{"id":850748,"date":"2021-08-04T18:07:35","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T22:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/?post_type=bible_study&#038;p=250748"},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:45:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T23:45:38","slug":"bible-study-pentecost-17-b-september-19-2021","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-pentecost-17-b-september-19-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Proper 20 (B) \u2013 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/lectionary\/proper-20b\/\">RCL: Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bible-Study-Graphic-2-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-250756\" width=\"512\" height=\"268\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Proverbs 31:10-31<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The grand finale to the book of Proverbs\u2014a book which one scholar describes as \u201cdevoted to cultivating wise <em>men<\/em>\u201d\u2014is a husband\u2019s tribute to the \u201ccapable wife\u201d (v. 10), herself a picture of wisdom. This string of proverbial pearls is a Hebrew acrostic poem\u2014an expression \u201cfrom A to Z\u201d (or <em>aleph<\/em> to <em>tav<\/em>) of the excellence of someone whose way of life overflows with skill and beauty, even while she is, as our collect for the week says, \u201cplaced among things that are passing away.\u201d Where does her strength come from? Again reverberating with the spiritual logic of our collect, the proverb-poem sets forth her highest and grounding virtue in the second-to-last verse: \u201cCharm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised\u201d (v. 30). It\u2019s this loving awe of God that grounds her life and makes it, in its particular way, a window to God\u2019s own creativity, activity, and goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What do you think of when you think of \u201cthe fear of the Lord?\u201d Can you think of other biblical passages where \u201cthe fear of the Lord\u201d is discussed or that might help give a fuller picture of the meaning of this phrase as it is used in Scripture?<\/li><li>While this passage may feel difficult to some of us reading it from a modern perspective, how might this person also be seen to demonstrate both leadership and interdependence in her own context?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Psalm 1<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the earliest centuries of the church\u2019s life, Christians have read this psalm as being first and foremost about <em>Christ.<\/em> He is the one who has \u201cnot walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful.\u201d He is the one whose delight has been \u201cin the law of the Lord.\u201d He is the \u201ctree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season.\u201d And as we grow in Christ by faith, our lives come to look like this too. Even though the original language of the psalm in Hebrew is masculine and singular (\u201cBlessed\/happy is the man [<em>ha\u2018ish<\/em>]\u2026\u201d), Christian readers have long understood this \u201cman\u201d as the Christ who mystically includes all whom he saves. As Basil the Great wrote in the fourth century, \u201cWhy, you say, does the prophet single out only man and proclaim him happy? Does he not exclude women from happiness? By no means. For, the virtue of man and woman is the same, since creation is equally honored in both; therefore, there is the same reward for both\u201d (Homilies on the Psalms 10.3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What does this psalm tell us about what it means to be happy?<\/li><li>What do you think Basil the Great has in mind when he speaks of a \u201creward?\u201d<\/li><li>What else stands out to you about this psalm?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This section from the Letter of James is situated in a wider discussion of the tongue and who can be trusted to teach (3:1). It would seem from this reading of James that the trustworthy teacher is the same one who is \u201cwise and understanding\u201d\u2014who lives a \u201cgood life\u201d and whose \u201cworks are done with gentleness born of wisdom\u201d (v. 13). A red flag that someone who wants to teach might not be ready yet is that \u201cenvy and selfish ambition\u201d keep showing up in them, even internally (vv. 14 and 16). This kind of internal disorder may result in \u201cboastful\u201d speech rather than sound teaching (v. 14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you, like me, desire to bless others with your words but find yourself noticing difficult things internally, don\u2019t give up hope. The author of this epistle includes himself among those who \u201cmake many mistakes\u201d (3:2), but his holy teaching has, by the grace of God, made it down to us through the millennia. His final advice in the passage assigned as our lesson for today also speaks to me. Wherever you are in your Christian life, wherever you find yourself, \u201cSubmit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you\u201d (4:7-8). There is always hope for the person who is willing to yield to God\u2019s Spirit. In fact, it\u2019s what the Christian life is about!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How does this picture of wisdom compare to the picture of a wise life given in the other readings for today?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Mark 9:30-37<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this run of interwoven passages in Mark\u2019s gospel, Jesus\u2019 disciples are thinking (as we all do, unaided by God\u2019s grace) along pretty unfailingly earthly lines. This section takes us straight into the heart of the tension between natural and grace-assisted ways of thinking. Earthly habits of thought, as we see in verses 30-32, can\u2019t begin to comprehend the mystery of the Resurrection. And the disciples don\u2019t comprehend it on their own. We are told they are too \u201cafraid to ask\u201d (v. 32). Jesus\u2019s mercy in this case pierces through their silence. Instead of rebuking them for their human preoccupation with rank and order (v. 34), he gives them an object-lesson (really a human-being-lesson) and an example when he takes a child into his arms. He takes the lowest-status person in the house\u2014who is also probably the simplest and least complicated\u2014and embraces him. And not only that: he says that to embrace the low status, simple child in his name is to embrace <em>God<\/em>. Whoever recognizes this and does it is on the way to true greatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What does it mean to welcome someone \u201cin [Jesus\u2019s] name?\u201d Does this verse\/teaching mean the same thing as it would without the phrase \u201cin my name?\u201d<\/li><li>How might you be called to welcome Jesus this week? Is there a \u201cchild\u201d in your midst?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-bc78c7a2-7419-477f-96c0-dc3751d57c6c\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bible-Study-Proper-20B-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Pentecost 17 (B) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bible-Study-Proper-20B-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-bc78c7a2-7419-477f-96c0-dc3751d57c6c\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-817d4693-67d0-427f-a3f5-873de08847cb\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bible-Study-Proper-20B-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Pentecost 17 (B) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Bible-Study-Proper-20B-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-817d4693-67d0-427f-a3f5-873de08847cb\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RCL: Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 Proverbs 31:10-31 The grand finale to the book of Proverbs\u2014a book which one scholar describes as \u201cdevoted to cultivating wise men\u201d\u2014is a husband\u2019s tribute to the \u201ccapable wife\u201d (v. 10), herself a picture of wisdom. This string of proverbial pearls is a Hebrew acrostic poem\u2014an&#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":[348],"class_list":["post-850748","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-20b"],"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":348,"label":"Proper 20B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/850748","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\/850748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952197,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/850748\/revisions\/952197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}