David called up thirty thousand top soldiers, the cream of Israel’s army, and led them up to Baalah in Judah to collect the sacred Ark of God. The Ark bore the name of the LORD who rules over everything, and the gold cherubim on its top were recognised as God’s throne on earth.  They removed the Ark of God from the house of Abinadab, secured it on a new cart, and set off down the hill with it. Abinadab’s two sons, Ahio and Uzzah, were at each end, steering the cart which carried the Ark of God. A crowd of Israelite people accompanied them, forming a joyful procession, all singing and dancing in honour of the LORD. David led them with great enthusiasm, and they were accompanied by all sorts of musical instruments.

They parked the Ark of God in the house of Obed-edom for a while after an accident, but eventually they were ready to set out again and bring it to the city of David. It was a huge celebration. This time the Ark of God was carried on the shoulders of some chosen men. Each time they had taken six paces, they would stop and David would sacrifice a bullock and a prime-beef yearling. Bare chested and with only a linen cloth round his waist, David danced with uninhibited joy and great energy to honour the LORD. To the sounds of trumpets and loud cheering, David and all the people of Israel brought the Ark of the LORD up into Jerusalem.

As they came through the city gates, David’s wife Michelle was watching from a window. She was the daughter of Saul, and when she saw King David making such a display of himself, leaping around in his dance, she was disgusted.

David had set up a special marquee for the sacred Ark of the LORD, and they carried it in and set it in its place. David led the people in worship, offering animal sacrifices to the LORD by burning them on an altar. When the offerings were over, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD who rules over everything. He sent them all on their way with gifts of food. Every man and woman in Israel was given a platter laden with bread, roast beef, and fruit cake. So, with the celebrations over, everyone headed home.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

The whole planet belongs to you, LORD —
the earth and everything that lies in it,
grows from it, or walks on it.
You raised the land above the seas,
and secured its foundations in the depths. 

Who will be granted a permit
to climb your sacred mountain, O God?
Who may scale the summit to your holy presence? 

Those who have played a straight bat,
acting with integrity,
not selling themselves out to delusions,
or playing fast and loose with the truth. 

Your rich goodness will come their way, LORD,
and you will declare them innocent
and set them free. 

These are the people who take no shortcuts
in their search for you.
Their greatest hunger is to know you,
the God of their ancestors. 

We hear the call:
“Wake up! On your feet!
Open the gates and form a guard of honour!
Roll out the red carpet
before the glorious sovereign.”

Who is this majestic ruler?
It is you, LORD, supreme and dynamic,
the conqueror of conflict. 

We hear it again:
“Wake up! On your feet!
Open the gates and form a guard of honour!
Roll out the red carpet
before the glorious sovereign.”

Who is this majestic ruler?
It is you, the LORD who rules over everything.
This majestic ruler is you, our God.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Blessed be God! All praise and honour be to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! God has gathered up all the spiritual blessings of heaven and given them to us in our union with Christ. This followed on from decisions that God had made even before laying the foundations of the world. Way back then, God was anticipating our arrival and laying down plans for us. God was getting ready to immerse us in divine love so that we would emerge ready, willing and able to dedicate our lives totally to God.

God set the wheels in motion for us to be adopted as his own children. This was to be done through Jesus Christ, because God takes great delight in doing such things through him. God wanted his beloved Son to get all the credit for the boundless love that was being lavished on us. Christ paid the ultimate price, shedding his own blood in his endeavour to reclaim us for God’s family. Given how often we’d turned our backs on God, he could easily have given up on us, but he was so extravagant in his love and reckless in his generosity that he just forgave us for everything and put his life on the line to save us.

God, who can see and understand perfectly what we could never comprehend, has let us in on the mystery of the divine plan. God took great delight in opening this up and giving us a preview in Christ. This is how it will unfold when the time is right: God will unify all things into one perfect communion in Christ, reconciling everything, from the depths of the earth to the farthest reaches of heaven.

In Christ we are identified as God’s beneficiaries and our future is secured. God’s plans always find a way, and right from the word go we have been a part of those plans. This was to ensure that we, being the first people to throw in our lot with Christ, would be able to live lives that clearly reflected the wonderful goodness of God. It didn’t stop with us though — you’re in on this too! The message of God’s rescue mission reached you, and once you realized it was fair dinkum and put your trust in Christ, you became part of him, just like us. At that moment your future was signed and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Now you know it will be delivered! Everything planned for God’s people will be yours — a life overflowing with the glory and splendour of God.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

The word was getting around about Jesus, and soon even King Herod had heard what was being said. Everyone had an opinion. Some people thought he was a reincarnation of John the baptiser and that that explained his miraculous powers. Others were of the view that he was Elijah or one of the other great prophets of the past. Herod was backing the John the baptiser theory. “It’s John for sure,” he said. “I had his head cut off, but he’s come back anyway, and more trouble than ever.”

It had been on Herod’s orders that John had been arrested, chained and put in prison in the first place. He had done this at the insistence of Herodias. She had been the wife of Herod’s brother Philip, but she had left him and married Herod. She had it in for John because he had been publicly denouncing their relationship as adultery. Although Herodias simmered with murderous rage against John, she couldn’t touch him because Herod held him in an almost superstitious awe. He was convinced that John was a unique holy man, and he was afraid of what might happen if he didn’t protect him. Herod took a perverse pleasure in listening to John speak. Everything John said aggravated him, and yet he kept coming back for more.

