Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A 11th June 2023
Lectionary Readings:
Hosea 5 v15 – 6 v6; Psalm 50 v7-15; Romans 4 v13-25; Matthew 9 v9-13, 18-26.
Living examples of faith in God.
The readings this week explore the issue of faith, and what genuine faith looks like in real life.
The prophet Hosea is challenging the hypocritical actions of temple worshippers in offering sacrifices without true repentance, without changing their selfish ways.
God said, “I’d rather you were faithful and knew me than offered sacrifices”. (Hosea 6 v6).
‘Knowing God’ is, I think, about being in a personal relationship with him, loving him and knowing yourself to be loved by him, leading on to living by kingdom values and loving others.
The psalmist wrote on behalf of God when he declared, “I am the God most High! The only sacrifice I want is for you to be thankful and to keep your word.” (Psalm 50 v14).
‘Keeping our word’, is important to God, if we say we will serve him, then he expects us to show evidence of this by the way we show God’s love to others.
The apostle Paul offers up Abraham as an example of a faithful life. Paul writes, God promised Abraham a lot of descendants. And when it all seemed hopeless, Abraham still had faith in God and became the ancestor of many nations. Abraham’s faith never became weak, not even when he was nearly a hundred years old. He knew that he was almost dead and that his wife Sarah could not have children. But Abraham never doubted God’s promise. His faith made him strong, and he gave all the credit to God. (Romans 4 v18-20).
In Matthew’s gospel we read an account of Jesus healing a woman who ‘barely touched his clothes’. (Matthew 9 v20b).
Jesus turned. He saw the woman and said, “Don’t worry! You are now well because of your faith.” At that moment she was healed. (Matthew 9 v22).
Matthew is drawing attention to the emphasis that Jesus put on simply having faith in him, and his desire to heal us.
Hymn writer Fred Kaan urges us to be ‘faithful in all the affairs of today’. (Singing the Faith 478).
Thank you, O God, for the time that is now, for all the newness your minutes allow,
make us alert with your presence of mind to fears and longings that move humankind.
Thank you, O God, for the time that is past, for all the values and thoughts that will last.
May we all stagnant tradition ignore, leaving behind things that matter no more.
Thank you for hopes of the day that will come, for all the change that will happen in time;
God, for the future our spirits prepare, hallow our doubts and redeem us from fear.
Make us afraid of the thoughts that delay, faithful in all the affairs of today;
keep us, Creator, from playing it safe, thank you that now is the time of our life!
Bible quotations are taken from the Contemporary English version.