Our lectionary readings for the Third Sunday After Pentecost follow. For a link to read them all online, go here.
- Matthew 9:35-10:8, (9-23)
- Exodus 19:2-8a
- Psalm 100
- Romans 5:1-8
In the season after Pentecost, we have two different Old Testament readings – and the Psalms that go with them – to choose from. This is explained in the excellent resources provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library:1
After Pentecost during Ordinary Time, there are two sets of Hebrew Bible readings. One set progresses semi-continuously through the Patriarchal/Exodus narratives (Year A), the Monarchial narratives (Year B), and the Prophets (Year C). The other set is related thematically, or is complementary, to the gospel lections for those dates. The Hebrew Bible lections during the rest of the year are thematically related to the gospel lections, which are in turn connected to the seasons of the Church Year. Additional readings are provided for special feast days.
- In our Matthew passage, Jesus is teaching and preaching, healing people of all sicknesses and afflictions. He chooses his first twelve apostles and sends them out to do the same, giving them authority over evil spirits and to heal. First they are to minister only to Israel, but later to everyone. He tells them to stay only with people who are worthy, and if none can be found, they are to shake the dust off their feet and go on to other places. They (and we!) are to be wise as serpents but as innocent as doves. Persecution will follow from one town to the next, but the Holy Spirit will give inspiration to witness to rulers and leaders.
- In Exodus 19, we find Moses going up the mountain to talk with God. God tells him to tell the people that if they listen and obey, they will be his treasured people, a nation of priests ministering to the world. He goes down and tells this to all the people. They agree and commit to covenant with God, to obey him and his ways. This is the day before and the chapter before they receive the Ten Commandments.
- Psalm 100 tells us to rejoice and be glad for we are the sheep of God’s pasture, his beloved people. We praise and give him thanks. His steadfast love endures forever!
- Romans 5:1-8 announces that when we are justified by faith, we are reconciled and have peace with God. While sufferings come, we learn and develop endurance, character, and hope, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. rejoice, for while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
As Christians, we have inherited the privileges and responsibilities that Christ charged those first twelve disciples. Unfortunately, we do not often find ourselves in danger of being turned over to the authorities or persecuted. We get along with the world much too easily. As N. T. Wright notes2, our lives are supposed to be different. WE are supposed to be different. I like the way Gordon Lathrop puts it:
Surely we, as well as our neighbors, are among the harassed and helpless whom Jesus sees, those with “every disease and every sickness.” But as the baptized, we are also those to whom Jesus has committed his mission, and we have often failed. Nonetheless, God says, “I have brought you to myself.” Because of Jesus Christ and in his word and sacrament, forgiveness and love have been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Just as the Twelve stand for the Israelites, called to be a people of priests for all the world, we too are given the charge to pray for all and to bear witness to the healing love of God, all of us together Christ’s priestly people for the sake of the world3 (emphases added).
- https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/faq ↩︎
- Lathrop, Gordon W.. Lectionary Mosaics: Three Readings Juxtaposed for Reflection and Proclamation (p. 39). (Function). Kindle Edition. ↩︎
- Lathrop, Gordon W.. Lectionary Mosaics: Three Readings Juxtaposed for Reflection and Proclamation (p. 39). (Function). Kindle Edition. ↩︎