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Category Archives: lectionary reflection
Bread and miracles
The feeding of the five thousand is reported in every gospel because that story of Jesus taking bread, and giving thanks, and breaking it open reminds us of the love that God has for us, which is poured out for us as often as we seek it, as much as we need it, as long as we are hungry for it; and not only for us alone but for every stranger on the hillside who holds out her hands for a crumb of comfort. The miracle, the thing which is beyond our understanding, the extent and reach, the abundance of God’s love for us. Continue reading
Bathsheba goes to General Convention
Jesus was descended from a line of kings, from David. There’s no avoiding it. We hear him called the son of David, we know that he is of the house of David, and if we look back at the genealogies in Matthew and in Luke, whether they name him through the line of Solomon or of Nathan, David’s sons, they both seem to agree that when Jesus’ line descended from David, his foremother was Bathsheba. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged #metoo, Bathsheba, David, Ephesians 3:18-19, Ephesians 3:20-21, feeding of the five thousand, Jesus, sexual harassment, Uriah
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A house of cedar
“Wherever you have gone,” God says, “I have gone with you. Whatever trials you have faced, I have faced beside you. Whatever dangers befell you, I stood before you. What makes you think that in order to keep me by your side, you have to build me a cedar box, store me like cloth in mothballs?” Continue reading
If compassion were king
Never think that there is nothing to be done. Never imagine that your smallest gesture of compassion, your insufficient word of kindness, your little piece of love in action is wasted. Continue reading
Your faith
A sermon for hard times. The readings include Mark 5:21-43, in which a woman with a 12-year chronic condition sneaks up to the hem of Jesus robe to be healed, and a child is restored to her parents. There is … Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, meditation, sermon, story
Tagged faith, hard times, healing, Jesus, Mark 5:21-43, miracle, Year B Proper 8
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David and Goliath
Jesus tells us several times that if we want to see God at work, we could do worse than to look to the children. “Let the little children come to me,” he said, “for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs;” and again, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged asylum seekers, child of God, children, David and Goliath, gun violence, Jesus, refugees
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The madness of Christ Jesus
The Wisdom of God is, as has been well-documented, foolishness to the wise philosopher. Utter foolishness. Continue reading
What I might have said otherwise
God speaks through the children to wake us up to the call we have as Christians: to proclaim the love of God in word and deed, in all that we say and do, working with God to create good even out of all that goes wrong and awry in this world, knowing that God has created it, has created us, for God’s good purposes, and out of God’s unmitigated love. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged #WearOrange, call of Samuel, Harold Kushner, sabbath controversies, Track 1, Year B Proper 4
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One/three/seven billion
It matters that we know a God who will not allow for isolation, or desolation, who does not disown God’s children, but who sets out time and again, through the prophets, through the wilderness, through the sacraments, through the Spirit to remind us that we are not only created in God’s image, but that God has committed Godself to us, irrevocably, unbreakably. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged Trinity
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Our own devices
Small victories, born of God, have a profound effect on the people who encounter them. Small victories born of God, born of love, grow up to conquer the world Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged 1 John 4, baptism, beloved community, Constantine, cross
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over the water 