Uniform Lesson for November 10, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 Holy living has benefits not only for those doing the holy living, but for those who witness such embodied and communal faith. As God is made flesh in Christ (in order to show us the way toward life abundant), so the church is Christ’s body in the world (in order to invite others to join us on the way). 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 — Faith in action Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica is not only one of the earliest of Paul’s letters, it is also one of the most exuberant. Paul is genuinely grateful for this congregation, from beginning to end. The ground for this gratitude first becomes evident in verse 2 where Paul switches the order of his three primary spiritual gifts (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:13) and adds a qualifier to each: work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope. Apparently, the primary gift Paul desires for this congregation is hope — a confidence that the future … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for November 3, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: 2 Corinthians 13:1-11 God’s faithfulness inspires our faith; our faith should lead to holy living. Holy in this context means more than pure or pious. We are called to be holy as God is holy — especially as made tangible in God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ. God’s grace should produce a gracious community, not only for us as individuals, but for us as a group. In 2 Corinthians, Paul gets ready for a third visit to the contentious congregation at Corinth. His tone is less cordial than cautionary, more parental than polite. “I’m on my way for a visit. Get ready! Rather than sprucing up the building and tidying the lawn, why not start looking like a community in which the Spirit of Christ has come to dwell? See you soon. Love, Paul.” 2 Corinthians 13:1-3 — Three strikes, you’re out? Scholars have spent many hours trying to piece together Paul’s travels. Many more have been expended trying to reconcile the … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for October 27, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: Luke 7:36-50 God’s faithful forgiveness of us inspires great love from us — if we take this gift to heart. Jesus shares a spoken parable about forgiveness in the midst of an embodied parable of forgiveness in Simon’s house. Here Jesus takes on the role of the prophet, exposing the hypocrisy of his host and the guests in a way that they – and we – cannot avoid. By the end of the passage, we may feel somewhat like David after he responds to Nathan’s parable of the “little ewe lamb” (see 2 Samuel 12). Yes, we are the people! Luke 7:40-43 — Spoken parable At the center of this passage is a spoken parable that even Simon can’t refute. A certain creditor has two debtors. The first one owes 500 denarii, the second 50. It’s a 10-to-1 ratio. Little ambiguity here. When neither can repay, the creditor cancels both debts (note this fact). “Now which one of them,” Jesus asks, “will love him more?” It’s a curious verb. … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for October 20, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: Luke 7:1-10 God’s faithfulness toward us inspires our faithfulness toward one another.  In this week’s lesson, the faith of an outsider is seen to exceed the faith of all the insiders. But the healing that concludes this story requires a chain of faithful actions — extending from slave to master, master to elders, and elders to Jesus.  Jesus has the authority to act over and beyond this chain.  But Jesus also has authority to act with the help of such humanly fragile networks. Luke 7:1-5 — Faithful intermediaries At its heart, this is simply a miracle story involving a military leader and a powerful prophet.  But this story requires a cast of characters — extending back from the soldier toward his slave, and out from the soldier toward the elders, who alone approach and summon Jesus. There is much about this chain of command that we might question.  Why doesn’t Jesus heal the slave of slavery as well as … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for September 15, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: Ephesians 5:21-6:4 God is faithful in training Abraham, sparing Lot and providing shelter for the stranger. God is faithful in strengthening the weak, lifting up the lowly and providing prophets to partner with kings. But God is also faithful in more mundane and daily ways, such as providing God’s people bread to eat. Such providential provision is a revelation of God’s glory, a test and a gift. Exodus 16:1-3 — A revelation of God’s glory No doubt God would prefer a people who are bowled over by the wonder of daily provision. Every congregation has a few saints who are grateful simply to be up and out of bed, breathing and alive, and blessed with enough food to get through the day and enough shelter to get through the night. Then there are the rest of us! We look back on past days, when we had much less freedom and no sense of God’s presence, yet because of the availability of bread and “fleshpots,” we’d … [Read more...]

Uniform Lesson for September 8, 2019 Scripture passage and lesson focus: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:10 We find ourselves at a hinge chapter in the biblical story, between the days of the judges when “all the people did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25) and the days of the kings, when a series of prophets tried to keep the king’s power in check. Prior to anointing a king, God’s people need a discerning prophet, so God faithfully goes to work — entering a messy story of rivalry, reversal and potential revolution. 1 Samuel 1:1-8 — Rivalry When congregations look for pastors and educators, they often seek perfect pastors with perfect families. Thankfully God is wiser and more compassionate than that! Perhaps in order to show God’s mercy, perhaps in order to demonstrate God’s mysterious sovereignty, perhaps because the only families God has to work with are deeply dysfunctional ones, the God revealed in Scripture has a predilection for entering into stories grounded in … [Read more...]