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Category Archives: lectionary reflection
All she had to live on
As Jesus taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation. He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. … Continue reading
Jesus wept
To suffer the indignity of grief, that utter exhaustion of the spirit that has sucked hope from the air too long after the dew has dried; the kind of defeat that drives you to your knees and elbows, heaving with the ground, troubling the very earth upon … Continue reading
Ransom
Left to our own devices, to our own imaginations, to ourselves – well, the devil makes play for idle hands and inflated egos. James and John, the anger of the disciples, left to spiral like a cyclonic wind, their bloviating would only cause them to wrap their errors more closely around themselves. If Jesus had agreed that they could sit at his left and right hands, the next argument would be who got right and who got left! Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged Aesop’s fable, james and john, Mark 10:35-45, north wind, serve, service, Son of God, Son of Man, sun, Year B Proper 24
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Greatness
The body remembers, quakes away a frisson as though the cool river ran still from your shoulders beneath the treacherous sun, hollows out a growl as though still hungry enough to break your teeth on stone, suffer the delirium of … Continue reading
Worth it
It is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle – yet God shrank Godself into a human body, a human soul, a human being, in order to reach us. It is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle – yet God reaches through the eye of the storm to grasp our hands and pull us through. It is harder for the camel to pass through the eye of a needle, yet Jesus looked that young man in the eye, and he loved him. Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged camel, God, Jesus, Mark 10:17-31, rich young man, rich young ruler
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Earth and angels
There are no easy answers to the predicament in which we find ourselves. But denial is not an option. God created humanity to be the stewards, the servants of creation, and it is part of who we are, made in God’s image, to care. We are made in the image of love, and if we set our hearts to love, as God loves us, then we will find ourselves to be only a little less than angels. Continue reading
For the hardness of your heart
For the times you turned your face to reflect in the silver of idols, the glittering teeth of that which dreams but which is not God; for the sake of forgiving, I let you go, so that upon awakening you … Continue reading
What is the church for?
How do we let people know that we are here for them? Not, as James said a couple of weeks ago, only if they are properly turned out and prompt in their arrival, if they know their way around the service, and sing in tune. I love that in my twelve years with you, there have always been people who come late, leave early, get up and stretch mid-service, act like human beings in the middle of divine worship. Just as Jesus became human with us. And that matters, so much, that we can be human in church, drawn toward the one in whose image we all share. How else do we let people know that we are here if they are sick, if they are suffering, if they are singing, if they are sighing, that they can be human here? Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged Christianity, church, faith, God, human, James 5:13-20, Jesus, worship, Year B Proper 21
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If salt has lost its saltiness
If my salt has lost its saltiness will the sun still rise in the morning? If my fire has lost its spark will the moon still hang pale in the afternoon sky? There are days, Lord, not to get salty with you, when I might … Continue reading
Succession
I must admit, with the news and all, I couldn’t help wondering about whether the disciples were actually arguing about the succession plan. After all, Mark says that they didn’t understand when Jesus told him about his death and coming … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged current affairs, greatest, humility, Jesus, Mark 9:30-37, succession
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over the water 