We have reached the 11^th Sunday after Pentecost.  That probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to you, but it does dictate the readings from the lectionary and here's what they serve up this week:

2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
 Psalm 51:1-13
 Ephesians 4:1-16
 John 6:24-35

The OT lesson is one of the things I like most about the lectionary at times, the fact that you can week-to-week follow a story or a narrative along.  Last Sunday, we talked about David and his disastrous decision to pursue the lust in his heart and not just have an affair with a married woman, but then cause her husband to be killed.  This Sunday, God sends someone to David.  Nathan tells basically a parable, causing the king to declare that the villain in the story be put to death and the man who was robbed be returned four-fold what he has lost.  David quickly finds out he is the villain in the story.  Through Nathan, God tells David that there will be consequences for his actions.  I hate to assume, but likely next week we will hear some of those consequences more clearly, or see them come to fruition.  We enjoy the “God is Love” God, but what about the tough love God, one who reminds us that there are dire consequences for non-belief and pitfalls attached to disobedience.  As children of God, we should understand that any good parent gives unconditional love, but sometimes that love comes in the form of correction.

Psalm 51 is one that you have likely heard before, at least verses 10-12.  The words of the Psalmist echo what David says in our Old Testament lesson, that he has “sinned against the Lord.”  This Psalm is a wonderful prayer of confession and hope that God will forgive us our transgressions.  But it is more than that, it is also a prayer for a change in lifestyle.  “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me.”  That needs to be our prayer every day.  We need to be transformed.  The great thing is that through His grace, even God can make a broken vessel hold water.

In the Epistle reading, we find Paul to be at his most consistent.  The first couple verses sound an awful lot like what I preached on out of Colossians a couple weeks ago.  Again, we are asked to live in a way worthy of our calling as God’s people.  As we are reminded to live with humility, gentleness and the like, we are also exhorted to live in unity with one another.   Unlike in Colossians, Paul goes a little further here and speaks of gifts that each of us have been given by God.   We must remember that all we have been given should be used to equip ourselves for ministry and to build up the body of Christ.

John’s Gospel picks right up after the feeding of the 5000 this week.  My head is swirling with the type of sermon you could preach on making sure your church is serving the right type of bread.  Jesus makes it clear, at least to me in this moment, that while he does provide for us day-to-day, the ultimate provision is one we cannot yet see, nor I would venture to say comprehend.  In our Sunday School lesson last week, the lecturer mentioned knowing where you are headed and that if you are in fact on a journey, most of what you do should be about getting you to that place in which you set out to go.   There’s not much difference here, especially when we meld the words in John, with what Paul was saying about the use of our gifts in the Epistle lesson.

I say this every Monday, but it bears repeating; This is a first glance synopsis of the readings for the week and will require much more study.  Please study along with me this week and lets see where we wind up on Sunday.