Psalm 22

But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people. - Psalm 22:6

Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
But you, O LORD, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
... he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
but heard when I cried to him."
- Psalm 22:9-11 14-15, 19, 24

"...'We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.' And Joseph said to them, 'Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.'"
- Genesis 40:8

1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-23
"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God."

"So he brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing."
- Psalm 105:43''

 We read the emotions of yesterday's people, their longs, aspirations, and questions with a sense of immediacy. They are who we are. We are who they were. We yearn for the same answers and presence. We want what they wanted, an assurance of God being with them and purposefully guiding their paths.

We want to not be abandoned.

We want to know who we are and to be who we were meant to be.

In those times when we feel like worms, we want to know we are more.

We want to be beloved and to live in beloved communities.

We want to dream and when we dream, we need to know that only God can fully interpret our dreams.

We must know that we cannot accomplish all we desire for ourselves or those we love simply through our own efforts. We need to know that we cannot cleverly devise constructs that will always be true and go to the depths of understanding.

We need God, long for God, and find our completeness in God.

We are sitting by the sea, going about our business when Jesus comes. We are not that well thought of, even by our own estimations, but He sees something in us and calls us. He calls and we follow and rejoice.

             GOSPEL READING MARK 2:13-22

13Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them.14As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.

15And as he sat at dinner in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples - for there were many who followed him. 16When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 17When Jesus heard this, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

"18Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, 'Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 19Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.'

21'No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.'"

He is with us and we rejoice. We think new ways and see the world through new glasses.

There are times of fasting, but they lead to times of rejoicing.

We are worms no more. We have cried out of the depths and He has head. Our deficits and iniquities, which are many, have been resolved by His mercy and the sacrifice of Jesus (which is, ultimately, the sacrifice of God demonstrating love and grace). We are redeemed. We are forgiven. We are new. We need new clothes and winsekins because this is a new day!

EVENING PSALM  130

1   Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. 
2       Lord, hear my voice! 
     Let your ears be attentive 
          to the voice of my supplications!

3   If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, 
          Lord, who could stand? 
4   But there is forgiveness with you, 
          so that you may be revered.

5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, 
          and in his word I hope; 
6   my soul waits for the Lord 
          more than those who watch for the morning, 
          more than those who watch for the morning.

7   O Israel, hope in the LORD! 
          For with the LORD there is steadfast love, 
          and with him is great power to redeem. 
8   It is he who will redeem Israel 
          from all its iniquities.