Jeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 6:17-26 Ordinary 6C / Proper 1 Blessed or cursed. Blessings and woes. Compare and contrast. Both the reading from Jeremiah and the one from Luke are a study in contrasts. If you like neat categories, clear distinctions in black and white, then this Sunday is for you. If, on the other hand, you prefer a nice shade of gray, room for interpretive wiggle room, well, this week’s texts might present a challenge. I confess, I am in the latter category. I like few things more than nuance, a hermeneutic of ‘perhaps this or maybe that.’ I relish the ability to say, “scholars disagree” or thoughtful people “come to different conclusions.” But I am afraid Jeremiah and Jesus will not let me waffle this week. Jeremiah breaks it down thusly: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. Alternately, blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. (Jeremiah repeats himself, as if … [Read more...]

Isaiah 6:1-13; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11 Ordinary 5C I wonder what Simon really thought when Jesus instructed him to put his nets down in the deep water. Jesus interrupted the work of cleaning the nets. Jesus had already asked, and Simon had obliged, to push the boat from the shore in order to teach the eager crowds. Now, after a long night with little to show for their efforts, Jesus tells Simon to go to deep waters and throw the cleaned net back into the sea. I wonder if Simon thought, “What does this carpenter know about fishing?” I wonder if he thought, “I’m exhausted and the last thing I want to do is climb back into this boat.” I wonder if he thought, “I just want to go home.” Did Simon sigh or want to roll his eyes? Did his attitude match his obedient actions? He does object just a bit telling Jesus, “We worked all night and caught nothing, but if you say so.” I worked with someone whose spouse advised her not to do something if she didn’t have a happy … [Read more...]

Jeremiah 1:4-10; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30 Ordinary 4C Do you ever hear about an event in history or read a story in Scripture and place yourself there, wondering how you might have reacted? I remember vividly sitting in Anderson Auditorium at Montreat a few years ago, listening to John Lewis describe the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, the tear gas, the beating that left him with a fractured skull. I remember he said that the first time he was arrested he felt free. I listened as he talked about Rock Hill, South Carolina, where at the age of 21 he was assaulted for trying to enter a whites-only waiting room. I know Rock Hill. For years I went frequently to Rock Hill to attend committee meetings of my presbytery. As John Lewis spoke, I pictured the people, the places, the violence, the fear, the courage and I wondered: What would I have done? Where would I have been? For what would I have stood? When I read about Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s resistance against … [Read more...]

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21 Ordinary 3C Maybe the cold temperatures, the short days and the sluggishness of the post-holiday season push me toward melancholy. I hear the birds chirp early in the morning and the beautiful pair of cardinals regularly visit the bird feeder outside my office window. Signs of spring peek through the layer of snow on the ground, revealing that soon light will push away the darkness. Even so, a rawness in my soul remains. News stories, whether heartening or gut wrenching, elicit tears I find embarrassing. I chide myself for being too sensitive. The unyielding stand-off in Washington brings alternating waves of anger and hopelessness. Then I scold myself for a lack of faith. I feel as if I am walking around without skin, exposed and vulnerable. The people gathered by the water tower long for a word of the Lord and beg to hear the law of Moses. They weep when Ezra reads aloud the will and wisdom of their God. … [Read more...]

John 2:1-11 Ordinary 2C Jesus’ first sign is turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Jesus, Mary and Jesus’ newly called disciples are all in attendance. Horror of horrors, the hosts of the wedding reception run out of wine. Mary realizes the problem, and perhaps she can relate as a hostess who would want to be spared such embarrassment in front of the gathered community. She says to Jesus, “They have no wine.” Note that Mary does not ask Jesus to fix the problem. She simply tells her son, “They have no wine.” Jesus then responds cryptically: “What’s it to you or me? My hour has not yet come.” Huh? How does Jesus’ response relate to Mary’s statement? Then Mary instructs the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Why? Jesus just said “So what?” about the lack of wine. Now Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them. How does this sequence of events go together? The editor in me wants to send this manuscript back to John and ask him to smooth out the … [Read more...]

Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Year C Do not fear. I have called you by name. You are mine. All the people were filled with expectation. Heaven opened. The Holy Spirit descended. God spoke. Would that all Sundays were as jam packed with divine super powers as Baptism of the Lord Sunday. Water, fire, Spirit, dove, Godly proclamation and affirmation. All those gathered that day around the river Jordan witnessed these supernatural phenomena. Would that all our worship services were so undeniably infused with the presence of the Triune God. If I surveyed those in the pews of congregations like the ones I know best – those mainline, now dubbed oldline, Protestant congregations located up and down main streets of towns and cities across American – and asked for one word to describe worship, what would it be? Take moment and answer for yourself. What’s the first word that comes to mind? Be honest. Was it “boring”? Maybe “cerebral”? Please don’t get me … [Read more...]