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August 24, 2016

God on the Margins

Mira Conklin   |   Read Psalm 81:1, 10-16

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Lectionary Week
August 22–28, 2016
Scripture Overview

The admonition in Hebrews 13 “to show hospitality to strangers” is vividly illustrated by Jesus’ advice to guests and hosts in Luke 14. In the topsy-turvy world of divine hospitality, everybody is family. Radical hospitality makes sense only in light of the conviction that God rules the world and therefore adequate repayment for our efforts is simply our relatedness to God and our conformity to what God intends. The texts from Jeremiah and the psalm call the people of God back to commitment to God alone, rather than to the gods of the nations and their values. God is no doubt still lamenting our failure to listen but is also, no doubt, still inviting us to take our humble place at a table that promises exaltation on a scale the world cannot even imagine.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

• Read Jeremiah 2:4-13. To whom or where do you go to ll your cup with living water?
• Read Psalm 81:1, 10-16. What shape does God’s bread and honey take in your life? Where are you being invited to open your mouth and to name the gift as sacred?
• Read Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16. How do you offer hospitality to those closest to you?
• Read Luke 14:1, 7-14. When have you been blessed by a party of mis ts? How can you extend the table?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Psalm 81:1, 10-16

1 Rejoice out loud to God, our strength! Shout for joy to Jacob’s God! 10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up from Egypt’s land. Open your mouth wide—I will fill it up! 11 But my people wouldn’t listen to my voice. Israel simply wasn’t agreeable toward me. 12 So I sent them off to follow their willful hearts; they followed their own advice. 13 How I wish my people would listen to me! How I wish Israel would walk in my ways! 14 Then I would subdue their enemies in a second; I would turn my hand against their foes. 15 Those who hate the LORD would grovel before me, and their doom would last forever! 16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

The psalms, like the music of our great spiritual songwriters, give poetry and rhythm to the history of God active in the world. The cadence of the psalm serves as the reminder of God’s constant presence and activity to our ears and voices. The psalmist here also points the people...

God, help us to take what you offer, to savor it, to let it feed us and strengthen us for the journey ahead. Amen.


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