a place for us to receive the godly inheritance promised us.
Are you ready to dig deep within yourself to see if you as an individual are measuring up? The answer to this, naturally, is between you and God only and only you will have the answer He wants to hear. This was a difficult exercise for me having to bare my heart and soul to God with all honesty and to realize He will know if I am saying what is true as He knows all already.
The bottom line her is we must be patient until God brings it about. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ we are granted the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit serves as God’s pledge that we in time will receive our inheritance.
Now this brings me around full circle to the big question of the day. Why did John the Baptizer, cousin of Jesus, the one preparing the way for Jesus, baptizing with the Holy Spirit. The arrest of John and the execution is like a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own fate on the cross. To have to be subjected to a most barbaric end is how we are finally learning the circumstances surrounding John the Baptist’s arrest and subsequent death.
Herod’s wife bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him but she could not make it happen. John was arrested and imprisoned by King Herod. King Herod though could not kill this righteous man and he was tricked by his wife into doing so. Now we come to the vindictive act…
When celebrating his birthday King Herod’s step-daughter came and danced for Herod r and the revelers. Herod was pleased with her and as her father he said that whatever she wished for he would grant it. The ungrateful daughter, in my opinion, went and asked her mother what she should wish for. Her mother now suggested she ask for the head of John the Baptist to be delivered to her daughter on a platter. The daughter then delivered the “gift” she received from her father to her vindictive mother. In my opinion that is vindictive of both mother and daughter.
An important lesson derived from our Gospel story today is that of honoring a promise. Have you ever promised to do something and for whatever reason you find it difficult if no impossible to keep the promise.. Think how King Herod felt promising the daughter of Herodias any thing she so desired and much to his chagrin she asks her mother what to ask for. No matter what he has to save face. Even when promising your child something and then the unforeseen happens and you cannot find any solution. In these times no do
I have always been intrigued by medieval history and the similarities to Biblical history. Were these acts more barbaric than methods used in this the 21st Century given acts of terrorism, wars of mass destruction, nuclear warfare...we can only annihilate higher numbers of people at one time and in more than one location at a time.
In a thought-provoking idea that came to me is what if that because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden that God changed his mind about earth and it was then designated as Hell and we had to follow His plan to receive eternal life. Remember, first Jesus descended to Hell – earth? The only way out is through the Grace of God the Father and the way to the Father is through the son? We have been given the map and the instructions from God and the lessons through the Son. He granted us salvation and an inheritance and the chance for eternal life. What are we doing about it? Scary thought, don’t you think?
Please join me in asking the Father to forgive us our sins as only He can. We trust that the thought-provoking idea mentioned is nothing more than that. I thank you Father for everything you teach, your patience and understanding of our ignorance and that you continue to help us find the right way. In Jesus name we pray for understanding the correlation of all the readings of today.
Amen.