13th Sunday After Pentecost

Year B: August 19, 2018

First Reading: 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

Stanley at School by Linda Bailey

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: In this fun little book, Stanley the dog is curious about what the kids do in school. He asks his dog friends at the park, but they do not know any more than he does. He convinces them to join him in breaching the school doors. And what could go wrong with four dogs in an elementary school? This is a story about curiosity and grace, especially when curiosity leads to our path getting red with paint. The dogs really like school. It is a place of learning and fostering curiosity. Today’s Old Testament reading lifts up the wisdom of Solomon. In the transition of leadership between David and Solomon, Solomon is given a wise and discerning mind.

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20

When God Made Light by Matthew Paul Turner

(Written for ages 3-7)

Comment: In the writer’s discourse about not being foolish, the Christian is encouraged to imitate God. For it is in by imitating God that we are children of light. Matthew Paul Turner’s follow up to his When God Made You is his book When God Made Light. Both in words and in illustrations, the book reveals light through the sun, moon, stars, and within children. The theme of God’s divine light within each person connects with the Ephesians text, calling us to be children of the light instead of children of the darkness.

Third Reading: John 6:51-58

No Water No Bread by Luis Amavisca

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: Bread is a central metaphor in the sixth chapter of John. In Amavisca’s simple, yet profound book, bread also is a central metaphor. A barbed-wire fence separates the ochers from the blues. Each has something that the other needs. The blue people have water and the ocher people have ovens to bake bread. When one side runs out the other side does not share. The children, the younger generation, thinks about it differently. They share through the fence and ponder, “Why are our parents like this?” When other strangers arrive, more fencing is erected. Again, the children share the bread and the water through the fence. Bread is meant to be shared, even through barb-wire.

We are happy to welcome back Union Presbyterian Seminary alumnus Jason C. Stanley as the Revised Common Lectionary Links writer for the next four weeks.

Lectionary Links (RCL): August 19, 2018 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.