The people of Israel were camped on the Plains of Moab outside the promised land, with Jericho opposite them on the other side of the river. Moses went off by himself and climbed to the top of Mount Nebo in the Pizgah Ranges. From there the LORD showed him the whole of the land: as far across Gilead to the west as Dan, Ephraim, and the Mediterranean sea; as far south as the Negev Desert; and as far north as Manasseh and Naphtali. He could see the land of Judah all the way south to Zoar, including the valley of Jericho with its city of palm trees. The LORD said to Moses, “What you are looking at is the land which I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. I have allowed you to see it with your own eyes, even though you will not set foot in it.”

Then, after a lifetime of working for the LORD, Moses died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had decided. His body lies buried there in a valley, somewhere beyond Beth-peor, but to this day, no one knows the exact location of his grave. Moses had lived for one hundred and twenty years, and right up till the end his eyesight was sharp and he was as fit as a fiddle; as full of life and energy as ever. The Israelites stayed put on the plains of Moab while they grieved the death of Moses and observed the customary thirty day period of mourning.

Moses had laid his hands on Joshua, the son of Nun, appointing him as his successor. As a result, the spirit of wisdom filled Joshua, and the Israelite people readily took their orders from him, just as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

The world has never seen another prophet in the same league as  Moses, for the LORD dealt with him in person, face to face. No one else has ever done anything to equal the miraculous things he did when the LORD sent him to bring the people out of the land of slavery. Never again has anyone seen anything like the terrifying acts of power that God’s people saw Moses execute against the tyrant king and against his officers and his land.

©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.

It’s time for a change, LORD.
Hasn’t this gone on long enough?
For pity’s sake, it’s time to give us a break.

Let a new day dawn
and give us our fill of your love and loyalty,
so that our lives may be full of smiles and laughter
till the end of our days.

Give us more days of happiness
than the days of suffering you sent.
May the years where evil reigned
be cancelled out by years of joy.

Make your actions clear to those of us in your service;
let your children see your strength in all its glory.

Put us in your good books, O Lord our God,
and give us a rich return for all our labour —
may the work of our hands turn to gold!

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sisters and brothers, you know first hand that our coming to you was not a lost cause. The appalling abuse we had suffered at Philippi could easily have made us give up, as you know. But when we came to you, our confidence in God gave us the courage to take to the field, despite the strength of the opposition, and to clearly announce to you the wonderful news of God’s love. Our desire to make this known is not motivated by anything shonky or deceitful, or by vested interests. It was God who gave us the thumbs-up and entrusted us with this wonderful message, and so as we seek to broadcast it, we are not out to win any popularity prizes, but to please God who can see what makes us tick. As you know and as God is our witness, we never tried to sweet talk you or take advantage of you to make a buck. We weren’t after applause, either from you or from anyone else. Although we could have justifiably pulled rank as the Messiah’s senior ambassadors and expected you to support us, we didn’t. Instead we treated you with all the gentleness of a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children. You have become so important to us, and we care about you so much, that we have set our hearts not only on sharing the message about God’s love with you, but sharing our own lives with you.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Jesus had clearly floored the members of the ruling Sadducee Party when they had tried to take him on in a public debate, and it wasn’t long before the devoutly religious Pharisee Party heard about it. They gathered together a delegation to challenge Jesus, and one of their members who was a religious lawyer began to test him out with a question. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the most important?”

Jesus replied:

“You will love the Lord your God with everything you are, with all your heart and soul and mind.
This is the most important and number one commandment. And this next one comes second only to it:
You will love your neighbour as attentively as you love yourself.
Everything else in the law and the prophets hangs on these two commandments.”

Now while the Pharisee delegation were planning their next move, Jesus took the initiative and put a question to them: “What is your thinking about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

They replied, “The son of King David.”

Jesus responded, “Can you explain then why David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, calls the Messiah his Lord? For in the Psalm he says:

‘God said to my Lord,
“Sit here as my right hand man,
while I put your enemies under your heel.”’

“Clearly King David is calling him Lord. Why would he address his own son in such terms?”

They were completely stumped, and from that day on, nobody dared to try taking him on with questions.

©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 spoke to Moses, saying:

Gather the whole congregation of my people and tell them this: You are to be utterly dedicated to doing what is right, because I am the LORD your God, and I am utterly dedicated to doing what is right.

You are not to pervert the course of justice in the courts. Your decisions must be fair and transparent, not showing bias either to the poor or to the powerful. You are to be absolutely fair in your judgments, without fear or favour. You are not to go spreading malicious stories about anybody; and you are not to seek to profit from the misfortune of another. Why? Because I am the LORD.

You are not to harbour hatred in your heart towards anyone in your community. If someone you know does the wrong thing, speak up and sort it out, or you will end up being held responsible yourself. If anyone among your people has wronged you, you are neither to bear a grudge, nor try to get even. Instead you are to love your neighbour as attentively as you love yourself. Why? Because I am the LORD.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

LORD, how good it will be for those
who turn a deaf ear to the advocates of greed;
who steer clear of corrupt short-cuts;
and avoid those who sneer at goodness.

Instead they relish your word, LORD.
Calming their minds,
they savour the scriptures day and night.

You make them strong and healthy,
like a Redgum tree with its roots deep in a river bank,
flowering abundantly every season,
and always laden with healthy leaves.
All that they do is vibrant with life.

But what a different story it is for the wicked;
they are about as secure as dry leaves in a cyclone.

They will have no defence
when they are brought to justice,
and no friends among people of integrity.

LORD, you keep a protective eye
on all who walk a straight path of peace and justice,
but nothing will save those who leave that road.

©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 been our haven from generation to generation.
From age to age, you are God.

You created the mountains,
and brought the earth to birth.
Through your servant Moses you led your people to freedom,
and after seeing from afar the land of promise,
he died, returning to dust like all the children of earth.

In your child, Jesus Christ
one even greater than Moses has come to us.
On him rests the Spirit of wisdom and truth,
and on his words hang all the law and the prophets.
Though he was killed by love’s enemies,
you raised him to life and seated him at your right hand.
In him we have seen the splendour of your work
and through him you have entrusted us
with the wonderful news of your love for the world.

Therefore with .....

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for your child, Jesus Christ,
on whose words hang all the law and the prophets.
Though he was killed by love’s enemies,
you raised him to life and seated him at your right hand,
and through him you have entrusted us with the gospel.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you have been our haven from generation to generation.
From age to age, you are God.

You created the mountains,
and brought the earth to birth.
Through your servant Moses you led your people to freedom,
and after seeing from afar the land of promise,
he died, returning to dust like all the children of earth.

In your child, Jesus Christ
one even greater than Moses has come to us.
On him rests the Spirit of wisdom and truth,
and on his words hang all the law and the prophets.
Though he was killed by love’s enemies,
you raised him to life and seated him at your right hand.
In him we have seen the splendour of your work
and through him you have entrusted us
with the wonderful news of your love for the world.

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

Though God tests our hearts,
our sins are not held against us,
but God entrusts to us the message of the gospel,
the promise of God’s forgiveness and love.

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

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now, with courage in our God.
Declare the message of the gospel
which God has entrusted to us,
and in wholehearted love for God and for others,
share not only the message, but your very selves.

And may God be your haven;
May Christ Jesus lead you into love - heart, soul and mind;
And may the Holy Spirit bless the work of your hands
and gladden all your days.

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

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net