Sunday, September 30, 2012: “Today’s Scripture Readings”

 

A Reading from the Book of Esther (7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22)

 

The king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.” Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?” Esther said, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.  Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated. Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

 

> Esther was the Queen of Persia.

> She had a Jewish background and kept it hidden.

> Her uncle was Mordecai.

> Haman plotted to kill all of the Jews.

> Esther interceded and Haman got the gallows instead.

> This was the basis for the Feast of Purim – held every spring – feast of deliverance.

 

 

Psalm 124

 

1  If the Lord had not been on our side, *

    let Israel now say;

2  If the Lord had not been on our side, *

    when enemies rose up against us;

3  Then would they have swallowed us up alive *

    in their fierce anger toward us;

4  Then would the waters have overwhelmed us *

    and the torrent gone over us;

5  Then would the raging waters *

    have gone right over us.

6  Blessed be the Lord! *

     he has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.

7  We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; *

    the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

8  Our help is in the Name of the Lord, *

    the maker of heaven and earth.

 

> Talks about God’s people being delivered.

> The first five verses covers God’s blessings in the past.

> Chi-ism is used:  ends in declaration and trust.

 

 

 A Reading from the Letter of James (5:13-20)

 

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.  Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

 

> The Elders were the recognized leaders of the church.

> Story of Elijah and King Ahab and Jezebel:  Who is really God:  Baal or Yahweh?

> The story ends abruptly.

> Elijah never dies in Jewish legends.

 

 

The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to  Mark (9:38-50)

  

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

 

> Theme of “little ones” and “my name” goes back to last week’s readings.

> Could be related to an early conflict in the Christian church.

> “For us or against us” appear in two opposite versions in two different Gospels.

> “Hell” is an image of the most evil place on earth – place where garbage was burned.

> The one who goes to heaven will be healed after entering.

> Salt – may refer back to Leviticus (2:13) – the offering of salt.

> Salt is a preservative — be preserved from evil?