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Green Blades Preaching Roundtable

7th Sunday after Pentecost

Year B
July 7, 2024
Melinda Quivik

Mark 6:1-13
Ezekiel 2:1–5
Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:2–10

People do not trust Jesus’ power. After all, he was the son of an ordinary carpenter. Knowing rejection, he taught the helpers he enlisted to spread the news not to be deflated by being rebuffed but to slough it off and move to the next place where they could bring the good news.

            The prophet Ezekiel is in a similarly difficult situation, because the Lord sent him to speak a hard word. He is a model for those of us who see a need for changes in our world, knowing they will be resented or ignored. Ezekiel explains that the Lord sent a “spirit… and set me on my feet.” Ezekiel is to speak to an “impudent and stubborn” people. Does this not describe our own people today––we who drag our feet on dealing with climate change?

            God sends word through the Son and the prophetic voices that, as Paul says, “power is made perfect in weakness.” This tells us that when we cannot find the words or the appropriate strategy or the funds or energy for what the spirit calls us to do, we are in just the right place to advocate for the voiceless––for the air, water, birds, plants, and other fellow creatures.

            In short, the Lord sends prophets and healers to stand with the ones in need. The Lord sends the church, with all its weaknesses, hesitancies, inabilities, and fears, to address the needs of Earth because we have been endowed with the Spirit of truth.

 

HYMN: “Holy God, Holy and Glorious”  ELW  #637

 

Melinda Quivik
Melinda Quivik
Twin Cities, Minnesota

Melinda Quivik, an ELCA pastor (who served churches in Montana, Michigan, and Minnesota) and former professor of worship and preaching, is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly journal Liturgy, a writer, and a preaching mentor with Backstory Preaching at backstory-preaching.mn.com. Her most recent book, Worship at a Crossroads: Racism and Segregated Sundays, is a response to Lenny Duncan's Dear Church. She calls all churches to learn why worship ways differ in our various traditions as we seek to be more welcoming.

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