Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22

This book is not in many Bibles, so many won't preach to it. It shows some pretty obvious parallels to the Mark text. Like I've been saying, it is a timeless story of people saying they are righteous but missing the messiah right in their midst.

James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a

James, or whoever this is, gives us some advice, as usual buried in the language of "God is good, people are bad". A pastor once quoted this out of context to me, while talking about organizing an event that would include asking for donations. He just took the "You do not have, because you do not ask", which is true. I know it's a pain to ask for charity, and a lot of people say "no", but a lot say "yes", and they won't say it if they are not asked. But this passage is not about asking for favors or even offering people an opportunity to express their desire to help others. It's about jealousy and infighting. That's bad of course, but no real advice is provided here for how to deal with it. The answer comes from above, and you just need to submit yourself. That kind of advice just leads to more infighting as far as I have seen.

Mark 9:30-37

We skipped the verses of the Transfiguration. It's covered in other books. It's a pretty dramatic demonstration by Jesus that he's special, standing on a mountain with the ghosts for Moses and Elijah standing with him. But the Lectionary is focusing on the reaction of the disciples, verse 32, "they did not understand". They were even afraid to ask, which I guess parallels James, although my comments on that say it doesn't. The following verses do parallel a little better, with the disciples arguing about who is best. Children are a good metaphor as a response to this adult childishness. We're not given just what "the one who sent me" is, but it's assumed throughout the Bible that God is the source of all goodness. So, whatever is technically being said, and whatever God technically is or isn't, the intention is clear; embracing innocence, protecting it, caring for those who need care, nurturing those who will one day become nurturers, that's God stuff.