Revised Common Lectionary
Wisdom 1:16–2:1, 6-22  or
Proverbs 31:10-31
Psalm 54  or
Psalm 1
James 3:13–4:8a
Mark 9:30-37

Reflection and Response
Prayer Starter

Today’s readings call us to humility, compassion and service. The author of Wisdom gives voice to the ungodly, who experience the goodness of the righteous as an unwelcome reminder of their selfishness. By contrast, in James, we hear that humility and peaceableness show the wisdom of God. Today’s gospel reading from Mark contrasts the disciples’ battle over privilege with Jesus’ proclamation of his radical approach to discipleship—placing ourselves at the disposal of the lowliest of the kingdom.

First Reading: Wisdom 1:16–2:1, 6-22
The book of Wisdom was written in Greek, probably during the first century BCE, by a Hellenistic Jew who writes as Solomon, thereby giving his work a greater authority in the wisdom literature. He uses traditional wisdom material to recall the Jews to faithfulness to God, for many were tempted to renounce their faith by the attractions of the surrounding culture.

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Today’s reading presents the faulty thinking of the ungodly who have forsaken God’s wisdom and ways. Those who have left their faith believe that life is meaningless. They believe that self-indulgence is the only comfort and might the only right. Those seeking right relationships are hated for their judgment on this way of life. Everything they do and say contradicts this ungodly life.
Wisdom 1:16–2:1, 6-22
But the ungodly
by their words and deeds summoned death;
considering him a friend, they pined away
and made a covenant with him,
because they are fit to belong to his company.
For they reasoned unsoundly,
saying to themselves,
Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy
when a life comes to its end,
and no one has been known
to return from Hades.

“Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist,
and make use of the creation to the full as in youth.
Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes,
and let no flower of spring pass us by.
Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
Let none of us fail to share in our revelry;
everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment,
because this is our portion, and this our lot.

Let us oppress the righteous poor man;
let us not spare the widow
or regard the gray hairs of the aged.
But let our might be our law of right,
for what is weak proves itself to be useless.

“Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us
and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law,
and accuses us of sins against our training.
He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child of the Lord.
He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
the very sight of him is a burden to us,
because his manner of life
is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.
We are considered by him as something base,
and he avoids our ways as unclean;
he calls the last end of the righteous happy,
and boasts that God is his father.
Let us see if his words are true,
and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;
for if the righteous man is God’s child,
he will help him,
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
Let us test him with insult and torture,
so that we may find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for,
according to what he says,
he will be protected.”
Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them,
and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hoped for the wages of holiness,
nor discerned the prize for blameless souls;

Psalm: Psalm 54
This psalm is a personal lament. The psalmist captures humankind’s common feelings of fear and despair. The psalmist prays earnestly for God’s intervention and salvation and ends his prayer with trust by thanking God for God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 54
Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.

Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.

For the insolent have risen against me,
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not set God before them.

But surely, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.

He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord,
for it is good.

For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

Alternative First Reading: Proverbs 31:10-31 (RCL)
Proverbs, a collection of concise statements and poetic instructions, is attributed in part to Solomon and to anonymous authors. Many scholars consider 31:10-31 as an epilogue composed by a later editor who wished to re-present the idealized feminine figure of Wisdom found in chapters 1–9.

Like Wisdom, the ideal wife is of more value than any earthly treasure and is a constant blessing to her family. The description of the wise woman comes to a climax with the summary of verses 30-31. Her wise activities and attitudes spring from her relationship with God. Thus the author describes for us the daily life of an individual who has perfectly mastered the counsel of the rest of the book and embodies it in the way she lives.
Proverbs 31:10-31
A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.

She is like the ships of the merchant,
she brings her food from far away.

She rises while it is still night
and provides food for her household
and tasks for her servant girls.

She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She girds herself with strength,
and makes her arms strong.

She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.

She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.

She opens her hand to the poor,
and reaches out her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all her household are clothed in crimson.

She makes herself coverings;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the city gates,
taking his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them;
she supplies the merchant with sashes.

Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her happy;
her husband too, and he praises her:

“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the city gates.

Alternative Psalm: Psalm 1
This psalm, with its call to a righteous life based on knowledge of the “law of the Lord,” the Torah, serves as a fitting introduction to all the psalms. It springs from the wisdom tradition, which emphasized how to live in both material and spiritual prosperity.

