In the Lectionary
December 24/25, Nativity (Luke 2:1-14)
Luke has some sense of how a baby can change everything.
December 24, Advent 4B (2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:26-38)
I imagine Nathan waking to the word of the Lord with his heart pounding.
December 17, Advent 3B (John 1:6-8, 19-28; Isa. 61:1-4, 8-11; 1 Thess. 5:16-24)
Like John the Baptist, progressive Christians tend to define ourselves in the negative.
December 10, Advent 2B (Mark 1:1-8)
In Flint, we know something about nostalgia and despair—and hope.
December 3, Advent 1B (Mark 13:24-37)
The Gospel reading speaks of the world ending. For some people in the pews, it is.
November 26, Reign of Christ A (Matthew 25:31-46)
The criteria for separating sheep from goats do not include a confession of faith.
November 19, Ordinary 33A (Matthew 25:14-30)
Some parables sound like bad jokes.
November 12, Ordinary 32A (Matthew 25:1-13)
Even the wise bridesmaids have limited vision.
November 5, All Saints A (Matthew 5:1-12)
Poverty of spirit, like any kind of poverty, is unenviable but survivable.
October 29, Ordinary 30A (Matthew 22:34-46)
"Love God, love neighbor." Sounds simple.
October 22, Ordinary 29A (Matthew 22:15-22)
It's important to note what Jesus does not say about the Roman coin.
October 15, Ordinary 28A (Matthew 22:1-14; Isaiah 25:1-9)
The parable of the wedding banquet is a horror story.
October 8, Ordinary 27A (Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46)
The Apostle Paul shows the struggle to transcend the architecture of ego.
October 1, Ordinary 26A (Matthew 21:23-32)
Love has come into the world and is walking even now.
September 24, Ordinary 25A (Philippians 1:21–30; Matthew 20:1–16)
The work of advancing the kingdom doesn't translate into fair compensation as we understand it.
September 17, Ordinary 24A (Matthew 18:21–35)
The failure to forgive disrupts, distorts, and degrades community.
September 10, Ordinary 23A (Matt. 18:15–20)
At a #decolonizeLutheranism forum, I thought of Matthew 18.
September 3, Ordinary 22A (Matthew 16:21–28)
Through Christ, God dances.
August 27, Ordinary 21A (Matthew 16:13-20)
Not everyone knows who Jesus is. Do his disciples?
August 20, Ordinary 20A (Matthew 15:10–28; Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32)
Give me your tired, your poor, those you consider dogs.