Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33 Ordinary 10A; Proper 14 Let’s start at the end of this Gospel story. Let’s go to the culmination of all this coming and going, leaving and returning, storms, prayer, water-walking and cries for help. Let’s remember that the point of the story is the disciples’ newfound understanding of who Jesus is and their confession of faith. We should recap that immediately before this account of the storm and Jesus’ walking on water and Peter’s brief venture out of the boat came the feeding of the 5,000 and before that the murder of John the Baptist. The disciples, and Jesus, must be worn out, wrung out, exhausted. Is it any wonder that Jesus goes up the mountain to pray and be alone? Can we blame the disciples for thinking they are seeing a ghost? And yet, in the end, comes this incredible declaration: Truly you are the Son of God. In the end, after grief and service, fear and confusion, storms and disorientation, comes … [Read more...]

Genesis 32:22-31; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21 Ordinary 18A; Proper 13 Jacob was left alone. Jesus withdrew to a desolate, deserted place. In the first instance, after Jacob sends his family and all he owns ahead of him and as he fears for his encounter with the brother he cheated, a sleepless night of wrestling with the divine ensues. In the second, the needy crowd pursues Jesus and, having compassion on them, he returns to the fray of their relentless demands. In both cases, neither Jacob nor Jesus find the rest sought. What is it about being alone at night that brings forth those things we cannot let go, those fears that will not leave us, the wrestling with anxiety about the past and the future? Why is it that when we feel most depleted, most in need of a respite, people seek us out and require even more of us? These two stories – Jacob wrestling and Jesus feeding the 5,000 – are often heard in a cursory way if we are familiar with them. Yes, we know that Jacob will … [Read more...]

Genesis 29:15-28; Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 Ordinary 17A; Proper 12 Who is in a position to condemn? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Paul says emphatically in this letter to the Romans, no one and nothing. If God is for us, who can be against us? Such sentiments are reassuring during this time of much uncertainty and pain. And yet, reading this iconic text in Romans 8 also stings in this season of suffering and upheaval. Nothing separates us from the love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord, but COVID-19 keeps us apart from those we most long to embrace. No calamity can prevent us from knowing and receiving the love and grace of God, and yet racism and its centuries-long impact festers and hurts, divides and persists. The coronavirus kills people. The economic realities injure many. Are these verses from Romans only nice words that help alleviate our stress for a moment or two? Or are they true? Those of us who follow Jesus Christ – who preach … [Read more...]

Genesis 28:10-19a; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Ordinary 16A; Proper 11 God does the sorting. I am rather disappointed by this truth. I feel as if I could do a pretty good job separating out the weeds from the wheat. How hard can it be to tell them apart? Weeding, while hard work, is satisfying. While I do not enjoy the bending and the heat, I do like surveying the patch of garden cleared of those life-sucking weeds. I have been known to use a chemical to eradicate weeds from between the cracks in the walkway up to my front door. Less labor, fairly effective, but an effort that must be repeated if the path is to be pristine. I have friends who host an annual bonfire where they burn the branches and debris collected from around their farm throughout the year and it is a fun occasion of food and drinks and s’mores. No weeping and gnashing of teeth, only laughter and a feeling of mission accomplished when the large pile has been reduced to ash. Taking out the … [Read more...]

Genesis 25:19-34; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Ordinary 15A; Proper 10 God does amazing work through that which we fail to even notice. God brings forth an abundant life-giving harvest with the looked over, leftover and inadvertently tossed aside seeds. Did you notice this astonishing truth embedded in the parable of the sower? As the sower goes out to sow, throwing the seed, some of those seeds get dropped in the process. A few fall on the path, a few on the rocky soil, some get accidently scattered in the thorns, some of the seeds land on good soil. We get no information on if the seeds are tended, watered, weeded or fertilized — only that those seeds that fell as the sower went about her work yield a mind-blowing harvest. Surely this ought to give those of us attempting to do gospel-seed-sowing great hope. The sower seems oblivious to the fallen seed and its fate, yet the sower keeps throwing that seed hither and yon because that is the sower’s work. Sowers … [Read more...]

Matthew 11:15-19, 25-30; Romans 7:15-25a Ordinary 14A; Proper 9 This week we are grateful to pastor John Wurster for providing a guest lectionary reflection. In this week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus reflects on the tasks and challenges of discipleship — a balance between action and openness, between grasping truth and being grasped by grace. Following in the way of Jesus is not easy. It’s hard work, wearying at times and even burdensome. Thankfully, the one who commissions us to serve also cares for us in all things. The call to discipleship includes an invitation to rest. The passage begins with Jesus voicing lament over peoples’ reactions to him and his forerunner, John the Baptist. We hear Jesus’ disappointment, and we are left to wonder how our generation compares. Have we missed the moment, denied the truth, ignored the signs? Have we settled on platitudes, shirked responsibility, diverted our gaze? Have childish views led to immature expectations and simplistic … [Read more...]