The torpedo-bomber he flew was hit by anti-aircraft fire while making a run over Bonin Island, 600 miles south of Japan. He headed out to sea and ejected from his burning plane this day, September 2, 1944, and was rescued by a submarine. Receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, he graduated from Yale, became successful in the Texas oil industry and entered politics, eventually becoming America’s 41st President. His name: George Bush, who began his Inaugural Address: “My first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads.”

Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.

To understand reality is not the same as to know about outward events. It is to perceive the essential nature of things. The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential. But on the other hand, knowledge of an apparently trivial detail quite often makes it possible to see into the depths of things. And so the wise man will seek to acquire the best possible knowledge about events, but always without becoming dependent upon this knowledge. To recognize the significant in the factual is wisdom. --- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

... from here, there and everywhere

3 By wisdom a house is built,
     by understanding it is made secure,
4 and by knowledge its rooms are filled
     with all kinds of costly and pleasant possessions.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

                         
The sacrament of sacrifice

     He that believeth in Me, … out of him shall flow.…
--- John 7:38

     Jesus did not say—‘he that believeth in Me shall realize the blessing of the fullness of God,’ but—‘he that believeth in Me, out of him shall escape everything he receives.’ Our Lord’s teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all.

     When Mary of Bethany broke the box of precious ointment and poured it on Jesus’ head, it was an act for which no one else saw any occasion; the disciples said it was a waste. But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said that wherever His gospel was preached “this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” Our Lord is carried beyond Himself with joy when He sees any of us doing what Mary did, not being set on this or that economy, but being abandoned to Him. God spilt the life of His Son that the world might be saved; are we prepared to spill out our lives for Him?

     “He that believeth in Me out of him shall flow rivers of living water,” that is, hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. It is time now to break the life, to cease craving for satisfaction, and to spill the thing out. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

And to be able to put at the end
Of the letter Athens, Florence--
     some name
That the spirit recalls
     from earlier journeys
Through the dark wood,
     seeking the path
To the bright mansions;
     cities and towns
Where the soul
     added depth to its stature.

And not to worry about the date,
The words being timeless, concerned with truth,
Beauty, love, misery even,
Which has its seasons
     in the long growth
From seed to flesh, flesh to spirit.

And laying aside the pen, dipped
Not in tears' volatile liquid
But in black ink of the heart's well,
To read again
     what the hand has written
To the many voices' quiet dictation.

R.S. Thomas Selected poems, 1946-1968

     Educating missionary children is exciting and exacting. On one hand, few people are more fortunate than missionary kids. They grow up as internationals with the world their home. They roam across Europe or explore Africa as easily as other children go around the block. On the other hand, many missions settings do not offer adequate schooling or needed interaction with other youth.

     Ruth Bell Graham vividly remembers September 2, 1933. She was 13. Her father, a missionary surgeon in China, and her mother were sending her to boarding school in what is now Pyongyang, North Korea. For Ruth it was a brutal parting, and she earnestly prayed she would die before morning. But dawn came, her prayers unanswered, she gripped her bags and trudged toward the riverfront. She was leaving all that was loved and familiar: her parents, her Chinese friends, the missionaries, her home, her memories. The Nagasaki Maru carried her down the Whangpoo River into the Yangtze River and on to the East China Sea.

     A week later waves of homesickness pounded her like a churning surf. Ruth kept busy by day, but evenings were harder, and she would bury her head in her pillow and cry herself to sleep, night after night, week after week. She fell ill, and in the infirmary she read through the Psalms, finding comfort in Psalm 27:10—Even if my father and mother should desert me, you will take care of me.

     Still, the hurt and fear and doubt persisted. Finally, she went to her sister Rosa, also enrolled in Pyongyang. “I don’t know what to tell you to do,” Rosa replied matter-of-factly, “unless you take some verse and put your own name in it. See if that helps.” Ruth picked up her Bible and turned to a favorite chapter,Isaiah 53, and put her name in it: “He was wounded and crushed because of Ruth’s sins; by taking Ruth’s punishment, he made Ruth completely well.”

     Her heart leaped, and the healing began.

