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4th Sunday after Pentecost B 2015Year BJune 21, 2015

Prayer of the DayCreator God of land and sea, sunshine and storm, wind and rain, protect us, teach us, and lead us by your power, wisdom, and love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

The First Lesson is from the 1st book of the Prophet Samuel in the 17th Chapter

Note: God gave to the children of Israel a King. His name was Saul. It was not very long before Saul disobeyed God. So God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint the boy David as King. After David was anointed, he went back to tending the sheep for his father. Saul continued to reign. Todays lesson is the story of how Saul and David met on the battlefield.

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.

And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. (99)He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels (115 lbs) of bronze.He had greaves of bronze (armor) on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels (15 lbs) of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him.

He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of King Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us."And the Philistine said, "Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together."

When King Saul and all the people of Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse, his father, had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry.Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army.David left his provisions in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers.

As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before.And David heard him.David said to Saul, "Let no one's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth."

But David said to Saul, "I, your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock,

I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it.Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God."

David said, "The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine." So King Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you!"Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.David strapped Saul's sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them." So David removed them.

Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd's bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.

When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field."

But David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hand."

When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

The Holy Gospel according to the Community of St. Mark in the 4th ChapterGlory to you, O Lord

On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."And leaving the crowd behind, the disciples took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.

But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.

He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

The Gospel of the LordPraise to you, O Christ

Teacher, do you not care?

Ive learned over the years to trust the lectionary.Ive also learned not everyone knows what that is!The lectionary is a three-year rotating schedule of Bible readings.For each of the Sundays of the three Years A, B, and C,an Old Testament lesson,a Psalm,a New Testament lesson,and a reading from one of the four Gospels is assigned.Many denominations use the lectionary,so, many Christians across the world heard todaythe very same Bible readings we heard right here at Highlands.

Ive learned to trust the lectionary.I learned this trust on these Sundays:--in 1999, the Sunday after Columbine--in 2001, the Sunday after 9/11--in 2004, the Sunday after the Thailand Tsunami where more than 250,000 people died--in 2007 when 32 students and faculty members were shot and killed at Virginia Tech--in 2012, the Sunday after 26 people, including 20 little first grade children were killed in Newtown, Pennsylvania--also in 2012 when 12 people were murdered and 70 injured watching a movie in Aurora--in 2013, when 3 people died and 260 were wounded at the Boston Marathon

And the list goes on . . . and on . . .

And, so, this Sunday after the killing of 9 Christians,gathered for Bible Study,in a church in Charleston, South Carolina,I trust the lectionary again.

From the Psalm:God lifted the stormy wind and the waves of the sea.The people reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits end.And so are we.Then the people cried to the Lord in their trouble.And so do we.What are we to do, O God? we ask.We are, indeed, at our wits end.What are we to do?!

From Pauls Letter to the church at Corinth:The people suffered afflictions, hardships, calamities,riots, sleepless nights, and hunger.The people know death and poverty.And so do we.The people ask, What are we to do?And so do we.

From the Gospel of Mark:Jesus and the disciples,on the sea,in a boat.A furious storm arose.The waves threatened to swamp the boat.

Where is Jesus?! the disciples ask.And so do we.Where is Jesus when his followers suffer? we ask.

Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?! the disciples ask.And so do we.Jesus, dont you care that church folks are massacred? we ask.

Where is God?

From the Psalm, here is God:God brought them out of their distress;he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.The people gave thanks for the steadfast love of God.

From Pauls letter, here is God:God says, At an acceptable time I have listened to you,and on a day of salvation I have helped you.See, now is the acceptable time;see, now is the day of salvation.

From the Gospel of Mark, here is God:Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,Peace! Be still!Then the wind ceased and there was a dead calm.And Jesus asked,Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?And they were filled with great awe.

And so are we.In the Psalm, Pauls letter, Marks Gospelwe are reminded of Gods never ending love and carefor us and for all people.We are filled with awe.We give thanks for Gods presence with usin times of trouble and despair.We will keep the faith.We will pray.We will love one another.We will tell the story of Gods love for this world.These are the things the people of God do in times of trouble.With the Psalmist and Paul and the writer of Mark,we pray, we worship,we remember and give thanks for Gods love for us and for all people.

What else?What else is there to do?

From the Book of 1st Samuel:The children of Israel and the Philistines are at war.The giant, Goliath, makes an offer.If any warrior defeats him, the Philistines will be the slaves of Israel.If Goliath defeats the warrior, Israel will be slaves to the Philistines.David picks up five smooth stones . . .

With this story, the lectionary gives me pause.Why does this story of war and violence appear on this Sunday?Why now?!Is there any redeeming lesson to be learned from the death and destruction of war?From this story of submission to slavery?

We remember and give thanks for Gods love,we pray,we keep the faith,but what else?What else is there to do?

David picked up five smooth stones and confronted evil.Its time for Gods people to pick up five smooth stones.Its time, past time, for Gods people to confront evil.

Theres a problem . . .We all live in glass houses.We need to be careful when we identify our targets.

Labeling those people as evil is dangerous.Pick up five smooth stones.Confront evil.Be careful.

There are, however, some easy targets:racism, hate, violence, abuse.God calls us to confront racism, hate, violence, and abusein our homes, first of all!Does kindness, love, mercy, and forgiveness reign in your household?Confront evil, first of all, in your home, with your family.Throw this stone first!

Then carry your stones out into the worldto work, to school, to church, to the grocery store, in your car.

Do not tolerate racism in yourself or others.Do not allow a person of color to be mistreated in your presence.Throw a stone.

Do not tolerate hate.Do not allow a person of another faith or one who speaks another language to be mocked in your presence.Throw a stone.

Do not tolerate violence.Take a stand against the violence in our courts, in our prisons, on our streets, in our homes.Throw a stone.

Do not tolerate abuse.If you or someone you know is a victim of abuse,you are called by God to intervene, to protect, to guide,to provide resources.Throw a stone.

Jesus, do you not care that we are perishing?Yes, Jesus answers, I care, and I am with you always,even to the ends of the earth.And the greatest of my commandments is this,Love one another!Amen

HymnsGathering: 870 We Praise You, O GodHOD: 756 Eternal Father, strong to saveSending: 632 O God, Our Help in Ages Past