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JUNE 6, 2009 - TRINITY - YEAR B |
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Psalm 29 
Isaiah 6:1-8
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17
Homilist: Halcyon Wilson This Sabbath is referred to as the Trinity Sabbath following the one after Pentecost. I found again many interesting things about the history and meaning of the Trinity. I did that homily some time ago. However, as I meditated on the Scriptures for today, I kept going back to the passage we read in Isaiah. I will read them again in a contemporary version and dwell on this majestic scene. It is so powerful! Listen . . . In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on the high and lofty judgment seat, in a robe whose train filled the temple. Seraphs were stationed above; each one had six wings. With two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
They cried out one to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is JHWH Omnipotent. All the earth is full of God’s glory.” The doorposts and the thresholds quake at the sound of their shouting, and the temple kept filling with smoke. |
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JANUARY 31, 2009 - YEAR B |
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Psalm 111
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
1 Cor. 8:1-13
Mark 1:21-28
Hymn: 413 (God Has Spoken by His Prophets)
Homilist: Esther Kinzer Our Old Testament text both appeals to me and disturbs me. I like the text because it is part of the Hebrew nation’s book of laws, regulations and policies. I spend a significant amount of my time in my job reading, interpreting, and applying laws and regulations from federal and state agencies, and creating and applying policies from my employer—and I like doing it. Knowing that this text is found in Deuteronomy, the Israelite’s equivalent of the “code of federal regulations” I asked myself how was it intended to be understood by the people it was written for, and whether it applies today. In first reading over the text, I was disturbed by the last two verses which imply that the test of a true prophet is whether or not what he says comes true. This does not seem particularly practical. Had I been Isaiah’s contemporary, how long would I have had to live to see the fulfillment of his prophecy concerning the Persian king Cyrus, when he said “[Cyrus] is my shepherd, . . . he will say of Jerusalem ‘Let it be rebuilt’?” Or if I had to wait to see the fulfillment of Haggai’s prophecy concerning the coming of ”the desired of nations” who would fill the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem with a glory “greater than the glory” of Solomon’s temple?
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MAY 9, 2009 - FIRST SABBATH OF EASTER SEASON - YEAR B |
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Psalm 22:25-31
Acts 8:26-40
1 John 4:7-16
John 15:1-8
Homilist: Halcyon Wison Historians believe the book of Acts was written by Luke during the years 63-70 AD. The story we read this morning of Philip and the eunuch took place during this time. In various translations and commentaries, he is referred to as the Ethiopian, and the Greek speaking Jew. The country of Ethiopia, just south of Egypt, mentioned also in some translations as Meroe, seems to have been a wealthy country, in what is now Sudan. It was definitely an African country. It was ruled by a queen known as Candace. This queen trusted her wealth to an African-Ethiopian-Greek-speaking Jew, known to us only as the eunuch. Making men eunuchs was a common practice among courts of the day. Apparently it made them more trustworthy. This Greek speaking Jew went to Jerusalem to worship, something many Jews did during their life-time living away from Jerusalem. Actually, the race of the eunuch has been debated by scholars. Some think he was a Jew serving in this high office of a foreign government much as did Joseph, Daniel, or Nehemiah. Others hold that he was a native Ethiopian who had embraced the Jewish faith. If that is the case, he then was a proselyte, and because he was a eunuch, he was considered a “Proselyte of the gate” and would not have been permitted to enter the inner courts of the temple. One of my commentaries states that during this period, many Gentiles were attracted to Judaism because of its high ethical standards and its belief in one God. Archeologists have discovered records of a Jewish settlement in southern Egypt; so it would have been quite possible for this country of Ethiopia to have had contacts with Jews. This man certainly had made a serious commitment to Judaism, for he had made a trip of several hundred miles to visit the temple in Jerusalem, probably for one of the important annual feasts. Devout proselytes, such as this Ethiopian, were often ready converts to Christianity during the early days. They seemed to be more responsive to the gospel than other Jews. (From John W. Wade, ACTS, Standard Bible Studies, 1973, pages 85-88)) |
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JANUARY 10, 2009 - Year B - Baptism of the Lord |
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Baptism of the Lord
Psalm 29
Genesis 1:1-5
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11
Hymn: 545 (Savior, Like a Shepherd)
Homilist: John Dugee Our two New Testament texts today have a point in common. They compare the baptism of John with the baptism of the Spirit. Our passage in Acts 19 tells us that one day in Ephesus, Paul encountered some disciples that had never heard of the Holy Spirit. So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John's baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. In today’s Gospel passage, Mark tells the story about John the Baptist. “And this was John’s message:” Mark says. “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” |
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