     Has anyone believed us or seen the mighty power
     Of the LORD in action?
     Like a young plant or a root that sprouts in dry ground,
     The servant grew up obeying the Lord.
     By taking our punishment, he made us completely well.
     Isaiah 53:1,2a,5b

Morgan, R. J. On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes

     A person lights one candle from another: The candle is lit while the other is not diminished.

     BIBLE TEXT / Numbers 7:42–43 / On the sixth day, it was the chieftain of the Gadites, Eliasaph son of Deuel. His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering.…

     MIDRASH TEXT / Numbers Rabbah 13, 20 / One silver basin. This is Moses who was thrown into the Nile. Another interpretation: He was thrown out of Egypt, as it says, “Moses fled …” [Exodus 2:15].

     70 shekels by the sanctuary weight. These are the seventy elders, all of whom Moses counted as prophets from what the Holy One, praised is He, said to him, “Then you shall go with the elders of Israel to the king …” [Exodus 3:18]. And it similarly says, “Gather for Me seventy of Israel’s elders …” [Numbers 11:16].

     Both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering. He and they were all filled with the holy spirit, and they were filled with the holy spirit from Moses, and Moses was not diminished at all. A person lights one candle from another: The candle is lit while the other is not diminished. A person who smells an etrog benefits and the etrog is not diminished at all.

     CONTEXT / The biblical text from Numbers 7 describes the dedication of the mishkan, the portable sanctuary also called the Tabernacle, which the Israelites carried with them during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. On each day for twelve days, a chieftain of one of the twelve tribes brought gifts as part of the dedication ceremony. The chieftain from the tribe of Gad was Eliasaph son of Deuel. On the sixth day of the twelve-day dedication ceremony, his gift—like that of the other chieftains—was a silver bowl weighing 130 shekels (probably used for dry ingredients, such as flour) and one silver basin weighing 70 shekels (for holding liquid libations and blood). The Hebrew idiom that is translated as “by the sanctuary weight” literally means “by the holy shekel.” The shekel is a weight, and the “holy weight” would be the weight that was used for holy purposes in the Tabernacle. In modern Israel, a shekel is a coin. The word shekel comes from the Hebrew root ש־ק־ל/sh-k-l, meaning “to weigh.”

     This is Moses who was thrown into the Nile. Another interpretation: He was thrown out of Egypt.… What does one silver basin offered as a gift by the chieftain of the Gadites have to do with Moses being thrown into the Nile or banished from Egypt? This Midrash finds a connection between two similar Hebrew words: מִזְרָק/mizrak, “basin,” and זָרַק/zarak, “to throw.” (The word מִזְרָק/mizrak, “basin,” comes from the Hebrew root “to throw”; potters speak of “throwing” a clay vessel on the potter’s wheel.)

     Moses was thus presented with a gift that was reminiscent of his having been thrown into the Nile when he was an infant, since Pharaoh had ordered the death of every male Israelite baby. According to another interpretation, the basin was a reminder of when he was thrown out of Egypt. When Moses saved the life of an Israelite and killed the Egyptian taskmaster, Pharaoh sought to kill Moses, who fled, or was thrown out of, Egypt (Exodus 2:15).

     On a deeper level, the Rabbis seem to be providing an answer to the unasked question: What is the point of all the details that are mentioned in a particular ritual? In performing a religious act, can’t we just do as our hearts tell us? Why all the concern about the specific kind of material and the exact weight and measure of an offering?

     The answer of the Rabbis here seems to be: There is great significance in the details. They are each an allegorical reminder of some event in our history:

• Silver (כֶּסֶף/kesef) connects us to the longing (כִּסּוּפִין/kisufin) of Moses’ parents for each other during the oppression.

• 130 shekels is an allusion to the number of years from the descent to Egypt by the Israelites until the birth of Moses, according to one reckoning.

• One אַחַת/aḥat (silver basin) is a word-play reminder of Miriam, the אַחוֹת/aḥot (sister) who saved Moses.

• 70 is not just the weight of the basin, but also a hint of the 70 elders whom Moses was told by God to appoint over the Israelites (Numbers 11).

     Rituals are seen not simply as obligations we have to God, with a plethora of meaningless or arbitrary requirements. Rather, they are a means by which we focus on our history; rituals are a reminder of who we are as a people and where we have been. By paying careful attention to the details, we not only connect to God; we reconnect to our people and to our past.

