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Category Archives: lectionary reflection
Lest a seed fall
Jesus has no love for death. He will defeat death, trampling it under his discarded grave clothes on Easter morning, and harrowing hell to rescue his saints from its power. Jesus has already said that he came that we might have life, and have life abundantly (John 10:10). The question he poses here is, what kind of life? Continue reading
Unless a seed
The risk for the seed – consumed by birds, razed by the sun, drowned by hail and fire falling like rain – the risk of being broken open, swallowed by the earth, digested and transformed into new generations is a … Continue reading
All these words
Then God spoke all these words.
God spoke all these words because God knew, God knows, that we, we humans, have been known to be foolish, and foolhardy, and even malicious in our misuse of God, creation, and one another. We need these warning labels, all of these words, because God knows what we are capable of, left to our own devices. Continue reading
Dove
Once upon a time,so long ago that time itself was barely begun,a thing with wings brooded over deep waters,moving the surface aside to revealcreation. A long time later,but so long ago that history was still in the future,the waters had … Continue reading
Take up your cross
I am not strong to carry your cross or mine. I stagger beneath the weight of your command yet knowing all the time that you have called your burden easy. Your hands and feet tell another story, unwashed yet from … Continue reading
Tell no one
On the mountain top, a conspiracy: Elijah, Moses, and Yeshua plotting to overthrow sin and save the world. Below the cloud line all is clear. In the valley, people die, live, love, and hate without once looking up. Here on … Continue reading
Which story do we tell?
A fever could be, can be deadly. It is debilitating. It wrings the humanity out of one. She couldn’t tell how long she had lain there, hovering between earth and heaven, but when Jesus came, and took her hand, heaven and earth came together as one, and she felt that new kingdom flowing through her veins, and her heart stopped only long enough to miss a beat as she leapt for joy, and in gratitude ran through the house to celebrate with cakes and oil and wine, to serve and celebrate him who had healed her. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged annual meeting, church, disciples, healing, Isaiah 40:31, Mark 1:29-31, service, Year B Epiphany 5
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Love builds up
Knowledge is like a little bird making itself look large by fluffing up its feathers; it warms the bird, it helps the bird, it protects the bird at times; it is all for the bird’s own good.
Love is like the bird that builds a nest, patiently searching for just the right materials to stop the draught and secure the foundation for its family, who stocks it with food when the eggs are incubating, who creates the conditions for new life to flourish. Love is the bird who comes back and starts again when it all goes wrong because of the storms or the predators or the sadness of the world. Love builds up. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, authority, Jesus, love, Mark 1:21-28, Year B Epiphany 4
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Cast out
Demons shake and scream; for God alone my soul in silence waits. Something deep within mutters “unclean”; for God alone my soul in silence waits. Power demands authority, but humility whispers and spirits writhe. For God alone my soul in … Continue reading
The kingdom of God is at hand
The kingdom of God has drawn near. The kingdom of God is at hand. That’s how the Revised Standard Version translates Jesus’ opening message: that the kingdom of God is at hand, at your fingertips, so close that it is almost … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, Jonah 3, kingdom of God, Mark 1:14-20, Year B Epiphany 3
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over the water 