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Category Archives: lectionary reflection
The Magi by Night
They travelled by night.
They followed his star, meaning
they had to wait for darkness to fall as a mantle
about their shoulders to know the way; Continue reading
Posted in Holy Days, lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer
Tagged Epiphany, holy darkness, magi, Matthew 2:1-15
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Not there yet
In recent months, we turned 2020 into a scapegoat, piled on our woes: a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, health worries, the inability of our election magically to make everyone finally agree; even murder hornets. But the year has turned, and has a new name, and we are still some way from the solid ground of familiarity, of home. … It’s going to take patience to find our new beginnings this year. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Christmas, COVID, Ephesians 1, Epiphany, Jeremiah 31, Matthew 2, patience
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Among you
“Among you stands one whom you do not know,” said John, and if you knew, if you were to turn and recognize the Christ among you, the anointed one, then the Holy Spirit would be unleashed upon you in that cataclasm of time and eternity and you would have no need to turn from God to speak to one another because you would see the love of God, the spark of Divine breath, the image of God through it all. Continue reading
On judgement
Only the unjust know no shame, and say that because God does not change the dynamic of cause and effect, but lets us lead human lives of substance, agency, and consequence; only the foolish say that this means that God, our Judge and our Redeemer, does not notice nor care what goes on in our hearts, nor in our homes, nor in our nation. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, COVID-19, Jesus, judgement, karma, racism, Year A Proper 28, Zephaniah 1, Zephaniah 3
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It’s not about the oil
They were each one fixated on having her own lamp lit, and none had time nor bandwidth nor the imagination to think outside the oilcan.
If we each look to our own interests and neglect the needs of our siblings, we miss the point of the parable. If we abandon our cousins to the outer darkness, we miss the whole point of the gospel. Continue reading
The wedding parable
What if this wedding were not about the king and his slaves, the guests and their clothing, the invited and the uninvited and the smited?
What if this parable were about the bridegroom and his beloved? Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged bridegroom, Ephesians 5:25-30, Jesus, Luke 10:38-42, matthew 22:1-14, wedding garment, wedding parable
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Good tenants
But there is no bluster that can deceive God. There is no violence that can bend God’s will away from the justice, the tender mercy, the harvest of righteousness that God has planted. This disruption, this violence, this evil will not be allowed to stand. Continue reading
Word, will, work
A sermon for September 27, 2020, at the Church of the Epiphany, Euclid, Ohio. This week Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in state at the Capitol. The US passed a grim milestone with 200,000 deaths from COVID-19. One … Continue reading
Absolute mercy
Josephs’ brothers were afraid that his mercy was not real, because they could not imagine being that merciful themselves. The servant was afraid that his king would change his mind and call in his debt after all, and his mistrust of mercy, and his failure to multiply it, made him do terrible things, and led to his own downfall, and perpetuated the systems of injustice that surrounded him. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged bail funds, debtors' prison, forgiveness, Genesis 50:15-21, Matthew 18:21-35, mercy, parables
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Bless, and do not curse or kill
Peter is angry, I’m angry, and we each struggle to see the way forward.
Then there’s Jesus.
Do not set your mind on earthly things, he admonishes. Don’t get mired in anger and defeat. Do heal the sick, do bring good news to the poor, do raise up the broken-hearted; but don’t confuse crucifixion with failure. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged BLM, Christ, cross, Hebrews 12:1-2, Jacob Blake, Kenosha, Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:9-21, Violence
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