The following is a reflection on Matthew 20:1-16, the Gospel lesson appointed for September 18th, 2011 according to the New Revised Common Lectionary. (Proper 19, Year A) On this site there is also • a reflection on the Epistle lesson for the same day, and • a version of the Prayers of the People, based on the lessons of the day. Jesus asks, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to […]
The following is a reflection on Philippians 1:21-30, the Epistle lesson appointed for September 18th, 2011 according to the New Revised Common Lectionary. (Proper 19, Year A) On this site there is also • a reflection on the Gospel Lesson for the same day, and • a version of the Prayers of the People, based on the lessons of the day. “And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not […]
The following is a reflection on Matthew 18:15-20, the Gospel lesson properly appointed for September 4th, 2011 according to the Revised Common Lectionary. (Proper 18, Year A) On this site there is also • a reflection on the Hebrew Bible Lesson for the same day, and • a version of the Prayers of the People, based on the lessons of the day. If another member of the church sins against you…just talk about them behind […]
The following is a reflection on Matthew 16:21-28, the Gospel lesson for August 28, 2011, according to the Revised Common Lectionary (Proper 17). • Be sure to check out a reflection on the Hebrew Bible lesson for the same day . “Get behind me Satan!” has been a stock conversational phrase in our culture for quite some time now. But, even though we use it, and hear it, often, I’m not sure we’re much closer […]
A reflection on Matthew 15:10-28, the Gospel lesson for August 14, 2011 according to the Revised Common Lectionary. A reflection on the Old Testament lesson for the same day can be found here. …”it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” In Frederick Buechner’s The Son of Laughter, Rachel says to her son Jacob: “A word can never be unspoken once it has been spoken. Do you understand what I mean?…This is what […]
A reflection on Matthew 14:22-33, the Gospel lesson for August 7, 2011, for proper 14 in the Revised Common Lectionary. A reflection on the Old Testament lesson for the same day is available here. If ever there is a story in the gospels which sums up the Gospel, this is it. The story begins like the story of Creation. As the Spirit of God hovered over the waters just before light was called into being—Jesus […]
A reflection on Matthew 14:13-21, the gospel lesson for July 31st according to the Revised Common Lectionary. There is also a reflection for the Old Testament lessons for this same day here. He had just received word that John the Baptist was dead. Beheaded. Their families were close. Their mothers had gotten together when they were pregnant with each of them. They were both servants of God, sent to preach the Good News. Jesus had […]
A reflection on Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, the Gospel Lesson from the Revised Common Lectionary for July 24, 2011. I also have a reflection on the Old Testament lesson for the week. “What’s a tsumami?,” my seven year-old daughter Zoe asked. She had just walked into the family TV room and caught a glimpse of the morning news of Japan’s horrific earthquake before I could change the channel. She had asked what had happened, and we […]
This isn't a text to absolutize. You can't (or at least shouldn't) attempt to build a theology of the trinity around this...This is Paul invoking the fullness of God in prayer over a community (koinonia) in Corinth that had it's issues.
I think it's helpful in this regard to not separate the Resurrection of Jesus and Coming of the Holy Spirit as two wholly separate and different things. They are two different things, but they have lots of overlap - and they are in a fuller sense two actions of the one-and-the-same sweeping act of God: God reconciling all things to Himself, God making all things new.