Diocese of East Tennessee: Weekly Lectionary
Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee
Home  ·  
Parishes  ·  Calendar

February 8, 2009
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – B
Book of Common Prayer Lectionary
2 Kings 4:8-37
Psalm 142
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39

Revised Common Lectionary
Isaiah 40:21-31
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39

Reflection and Response
Prayer Starter

Today's readings characterize committed Christian ministry. Elisha (BCP) restores the life of the Shunamite woman's son. Isaiah (RCL) describes God's majesty, power and compassion. Paul explains how he willingly lays down his privileges as a Christian to reach people with God's message of good news. In the gospel, Jesus' ministry revolves around healing and preaching, solitude and prayer.

First Reading: 2 Kings 4:8-37 (BCP)
Today's reading shows that the prophet Elisha is a worthy successor to Elijah and that Yahweh is superior to Baal. This story parallels that of Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17:17-24 and has a brief sequel in 8:1-6.

In response to the woman's hospitality, Elisha seems to offer to secure for her household a reduction in taxes (4:13b). She, however, prefers to rely on her kinsfolk. The promise of a child to a barren woman echoes the birth of Isaac (Genesis 18:1-15) and of Samuel (1 Samuel 1). The woman keeps her son's death a secret until she can reach Elisha because it casts discredit either upon her as sinful or upon Elisha as limited in power.

By lying upon the boy, Elisha transfers the power of God in him to the boy. The boy sneezes, showing that life has returned. Yahweh is shown as the true source of life.

2 Kings 4:8-37
One day Elisha was passing through Shunem,
where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to have a meal.
So whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for a meal.
She said to her husband,
“Look, I am sure that this man
who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God.
Let us make a small roof chamber with walls,
and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp,
so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”
One day when he came there,
he went up to the chamber and lay down there.
He said to his servant Gehazi,
“Call the Shunammite woman.”
When he had called her, she stood before him.
He said to him, “Say to her,
Since you have taken all this trouble for us,
what may be done for you?
Would you have a word spoken on your behalf
to the king or to the commander of the army?”
She answered, “I live among my own people.”
He said, “What then may be done for her?”
Gehazi answered,
“Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”
He said, “Call her.”
When he had called her, she stood at the door.
He said,
“At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.”
She replied, “No, my lord, O man of God;
do not deceive your servant.”
The woman conceived and bore a son at that season,
in due time, as Elisha had declared to her.

When the child was older, he went out one day
to his father among the reapers.
He complained to his father,
“Oh, my head, my head!”
The father said to his servant,
“Carry him to his mother.”
He carried him and brought him to his mother;
the child sat on her lap until noon,
and he died.
She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God,
closed the door on him, and left.
Then she called to her husband, and said,
“Send me one of the servants
and one of the donkeys,
so that I may quickly go to the man of God
and come back again.”
He said, “Why go to him today?
It is neither new moon nor sabbath.”
She said, “It will be all right.”
Then she saddled the donkey
and said to her servant,
“Urge the animal on;
do not hold back for me unless I tell you.”

So she set out, and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her coming,
he said to Gehazi his servant,
“Look, there is the Shunammite woman;
run at once to meet her,
and say to her, Are you all right?
Is your husband all right?
Is the child all right?”
She answered, “It is all right.”
When she came to the man of God at the mountain,
she caught hold of his feet.
Gehazi approached to push her away.
But the man of God said,
“Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress;
the LORD has hidden it from me
and has not told me.”
Then she said,
“Did I ask my lord for a son?
Did I not say, Do not mislead me?”
He said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins,
and take my staff in your hand, and go.
If you meet anyone, give no greeting,
and if anyone greets you, do not answer;
and lay my staff on the face of the child.”

Then the mother of the child said,
“As the LORD lives,
and as you yourself live,
I will not leave without you.”
So he rose up and followed her.
Gehazi went on ahead
and laid the staff on the face of the child,
but there was no sound or sign of life.
He came back to meet him and told him,
“The child has not awakened.”
When Elisha came into the house,
he saw the child lying dead on his bed.
So he went in and closed the door on the two of them,
and prayed to the LORD.
Then he got up on the bed
and lay upon the child,
putting his mouth upon his mouth,
his eyes upon his eyes,
and his hands upon his hands;
and while he lay bent over him,
the flesh of the child became warm.
He got down, walked once to and fro in the room,
then got up again and bent over him;
the child sneezed seven times,
and the child opened his eyes.
Elisha summoned Gehazi and said,
“Call the Shunammite woman.”
So he called her.
When she came to him, he said,
“Take your son.”
She came and fell at his feet,
bowing to the ground;
then she took her son and left.

First Reading: Isaiah 40:21-31 (RCL)
This passage is part of Isaiah's invitation to the almost-to-be-released exiled community to reflect on the God they believe in. During their exile, their fear intensified because they thought God had abandoned them. Was God powerful enough to save them again?

Isaiah comforts them with this mocking contrast between the power of God and the weakness of false gods. The outstanding characteristic of a god is power, and their God—in case they don't remember!— is the ruler over all creation and all earthly rulers.