     He and they were all filled with the holy spirit.… In Chapter 11 of the Book of Numbers, we read once again of the complaints of the Israelites concerning their conditions in the wilderness—this time over the manna. Moses cannot control his anger and tells God: “I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me” (Numbers 11:14). God responds by telling Moses to gather seventy elders from among the people: “… I will draw upon the spirit that is on you and put it upon them; they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone” (Numbers 11:17).

     The unarticulated question that the Rabbis are responding to is this: Did Moses lose any of his power, or any of his godly spirit, when God invested the seventy elders with that same spirit? The answer is a resounding “No!” But how did the Rabbis know this? From two sources. First, the literary one. The words both filled in the Torah text clearly refer to the bowl and the basin that the chieftain of the Gadites brought as a gift. But to the Rabbis, the words have a secondary meaning: Both Moses and the seventy elders were filled with the spirit of God. Moses lost nothing in sharing that spirit with the elders.

     A person lights one candle from another.… A person who smells an etrog [citron] benefits and the etrog is not diminished at all. The second proof comes from everyday experience: a candle that lights another retains its flame; an etrog gives off fragrance yet still maintains its pleasing smell.

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. Searching for Meaning in Midrash: Lessons for Everyday Living Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

     God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. --- Acts 17:27.

     What Saint Paul said to the people of Athens Christ says to everybody, to you and me and all these multitudes. (Phillips Brooks, “The Nearness of God,” downloaded from the Web site The Unofficial Episcopal Preaching Resource Page, at www.edola.org/clergy/episcopalpreaching.html, accessed Aug. 21, 2001.) He comes to you and says it: You are restless, always on the brink of something that you never reach, always on the point of grasping something that eludes you, always haunted by something that makes it impossible for you to settle down into absolute rest. I tell you what it means. It is God with you. It is Immanuel. His presence it is that will not let you be at peace. You don’t see him, but he is close by you. You never will have peace until you do see him and turn to him to find the peace that he will not let you find away from him. “Come to me,… and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). That was the revelation of the Incarnation. Listen, how across all the centuries you can hear the Savior giving that revelation, that interpretation of their own troubled lives to multitudes; now to Nicodemus, now to the Samaritan woman, now to Pontius Pilate, and all along, every day, to his disciples by what they saw from hour to hour of his peace in his Father.

     Listen again. Hear Christ giving the same revelation today, and ask yourself this: “If it were true, if God in his perfection, with his perfect standards in himself, with his perfect hopes for me, God in his complete holiness and his complete love—if he were here close to me, only separated from me by the thin veil of my blindness, wouldn’t it explain everything in my life?” There is the everlasting question, my dear friends, to which there is only one answer. What else can explain this mysterious, bewildering, fluttering, hoping, fearing, dreaming, dreading, waiting, human life—what but this, which is the Incarnation truth, that God from whom this life came is always close to it, that he is always doing what he can do for it, even when people do not see him, and that he cannot do for them all his love would do only because of the veil that hangs between him and them? “Not far from each one of us”—there is the secret of our lives—weak and wicked because we will not live with God; restless, unable to be at peace in our weakness and wickedness, because God is not far from us.
--- Phillips Brooks

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

     Let's look at some examples -- some of them quite messy -- and we will learn about the unstated principle of discernment at work in the church.

     Let me make five quick observations to get in our minds what we mean by discernment in divorce and remarriage. First, Jesus was against divorce, as is clear from Mark 10:11-12: "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."

     Second, on another occasion Jesus "discerned" there is, in fact, an exception -- sexual immorality. Look at Matthew 5:32: "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, causes her to become an adulterous, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery" (emphasis added). Now we've got clarity: divorce is wrong except in the case of sexual immorality.

     Third, the apostle Paul encountered a new situation in which he had to discern how the teachings of Jesus could be lived out when a non-Christian spouse deserted a Christian Spouse. Was divorce also permissible for this situation? In I Corinthians 7, Paul discerned it was permissible. Paul knew precisely what he was doing -- adding to what Jesus had taught. In 7:12 he says: "To the rest I say this (1, not the Lord)." What did he discern? "But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace" (7:15).

