Daily Scripture Readings
Year A
Ordinary Time until Lent
January 7 until March 8, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The John Wesley Study Bible, New Revised Standard
Version, Abingdon Press, 2009
Psalm 117: Universal Call
to Worship.
“A Hallel (praise Psalm) calling all people to praise
God for God’s faithfulness.”
v.2 “For great is his steadfast love toward us, and
the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!”
Psalm 118: A Song of
Victory.
“An antiphonal (call and response) Hallel in which
an individual comes to the temple to give thanks for deliverance.”
v.1 “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his
steadfast love endures forever!”
v.22 “ The stone that the builders rejected has
become the chief cornerstone.”
v.24 “This is the day the Lord has made; let us
rejoice and be glad in it.”
v.26 “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of
the Lord.”
v.29 “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his
steadfast love endures forever!”
Psalm 112: Blessings of
the Righteous
“An alphabetic acrostic [song] … describing the
blessings of a righteous life.”
“The righteous take on the attributes of God, their
families thrive; they treat all people equitably; they are strong and
confident; and they care for the poor.”
Psalm 113: God the Helper
of the Needy
“The first of six songs called the ‘Egyptian Hallel’
… because of their association with the Jewish Passover meal.”
“A call to praise God in all times and in all
places.”
Isaiah 59:15-21: Injustice and Oppression to Be Punished
“The Lord states the unalterable commitment to the
covenant he has made with Israel through all generations. Chapter 59 moves
between two extremes. Leading up to today’s verses is a virtual vocabulary list
of covenant disobedience, (bloody hands, lies, wickedness, corrupt courts,
violence, evil, oppression, revolt) contrasted with the ways of God’s covenant
that are ignored (peace, righteousness, justice, salvation, uprightness,
truth).
“God will judge the covenant breakers by God’s own
arm and clothed in righteousness and salvation (cf. Ephesians 6:14-17 Putting
on the Whole Armor of God), but God will also redeem those who turn from
transgression.”
Revelation 2:8-17: The Messages to the Churches at Smyrna and Pergamom
“The ‘crown of life’ (cf. Ephesians 6:14-17) is an
eschatological reward for those who stand faithful in the face of blasphemy and
persecution that come from the hand of the Devil himself. Jesus the faithful
‘faithful witness’ describes the martyr Antipas as ‘my witness, my faithful
one,’ revealing that one’s faithful witness to Jesus could very well require
the same sacrifice [by other believers].
v.16 “Repent then, if not I will come to you soon
and make war against them with the sword of my mouth.” (cf. Ephesians 6:14-17)
John 4: 46-54: Jesus Heals an
Official’s Son
“Another sign that “emphasizes the universality of
Jesus’s mission and the nature of authentic faith. … Authentic faith is, most
importantly, trusting the word of Jesus. The sign – the child’s recovery – does
not cause but confirms the Gentile’s faith in Jesus; it expresses Jesus’s
gracious gift of both physical and spiritual life.”
Are these streets I’m on the streets of change?
Do I really want to know?
Am I brave enough to see? (See what’s really going on?)
Am I strong enough to feel? (Have I been all along?)
Am I whole enough to love? (Bring the pieces with me?)
Time and distance, healing song.
Sometimes
full circle takes me back; sometimes moves on.
Some
riders change, some never falter.
Where
are you? Here now. Now gone.
Brave
enough to see.
Strong
enough to feel.
Whole
enough to love.
En la guagau que le toma
en todas partes y no le toma en ninguna partes para guagua
hay muchos amantes sa como
usted bien sabía.
Pero la guagua guagua vé
solamente mentirosos y tramposos.
¿Puede ser? Es sólo tú y
yo una vez más.
La guagua guagua sólo
puede saber donde ha ido
In the bus that takes you
anywhere and takes you nowhere for little or nothing
Are many lovers as you
well know,
But the little for
nothing bus sees only liars and cheats.
Can it be? It is only you
and I once again.
The little for nothing
bus can only know where it has been
And where it will go
again
Do I really want to know?
Was I brave enough to go? (Go where I’d never gone?)
Was I strong enough to heal? (I have been all along.)
Was I wise enough to love? (Use what I learned before?)
Time and distance, come and gone.
Familiar roads.
Sometimes full circle takes me back; sometimes moves on.
Some riders change, some never falter.
Where are you? Here now. Now gone.
Brave enough to go.
Strong enough to heal.
Wise enough to love.
