{"id":766614,"date":"2012-11-04T13:54:10","date_gmt":"2012-11-04T13:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/episcopalchurch:8888\/bible_study\/bible-study-proper-26-b-2012\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:55:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T23:55:32","slug":"bible-study-proper-26-b-2012","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-proper-26-b-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Proper 26 (B) &#8211; 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><hr>\n<h4><strong>Deuteronomy 6: 1-9<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>In this passage we are commanded to love one another. This is not a recommendation or piece of wisdom. There is no disclaimer such as \u201cif you feel like it\u201d or a promise of reward such as \u201cif you want others to love you.\u201d This is not a helpful Tips for Living list. In fact, this entire passage is full of command words: hear, love, keep, talk, recite, bind, fix, write. This is about action. This is a call to live in ministry, not just chitchat about it or theorize. LOVE. Not \u201clike,\u201d not \u201cspend time with.\u201d LOVE.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>What does that look like? We are so resistant to being commanded to do things, and yet, if this were not a command, would we take it as seriously? Would we truly understand what Jesus is telling us to do?<\/li>\n\t<li>What would your life look like if you reminded yourself with every interaction that you are called to love the individual, regardless of who they are, where they come from? Love, regardless of the quality of your interaction, regardless of your expectations. Love, regardless of your feelings, opinions, and beliefs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>Psalm&nbsp;146<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>This is a psalm of thanksgiving and the traditional format in a thanksgiving psalm is followed here: personal praises, followed by general praises, then a meditation on God\u2019s justice. This meditation provides comfort for the individual because it rests on the historical evidence of God\u2019s faithfulness to his people. It ends with the promise of God\u2019s commitment to his people forever.<\/p>\n\n<p>When times are difficult, when things are not going the way I hoped, when I feel that God is not answering my prayer, I unconsciously follow the pattern of this psalm. I start thinking about all that God has blessed me with up to this point in my life, the beauty, the surprises, the moving of mountains that I thought would never shift. And in that new perspective my frustration or disappointment seems less, for if God can move mountains, what is one small task in comparison? If God created the sea and all that is in it, what is my small request? Who am I to doubt God\u2019s power? In these reflections I find great comfort in knowing that God\u2019s promise is forever, there is no time limit, no condition upon which it will change. Never-ending love.<\/p>\n\n<h4><strong>Hebrews 9:11-14<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>There is a criticism here of the traditional sacrificial offerings; they no longer qualify as a way to redemption. What are the sacrificial offerings in your own life that you keep going back to, that you offer to God as a way of making amends or asking for forgiveness?<\/p>\n\n<p>Quitting smoking, losing weight, no more gambling,<br>\nceasing use of alcohol or drugs, working less,<br>\nbetter money management, more exercise, marriage counseling,<br>\nstopping the practice of various vices<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>Are you living as if these changes will buy you God\u2019s forgiveness?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>Mark 12:28-34<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>We are called to love, but it is a love in and through Christ, not human love. In his book&nbsp; \u201cLife Together\u201d (HarperOne, 1978), Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that \u201chuman love makes an end in itself\u201d while \u201cspiritual love is bound solely to the Word of Jesus Christ \u2026 because spiritual love does not desire but rather serves, it loves an enemy as a brother.\u201d Our love for others must come through God, for our own personal love will get in the way, it will be too full of humanly desire and agendas. And yet this does not begin with the loving of others through God, it begins with loving God fully \u2013 loving God with every essence of our being, with heart, soul, mind and strength.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>Is there someone in your life whom you find disagreeable? What happens when you view them through God, as God\u2019s creation, rather than through your own filter?<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deuteronomy 6: 1-9 In this passage we are commanded to love one another. This is not a recommendation or piece of wisdom. There is no disclaimer such as \u201cif you feel like it\u201d or a promise of reward such as \u201cif you want others to love you.\u201d This is not a helpful Tips for Living&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,52,33,3],"tags":[360],"class_list":["post-766614","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-26b"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":360,"label":"Proper 26B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952274,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766614\/revisions\/952274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}