The following is a reflection on Job 1:1; 2:1-10, the Hebrew Bible Lesson appointed for Proper 22B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. There once was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. Job opens with a certain “once upon a time” quality to it, in a make-believe land that no one has ever heard of. In this half verse Job is introduced as “everyman.” Attached to no time and to […]
The following is a reflection on James 5:13-20, the epistle lesson appointed for Proper 21B, according to the revised common lectionary. I think it’s helpful to read the conclusion of the Epistle of James in its full context. James was writing to a community engaged in conflict over class discrimination. It was apparently a vicious and heated inter-church argument. In the beginning of the Epistle, James urges the people in the church to be quick to […]
The following is a reflection on James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a, the epistle lesson appointed for Proper 20 B according to the Revised Common Lectionary. One day Steve Jobs was walking through the Xerox corporation, and he saw something that helped him change the world as we know it: a computer with a graphic interface. Xerox was experimenting with how people interact with their computer, what we now call “user interface,” or “UI.” Graphic interface was revolutionary. […]
The following is a reflection on James 3:1-12, the epistle lesson for proper 19B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. As we saw in the first chapter of James’s epistle, James is writing to a community in conflict. People are fighting, people are arguing, and things are not going well. As we saw in the second chapter of the epistle, the argument is over the bigotry of class distinction. What becomes clear very early on […]
The following is a reflection on James 2:1-17, the epistle lesson appointed for Proper 18 B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. James wrote to a church in crisis. And we know what that crisis was: the bigotry of class.
The following version of the prayers of the people is inspired by the Epistle of James, and might be used when a reading from the letter is preached on or highlighted in the service in some other way. Father of Lights, from whom comes every perfect gift, hear our prayers which we offer fervently to you, and in the name of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for the church, that we might show […]
The following is a reflection on James 1:17-27, the epistle lesson appointed for Proper 17B in the Revised Common Lectionary. This is also the first in a series of five reflections on the Letter of James. Luther called the Epistle of James the “Epistle of Straw.” In other words, he didn’t care for it too much. Mostly, of course, because it is so very different from the epistles of Paul. It’s not as theologically “deep” […]
The following is a reflection on John 6:56-69, the Gospel lesson appointed for Proper 16B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. This post is from the tenth chapter of my book, “Going to Hell, Getting Saved.” Jesus told the people that his flesh was real food and that his blood was true drink—and to eat his flesh and drink his blood meant eternal life. And people stopped following him. The disciples grumbled about how hard […]
The following is a reflection on John 6:51-58, the Gospel Lesson appointed for Proper 15B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. John’s Jesus uses incredibly incendiary language in chapter 6. So incendiary, in fact, that some people stopped following him because of it.
Every once in a while I read an article on CNN’s Belief Blog. The reporting and commentary is often interesting—but then I get drawn down to the amazing emotional energy in the Comments section. I’ve found that the comments generally fall into one of three categories: 1) comments which genuinely engage with the topic at hand, 2) broad comments which disparage religion in general, and 3) broad comments which disparage religious institutions and leaders specifically […]