Week Ten
Hearing the Father’s Heart for Us Amos 7:7-17 or Deuteronomy 30:9-14, Psalm 82 or Psalm 25:1-10, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37 Moses said to the people of Israel, “The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the […]
Week Nine
Courage to Hear the Hard Stuff II Kings 5:1-14 or Isaiah 66:10-14, Psalm 30 or Psalm 66:1-9, Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16, Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Sometimes I grieve for our church. I grieve because we have decided that some things that the Father has to say to us aren’t worth our attention. I understand that way of […]
Week Eight
No Going Back II Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 or I Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 or Psalm 16, Galatians 5:1, 13-25, Luke 9:51-62 “The one who puts his hand to the plow and then turns back is not fit for the kingdom of God.” Harsh. Uncompromising. There is no shared ground between the Kingdom of […]
Week Seven
Learning Not to Fear Fear I Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a or Isaiah 65:1-9, Psalm 42 and 43 or Psalm 22:19-28, Galatians 3:23-29, Luke 8:26-39 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15) Because we will […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 16, Year C (track one)
First Reading Jeremiah 1:4–10 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for […]
Week Six
Jesus, Bring the Rain Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31, Psalm 8, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15 One of the Christian bands I like to listen to is called “Mercy Me.” You may know them for their most famous song, “I can only imagine.” In a more recent album, they have a song called “Bring the Rain.” Here are […]
Week Five
Testing What You Hear Against Jesus’ Prayer Acts 16:16-34, Psalm 97, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21, John 17:20-26 In the last few writings, I’ve been talking about how we might come to hear the Father’s voice better and, in one piece, some of the wonderful reasons why we might want to. This time, I’d like to […]
Week Four
Loving from a Heart Bigger Than Mine Acts 16:9-15, Acts 16:9-15, Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5, John 14:23-29, John 5:1-9 I had a hard time with this group of readings, deciding which text to write about, which one to allow to speak to us about the Father’s voice. As with the first reflection, there is such a […]
How to Read the Bible
A number of years ago, I was a regular contributor to the life of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. I wrote a weekly meditation on the Scriptures, I attended the the national meetings as one of the few clergy present, and I did my best to support our vice-president and then president, Bob Dennis. Because […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 15, Year C (track one)
For a more easily printed version PDF version of this week’s Diversion CLICK HERE. First Reading Isaiah 5:1–7 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he […]
Receiving Your Inheritance – “Build the Temple!”
Haggai 1:15b-2:9 Dear Friends, As I read the lessons appointed for this week, I simply could not escape the vision of Haggai. Perhaps its something as simple as the fact that of all these passages, that’s the only one I haven’t preached on before, but I don’t think so. Something caught fire in me as […]
Receiving Your Inheritance – The Beatitudes
Dear Friends, More has been written on the Beatitudes than I could read in a week. There can’t be anything new to say about them, can there? Still, having read them in Luke’s Gospel, in the setting in which Luke places them, I am going to presume to say something I hope will be new […]
Evangelism
Of the short stories I’ve written, this is my wife, Sara’s favorite. I should caution you before you begin that the language in it is rough. If you’re easily offended by cursing, don’t read it, but this is how it had to be. I wrote it because my part of the Christian family, the Episcopal […]
Week Three
Clearing the Decks, or, Crying out to the Father Acts 11:1-18, Psalm 148, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35 In these readings, we have as our Psalm one of the last five psalms, often called the “Hallelujah” psalms, because they all start with that word. (Hallelujah is the Hebrew for “Praise the Lord,” so some translations of […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Proper 14, Year C (track one)
(To download a more easily printable PDF version, please click here.) First Reading Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has […]
Receiving Your Inheritance – “Go Lower!”
One of the great dangers of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18 is the likelihood that some will read it and think, “Aha! I know who those Pharisees are! I know those self-righteous folk! I’m so glad I’m not like them! I confess regularly, I suffer their offensive glances, […]