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Proper 13 B - Mark 5:21-43 - The Importance of Faith - Andrew Murray

"Don't be afraid. Just trust me."
Mark 5:36

"This is a lesson of the greatest importance. When praying alone in the presence of God, we must trust implicitly in the love God and in the power of the Lord Jesus. Take time to ask yourself this question: Is my heart full of a steadfast faith in God's love? If this is not the case, focus on this before you begin to pray. Faith does not come of itself. Consider quietly how impossible it is for God to lie. He is ready with infinite love to give you His blessing. Take some text of Scripture in which God's power, faithfulness, and love are revealed. Apply the words and say: 'Yes, Lord, I will pray with firm faith in You.'

It is a mistake to limit the word 'faith' to the forgiveness of sins and to our acceptance as children of God. Faith includes far more. We must have faith in all that God is willing to do for us. We must have faith according to our special needs. Jesus Christ gives grace for each new day, and our faith must reach out according to the needs of the day.

When you enter into the Father's presence and before you begin to pray, ask yourself: 'Do I really believe that God is here with me and that the Lord Jesus will help me pray?' Jesus often taught His disciples how indispensable faith was to true prayer. He will teach us as well."

From Teach me to Pray, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Proper 13 B - 2 Cor. 8:7-15 - Our Daily Bread, Oct 20/04

"In high schools in the US, being elected homecoming queen is a great honor for any young woman. But when a high school near Houston, Texas, crowned Shannon Jones, it was a special moment for her and for everyone in the community. Nineteen-year-old Shannon, who is an award-winning athlete and an active member of her church youth group, has Down syndrome.

Shannon knew this once-in-a-lifetime experience was a gift from her younger sister Lindsey, who was the catalyst to elect her. Their dad said, "I'm so proud of Lindsey. Probably somewhere in the back of her mind, this is something she'd like to do." But she made it happen for Shannon.

The most inspiring acts of human love are only a shadow of the immeasurable gift our Savior has given us. Paul wrote, "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Christ left His glory in heaven and died on the cross for our sin so that we could be forgiven through faith in Him. His sacrifice was based on His love, not on our merit. All we are and all we have are the Savior's loving gifts of grace to us.
—David C. McCasland"

~Click the title link to go to the rbc website

RCL Proper 13 B - 2 Cor. 8:7-11 - The Upper Room Disciplines 2000

"Paul is raising money for the poor in the church at Jerusalem. He appeals to the pocketbooks of the Corinthians by citing 'the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.' The rationale is not 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' but 'Do unto others as Christ has done unto you.'

A beggar accosted a social worker and a client while they walked. The social worker ignored the appeal, while the woman on welfare gave the man a dollar. Aghast, the social worker exclaimed, 'You can't afford that!' The woman replied, 'You and others have been so generous in aiding me. And shall I turn aside this man who has even less that I have?' This woman responded because of and example. So Pail asks the Corinthians to respond to the character of God: Do unto others as God in Christ has done unto you.

Statistically, those in lower economic categories proportionally give away more than those in upper brackets. Why? Likely because the poor know how much the help of others means, while we afluent kid ourselves into believing, 'I did it on my own. So can you.' Those who live on the edge know best the value of generosity. And the Incarnation notifies us of how close we are to the edge and of what we cannot do for ourselves; through that self-emptying, God reveals (often to our discomfort) our deep indebtedness to grace.

Thus Paul calls us to 'excel' in generosity ... The biblical word is this: 'It is impossible to be too generous.'"


The Upper Room Disciplines 2000; Upper Room Books; Nashville TN; www.upperroom.org.

RCL Proper 13 B - Psalm 130 - Living the Message

Wait and Hope

"Such are the two great realities of Psalm 130 ... There is more than a description of reality here, there is a precedure for participating in it. The program is given in two words: wait and hope. The words are at the center of the psalm. 'I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the LORD more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD!'

The words wait and hope are connected with the image of the watchmen waiting through the night for the dawn. The connection provides important insights for the person in trouble who asks, 'But surely, there is something for me to do!' The answer is yes, there is something for you to do, or more exaclty there is someone you can be, be a watchman.

A watchman is an important person, but he doesn't do very much. The massive turing of the earth, the immense energies realeased by the sun - all that goes on apart from him. He does nothing to influence or control such things: he is a watchman. He knows the dawn is coming; there are no doubts concerning that. Meanwhile he is alert to dangers, he comforts restless children or animals until it is time to work or play again in the light of day...

Waiting does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. It is not compelled to work away at keeping up appearances with a bogus spirituality. It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying.

And hoping is not dreaming. It is not spinning an illusion of fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain. It means a confident alert expectation that God will do what he said he will do. It is imagination put in the harness of faith. It is a willingness to let him do it in his way and in his time. It is the oppostie of making plans that we demand that God put into effect, telling him both how and when to do it. That is not hoping in God but bullying God."

Eugene H. Peterson; Living the Message; HarperCollins Pubishers, New York, NY; 1996. Pg 56-57.

RCL Proper 13 B - Mark 5:34 - The Fruit of the Spirit

Mar 5:34 (MSG) - Jesus said to her, "Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you're healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague."

"God speaks to my heart:
In your place of felt need, reach out to touch My Son and all He represents of My mercy and faithful love for my people. Reach out and never give up until you can see Him face to face, hear His words spoken to your condition, and you know that you are in the healing place. Once you have found it, bring to Him those who cannot find the way, for you cannot be completely whole without them."

Sarah Hornsby, The Fruit of the Spirit - 365 nourishing meditations on growing in the character of Jesus; Chosen Books, Old Tappan, New Jersey; 1988.