Day 1 (Monday)
Exodus 15:1-21
Last week we saw the people of Israel saved from Egypt by the Lord, Who parted the Red Sea and led them across in safety, and then destroyed the armies of Egypt as they tried to follow them to bring them back into slavery. This week we see Moses and the children of Israel sing a song to the Lord to celebrate this deliverance and give thanks to God for His goodness to them.
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my might,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power—
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up,
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind, the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in splendor, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them.
13 “In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed;
you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 The peoples heard, they trembled;
pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed;
trembling seized the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.
16 Terror and dread fell upon them;
by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone
until your people, O Lord, passed by,
until the people whom you acquired passed by.
17 You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession,
the place, O Lord, that you made your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
19 When the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his chariot drivers went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
The Song of Miriam
20 Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”
Discussion questions:
1) What do you think of this song of triumph? What is Moses celebrating about God in this song? (This is an open question – obviously God’s victory is celebrated, as well as His faithfulness to His promises to Abraham and His loving care for His people. Also the destruction of His enemies is celebrated as well, without apology.)
2) What do you think of the fact that Moses celebrates the destruction of the Egyptians? (This may be a point of discomfort – but we have two choices when we see God judge people in the Bible. We can side with the people, and decide that God is unfair, although we don’t know all the details of their minds and hearts. Or we can conclude that, since God is punishing them, it must be just and right. Certainly in this story, with all the warnings and opportunities that God has given to Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the last several chapters of Exodus, it is clear that God has been entirely just and right, and at this point the people who are being destroyed are determined to be His enemies, no matter what.)
3) Who are God’s enemies in this passage? The Egyptians, or their gods? (The answer is given in verse 11, when Moses says, “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?” The fallen angels, the demons who were the gods of the Egyptians, had raised rebellion against their Creator and sought to turn humanity to their side, opposing God Himself. God has delivered His people, and anyone who was willing to come with them, from these evil gods, and has utterly defeated them, and those who refused to be delivered, here at the Red Sea.)
4) Do you know when we talk about this event in our Church services? (Most probably will not, but this song is the first of Nine Odes that we see throughout Scripture, which serve as the basis for the hymns of the Canons that are sung in the Orthros throughout the Church year. This First Ode talks about the Lord’s deliverance of His people at the Red Sea; the Ninth Ode is probably better known, as it is the Megalynarion, the song of the Virgin Mary after the Annunciation, which begins: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” The Katavasies, hymns that are based on these Nine Odes, are sung before the Gospel reading on most Sundays, and the Priest censes during the Ninth Ode, toward the end of the Orthros service and near the beginning of the Liturgy.)
Day 2 (Wednesday)
St. Basil on Prayer and Thanksgiving
We know that the Christian life is supposed to be a life of constant prayer (St. Paul says we should “Pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances” in 1 Thessalonians 5:16), but it can be difficult to figure out what that would actually look like, and how we should begin to do so. To help us out, St. Basil gives a beautiful and detailed account of how we can and should think about this in the passage we read today.
“As you take your seat at table, pray. As you lift the bread, offer thanks to the One Who Gives it to you. When you sustain your bodily weakness with wine, remember Him Who supplies you with this gift, to make your heart glad and to comfort your infirmity. Has your need for eating food disappeared once you are full? Do not let the thought of your Benefactor disappear with it. As you are putting on your clothes, thank the One Who gave it to you. As you wrap your coat around you, feel yet greater love to God, Who both in summer and in winter has given us coverings convenient for us, at once to preserve our life, and to cover what is unseemly.
Is the day come to an end? Give thanks to Him Who has given us the sun for our daily work, and has provided for us a fire to light up the night, and to serve the rest of the needs of life. When night has come, take it as yet another opportunity for prayer. When you look up to heaven and gaze at the beauty of the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible world; pray to God the Maker of the universe, Who in wisdom has made them all. When you see all nature sunk in sleep, then again worship Him Who gives us release from the continuous strain of toil (even when we would rather not sleep), and by a short refreshment restores us once again to the fullness of our strength.
But do not allow sleep to possess the night completely. Do not allow half of your life to be useless through the senselessness of slumber. Divide the time of night between sleep and prayer. More than that, do all you can to make your sleeping itself an experience in piety; for it is only natural that our sleeping dreams should echo the cares of the day. Whatever our conduct and pursuits have been, our dreams will follow after them. In this way, then, your thought will pray without ceasing: if you direct your thought to God in prayer, not only in words, but by uniting yourself to God through all the course of life, with every action and pursuit. This is how your life will be made one ceaseless and uninterrupted prayer.”
+ St. Basil the Great, from Homily V. In martyrem Julittam, adapted from the translation quoted in the Prolegomena in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series II Volume 8. From https://orthodoxchurchquotes.wordpress.com.
Discussion questions:
1) What does St. Basil say about being thankful? (This covers most of the prayer – he gives specific examples about how we should actively give thanks to God for every good thing that we have each day).
2) What does it mean to be thankful? (This is a point for reflection and discussion – there are two points that are essential for thanksgiving, however. First, there must be a recognition that the good thing we are receiving comes from God. Second, we must actively give thanks to God for that good thing; we must encounter Him in the good thing we are receiving, allowing it to be a meeting between God and ourselves.)
3) What does St. Basil say we should be thankful for at night? (The sun as it sets, the stars and the entire creation, and the rest that we are given at night.)
4) What does he say we should do at night? (He says we should pray, and not just sleep).
5) How does he say we should make night a time of prayer? (Two ways – actively, by actually praying at night. This can be just our evening prayers before we go to sleep, but there is a long Christian tradition of taking some time to pray, perhaps reading a Psalm or two, or just saying the Lord’s Prayer or the Jesus Prayer, or simply “Lord, have mercy,” at any time we wake during the night. But he also urges that, if our thoughts and cares are directed toward the Lord during the day, then even in our dreams we will continue to be oriented toward Him, and even our sleep will be a prayer.)
Day 3 (Friday)
Luke 7:36-50
Last week we jumped back to Luke chapter 3 to read about John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ’s baptism by him in the Jordan River. Today we continue from where we were the previous week, in Luke 7. Our last reading saw John’s disciples come to Jesus to ask if He was the Messiah; this time we see Jesus forgive the sins of a sinful woman, as further confirmation that He is indeed the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God.
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. 37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” 41 “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” 48 Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Discussion Questions
1) What does the Pharisee hosting the dinner think when the sinful woman comes in and starts to wash Jesus’ feet? (He thinks that Jesus must not actually be a prophet, because if He were a prophet, He would know what sort of woman was touching Him, and making Him unclean because of her great sinfulness.)
2) What does Jesus do? (He asks Simon a question, telling him a story about two debtors, and asking which of them would love his merciful master more, the one who was forgiven a small debt, or the one who had a large debt. In short, He knows what Simon is thinking, so He shows that He IS indeed a prophet, and more than a prophet, by answering Simon’s unspoken challenge.)
3) Who does Jesus think is closer to the Kingdom of God? Who does He say loves God more? (He says that the sinful woman, who has been forgiven much, loves more, and proceeds to tell her that her sins are indeed forgiven. As for Simon – we don’t know what ends up happening to him.)
4) What is more important to the Lord? Would He rather we be perfect, or is it better that we learn how to repent? (This is a discussion question – some of the kids might say that it would be better to be perfect. If it were possible for us to be perfect, they might be right…but we know that it is not possible for us to be perfect. We all are sinful and inclined to sin – so we must learn to repent, how to confess our sinfulness and turn to the Lord, seeking His mercy and putting our trust in Him, and not in ourselves.)