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Category Archives: sermon
Year B Proper 20: all the questions you were afraid to ask
A typical conversation with a toddler turning from two to three might go a bit like this: Let’s put on your shoes. – Why? Because we need to go shopping for food. – Why? So that we have … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged James 3:13-4:8, James brother of Jesus, Mark 9:30-37, Year B Proper 20
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Year B Proper 19: Jesus, losers, the cross, and The Donald
Are we ashamed of the continuing bitterness of the world, and Christ’s endurance of it? Do we wish in our hearts that he would come down off that cross and smash it with their mallets and pile the pieces into a funeral pyre for all death and suffering, all grief and strife? Of course. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, sermon preparation
Tagged cross, Donald MacKinnon, Donald Trump, Jesus, Resurrection, shame, Year B Proper 19
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Year B Proper 17: commandments vs amendments
It all starts out so well: “This will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!’” pronounces Moses, so full of … Continue reading
A vain and foolish thing
Vain and foolish, one would not think that with no animal spirit, nor soul, no mind of its own, but an idle thing could inspire such passion, such pain, such tearing, such rending of hearts, of lives apart; only with … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged Deuteronomy 4, gun control, gun violence, Mark. 7, WBDJ, Year B Proper 17
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Year B Proper 15: the bread of life
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat on the moon?” they demanded to know, adding, “This is getting a little ridiculous.”
So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Continue reading
The strange story of Barry Baker
There are occasional joys in being a borderline hoarder. This week at Bible Study, we were looking at the Gospel for the coming Sunday, and feeling as bewildered as the poor people in the passage wondering what the devil Jesus … Continue reading
Year B Proper 14: “goodness can go viral, too”
I have been where Elijah was. Not the physical location, exactly; Mount Horeb is thought to be in the south of the country, and I was in the north, staying at a kibbutz near the Lebanese border. It was a … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged 1 Kings 19:1-8, DWB, Elijah, John 6, Mariann Budde, Peter and Rondesia Jarrett Schell
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more than watchmen for the morning
In the silence before the dawn,
in the fearful shadows that embalm
the edges of sleep, each sound
is amplified: Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer
Tagged absence, God, prayer, Psalm 130
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Year B Proper 13: What kind of messiah do you want?
When the people had been fed with the loaves and the fishes, they tried to capture Jesus to make him a king, but he slipped away. When they tracked him down, he confronted them, “Look! It’s not enough to want me to feed you miracles every day, loaves and fishes, manna and quail. There is more to the life of God, life with God, than the occasional miracle.” Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged Christian commitment, God, loaves and fishes, manna, Messiah, miracles, outdoor worship, quail, social policy
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Unmiracle
A miracle is, by definition, unlikely to happen. When our daughter was ten, I lost her in the woods. She was ten, and actively honing her skills in defiance, contrariness, and flouncing. It was our first visit after moving away, … Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, prayer, story
Tagged 2Kings 4, Elisha, lost and missing, miracles, Sidney Heidrick, Year B Proper 12
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over the water 