All Posts for June, 2009

Blogging Toward Sunday

More rejection

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Mark 6:1-13; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Jun 29, 2009 by Nadia Bolz-Weber

The Gospel is always proclaimed by flawed mortals—otherwise it would never be proclaimed at all. The Gospel is also always heard by flawed mortals—otherwise it would never be heard. Hence there is a beautiful and incarnational link between the two pericopes that make up this week's Gospel lesson.

Blogging Toward Sunday

Turning off the engines

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Mark+5:21-43; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Jun 22, 2009 by Donna Schaper

There is a resurrection in generosity, in opening your hand and unclenching your fist. The daughter of Jarius knew this when Jesus allowed her father to convince him to come over. Jesus went out of his way, and the result was a healing.

Blogging Toward Sunday

Insanity amid madness

1 Samuel 17:32-49; Mark 4:35-41; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Jun 15, 2009 by Donna Schaper

This week's texts tell the story of deliverance from our many troubles. They deliver us from the oppression of self-consciousness. They deliver us from that sinking feeling, that sense that the boat is going down and that we are beyond the reach of peace. Jesus all but scoffs at fear and faithlessness: "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"

Blogging Toward Sunday

Seeds of grace

Ezekiel 17:22-24; Mark 4:26-34; 2 Corinthians 5:6-17

Jun 08, 2009 by Donna Schaper

The Incas, at the peak of their civilization, had 150 varieties of corn. When the Spanish came, they wiped most of these out—even destroying much of the seed corn, so that a civilization of extraordinary vitality and diversity became an impoverished one.

In the World

On the shelf: Jesus Made in America, by Stephen J. Nichols

Jun 02, 2009 by Steve Thorngate

"Jesus, like most cultural heroes, is malleable," writes Stephen J. Nichols. "And his given shape has much more to say about the shapers than it does of him." Jesus Made in America presents itself as a look at how the Jesus of American history has been shaped and reshaped by culture.

Blogging Toward Sunday

A mind-body partnership

Exodus 3:1-6; John 3:1-16; Romans 8:12-17

Jun 01, 2009 by Donna Schaper

We could accuse this week's texts of setting up dichotomies: Romans wants us to live by the spirit, not the flesh. Nicodemus and Jesus trade stories about being born from above rather than below. A bush burns and life changes; unnatural things abound. Everyone knows that when bushes burn, they are consumed. Everybody knows where babies come from, and it's not from "up there."