Where we have come from:
readings for Sunday 2nd February (Fourth Sunday after Epiphany)
Micah 6:1-8
Psalm 15
I Corinthians 1:18-31
Matthew 5:1-12
Readings for Today Tues., Feb. 4
Psalm 37:1-17
Ruth 2:1-16
James 5:1-6
Thought for Today
the whole book of Ruth is too good to miss bits out. Yesterday's reading only took us to verse 18 of chapter 1, best to read to the end of chapter one and right through to the end of chapter 2 today to keep with the story.
We might find this ancient welfare practice of allowing gleaning does not quite suit our modern sensibilities. Surely it would be demeaning for those concerned. But we need to try to divest ourselves of our modern eyes, and resist making comparisons with the modern welfare state. It was part of a system of caring for those who were in danger of becoming destitute, but obviously was most effective in a agricultural situation. Hundreds of years later James is writing to (probably) Jewish Christians in a (probably) more urban situation. Some of them seem to have forgotten the ancient customs, or found any contemporary equivalent. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission.
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