26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Proper 21), Year B

We encounter the Book of Esther, “the narrative source for Purim, the most joyous festival of the Jewish year…the name of God is not mentioned, and there are moral ambiguities even among the heroic characters.”

Esther uses carefully chosen words to save and bring peace to her people.
 
The Book of James is also unusual in that it is not a Christological letter. Jesus is only mentioned twice. The Wisdom that is to be sought is the Wisdom of God, and not the wisdom of the world. Yet, again, like last week, this letter gives the Christian community concrete ways to be church, complete with a discourse on prayer.
 
The Gospel of Mark continues with Jesus teaching the disciples. The teaching never ends, does it? Each new situation brings up learnings that the learners need to hear and digest. All of it is wisdom, that we continue to seek in our own time.
 
Come, let us gather together seeking this wisdom. Enter into worship. This morning at 10:00am in-person or online.

Readings: Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22 † Psalm 124 † James 4:11-5:13-20 † Mark 9:38-50 
 
About the Art: Kobra, Eduardo. Looking for Peace, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56636 [retrieved September 17, 2024]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/14890407643.

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