Proper 6 Yr A
Represent

Eye Candy: Imagery about Jesus sending the apostles is somewhat scarce. However, we do have imagery about the four evangelists Matthew,  Mark, Luke and John.

• 1. depiction of the four icons

  2. "The Four Evangelists" (1625-1630), as envisioned by Jacob Jordaens

  3. stained glass window

Ear Worm:
"You move me" by Susan Ashton, likely about God's support when we are weak
"Lord, you give the great commission", hymn
"I will go in Jesus' name", rocking testimony

Brain Food:
Weblog by Michael T. Hiller about Proper 6 (commentary, scripture, images);
"God has brought me laughter", commentary about old Testament lesson by Dan Clendenin;
poem "Apostle" by Steve Garnaas-Holmes
We are not given a mandate to judge
or an obligation to convert.
We are not required to argue religion.
We are given power to heal.We need not muster up the strength.
We are given authority.
Christ is in us to heal.May I be a healer today;
may I set free those who are bound
by spirits that diminish life.
May I cast out fear with love,
cast out greed with wisdom,
cast out anxiety with calm,
cast out anger and bitterness with deep listening,
cast out hate with forgiveness.May I bear your spirit of peace,
the authority of blessing,
the power of love.
May I be a healer today.

© Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Parables: “Mister Ibrahim” (2003), A spiritual adventure story about a Sufi grocer who passes on the wisdom of his path to a lonely adolescent boy filled with a yearning for something more, Review; “Billy Elliott” (2000), whimsical and inspiring tale about a boy growing up in an English mining town who yearns to become a ballet dancer, Review; “Avengers: Endgame” (2019, 3 hours), picking up the pieces, the Avengers set out to finally correct the problem with Thanos, Review

Hymn Notes: Almost all churches I have attended sing "Lord, you give the great commission", often on Trinity Sunday. Here's a tidbit about it author:

"Jeffery W. Rowthorn (b. Newport, Gwent, Wales, 1934) wrote this text in 1978 while he was Chapel Minister at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut. The text was first published in Laudamus (1980), a hymnal supplement edited by Rowthorn and used at the Yale Divinity School.

Rowthorn graduated from Cambridge and Oxford Universities, Union Theological Seminary in New York, and Cuddeson Theological College in Oxford. Ordained in 1963 in the Church of England, he served several congregations in England before immigrating to the United States, where he was chaplain at Union Theological Seminary and a faculty member in liturgics at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, which he helped to establish. He was then elected Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. The writer of several hymns, Rowthorn was also coeditor with Russell Schulz-Widmar of A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools (1991). Rowthorn has since moved to Paris, where he is Bishop in Charge of the American Churches in Europe."

The three readings today provide us with insight into who we are as the people of God. The Gospel reading is the account of the calling and commissioning of the twelve apostles. They are sent forth with the message of God’s kingdom. Later Jesus will send larger groups to proclaim the good news and after his resurrection, he sends all of us into the world to bear the message.

Track 1: The first reading continues the story of Abraham and Sarah. Many years have passed; still God’s promise to give them a son has not been fulfilled and Sarah is now too old. However, God comes to them and renews the promise. Sarah laughed at the idea but in the twenty-first chapter, we learn the son was born. He was called Isaac, which is Hebrew for “a laughing matter.”

Track 2: The first reading takes us back to the time of the Exodus. God affirms the covenant with Israel and then gives the people of God their identity: to God they are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These words are repeated about the church in the New Testament, especially in 1 Peter.

Today’s reading from Romans tells us something else about our identity. We are a people who have been reconciled with God through Jesus’ death. As Paul states in the chapter that follows, we have been incorporated into that death by baptism and thus our reconciliation with God is complete.

As a people called to proclaim good news, to live lives reconciled to God, and to be the holy priesthood of the new covenant, we gather to celebrate the mysteries of that covenant. The Eucharistic meal also reveals us as a people, like Abraham and Sarah who meet God in holy meals and find ourselves called by God into community with God.