The righteous are those who have not taken the advice of the wicked, nor imitated their way of life, nor joined in their rejection of the law. They “meditate” (v. 2) upon it, literally, ‘read it aloud in a low voice’. The Lord is in intimate and personal relationship with the righteous.
Psalm 1

Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.

They are like trees planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Second Reading: James 3:13–4:8a
Today’s reading contains parts of two sections—one on earthly versus heavenly wisdom (3:13-18) and the second on causes of strife and warfare (4:1-6).

James first addresses the problem of factions and cliques within the Christian community. These apparently formed around those who claimed special wisdom (3:13), but such wisdom led to jealousy and division. Heavenly wisdom, on the other hand, is characterized by peace within the community.

Then the author turns to the question of the basic source of human hostility and aggression. This he finds in covetousness and competitiveness. Those who resort to violence, rather than to prayer, to obtain what they desire are like adulterers who are unfaithful in their relationship to God. One cannot be intimate with the world and with God. Those who pray but do not obtain their desires come to God with corrupt motives. They desire only their welfare and pleasure.
James 3:13–4:8a
Who is wise and understanding among you?
Show by your good life
that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.
But if you have bitter envy
and selfish ambition in your hearts,
do not be boastful and false to the truth.
Such wisdom does not come down from above,
but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.

For where there is envy and selfish ambition,
there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.
But the wisdom from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace
for those who make peace.
Those conflicts and disputes among you,
where do they come from?
Do they not come from your cravings
that are at war within you?
You want something and do not have it;
so you commit murder.
And you covet something and cannot obtain it;
so you engage in disputes and conflicts.
You do not have, because you do not ask.
You ask and do not receive,
because you ask wrongly,
in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
Adulterers!
Do you not know that friendship with the world
is enmity with God?
Therefore whoever wishes
to be a friend of the world
becomes an enemy of God.
Or do you suppose that it is for nothing
that the scripture says,
“God yearns jealously for the spirit
that he has made to dwell in us”?
But he gives all the more grace;
therefore it says,
God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God,
and he will draw near to you.

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37
Today’s reading begins a period of private ministry as Jesus concentrates on teaching the disciples. It includes the second of the three predictions of the passion in Mark (8:31; 10:32-34), the briefest of the three. As in the others, the prediction confuses the disciples, so Jesus teaches them about discipleship.

The mention of the resurrection in the predictions indicates clearly that, despite the lack of any account of resurrection appearances in the original ending of this gospel, the evangelist has no doubt of the fact and meaning of the resurrection. The disciples are typically dull, and they proceed to argue about their relative status in the kingdom.

Jesus responds with a paradox and an enacted parable. As he will achieve lordship only through the path of suffering, so his disciples must follow him in suffering and in service. In Jesus’ culture, children were not idealized. Like women, they were of secondary importance. Thus, receiving a child as though he or she were Jesus enjoins upon the Christian community openness to all the lowly and rejected, for in Hebrew practice, the envoy of someone was to be treated as that very person.
Mark 9:30-37
They went on from there and passed through Galilee.
He did not want anyone to know it;
for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them,
“The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands,
and they will kill him,
and three days after being killed,
he will rise again.”
But they did not understand what he was saying
and were afraid to ask him.
Then they came to Capernaum;
and when he was in the house he asked them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they were silent,
for on the way they had argued with one another
who was the greatest.
He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them,
“Whoever wants to be first
must be last of all and servant of all.”
Then he took a little child
and put it among them;
and taking it in his arms,
he said to them,
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name
welcomes me,
and whoever welcomes me
welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Reflection and Response
As Jesus probes the anger and denial of his disciples in today’s gospel, his question comes to us: What concerns are closest to our hearts? Do we, too, fret over status, authority or a lack of perks we think we deserve? Are we engaged in the disciples’ game of comparison?

We envy and can’t obtain, so we quarrel.

From our painful attempts at acquisition, we know the truth of this stark statement. Jesus’ finger points at us as well as at his companions. But by the same token, he offers us the same remedy. Into our midst, he plunks the same disheveled, impish and probably grubby child. And if we’re honest, we ask, “What does this kid have to do with theological discourse? Who invited her?”

Jesus invited her. And if Jesus invited her, then the child must have something to tell us. The child who has no bank account, no learned degrees, no office staff and no expertise has everything. In her total vulnerability, she is wrapped by the arms of Christ. She enjoys a peace for which the contentious disciples would weep with desire.

Quietly consider:
What concerns are closest to my heart?

Prayer Starter
God, grant me heavenly wisdom which is pure, peaceable, gentle and willing to yield...