     True to Jesus, Paul is not looking for exceptions. He prefers that husband and wife stay together because the Christian might "save" the partner (7:16). But, if the nonbeliever deserts, Paul discerns divorce is permissible, and he does so because we are called "to live in peace; which probably means Paul wants the Christians not to be disruptive in society.

     Now the fourth point: churches are called to enact similar discernments today, and long, hard, prayerful sessions have been directed at discerning whether abuse and desertion and immaturities are permissible grounds for divorce even among Christians. This is the messy part. No one says it is easy, but we have the following confidences: the guidance of the Spirit is promised us as we pray, as we study Scripture, and as we join in the conversation with church tradition. It would be much easier for God to have given us rules and regulations for everything. But God, in his wisdom, has chosen not to do that. Discernment is an element of what it means to walk by faith.

     Fifth, I believe our discernments should never become rules or laws. The moment we turn our discernments into rules or the moment we elevate them to the level of official positions, they are headed in the direction of fossilization, inflexibility, and the near impossibility of rethinking, renewing, and reforming. We'll soon have a Lucca wall around our Bible. Instead, we need to render discernments with all the wisdom we can muster and let them remain as discernments and judgments.

     In our discussion of examples below we will find some patterns at work in our discernment, but these are not rules we apply; rather, they are discernments. I am nervous about anyone who thinks we can find a mechanism that will guide our path. Instead, we need attentiveness to the Spirit as we read the Bible together and to the guiding of the Spirit.

     I accept the reality that churches already disagree over discernments. I also accept the reality that the process will be difficult. And I accept the reality that even within a church where a sensitive process of discernment has been followed, there will be folks who disagree. That's the way it is, and it is also the way the church has always read the Bible. Longing for a day of certainty in this life may propel us into deeper discussions and the search for greater unity, but certainty and unanimity in discernment are not the world in which we live.

     What the New Testament trajectory teaches us about divorce and remarriage is the need to remain firmly committed to marriage while permitting divorce in cases where the marital covenant has been destroyed. The pattern is to discern the underlying reason for the fractured relationship and then to judge if that reason is acceptable.

Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible

     This is such an interesting statement. Seal is such an important concept in Scripture. My hope and my confidence, for instance, is that God has sealed me not only with, but in the Holy Spirit, according to the words of Jesus. Note the relationship part, you in me as I am in the Father. Books have been written not only on the idea of validity and genuineness, but also the idea of relationship and intimacy. Now apply it to Paul and his audience and remember that we are part of that audience.

     This is powerful with powerful implications. I do not believe it is about keeping a list of do’s and don’ts because that means we are in control. As I keep saying, when all is said and done our choice is to react or respond to who and what we experience. We do not control the experiences we encounter except as a result of previous choices. There are some who say we don’t even have that, we are only biological and our choices have no eternal accountability. I don’t believe that, but can we at least agree that the choices our ancestors made affected future generations, just as our decisions will impact those who follow us; family, friends and strangers?

     God knows those who choose God despite their poor choices in relationships, career, life. God also knows those who do mighty works in God’s name, wear a pious countenance, keep the rules and damn those who don’t. Often these people have no relationship with God at all. David screwed up over and over, but the man loved God. He was in relationship.

     I am not promoting license, but relationship. It is not an either or choice. If we are in relationship our inner compass is set for God and as someone wrote, we lean into God, despite our mistakes. I believe God will bring us home; broken, burned, wounded and scarred if we make poor choices, but home none the less.

     I love the metaphor Randy Stevens explained to Lily and I one night in our home in Wennatchee, WA. He said we are tossed about in a storm at sea, but through the dark clouds we see a light. We are drawn to the light through the deep waves. It is our only hope. As we near land there are rocks, disaster all about us, but the light, the harbor light, the lighthouse guides us safely through every danger. As long as we keep our eyes on that light God will bring us home.

     If our eyes and hearts remain fixed on the Lord, God will wean us off those things that hurt us and hurt others. In as much as our understanding is opened to what Paul is saying and we respond, take heart and believe these words of Paul.

