Pentecost 12A

Psalm 138

¹I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
²I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
³On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
⁴All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
⁵They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
⁸The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Isaiah 51:1-6

¹Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. ²Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. ³For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.

⁴Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation; for a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples. ⁵I will bring near my deliverance swiftly, my salvation has gone out and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope. ⁶Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended.

We started by praying responsive Psalm 138.

Remember!

The gospel in one word— remember! As we continue moving through the season of the church, time of the Spirit of Pentecost in the church's year of grace, again this week we have a reading from the long book of Isaiah. We've talked about the sections of Isaiah: 1st Isaiah – before the Babylonian exile; 2nd Isaiah – during the exile; 3rd Isaiah – after the exile. Each large section is mostly by the same author; each also includes sections and verses almost definitely written by one or more other individuals. Isaiah emphasizes God's sovereignty and kingship; the entire long book brings a broad swath if universalism.

Remember! In exile, away from home, in the Babylonian (another!) empire. Everyone is discouraged and despondent, but Isaiah reminds them of their extraordinary history with God's extraordinary faithfulness. In Hebrew, listen and hear are the same word... it would be nice if that was true in English and other languages? When we get discouraged, we can remember our long histories with God. God's faithfulness, our own faithfulness, as well.

This very short passage includes many familiar images that include creation, people, places, concepts, and events: Abraham, Sarah, the exodus rock, zion, wilderness, desert, Eden, garden, righteousness, deliverance, salvation. Any of these would make an excellent scriptural word study, or a study of uses and meanings of a word. We mentioned a few of them: garden; rock; Zion; coastlands; desert; wilderness. Most of this is very geographical, physical, phenomenological. We had a long discussion about the importance of history, including if you don't remember the past, you'll probably repeat the (worst parts of) the past.

Remembering

Every time we celebrate Holy Communion (the eucharist, Lord's Supper, etc.) the Eucharistic Prayer includes a section called the anamnesis, or remembering. The anamnesis recounts the history of God and God's people. Typically it mentions creation, exodus (freedom from empire), promised land, prophets, homecoming, Jesus ' birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Another section of the Eucharistic prayer – the epiclesis – beckons and invokes the Holy Spirit to sanctify the gifts of bread and cup and indwell the gather assembly. Check out the Eucharistic Prayer printed in the Sunday worship bulletin every week!