Ordinary Time: Monday, July 30, 2007

Old Testament Lesson

2 Samuel 2:1-11

One of the things that is most impressive about David is the fact that he tried to do right by everyone. He could have killed Saul, and no one would have thought anything about it. Instead, he refused, for Saul was still king. Today, we see him give a blessing to those that had buried Saul after Saul had been killed. He didn't have to do that; after all, in many ways, Saul was his enemy.

But, he still wanted Saul to be paid the respect he was due. In the UM Book of Disciple, there is one of my favorite phrases. It says that everyone is of a sacred worth. Isn't that a great phrase? A sacred worth. There is no one worthless, there is no one that is without value. Even Saul. Even those we do not particularly care for. Even those that try to bring us harm. Everyone is of a scared worth.

Even you and me. We are priceless in the eyes of God.

New Testament Lesson

Acts 15:36-16:5

We see Barnabas once again put faith in someone that no one else did. Remember, he was the one that went to Paul when no one else trusted him. Today, we see him take Mark under his wing. Even though Mark had failed before. Even though Mark had abandoned them before. Barnabas did not give up on him. He saw the potential there in Mark to do great things. He saw who Mark could be. And, he knew that all Mark needed was someone to believe in him.

In short, he knew that Mark was of a sacred worth.

Gospel Lesson

Mark 6:14-29

Herod was a bad guy, for many reasons (even though you could rightly say even he, bless his heart, was of a sacred worth). In this text today we see one of his main faults. He put his pride ahead of doing what is right. He didn't want to have to kill John. That's a terrible thing to have someone murdered. He didn't want to, he knew it was wrong.

But he also didn't want to lose face with the crowd. He cared more about what the crowd thought than he did about doing what was right. May we not fall into the same trap. May we be more focused on doing what is right, instead of focusing on what other folks think.