7^th Sunday after Epiphany

Year C:  February 24, 2019

First Reading:  Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Hotel Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

(Written for ages 4 and up)

Comment: “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” In verse 7, Joseph tells his brothers that God sent him to Pharaoh, even though they sold him, to be a protector of his family during the time of famine. He repeats such sentiments a few more times in these selected verses, teaching us of God’s provision through Joseph, despite the ill treatment of his brothers toward him. “I’ll provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have will not come to poverty,” he assures his kin in verse 11. Likewise, Bruce learns another lesson of provision in this new story of Bruce the bear who is mother to four goslings. Upon returning from winter migration one spring, Bruce discovers that his home has been taken over by various animals and rodents. This makes Bruce very angry and he kicks everyone out. However, Bruce is ultimately reminded about provision and hospitality in this silly next story of a bear who begrudgingly becomes a caring parent to orphans and others in need.

Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:33-38, 42-50

Jesus is Risen! by Agostino Traini

(Written for ages 2 and up)

Comment:  Paul’s message here is not an easy one to boil down without a biology lesson about decomposition and regrowth. While a story about the life cycle of a plant might be a good example to pair with this passage, the new pop-up book Jesus is Risen is an excellent example of perishable v. imperishable and new life after death. (The story of Christ’s resurrection may also help the teacher/pastor tackle the greater theological debate of bodily v spiritual resurrection in this scripture lesson.) “Just as we have borne the image of the person of dust, we will also bear the image of the person of heaven,” (v.49). Traini’s book looks beyond the death and resurrection stories into the stories of Christ’s return to his disciples following the resurrection to include the Ascension and Pentecost pericopes. With each page in the book, those who encounter Jesus are given something – a blessing, the Holy Spirit – to have and hold as a reminder of Christ’s presence (bearing the image) with and among them. Children and families alike will love the pop-up illustrations of this book, which does a good job of closely linking Christ’s resurrection to post-resurrection narratives.

Gospel Reading:  Luke 6:27-38

Rufus and His Angry Tail by Elias Carr

(Written for ages 3-6)

Comment:  When people mistreat us it’s so easy to become angry and stay angry. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we’re becoming angry until we mistreat the person who’s wronged us. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain we hear that we’re to love our enemies and do good to those who don’t treat us well. That’s some hard stuff Jesus is telling us! In the story of Rufus and His Angry Tail, Rufus quickly becomes agitated by Ava and her mud pies.  Ava doesn’t mean to upset Rufus although it happens. Ava continues to get into Rufus’ space and Rufus becomes more and more upset. When Ava pushes him too far, Rufus escapes to collect himself and says a prayer about feeling angry. Upon his return to Ava, they apologize and forgive one another, returning to their friendly relationship. This book does a wonderful job of teaching young readers how to recognize symptoms of anger as well as encouraging us to turn to prayer/God during times of mistreatment, frustration, hurt, and fury. {Writer Note: While this book is simplistic in nature and teaches an attitude of prayer during times of hurt, this Gospel lesson has been used to proof-text persons remaining in abusive relationships, a time when a simplistic “turn to prayer” is not sufficient.}

We are happy to welcome back Rev. Katie Barrett Todd, director/pastor at Ukirk Greensboro, NC, as our Revised Common Lectionary Links writer for the next four weeks.

Lectionary Links (RCL): February 24, 2019 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.