• II Samuel 7:1-14a

Having brought the “ark of God” to a tent-sanctuary in his new capital city of Jerusalem, King David tells the prophet Nathan, “I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.”  At first the prophet endorses the King’s ambition to build a new, more permanent home for the ark.  But later, the “word of the Lord came to Nathan.”  The next time he sees David he reminds the King of all the Lord has done for him and the promises for his legacy.  However, he also says that David should leave to future generations the task of building a “house for My name.”

• Psalm 89:20-37

The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s unique blessing on David and his progeny: “His seed shall be forever.”

OR

• Jeremiah 23:1-6

Because of Jeremiah’s sustained criticism of the monarchy in Israel and the religious leaders– “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture.”– he imagines a new type of shepherd.  “A righteous Branch” who will finally promote genuine “justice and righteousness.”

• Psalm 23

With strong verbs — lead, comfort, prepare– the psalmist depicts the Lord’s constancy and initiative to guard and protect, even near death.

• Ephesians 2:11-22

The divide in the early church between the “circumcised” (Jewish from birth) and “uncircumcised” was serious.  But the controversy mocked the message the church proclaimed from and about Jesus.  The writer of Ephesians gracefully but unequivocably declares that all are now united in Christ, who is “our peace.”  He references what Jesus himself did “in the flesh” to break down all kinds of sacrosanct barriers.  So, in Christ’s church, “both groups [are made] into one.”  “So then you are no  longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.”

• Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Earlier in Mark’s narrative, (6:6b-13; two Sundays ago in the Revised Common Lectionary), Jesus sent twelve disciples in pairs to extend his power of healing beyond his personal reach.  Now they return and report back to Jesus.  He arranges some rest for them, but people recognize them and quickly mob them, believing that if they could just brush against the clothing of Jesus they would be healed.  Seeing the crowds, Jesus is deeply moved.  He sees them as sheep without a shepherd.  …”And all who touched [his clothing] were healed.”

For the second time in Mark’s narrative, (see 3:13-19), Jesus extends the reach of his healing by deputizing his new followers and sending them away from him to so many in need.  At this early point in Mark’s narrative, they have not seen all Jesus will accomplish nor heard all he will teach; they still have no idea how the story will end.  Jesus does not wait until they have accumulated enough knowledge or experience or any particular qualifications or conventional credentials before he tells them to go: stop just listening and go where the needs of the people are.  What would cause Jesus to take a risk with a few novice followers?  Mark’s answer is perfectly clear– Jesus was moved, deeply moved, by the needs of so many.  So, twelve of his unformed, unprepared followers moved out into the crowds and healed as they could.  Mark says they were stunningly successful, despite themselves.

Jean-Luc Marion concludes his Prolegomena to Charity with a fresh re-reading of Jesus’ commissioning his followers to continue and expand his work he inaugurated in word and deed.  Marion has in mind the occasion when Jesus  commissioned his followers  just before his ascension, relying on Matthew’ and Luke’s narratives, but his words are just as apt, or perhaps even more fitting, for these two occasions in Mark.  Marion writes:

“…Charity waits for nothing, commences right away, and is fulfilled without delay.  Charity manages the present.  And the present, seen from the point of view of charity, signifies also, and before all else, the gift.  Charity remembers the gift present, presents the present as gift.”  “…When it comes to charity, no excuse, no way out, no explanation is of any avail.  I love or I do not love, I give or I do not give.  It is certainly no accident that all the parables of the Last Judgment hinge not on faith– the righteous being the faithful believers, the unjust the miscreants– nor on hope– the righteous hoping for restoration… of the Kingdom of Israel… but on charity.  Have we helped our neighbor, given even from our surplus, loved the least among us?  This is the only criterion, the only crisis, the only test.  The judgement singles out not the athletes of faith, nor the militants of hope, but the workers of charity.  By consequence, charity becomes for each of us the site of an individual Judgement that, in the end, includes the whole span we call our life.” (pp 154-155)

Disciples become disciples by doing the work of being a disciple of Jesus– charity, healing, justice.

To review the assertions of these disturbing readings and today’s gospel: both readings from the Hebrew scriptures declare that God’s work in the world finds its representatives (“shepherds,” to use the metaphor of these readings) even in future generations, as current ones falter; all who find their relationship to God through Christ are equal within the Body of Christ; God’s work in the world can be done by anyone– it is done and spreads without discrimination.  These radical assertions always challenge human assumptions and structures, even the church itself.  But they are always also the source of constant, immediate hope.