lectionary
Mary's carol: Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)
The greatest Christmas carol in history was not written by Irving Berlin or Nat King Cole. The greatest carol is not “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” or “White Christmas” or even “Silent Night.” The greatest carol was composed 2,000 years ago by a pregnant teenage girl who was visiting her cousin Elizabeth.
Good religion: Mark 12:38-40
“Are you scribes gone awry?” Jesus asks us. “Have you got good religion?”
Worship with abandon (Hebrews 10:19-25)
This Hebrews text is a word crafted for a specific people by a caring preacher.
What Bartimaeus wanted (Mark 10:46-52)
We see in Bartimaeus's story the same basic elements that are present in the calling of Jesus’ first disciples.
Fullness of life: Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31
People who are satisfied and content do not seek Jesus—only those who know there is something missing from their lives.
Heirs of the resurrection (Luke 24:36-48)
The first disciples experienced Jesus’ resurrection not as some single triumphant fait accompli, but by fits and starts.
Easter 4B (John 10:11-18; Psalm 23)
This is no voluntary association, no transactional contract. The sheep do not earn the shepherd or elect him.
How Jesus shares the peace: John 20:19-31
The disciples are afraid, so they lock their doors. I do the same.
Reality check: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 11:1-11; 14:1–15:47
When I was a child, I loved Palm Sunday because we got to act out the biblical version of a ticker-tape parade. Later I learned of the ephemeral quality of stardom and parades and decided that Palm Sunday and Passion Week belong together. As a pastor, I have accepted the dismal fact that most of our people skip Thursday, Friday and Saturday, slipping from parade pandemonium to Easter ecstasy with none of the suffering and pain.
Suffering and salvation: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12; John 12:20-33
Psalm 51 does not let any of us off the hook—not the progressives, the evangelicals, or the feel-good agnostics.
The beginner's Gospel (John 3:14-21)
Look, people are sinking under the waters. Here in this wilderness, people are perishing.
Consuming zeal: John 2:13-22
In the synoptic accounts of the cleansing of the temple, Jesus is being provocative. In John, he is provoked.
Our planet: Genesis 9:18-17
For the people in Noah’s day, there was no scientific warning of a natural disaster, just a crazy man building an ark.
Uneasy friendship (Mark 8:31-38)
Jesus and Peter care about each other enough to call each other out.