February 27, 2011: Isaiah 49:8-16a; Psalm 131; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34
Psalm 131: “A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up,
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.
3 O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time on and for evermore.
Matthew 6:24-34: “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany Comment: If you, dear reader can accept a feminine expression of God, I believe you hear it in these words of Jesus. This teaching echoes the practical lessons given in the book of Proverbs. Who is the teacher of this book? It is wisdom, She instructs!
In this lesson of wisdom, Jesus clearly teaches that two things cannot occupy the same place at the same time. I may seem difficult to choose between serving God and wealth but consider also that assurance and worry cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Again, it is one or the other when it comes to peace and chaos, grief and joy, ignorance and knowledge and un-forgiveness and forgiveness. Citizenship in God’s Kingdom empowers us to choose peace, joy, knowledge and forgiveness wherever we find ourselves in life. Money can buy none of these.
If you need another example of the possibility of God having a feminine side, David seems to have found it. He sings because of Jehovah, But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother…
May the light of Epiphany continue to shine you your heart,
Rev. Julia
©February 24, 2011