lent 5a: the confluence
Here we find that Sacred Confluence of humanity and divinity commingling in our world and waking a dear friend from the deep sleep of death.
All posts filed under: Lectionary
lent 4a: dirt ‘n spit ‘n life
I don’t know why, but human nature is consumed with building ourselves up and tearing others down. Part of the reason why Christianity, as Jesus taught it, is so at-odds with the world is that Jesus was all about building the ‘other’ up, and willing to be torn-down himself. That’s the Way of Christ. It’s the Way of the Cross. It’s the Way of Lent. It absolutely startles me that when the disciples see a […]
lent 3a: water better than water
John, the author of the fourth Gospel, is being anything but subtle in the beginning of the fifth chapter. Jesus came near the plot of land that JACOB had given to Joseph. A well, was there – JACOB’s well. The woman who meets him there asks him if he thinks he’s greater than JACOB. Oh, and did I mention a well? Like the well where JACOB met his wife Rachel? The mother of Joseph. To […]
lent 2a: on being born
What does being “born again” mean? How does it work? Being born a first time seems like enough of a miracle – how can a second time be any better? And, if being born again is absolutely necessary, do you get to have another baby shower when it happens? Or, maybe another belly button? Jesus tells Nicodemus, a curious Pharisee who comes to Jesus during the night, that “no one can see the kingdom of […]
lent 1a: reclaiming the vision
The version of the Creation in Genesis chapter 1, as we know, shows a remarkably ordered world, with an unfolding plan of creation that springs forth from the words of our Creator God. There is a place for everything, and everything is in it’s place. The creation story in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 is a little different. God is still creator, but he’s hands-on, digging in the earth and collaborating with others in the […]
ash wednesday 2011
One of the interesting features of Year A in the Revised Common Lectionary, is that Ash Wednesday’s traditional year-after-year Gospel lesson comes after five Sundays in Epiphanytide of Gospel lessons from The Sermon on the Mount. Unlike years B and C, we get to see the Ash Wednesday Gospel after hearing from the Great Sermon for over a month. We’ve been well-steeped in the Sermon this year, and it provides an interesting vantage point. The […]
last epiphany a: shining like fire
After a person is baptized in an Episcopal Church, there is a prayer said for the newly baptized, which concludes like this: “Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.” The gift of joy and wonder in all your works. We’ve […]
epiphany 8a: living in your sweatpants without anxiety
Matthew 6:25-27 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of […]
epiphany 7a: loving those who give us the willies
We are so familiar with Jesus’ command: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. What many aren’t as familiar with though, is that this command is a redaction of two Old Testament laws: Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Leviticus 19:18 Love your neighbor as yourself. We typically think of Jesus transcending the laws […]
epiphany 6a: cut it off, pluck it out
Matthew 5:27-30 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if […]