3rd Sunday After Pentecost

Year B: June 10, 2018

First Reading: 1 Samuel 8:4-20 (11:14-15)

How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long and David Shannon

(Written for ages 3-7)

Comment: The people come to Samuel demanding to have a King like all the other nations around them. Samuel tries to convince them that while they think this is a good idea, it really isn’t. They do not heed Samuel’s, or God’s, warnings. Verses 14 and 15 of chapter 11 tell us about the coronation that is held. The request of the people is an issue of personal pride. Surely, life would be better with a king. In Pirate, young Jeremy Jacob imagines that life on a pirate ship would be much better than life with his family. They do not seem to notice him or pay attention to him. But life on the high seas isn’t quite what Jeremy thinks it will be. Jeremy’s decision was based on his own pride. At the end, he realizes life is much better at home with his family than with a bunch of pirates.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like by Jay Williams

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: The city of Wu is being threatened by an invasion from the Wild Horsemen. The leaders of the city beckon a dragon come to their defense. Instead of a dragon, a small, fat man arrives. The boy Han welcomes him and takes him to the leaders, who dismiss the fat man. “Everyone knows what a dragon looks like,” the leaders say. Han takes the small, fat man to his humble cottage and gives him a small meal. At this act of compassion and kindness, the small, fat man transforms into a mighty dragon and saves the city of Wu. “We look not at what can be seen, but at what cannot be seen,” Paul writes to the Corinthians. Paul encourages us not to do what the leaders of Wu did who passed judgment on the small, fat man because of his appearance. Instead, we are to see with the eyes of the heart.

Gospel Reading: Mark 3:20-35

The Berenstain Bears No Girls Allowed by Stan and Jan Berenstain

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: Sister Bear loves playing with her older brother and his friends. As she gets older, however, she begins to out run and out play the boys. Upset about this, the boys build a clubhouse in the woods, with a sign declaring “No Girls Allowed.” Papa Bear’s solution is to help Sister create her own girls-only club. The house becomes divided. As Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” Just as Brother and Sister realize that they can have more fun together than divided, we too can learn that a house built on inclusion and love is better than a house divided.

Thanks to Jason C. Stanley, Union Presbyterian Seminary alumnus, for writing the Revised Common Lectionary Links this week.

Lectionary Links (RCL): June 10, 2018 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.