The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Pr 14:24–25). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

     Why do so many young people seem to get this? Why have so many of us older folks lost our idealism, passion, perspective, and vision? Those of us who have failed to hold mercy and justice in tension; who have failed to stay in the middle of the path, who have wondered where we don't belong, carry the baggage, the wounds, the scars of our foolishness, arrogance and carelessness.

     Have you seen the commercial where the lady speaks through a hole in her throat and says, “This is because I smoked?” We may be forgiven, but the consequences of our actions will find us all. Why make it worse by throwing a rock at someone else.

     Before we look at the life style, tattoos, piercings of another we need to stop and look back at the path we’ve taken. Note the potholes we failed to avoid, the words we wished we’d never said, and the people we have hurt. Surely we have done enough.

     Love covers a multitude of sins and we have much that needs to be covered. Maybe we should see others as the people God wants them to be, instead of the people we think they are. Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.” I need to remember that. God has given me and you a mandate, but God did NOT give me a measuring stick, a plumb line, a law book to judge others. Did God give these to you?

RSAofYAP The Jesus I Know

PROPER 17, FRIDAY
YEAR 1

Psalms (Morning) Psalm 31
Psalms (Evening) Psalm 35
Old Testament 1 Kings 11:26–43
New Testament James 4:13–5:6
Gospel Mark 15:22–32

Index of Readings

PSALMS (MORNING)
Psalm 31

To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 In you, O LORD, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.

3 You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
4 take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.

6 You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the LORD.
7 I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have taken heed of my adversities,
8 and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in a broad place.

9 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
my soul and body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
and my bones waste away.

11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
a horror to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.
17 Do not let me be put to shame, O LORD,
for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be stilled
that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.

19 O how abundant is your goodness
that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of everyone!
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from human plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
from contentious tongues.

21 Blessed be the LORD,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under seige.
22 I had said in my alarm,
“I am driven far from your sight.”
But you heard my supplications
when I cried out to you for help.

23 Love the LORD, all you his saints.
The LORD preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD.

PSALMS (EVENING)
Psalm 35

Of David.

1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of shield and buckler,
and rise up to help me!
3 Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”

4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
who devise evil against me.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them on.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.

7 For without cause they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit for my life.
8 Let ruin come on them unawares.
And let the net that they hid ensnare them;
let them fall in it—to their ruin.

9 Then my soul shall rejoice in the LORD,
exulting in his deliverance.
10 All my bones shall say,
“O LORD, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
from those too strong for them,
the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”

11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me about things I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good;
my soul is forlorn.
13 But as for me, when they were sick,
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,
14 as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I went about as one who laments for a mother,
bowed down and in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
they gathered together against me;
ruffians whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;
16 they impiously mocked more and more,
gnashing at me with their teeth.

17 How long, O LORD, will you look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my life from the lions!
18 Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19 Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,
or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.
20 For they do not speak peace,
but they conceive deceitful words
against those who are quiet in the land.
21 They open wide their mouths against me;
they say, “Aha, Aha,
our eyes have seen it.”

22 You have seen, O LORD; do not be silent!
O Lord, do not be far from me!
23 Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 Vindicate me, O LORD, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them say to themselves,
“Aha, we have our heart’s desire.”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you up.”

26 Let all those who rejoice at my calamity
be put to shame and confusion;
let those who exalt themselves against me
be clothed with shame and dishonor.

27 Let those who desire my vindication
shout for joy and be glad,
and say evermore,
“Great is the LORD,
who delights in the welfare of his servant.”
28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all day long.

OLD TESTAMENT
1 Kings 11:26–43

26 Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, rebelled against the king. 27 The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the gap in the wall of the city of his father David. 28 The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 About that time, when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of them were alone in the open country 30 when Ahijah laid hold of the new garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 He then said to Jeroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes. 32 One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 33 This is because he has forsaken me, worshiped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom away from him but will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David whom I chose and who did keep my commandments and my statutes; 35 but I will take the kingdom away from his son and give it to you—that is, the ten tribes. 36 Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. 37 I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires; you shall be king over Israel. 38 If you will listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you, and will build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 For this reason I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.” 40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam promptly fled to Egypt, to King Shishak of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did as well as his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.

NEW TESTAMENT
James 4:13–5:6

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.

5 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

GOSPEL
Mark 15:22–32

22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

The Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer Lectionary