Set Free for Freedom--June 8, 2016

[From June 9, 2010 archive]

You have set us free, Christ Jesus, for freedom.  Too often

we do not know how to interpret the signs of our freedom.

We suppose we are free to plot our own destiny, only

to learn like a fish taken in a net, or a bird caught in a

snare, that no one can anticipate the time of disaster.

Then we find ourselves again under slavery’s yoke.

I will not get into my bed;

I will not give sleep to my eyes

or slumber to my eyelids,

until I find a dwelling place

for you in my heart.

Then I will be free.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 96; 147:1-11; 132; 134

Eccl. 9:11-18

Gal. 5:1-15

Matt. 16:1-12

       

Selected Verses

Ps. 132:3-5

“I will not enter my house

            or get into my bed;

I will not give sleep to my eyes

            or slumber to my eyelids,

until I find a place for the LORD,

            a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

[quoting David’s vow]

Eccl. 9:12

For no one can anticipate the time of disaster.  Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them.

Gal. 5:1

For freedom Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Matt. 16:3b

“…You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.  …  ”  [Jesus to the Pharisees and Sadducees]