The death of Ehud left the Israelite people leaderless, and before long corruption and immorality had got the better of them again. The LORD couldn’t stand the sight of their evil ways, and abandoned them to the advancing army of King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled from the city of Hazor. King Jabin’s troops, under the command of General Sisera, were a hardened fighting unit equipped with the latest in military hardware. Their harsh and oppressive rule was like a boot on Israel’s throat for the next twenty years, and the people cried out to the LORD for help.

During that era, a prophet named Deborah emerged as a leader in Israel. She was a fiery woman, and the Israelite people looked to her to arbitrate whenever disputes and conflicts flared up among them. She based herself in the hill country of Ephraim and held her hearings under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel. The people came to her there, and the place became known as the Palm of Deborah.

One day, Deborah sent a message to a man named Barak telling him to report to her. Barak was the son of Abinoam, and came from the town of Kadesh in Naphtali. When he arrived, Deborah said to him:

“I have a command for you from the LORD, the God of Israel. You are to mobilise ten thousand soldiers from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun, and take position at Mount Tabor. The LORD will incite Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to come out and tackle you. He will come with all his troops and his fancy military equipment, and there will be a battle near the Kishon River. The LORD will hand you a complete victory over Sisera.”

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

It is to you that we look for help, LORD;
to you who rules from the throne of heaven!

When people are injured,
they look to the doctors for help;
when they lie in hospital,
they look to the nurses for compassion;
and in the same way
we look to you, the LORD our God:
we depend on your kindness and care.

Treat us with compassion, LORD, treat us with compassion.
We’ve endured more than our fair share of contempt.

We have had an absolute gutful
of being put down by the arrogant
and treated like dirt by those who’ve got it easy.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sisters and brothers, there is really nothing much I can say about God’s ultimate timetable that you do not already know. You yourselves are up to speed with the fact that the day of the Lord will hit without warning like redback in a dark dunny. The propaganda machines will still be pumping out reports of secure borders and boom times ahead, when suddenly the whole world will be turned on its head. It will be like the sudden rapid onset of labour for a pregnant woman: unpredictable, intense, and inescapable!

But, my dear friends, you are not in the dark about these things, so that day won’t catch you off-guard like the red-back. Instead, for all of you, the lights have been turned on and bright light is now your natural habitat. We no longer live our lives stumbling around in the darkness, so let us not laze around, oblivious to what’s going on, the way other people do. Instead, let’s keep on our toes, and be clear-headed. Those who drink themselves into a stupor and pass out, dead to the world, do so at night, under the cover of darkness. But we are creatures of the light of the new day, so let us keep our heads clear and our wits about us. Put on all the protection God has provided, for our faith and love will protect our hearts better than a bullet-proof vest, and our confident anticipation of being rescued into new life will protect our heads better than a crash helmet. God has not set us up for failure and punishment, but to be rescued from all that into the life opened up for us by our Lord, Jesus the Messiah. Jesus paid the ultimate price to secure that life for us, so that whether we live until that day or die first, we will be raised up to live with him. In light of all this, keep on doing what I know you are doing: cheering one another on, and helping one another to grow stronger.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

While speaking to his followers, Jesus said, “Here is another illustration of what the culture of heaven will be like when the time comes:

“A big-time entrepreneur decided to take an extended overseas holiday, and to leave substantial investment funds in the hands of his three employees to do with as they saw fit. Taking account of the relative abilities of the three, he gave one of them five million dollars, one of them two million, and the other, one million. Then he cruised off and left them to it. The one who had received the five million got straight to work, buying and selling, and managed to generate a profit of another five million dollars. The one who had received the two million also managed to generate a hundred percent return. But the one who had received the one million went and locked the money in a safe and left it there.

A long time later, the boss returned without warning, and called in the three to present their performance reports. The one who had received the five million reported first, saying, ‘Boss, you gave me five million bucks to work with, and I have doubled your money.’

The boss replied, ‘Well done. What I gave you was peanuts, but you have earned my trust and admiration in your handling of it. Now I am going to put you in charge of much bigger things. Come and celebrate with me!’

The one who had received the two million reported next, saying, ‘Boss, you gave me two million bucks to work with, and I have doubled your money.’

The boss replied, ‘Well done. What I gave you was peanuts, but you have earned my trust and admiration in your handling of it. Now I am going to put you in charge of much bigger things. Come and celebrate with me!’

Finally, the one who had received the one million made his report, saying, ‘Boss, I knew how you were only too happy to reap the profits from other people’s work without contributing yourself, and how harsh you are on those who fail; so I was afraid to take any risks. I kept your money locked away safely. Here, have it back.’

