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Weekly Bible Notes, 2nd March 2003

Sunday next before Lent

Year B, Green

First Reading:	Hosea 2:14-20	Saint Matthew
Second Reading:	Mark 2:13-22
Commentary:	Commitment
Meditation:	Meditation
Prayers:	for Sunday and the week ahead

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Opening Verse of Scripture—John 12:25

If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am there shall my servant be; if anyone serves me the Father will honour him.” 

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

God of life and light, your Son was revealed in majesty before he suffered death on the cross. Give us grace to perceive his glory, that we may be strengthened to follow him and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

First Bible Reading  Hosea 2:14-20

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. 

"In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master, I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD. 

"In that day I will respond," declares the LORD - "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one. ' I will say to those called 'Not my people, ' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God. (This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)

Second Reading: Mark 2:13-22 

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." 

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?" Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. 

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."  (This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)

Post Communion Prayer

Holy God, we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ: may we who are partakers at his table reflect his life in word and deed, that all the world may know his power to change and save. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Commentary: Commitment 

There was once a man who, when out walking and coming to a wide stream would throw his coat over to the other side. He said that it was the only way to force him to find a way to cross it! 

Such extreme determination to take up a challenge, to commit to a decision is rare. In today’s reading from Gospel we see Levi (Matthew) choosing to follow Jesus in a matter of moments. 

I expect his family and friends would think he had made a reckless decision. In choosing to answer Jesus’ call, Matthew abandoned a prosperous way of life for the dangers and uncertainties of discipleship. In the second part of the reading, Jesus publicly consorted with the tax collector and his sleazy friends. The more cautious of Jesus’ companions must have been worried by the Lord sitting down to eat with hated outcasts. Jesus was being reckless with his reputation, refusing to conform to the respectable behaviour expected from a preacher with a rising reputation. Jesus’ behaviour is a reminder that throughout his life he always chose the brave path, rather than the cautious one, a reminder that he always did what was right rather than what was conventional. 

Christian life is more often a series of choices, rather than one definitive choice. It is a continual effort to stick to Jesus’ teachings, to try and obey God’s will for us. 

This coming week sees the start of Lent, when we are called to focus upon Jesus’ path to the Cross at Easter. It is a traditional time for Christians to fast or sacrifice a pleasure to enable them to focus better on their spiritual selves. 

Perhaps this Lent you might feel called upon to take up something rather than give up! Perhaps you could commit to more regular prayer, to the reading of portions of the Gospel, to a course of study? Lent can be a spiritual adventure for followers of Jesus, but it is a journey which requires commitment and determination.

Meditation

From the point of view of a Christian spirituality, it is important to stress that every human being is called upon to be a healer. Although there are many professions asking for special long and arduous training, we can never leave the task of healing to the specialist….we all are healers who can reach out to offer health, and we all are patients in constant need of help. Henri Nouwen,

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned. - Buddha

Hymns (Mission Praise)

1. All people that on earth do dwell 20: 
2. Jubilate 394: 
3. Seek ye first the kingdom of God 590: 
4. Will you come and follow me? (on service booklet).
5. O Lord my God! 506

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead.

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