Isaiah 40:21-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to live in;
who brings princes to naught,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them,
and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength, mighty in power,
not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the LORD
shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm: Psalm 142 (BCP)
This Psalm is a lament of someone wrongfully put in prison for custody until his trial. The psalmist makes his appeal to God for he finds no defender. He pleads for vindication and restoration to the community.

Psalm 142
With my voice I cry to the LORD;
with my voice I make supplication to the LORD.

I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.

When my spirit is faint, you know my way.
In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

Look on my right hand and see—
there is no one who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for me.

I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”

Give heed to my cry,
for I am brought very low.
Save me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.

Bring me out of prison,
so that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.

Psalm: Psalm 147:1-11, 20c (RCL)
Psalm 147 is divided into three stanzas: vv. 1-6, 7-11 and 12-20, each beginning with a call to worship and continuing with motives for praise. The themes of God's sovereignty over the natural order and over human society are mingled throughout the psalm.

Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
Praise the LORD!

How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.

The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.

The LORD lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.

He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.

He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Praise the LORD!

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
In chapter 9, Paul defends his status as an apostle. His authority had apparently been questioned because he had waived two apostolic rights: being married and receiving support for preaching.

Opponents may have used Paul's restraint as evidence of his unworthiness. Paul retorts that he did not choose preaching as a career for the purpose of earning a living. Instead, like the prophets, he received a commission from God and so has no choice but to preach.

The absolute claim of the gospel makes relative all cultural, ethnic, national or legal values. The freedom that his decision gives him puts him in a position of servitude under “Christ's law”—the obligation of love. Paul's flexibility is neither cowardice nor compromise; rather, his freedom allows him to speak to and from the experience of others. Paul's freedom is for service, and his ministry is its own reward.

1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Brothers and sisters,
if I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting,
for an obligation is laid on me,
and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!
For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward;
but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.
What then is my reward?
Just this: that in my proclamation
I may make the gospel free of charge,
so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.
For though I am free with respect to all,
I have made myself a slave to all,
so that I might win more of them.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.
To those under the law I became as one under the law
(though I myself am not under the law)
so that I might win those under the law.
To those outside the law I became as one outside the law
(though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law)
so that I might win those outside the law.
To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak.
I have become all things to all people,
that I might by all means save some.
I do it all for the sake of the gospel,
so that I may share in its blessings.

Gospel: Mark 1:29-39
Today's reading continues the account of a day in Jesus' ministry. The healing of Peter's mother-in-law is presented without direct interpretation or theological comment.

Then at sundown, when the sabbath was over, people are brought to Jesus for healing and the casting out of spirits. Silencing the spirits (v. 34) was apparently part of the common technique of exorcism. But Mark implies that Jesus does not wish his identity made known by evil spirits who have no credibility as witnesses.

The following morning Jesus withdraws from Capernaum and from his disciples. He seeks communion with God and perhaps also wishes to avoid the superficial popularity indicated by the report that “everyone is searching for you” (v. 37). Jesus responds by going to the next towns, for that is why he came from Capernaum. Jesus acts as the envoy of God. His mission of “preaching” includes the whole of his ministry: teaching, healing, casting out spirits and finally his death and resurrection.

Mark 1:29-39
As soon as they left the synagogue,
they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever,
and they told him about her at once.
He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up.
Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick
or possessed with demons.
And the whole city was gathered around the door.
And he cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and cast out many demons;
and he would not permit the demons to speak,
because they knew him.
In the morning, while it was still very dark,
he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.
And Simon and his companions hunted for him.
When they found him, they said to him,
“Everyone is searching for you.”
He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns,
so that I may proclaim the message there also;
for that is what I came out to do.”
And he went throughout Galilee,
proclaiming the message in their synagogues
and casting out demons.

Reflection and Response
We rush through our days, stressed and exhausted. The almost universal experience of people seems to be overwork, underpay, fast pace and stress.

When we turn to the gospel for some explanation of this state of affairs, we find Jesus caught up in a similar routine. He meets his friends; he confronts one demon after another; he cures many; he is deluged with requests: “Everybody is searching for you!” (Mark 1:37).

In a sense, it is encouraging to note how much Jesus' day resembled one of our busiest. He was certainly not removed from the hurly burly of messy human life. If anything, even more people searched him out.

But if we look again at Mark's account, we discover Jesus' secret. How did he manage it all? One sentence is the key: “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Here is a model for us. Do we create a special time each day for meditation so that we know what we're about? Do we turn to God, as well as to our communities of sustenance and hope? If so, the pressing schedule can become sanctified; the busy day becomes holy ground; the problems become challenges and the successes, gifts of a caring Lord.

Quietly consider: Where in a busy day could I fit time for prayer?
Why is it important to do so?

Prayer Starter
Lord, when I feel lonely in my service, lead me into solitude;
when I feel empty in my service, lead me into prayer...

 

©Copyright 2006 Living The Good News

 



The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg, Bishop
814 Episcopal School Way · Knoxville TN 37932 · Phone:  865.966.2110 · Fax:  865.966.2535

Web Editor: editor@etdiocese.net


The URL for this page is:  http://www.etdiocese.net

http://www.preparingforsunday.com/scripts/getLectionary.asp?imemberid=2042