Proper 18 | Ordinary Time 23 - C

Object: A list of rules, or a book of rules. I used a “Rules of the Road” book for learning how to drive an automobile.

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) I have a story to tell you today. Are you ready to hear it? (Let them respond.) Great! Here we go!

Today’s texts address various life situations where the Christian faith journey is rugged in different ways depending on where one finds themselves in life. One preaching path might to be identify which sort of rugged situations do we find people in our community facing? Might there be some bad news just around the corner, which cannot be soft pedaled in any way? The Jeremiah 1 text is empathetic. Are there aging Christians who will rely on more trust and hopes, as their bodies and minds decline in health? Psalm 71 is a good cup of herbal tea for the soul.

Jeremiah 1:4-10
Like this lesson proclaims, John Calvin had a real sense of looking at life from God’s eternal perspective, a viewpoint which helps give more meaning and significance to the everyday events of life. As he put it:

... God chooses every single individual according to his own will, and at the same time appoints and also sanctifies him... (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. IX/1, p. 36)

It wasn't until the early summer of his first year that Jason Court felt really fed up with his new school. Until then he'd rather enjoyed it, even with all its rules and regulations, but in the unexpected heatwave of early summer, his patience cracked.

Contents
"Oskar" by Keith Hewitt
"With Reverence and Awe" by John Sumwalt

Note: This installment was originally published in 2010.

* * * * * * * * *

I wish it were not so, but it is. Religion can be horribly repressive sometimes. Indeed, our text certainly reflects it. The story opens with Jesus teaching in a synagogue where services were normally informal: primarily prayers, reading of scripture, comments, and offerings for the poor. Any man in attendance could read from scripture and then teach or preach if he were so inclined, and on this day apparently, Jesus was.

Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.
-- Psalm 71:6

Whether through the complicated process of socialization or good manners or simple maturity, somehow we learn how to respond appropriately to particular phrases in particular settings. "Paper or plastic?" "Cash or charge?" "Smoking or non-smoking?" We negotiate and navigate our lives by knowing what to say and when to say it:

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." "And also with you."

"Excuse me." "Please." "Thank you." "You're welcome."

"I love you." "I love you, too."

"I'm sorry." "It's okay."

Call To Worship
Leader: Let us be thankful, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
People: Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him.
All: We will worship God with awe and reverence.

Collect

Call to Worship
Indeed, this is a day of rest and gladness.
This is God's Sabbath, created for our reflection and renewal.
Let us then not profane it, but keep it holy.
We do this as we honor God and commit ourselves to the well--being of God's creation.
Each of us individually needs a personal rejuvenation of spirit.
Together we seek a strengthening of community, a community that continues to build itself in love.
So do we come as one people to worship God, our Maker and our Sustainer.