I love this story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. Admittedly, it’s a love that had come in more recent years. We get to witness a moment of growth in Jesus’s life. Yes, he was a man of his times and schooled in all the prejudices and human foolishness of his day. He meets a… Read More
RCL: The Way of Kings or the Way of God?
Summer is officially here when the RCL gives us a choice between the thematic and the continuous readings from the Hebrew Bible. I don’t know about you, but I’m not quit prepared to make that choice this year. I feel like I am running a few steps behind, like I’m still in Lent, or maybe… Read More
Friday Prayer: In Praise of God Who Always Remembers
Faithful and steadfast God, How grateful we are for your memory. You always remember us: in our busy forgetfulness in our absentmindedness when we don’t remember and when our memory becomes unreliable Always and everywhere, You remember us. Thank you for your presence in the empty moments in the depths of grief when confusion envelops… Read More
Friday Prayer
Holy One, in this moment we remember that you are the God of all our days – lamenting or rejoicing days, working or leisure days, busy or relaxing days, cold or warm days, sick or healthy days – you are with us through it all. You have witnessed every human breath, all the while delighting… Read More
Monday Prayer: Through the Valleys
Another Monday has come, O Lord, and we are unprepared for another week. We’re still feeling the echoes of yesterday’s worship words and feeling the exhaustion of navigating Zoom, or prerecording, or negotiating in person in these lingering days of pandemic. The sighs are deep, our bodies are tired. And, yet, you call us into… Read More
RCL: Easter-A Feast for ALL People
Christ is risen! Alleluia! I hope these words ring joyously true wherever you are this Easter. They may not. You and your community may still be caught in the grief and limitations of pandemic. You may be weary after over a year of trying to lead a community in a physically distanced world. These factors… Read More
RCL: Advent 2 – Comfort and Peace
Here we are at the second Sunday of Advent, traditionally the Sunday of Peace. You may be using different themes for you Advent Sundays and still choosing the lectionary. These texts speak to the chaos and challenge of today as much as they ever did, particularly the Isaiah and Gospel texts. Isaiah begins with a… Read More
RCL: Negotiating the Path
How have we arrived at the end of August so quickly? Even with pandemic this summer has sped by at an alarming rate. Many of us might be on vacation this week; I am. For those of us who are preaching this week, the texts contain countless sermon possibilities. Admittedly, I am seeing them all… Read More
RCL: More than Enough for Everyone
Whether you are following the continuous texts and have Jacob wrestling with God or the thematic texts and have the invitation to the table in Isaiah, you can’t go wrong. The sense of abundance that comes through these texts is undeniable, an abundance that is transformative and inclusive of all of humanity. What better message… Read More
RCL: Sharing a Cup
It’s not often that as the lectionary cycles around, I end up writing on the same passages I wrote on three years ago. Or maybe it is more often than I realize and these texts just stand out more than some others. Either way, I’ve written on these passages before and you can see what… Read More