But it was only a matter of time before Herodias got her chance. On his birthday, Herod threw a huge birthday party and all the silver-tails and top brass were there – everybody who was anybody in Galilee. Herodias had a very attractive and alluring daughter who came in to the party and danced for the men. Herod and his guests were so mesmerised by her charms that the king said to her, “Anything you want, I will give you. Just ask!” He was so entranced by her that he shot his mouth off without thinking. “I swear I will give you whatever you ask, even half my kingdom.”

The girl went out and consulted her mother. “What should I ask for?”

Herodias had no hesitation. “The head of John the baptiser,” she said.

Intoxicated by this thought, the girl raced back to the king and placed her order. “I want the head of John the baptiser. I want it served up on a platter, right here, right now.”

That took the wind out of his sails quick smart, but he could hardly go back on his word in front of all his guests. It was lose face or lose John, so he caved in and gave the order. The executioner was sent for and John was dragged out of his cell and beheaded. His head was then carried in on a serving platter, and presented to the girl. She in turn gave it to her mother.

When the gruesome news reached John’s followers, they came and collected his body so that they could give him a decent burial.

©2000 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.

God gave me a vision. I saw the Lord holding a plumb line against a wall to see whether it was straight. As I looked, the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I answered, “A plumb line.”

Then the LORD said:

“I am using this plumb line
to show how crooked my people Israel have become.
I will not turn a blind eye again.
The private shrines of Isaac’s descendant will be flattened.
Israel’s so-called sacred sites will be scorched earth.
I will declare war on the royal family of Jeroboam.”

Amos was getting into hot water over his preaching. Amaziah, the priest at the shrine in Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, the King of Israel, saying, “Amos is sowing the seeds of rebellion right in the heart of Israel. All his talk of doom and gloom will paralyse the nation. Have you heard what he is saying about you?

‘Jereboam will be killed,
and the people of Israel
will be marched off into exile in a far off land.’”

Amaziah also tried to send Amos away himself, saying, “Hey preacher-man, get out of town! Buzz off back to Judah where you came from and ply your trade there. Harangue them with your prophesies, but don’t open your mouth here in Bethel again. This is the royal chapel – the King’s worship place – and we don’t need your kind around here.”

But Amos answered back, “I am no professional preacher; nor was I raised to be a preacher. I was happy making my living droving cattle and cutting timber. But the LORD called me in from the bush and said, ‘Go and preach to my people Israel.’

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We are eager to hear all you have to say, LORD God,
for your words bring peace and wellbeing
to those who stick with you
and leave behind their foolish ways.

Surely for all who respect you,
the life you saved us for is within reach.
Our land will be ablaze with your presence.

What a life it will be!
Love and loyalty will link arms;
justice and peace will become lovers.

Faithfulness will sprout and reach for the sky;
integrity will beam down on the earth.

You will give us every good thing, LORD,
and the land will give bumper crops.

Justice and integrity will spring up as you approach,
lining the road to welcome you among us.

©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 in Christ you are gathering all things into one communion
and adopting us as your own beloved children.

Every created thing is yours,
for you founded the earth
and gave life to all who live on it.
Even before that, you chose us
and planned for our inclusion into your life
of wholeness, holiness and glorious splendour.

With all wisdom and insight
you made known to your people the mystery of your will.
Though tyrants have opposed your truth,
cutting down your prophets,
and crucifying your Son, Jesus Christ,
you have not left us to death's powers.
When you raised Christ from the dead,
you opened the ancient gates to us
and sealed us with your promised Holy Spirit,
so that we might enter your resurrection life,
leaping and dancing,
and receive every blessing of heaven.

Therefore with .....

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for Christ,
your crucified and risen Son,
in whom and through whom
you are gathering all things into one communion
and adopting us as your own beloved children,
just as you planned before the foundation of the world.

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for in Christ you are gathering all things into one communion
and adopting us as your own beloved children.

Every created thing is yours,
for you founded the earth
and gave life to all who live on it.
Even before that, you chose us
and planned for our inclusion into your life
of wholeness, holiness and glorious splendour.

With all wisdom and insight
you made known to your people the mystery of your will.
Though tyrants have opposed your truth,
cutting down your prophets,
and crucifying your Son, Jesus Christ,
you have not left us to death's powers.
When you raised Christ from the dead,
you opened the ancient gates to us
and sealed us with your promised Holy Spirit,
so that we might enter your resurrection life,
leaping and dancing,
and receive every blessing of heaven.

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.

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

In Jesus Christ we have redemption
and the forgiveness of our sins,
for in the richness of his grace
Christ determined to save us
even at the cost of his own life-blood.

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

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go out, and live lives that glorify God.
Act with integrity.
Do not sell yourself out to delusions
or give your word deceitfully.
Stand up for the truth and rejoice in the Lord.

And may God give you all the blessings of heaven;
May Christ Jesus gather you into his family;
and may the Holy Spirit deliver you safely
into the rich destiny prepared for God’s people.

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

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net