Genesis 21:8-21; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39 Ordinary 12A; Proper 7 I do not like biblical door number one or biblical door number two this week. Perhaps the epistle lesson from Romans is the way to go, although dying and rising with Christ presents its own set of preaching challenges. The Old Testament reading from Genesis is one of my least favorite stories in Genesis. Sarah appears petty and jealous and cruel. Abraham comes across as unwilling to stand up for the vulnerable, I don’t care if God tells him to listen to Sarah. Then there’s God in this narrative. God’s instruction to Abraham to listen to Sarah and send Hagar and Ishmael away does not inspire me to praise and worship, either. The pericope overflows with character traits one would not admonish anyone to emulate. But, alleluia, one can preach the Gospel text, right? Disciples should be like their teachers. So far so good. Don’t be afraid. Standard biblical fare and sound advice even if difficult to … [Read more...]

Matthew 9:35-10:23 Ordinary 11A Proper 7 I have never before noticed how a few of these verses from this long lectionary passage in Matthew have a quality to them that is somewhat reminiscent of session minutes. The reading starts out lofty with metaphors of sheep and shepherd, harvest and laborers. The mission Jesus gives his followers certainly is not one I’ve ever read in minutes or church bulletins. Imagine this on the line under First Presbyterian Church: Our mission is to cast out unclean spirits and cure every disease and sickness. It would be an attention grabber, to be sure. Even better if we included what comes later in the reading. There we find the addition of proclaiming the good news – check, we do claim that mandate; but then there is the “raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” clause we don’t normally emblazon on the church stationary. Imagine this: The meeting was opened with prayer by Pastor Smith at 6:30 p.m. After much discussion, the … [Read more...]

2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20 For many years I considered Trinity Sunday a blip on the church calendar radar. I made a mental note to make sure I had my white stole at the ready between the rare red of Pentecost and the ubiquitous green of Ordinary Time. Trinity Sunday is the day that forces the preacher and teacher to wrestle with the mystery of what it means to speak of the Triune God, three in one. Trinity Sunday, a liturgical occasion we could – with no protest from the congregation – skip entirely. Heck, who would notice, really? And yet, I find myself this year believing that Trinity Sunday is as important a Sunday as the one that comes before it: Pentecost. I am convicted that at least this year, Trinity Sunday may well be as important a Lord’s Day as Christmas or Easter. I am certain that, at least this year, we need to not tell it slant, as Emily Dickinson and Eugene Peterson instruct, but tell it straight and with prophetic boldness and clarity. This … [Read more...]

Acts 2:1-21 Language is more than words. Last week on Morning Edition there was a segment on the challenges of translating President Trump’s speech into a foreign language. American idioms like “showboat” are challenging to convey, for example, in Farsi according to Siavash Ardalan, who works as the BBC’s Persian service host. Ardalan says, “Literally, it – well, you could say attention-seeker. Then if you – see, that's another problem because if you say attention-seeker, then that wouldn't sound like Trump, would it? That's not what he's saying. He's using a completely different term. So you have to use that street term as well. You try to look at that context and then translate it accordingly.” Translation requires careful attention to context, both that of the speaker and the hearer. The implication, the tone and even pauses and filler words, which Ardalan says Trump uses a lot, must be considered and translated if the meaning is to be correctly conveyed. Confusion … [Read more...]

John 17:1-11 Easter 7A Jesus prays for his disciples – then, now and always. If we let that truth come to consciousness on a regular basis we might live differently, less afraid, bolder, more joyfully. These 11 verses in John (and the ones that come after them in chapter 17) reveal that the agency is God’s, not ours. In other words, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is working on our behalf, protecting, guiding, upholding, revealing. Odd as it is in our culture so imbued with meritocracy, faithfully following Jesus Christ (and embracing belief, unity and sacrificial love) is not first and foremost a result of our own efforts. Therefore, we are called to respond to God’s prevenient grace with gratitude and lives that reflect our love and loyalty. Being “one” as the Father and Jesus are one isn’t about being uniquely first, but rather about being inexplicably united to the holy through and by the grace of God. We can’t do a victory lap waving our “We’re number 1!” banner. … [Read more...]

Acts 17:22-31; John 14:15-21 Easter 6A       “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” In this brief passage from John, Jesus repeats this admonition twice. The connection between love of Jesus and obedience to Jesus bookend these verses. Love and obedience go hand in hand. Why? I confess the idea of keeping commandments is not nearly as often in the forefront of my mind as love. We are all about love in this culture – perhaps not always (or often) the kind of agape love of Scripture, but love nonetheless. We throw the word love around a lot. We “heart” chocolate and New York and NPR. We are relentlessly encouraged to “show” our love through gifts of flowers, jewelry, cars and all other manner of things on every holiday from Valentine’s Day to Easter. Popular music is infused with love and forever has been in every generation’s playlist. From “Love Is All You Need” to “I Will Always Love You” (Did you see Will Ferrell’s version to the University of Southern … [Read more...]