All Tangled Up

In different ways the readings for Sunday, February 8 concern both the freedom of God and human freedom. Isaiah reminds us that God has no equal and that God helps the powerless find strength. The Psalmist reminds us of God’s liberating presence amongst the brokenhearted. Paul speaks of the freedom he has to adopt the habits and traditions of the people he’s around in order to make the gospel intelligible to them. In Mark we hear stories of the sick being cured and of demons being cast out. We tend to view these stories as healings, but for Mark these stories may not have been as much about the mentally or physically ill being made well as they are about those oppressed by evil being set free.

The readings below help prepare us for the Sunday readings. The readings from the wisdom literature – from Proverbs and Job – seek to persuade us that evil leads to enslavement and it is only God who moves and acts in true freedom, making the case that obedience to God is the path to human freedom. Isaiah 46 picks up this theme by drawing our attention to the incomparable nature of God. The readings from Paul – Galatians and I Corinthians – speak of the way Paul uses his freedom in light of human traditions. Matthew speaks of Jesus’ freedom in the face of traditions that would restrain most from acting.

How do we understand freedom – both God’s freedom and our own? To borrow from Proverbs, what are the things likely to ensnare us, tangling us up and limiting our freedom? How does God use God’s freedom? How does this inform how we use our own? May these readings prepare you for more active participation in worship this Sunday.


Thursday 2/5
Proverbs 12:10-21
Galatians 5:2-15

Friday 2/6
Job 36:1-23
I Corinthians 9:1-16

Saturday 2/7
Isaiah 46:1-13
Matthew 12:9-14

Read this portion of Psalm 147 each of these three days.