Lectionary Links: Sunday, July 29, 2012
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year B: July 29, 2012
First Reading: 2 Samuel 11:1-15
Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin
(Written for ages 5-9)
Comment: This disturbing text is a quintessential story of our human desire to want what isn’t ours. As adults we are likely horrified by David’s actions towards both Bathsheba and Uriah. We might not be ready to tell the full story to our children, yet even small children will have experienced the desire to take something that doesn’t belong to them. Ruthie also takes something that isn’t hers, lies about it, and then feels pretty rotten. People make mistakes, and it’s important to talk about the options we have after we’ve made a mistake. David chose to dig himself into a deeper, destructive hole. Ruthie sought to change the situation and make amends. How would we act?
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21
Did I Tell You I Love You Today? by Deloris and Roslyn M. Jordan
(Written for ages 5-9)
Comment: “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” In this epistle we hear that to know and be rooted in Christ’s love, is to more fully be the people God has created and is calling us to be. We are empowered to be the best versions of ourselves. Children’s first experience of God’s love is often through the love of a parent, like that described in the Jordans’ story. The mother in the story begins and ends her day with a prayer for her children, thinking of ways to bring out the best in them and encourage them through her words and actions.
Gospel Reading: John 6:1-21
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
(Written for ages 5-9)
Comment: I love the gospel story of the boy who shared his lunch. It is a powerful image of the ways God can use us and whatever we have, to accomplish God’s plans for the world. It is especially empowering for young children to see a child at the center of the action. The miracle of this text is in the sharing with others. Extra Yarn is also a story of a child who shares and the abundance and beauty that comes from her giving to others. This text and story are great inspirations to celebrate the ways the children (and grown-ups!) in your congregation share from their resources.
This week’s Lectionary Links were written by regular contributor Noell Rathbun-Cook. Noell will be beginning a well deserved vacation and our Links for the next 13 weeks will be written by recent Union Presbyterian Seminary graduate Elizabeth Boulware Landes. We look forward to her contributions!
Lectionary Links: Sunday, July 29, 2012 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Congratulation, Noell, on a very useful and interesting set of readings for Lectionary Links! We too will read the Ruthie story, which is well pitched, I think, to a young audience, but not til Oct 14, paired with the struggle of the rich young man to follow Jesus. For July 29, we will use Mama Panya’s Pancakes which features a boy’s extravagant hospitality and his mother’s pragmatic caution.
Thanks for your suggestions. We will definitely check some of these out!
I love Mama Panya’s Pancakes! Originally I planned to use it for the gospel reading except I hadn’t read it in a few months and all library copies we out. Thanks for your support and suggestions!
I just discovered “Extra Yarn” and immediately thought, “I wonder if Noell’s heard of this!” Of course you have. It’s such a wonderful book…I’ll be using and recommending it from now on.