Old Testament: Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Epistle: Philippians 3: 17—4:1
Gospel: Luke 13: 31-35
I’ll admit, I felt a little pressure having been tasked with a Sunday reading. By the time you’re reading, you may have heard a Sunday sermon at St. Andrew’s, or you may be spending a day with family. You may also be feeling the pull of next week, or any of the many different activities that can fill our calendars and take us out of the rest of the mindset of the Sabbath. Sunday is such a big day in our practice as Christians, and sometimes that feels like pressure. Upon joining the Episcopal church, I was interested to learn that Sundays, no matter what season, are always a celebration, even during Lent; but week-to-week, it’s hard to stay in the space of rest and celebration.
Some of you may already know the millennial parlance, “Sunday scaries.” If not, I’d like to introduce you to the term my contemporaries have been using to describe the anxiety that accompanies the end of the weekend and realization that Monday is coming. Today’s readings certainly fit the bill. Upon looking at these readings, anyone might feel the scaries: in the Gospel from Luke, Jesus is warned by the Pharisees that Herod wants to kill him. A “deep and terrifying darkness descend(s) upon” Abraham, and Paul warns the Philippians about the “enemies of the cross of Christ,” and he doesn’t mince words: “Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.”
But, across these readings, I see the same refrain throughout, “my heart shall not be afraid.” And other versions of the call out of fear: “He shall comfort your heart,” and “He will transform the body of our humiliation.” After spending some time with these readings, what I felt most strongly was the call out of fear and into God’s comfort, especially in Psalm 27 (Dominus illuminatio). When we’re in fear, we’re really pulled out of presence, out of the moment, and into tomorrow’s worries. God is calling us into the present moment — into light and comfort and out of our fear. No matter the season, I hope you make some time on this and every Sunday to rest in this place God makes for us and calls us into. I’ll end by sharing the line I rested in upon studying these readings, in hopes you can carve out some sunny, Sunday rest of your own: “One thing have I asked of the LORD; one thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.”
Whitney Williams
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