Bible Study: Pentecost 20 (B) – October 6, 2024

RCL: Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-14, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16

Note: During the 2024 Season after Pentecost, Sermons That Work will use Track 2 readings for sermons and Bible studies. Please consult our archives for many additional Track 1 resources from prior years.

Genesis 2:18-24

In the first story of Creation from Genesis 1, humanity is created on the sixth day and cast as something of a pinnacle of God’s creative imagination. Such an account of the process of the Divine creative act lends itself to a particular theological perspective that locates the grace of. God at the top of the hierarchy. By contrast, in this account of the Creation narrative, we see the singular human person formed out of the very dust of the ground. In a sense, humanity is “flesh of the flesh” of the earth, connected in a profound way with the stuff of all things. And in God’s loving care for the human, God notices the existential aloneness of what it is to be human. In this account of Creation, animals are brought into being as potential partners for humanity. Formed out of the same dirt, humankind and animals are deeply connected in a web of intricate relationship, yet it is only when another is created from the very same flesh that the person recognizes the potential of a true partner with whom to share fully in what it means to be human.

• In what ways do you now, or might you eventually, experience yourself as intricately connected to the web of Creation – to the animals, the plants, the very earth on which you stand?
• If you have a partner, how did you come to realize that they are flesh of your very flesh? In what ways are they able to satisfy how you experience aloneness? In what ways might you need to find that apart from your partner?
• If you do not have a partner, where do you find your deepest connections to Divine grace? In animal companions? In friends, chosen family, or biological family?

Psalm 8

Psalm 8 continues this theme of the place of humanity in Creation. Humankind is made of the same stuff as everything else on earth. So, we might be better served if we called ourselves earthlings, to underscore that primary relationship of humanity to the very ecosystem in which we exist. Yet the psalmist highlights that among all the beings on earth, humans have been given a special task of exercising mastery over Creation. One could use the lens of the Genesis 1 narrative to understand that task to mean having “dominion over.” But our lectionary asks us to use the lens of loving relationship to wrestle with the awesome responsibility of what it means to, essentially, get a master’s degree in God’s loving intent in the Creative act. The Garden of Eden waited for humankind to be created so someone could tend to its needs. Animals were created as potential partners for humanity. Extrapolating from these two ideas, humankind was brought into being therefore to cooperate with the Divine creative act by paying attention to the world around us and to discern how to attend to its wellbeing.

• What do you notice is happening in the natural world around you right now? If you find that challenging, how might you nurture your awareness of nature’s rhythms?
• Have you brought to prayer the effects of climate change? If so, how might God be calling you to respond given your circumstances? If not, what keeps you from engaging in prayerful dialogue with God about this issue?

Hebrews 1:1-14, 2:5-12

Hebrews functions as a word of encouragement for a community that is beginning to lose heart and whose faith is wavering in the face of persecution from the larger community. The first part of this reading presents a “high Christology” that reinforces the idea of Jesus as the perfect earthly image of God’s divine will. By quoting Psalm 8, the author of Hebrews then casts Jesus as the perfect example for Christians to follow when doubts begin to overtake them. When faced with unearned suffering, we can turn for comfort to the one who was made perfect through suffering. The fully divine Christ, who is made fully human in Jesus, shares in our flesh, and so we know that God is present to us even in our earthly trials.

• When have you found it difficult to hold onto your faith? Who was there to help you?
• How might you embody today the promise that God walks with us? What is it like to be such a public witness to your faith?

Mark 10:2-16

It has to be said that this is one of the difficult teachings of Jesus, and unfortunately has and continues to be used to keep people in abusive relationships. If we use the hermeneutical lens that flows from the Creation narrative in Genesis 1, then we might come to read this text from a place of domination and control, understood as an absolute denunciation of divorce. But our lectionary this year draws us to ponder more deeply the hermeneutical lens of relationship that we find in Genesis 2. The decision to wed and “become one flesh” comes with great responsibility, and especially if children are involved. The caution here is not to enter into a decision to divorce in a careless way, but to be mindful of the impact on others in the wider web of relationships that surrounds us. Even within a changed context, we continue to have responsibility to care for and to love them.

• If you have been touched by divorce in some way, what were some unexpected impacts? Based on your experience, how might you counsel someone who is considering divorce?
• How might divorce actually be an act of deep and loving care for one’s partner and for all the relationships in one’s life?
• As an exercise in mindfulness, what are the limits you have placed on the significant relationships in your life? Were you intentional about those limits, or did they arise organically?

Rev. Ben “Simon” Dinglasan, Jr., lives in San Francisco and was ordained to the priesthood in June of 2024 after completing their final year of study at Bexley Seabury Seminary. They are one of the founding members of the Companions of Dorothy the Worker (CDW), a dispersed new monastic community that seeks to witness to God’s love in the queer community. Rev. Simon’s approach to ministry has been shaped by their formation as both a practicing spiritual director and as a former Franciscan friar with the Society of Saint Francis. Profoundly shaped by a seminary trip to Israel/Palestine in 2023, they now serve on the Board of Friends of Sabeel, North America (FOSNA), seeking to promote the fleshing out of a liberation theology for Palestine.