Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:2-4; 3:[3b-6] 17-19 We enter the season of Advent in the Narrative Lectionary with a perhaps unfamiliar holiday companion, Habakkuk. It is a bleak passage, describing a difficult passage in the history of Israel. We can imagine some difficult passages when we read the news today too. Children facing tear gas when seeking… Read More
This week, after leaving Joseph unjustly imprisoned last week at the hands of Mrs. Potiphar, we skip ahead quite a bit in the narrative to Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29 and the story of the long walk to freedom for the Israelites, out of bondage in Egypt, through the Red Sea. Working Preacher commentary is here. The… Read More
We continue this week with Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Text can be found here (including the verses we aren’t preaching from–just to see what we’re missing): Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29. Commentary from Working Preacher is here. I am fond of Cuyler Black’s cartoon about Paul and his letter to the Bergmans. It’s always a helpful reminder… Read More
Luke 6:1-16 As the Narrative Lectionary moves through Luke, we get the story of Jesus and his disciples getting in trouble for not marking the Sabbath as the Pharisees would have them do. From picking grains of wheat to healing a man with a withered hand–they get it wrong. We live in a world where… Read More
Preachers, it is the second Sunday after Epiphany (you may find the texts here), and we are still in posture of exploration and discovery. Now that Christ has come and has been revealed to us, we’re still coming to understand what that means. I’m very much attracted to the story of the wedding at… Read More
I received this text from a friend: There is something eerie, and there’s a sign, that I am finally learning LaQuan MacDonald’s name at the same moment that the choir is rehearsing “Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel.” All we really want is a little peace. As I read our texts for this Sunday, the Second… Read More
Where are you this week? Are you in the midst of ordinary time with texts that focus on relationship with others and with God? Or are you celebrating All Saints Day with texts that point toward, as Revelation states, “a new heaven and a new earth”? I am caught somewhere in the middle. I belong… Read More
There’s much talk about sight, seeing, and the opening of eyes in this week’s RCL readings. I must say that sometimes I’m uncomfortable preaching from stories about the blind gaining (or regaining) their sight. Not being disabled or differently-abled myself, I have a pastoral concern about hermeneutics that haven’t been sensitive to those with disabilities. I’m… Read More
I love the change of seasons. There’s something hopeful as the air changes and nature takes on a different hue. In the northern hemisphere we are heading toward fall. Officially, the calendar indicates fall and the leaves have been showing their agreement for a couple of weeks. It’s my favorite season as the air becomes… Read More
The RCL readings for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18) can be found here. My preaching this summer has followed the story of the Davidic monarchy, and this shift to wisdom literature makes an interesting juxtaposition. Our assigned reading from Proverbs provides both an interesting postscript on the ups and downs of Saul, David,… Read More
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