At that, the boss went off his tree, saying, ‘You lousy gutless bludger! So you knew that I am only too happy to reap the profits from other people’s work, did you? Well then you ought to have at least deposited my money in the bank where it would have earned me a bit of interest. So now I am taking your million and giving it to your mate with the ten million. Everyone with something to show for what they are given will be given even more and they will be rolling in it. But those with nothing to show will be stripped of even the little they have. As for you, you worthless piece of garbage, you’re out on your ear, and I’ll put the word around so that you’ll never get another job. You can spend your days cursing and kicking yourself on the dole queue.’”

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.

The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

The LORD God comes! Let us all be silent!
The day of the LORD is dawning.
The LORD is ready to make the sacrifice,
and others have been invited to feed on it.

Listen to what the LORD has to say:

“At that time, I will march into the city, searchlights blazing,
and hunt down those who will be punished;
those who pickle themselves in their hot tubs
and smugly suggest
that I, the LORD, will never do anything,
either for good or for bad.

Their number is up.
Their wealth will be carried off.
Their fancy houses will be smashed to the ground.
All they have built up will come to nothing.
I will not let them live in the mansions they built
or enjoy the wine they carefully cellared.”

The great day of the LORD is almost upon us,
approaching at the speed of sound;
approaching with a horrifying noise;
bloodcurdling shouts and screams of fear.

That day will be a day of fury,
a day of grief and tearing hair out,
a day doom and disaster,
a day of filthy darkness and gloom,
a day of choking smoke and clouds of dust,
a day of sirens and screams and the sounds of battle,
a day when the defences will crumble
and cities and strongholds will fall.

The LORD will decimate the people.
They will stagger around, dazed and confused,
because they have offended the LORD with their evil ways.
Their blood will be poured out on the dirt;
their dismembered bodies spread out like dung.

Despite their millions and all their finery,
they won’t be able to buy their way out of trouble
on the day of the LORD'S fury.
The LORD'S passion will set fire to the earth
and incinerate it entirely.
With a terrifying completeness,
the LORD will terminate life on earth.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Lord, in every generation
you have been house and home to us.

You are God, and have been from time before time;
even before you brought the mountains to birth;
even before you created the planet or anything on it.

You tell us when our time is up,
and return us to the earth from which we came.

From where you look,
a thousand years is like the blink of an eye,
and the ancient past like yesterday.

Our lives pass as if you had erased them completely;
they are gone like a dream.
Like cut flowers they are fresh and new one day,
and faded memories the next.

The burning heat of your anger wipes us out;
your indignation cuts us down.

You have spelt out the charges against us,
and brought our hidden offences out into the open.

Day by day, the weight of you anger drains the life out of us,
and our years come to a close with a whimper.

How many years have we got?
Seventy, perhaps eighty if our health holds.
But even a long life is a grind, all hard work and heartache,
and in no time it’s over and we’re gone for good.

Does anyone treat your anger with the respect it deserves?
Surely the extent of your indignation over sin
is matched only by the honour that is your due.

So teach us to value each and every day
so that we will be wise enough to make the most of them.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you have destined us for salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

You created the earth
and entrusted it into our hands.
You called a people to be your own,
and when they were cruelly oppressed
you raised up your prophet, Deborah,
and spoke through her of the day of deliverance.

You have spoken to us through your child, Jesus,
teaching us to look to you and trust in your kindness,
and to be faithful stewards of your gifts.
He was scorned and mocked
and died for us, but was raised by you.
You have promised a day of judgment and deliverance,
when Christ will come
as unexpectedly as a thief in the night,
to reveal the children of light
and gather all who have been trustworthy
with what you have given
into his kingdom of joy.

Therefore with .....

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for your promise
of a day when Christ will come
to reveal the children of light
and gather all who have been trustworthy
with what you have given
into his kingdom of joy.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you have destined us for salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

You created the earth
and entrusted it into our hands.
You called a people to be your own,
and when they were cruelly oppressed
you raised up your prophet, Deborah,
and spoke through her of the day of deliverance.

You have spoken to us through your child, Jesus,
teaching us to look to you and trust in your kindness,
and to be faithful stewards of your gifts.
He was scorned and mocked
and died for us, but was raised by you.
You have promised a day of judgment and deliverance,
when Christ will come
as unexpectedly as a thief in the night,
to reveal the children of light
and gather all who have been trustworthy
with what you have given
into his kingdom of joy.

Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

In the fullness of mercy,
God has destined us not for wrath
but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us so that we may live with him.

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now, and live as children of the light.
Put on the breastplate of faith and love,
and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
Make the most of all God has given you
and encourage one another in Christ.

And may God’s hand be open to you in kindness;
May Christ Jesus welcome you into his joy;
And may the Holy Spirit fill you with courage, vigilance and faithfulness.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net