The following is a reflection on Mark 12:38-44, the gospel lesson appointed for Proper 27B according to the Revised Standard Lectionary. The contrast between the self-serving lawyers and the widow in Mark 12 couldn’t be any greater, and Mark’s weaving of these two stories together is, I think, where most of the meaning lies.
The following is a reflection on John 11:32-44, the Gospel Lesson for All Saints B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. There is also a Litany for All Saints Day on this site here. While I don’t use the King James Version of the Bible often, I do happen to love its rendering of the raising of Lazarus. Jesus, after weeping and being emotionally moved, commands those around him to open Lazarus’ tomb. There’s instant […]
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 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.
The following is a reflection on John 6:35, 41-51, the Gospel lesson for Proper 14B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. There was one brief, shining moment in the Hebrew Bible where things were pretty good. We had safety, and security, we had the Presence of God walking among us. We had a nice garden. And then we blew it. We had only been given one “thou shalt not,” and we couldn’t manage the “not” […]
The following is a reflection on John 6:24-35, the Gospel lesson appointed for Proper 13B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. So…I think to fully understand the “I am the bread of life” text, we need to go back a few chapters in John. In chapter four, Jesus is talking to the woman at the well. Jesus offers her water, she marvels at his lack of a bucket with which to draw water, and he […]
The following is a reflection on John 6:1-21, the Gospel lesson appointed for Proper 12B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary. This Gospel lesson is full of bright-and-shiny things that are impressive, and which can command attention. Jesus feeds a lot of people with only a little bit of food. A few morsels of food end up becoming baskets and baskets of leftover pieces. Jesus walks on water. Cool stuff, right? Because these things are […]