This blog provides a meditation on the Revised Common Lectionary along with a headline from world news:

BIRD KILLS MAN AT US COCKFIGHT

2 Timothy 1:1-14

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, 9who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. 13Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Almost all scholars are agreed that this is not a genuine letter of Paul but rather an example of pseudepigraphy-the deliberate creation of a text in the pretended authorship of a known person. Yet the letter sounds real, filled as it is with affectionate family memories and personal declarations. It is proof that the character of Paul remained an inspiration to the churches after his death, even when the specific nature of his theology (of which there is no sign in this letter) had been forgotten. Paul was perhaps the most important theologian in the whole history of the church, but his primary importance in the church is as a “saint”, that is, as one of God’s holy people, whose life is an inspiration to subsequent generations. In this opening section of 2 Timothy, it is the apostle’s suffering (his lived experience of the cross of Christ) which is held up as a model for Christian people, and especially for their leaders. In putting on the character of Paul, the anonymous author finds some marvellous phrases-“I am not ashamed…for I know the one in whom I have placed my trust and am sure his able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.” Paul’s faith and courage speak to a new generation through the writer who uses his name.

Mark 9:42-50

42 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.49 ‘For everyone will be salted with fire.’

If your eye causes you to stumble (Beryl Cook)

This passage is centred on the Greek word “skandalon”, which literally is a block of wood used to cause an enemy to stumble. Figuratively it is used for behaviour which might cause another person to stumble in her faith. The word “offend” is sometimes used as a translation. Jesus reminds followers that “little ones” that is, people of no importance who trust in him, can be easily offended by careless words and actions, and turned away from him. Then he attends to the disciples’ own characters, aspects of which may destroy their trust in him. They are to be completely ruthless with these, because they may bring them to hell. Jesus uses the blunt and vivid language of heaven and hell to enforce his message. We are not to take these as a lecture on the geography of the afterlife, but we are to heed the warning: pandering to our worst selves can be deadly. Now is the time for effective surgery. Jesus was not very p.c. He would probably have liked the story of the cockfight spectator killed by the knife strapped to the cock’s leg.