BCP Daily Office Lectionary for Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004
Source: http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm
Morning Psalm(s): AM Psalm 26, 28 [PCUSA: 33]
Evening Psalm(s): PM Psalm 36, 39 [PCUSA: 85]
Old Testament: Isa. 5:13-17, 24-25 [PCUSA: Isaiah 5:18-25]
Epistle: 1 Thess. 5:12-28
Gospel: Luke 21:29-38
John of Damascus -- See the index (link given above) for special readings.
Presbyterian Readings with Biblical Text for the Current Day:
http://www.pcusa.org/cgi-bin/lectiond.cgi
One of the readings for today (Tuesday, 2nd week of Advent) is Isaiah 5:13-17, 24-25. For Monday and Tuesday of the second week of Advent, both the Book of Common Prayer and the Presbyterian Book of Worship both list Isaiah 5:8-25, but the Presbyterians take the verses in order (8-17, 18-25). I was struck by verse 13:
Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge;
their nobles are dying of hunger,
and their multitude is parched with thirst. (Isa. 5:13)
In the context, this sad situation appears to be the result of injustice, unrighteousness, and neglect on the part of Israel's leaders:
Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine,
and valiant at mixing drink,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of their rights! (5:22-23)
What about Houston? Do our people go into [spiritual] exile without what the churches and HGST have to offer? We have defined our mission as empowering spiritual leadership. I know that the Gospel of Christ is well represented in Houston. But there are many hurting hearts here too. So many that "Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth" (5:14)? Our mission of empowering spiritual leadership remains critical. We must educate for the kind of knowledge that will help Houston's people avoid the exile described in verse 13. (The above is repeated with some editing from a devotional email I sent out on December 10, 2002.)
Paul brings his First Letter to the Thessalonians to a close with a series of exhortations. They are to respect their leaders. “But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work” (1 Thess. 5:12-13a). They are to be at peace with one another (v. 13b), do their own work, that is, “admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the week [and] be patient with all of them” (v. 14). They must “always seek to do good . . . Rejoice always, pray without ceasing” [and] give thanks in all circumstances (vv. 15-17). These instructions come in rapid succession. “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil” (vv. 19-22). The closing blessing includes a couple interesting notes, the reference to the “holy kiss” (v. 26), and the prayer, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 23).
Advent, it seems, is the season for texts on the coming of the Lord–both comings, his first and second. Today’s reading from Luke concludes his version of the Olivet Discourse about the “end” (Lk. 21:9). He compares his reference to signs to leaves of a fig tree, which tell you “that summer is already near” (v. 30). “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near” (v. 31). These signs apparently include the Fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in A.D. 70, before the passing of “this generation” (v. 32; cf. G. W. H. Lampe, Peake’s Commentary), but we have not seen “the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (v. 27, cf. v. 36), so we must “be on guard” (v. 34) and “be alert” (v. 36).
Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.