proper 8
The undomesticated Savior: Mark 5:21-43
Apparently some people are determined to get rid of Jesus—and some are willing to push through any barrier to get near him.
Unmerited favor: Matthew 10:40-42
The only rewards that matter can’t be earned.
Pressed into service: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Why does Paul resort to both shame and pride to raise money for the Jerusalem church?
Slave wages: Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42
We are still free to choose whose slaves we will be.
More than enough: Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Most people think of politics as a regrettable but necessary business. Necessary, because we live in a world of scarce resources, there are many of us, and our needs, interests and desires conflict. We need agreements as to the fair distribution of these limited goods, and an established authority to ensure the policing of those agreements.In the fight over these scarce resources, each of us fears being revealed as greedy, insecure, envious and deceitful. But imagine a different kind of politics—a politics of love.
Begging to give: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
"The past is not over,” said Odessa Woolfolk of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Speaking to my divinity school class, Woolfolk spoke of systems that continue to oppress and seriously limit access to resources that are basic to any human being. With slavery a thing of the past, with segregation banned, with the right to vote for everyone, what is the problem? It is access.
Close call: Genesis 22:1-14
In my youth I thought: God asked what of Abraham? Is this the God who I am supposed to worship?