March 7, 2021 Exodus 20:1-17 John 2:13-22 Professor Joy J. Moore, for Luther Seminary’s team of “Sermon Brainwave” podcasters, turned commentary about the 10 Commandments into preaching the other day, and I have to say it was awesome. I won’t do it justice, but I’ll try. She reminded us that these set of rules […]
Isaiah 40:21-31 Mark 1:29-39 The healing passages in the gospels are tricky and to be honest with you, sometimes I would rather not even deal with them. It’s not that I don’t believe that Christ is still healing and even doing so dramatically; it’s more that it seems like he’s doing it to a lesser […]
January 17, 2021 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 John 1:43-51 This is a reflection from Wislawa Szymborska, called “A Contribution to Statistics.” She writes: Out of a hundred people those who always know better: fifty two doubting every step (?): nearly all the rest, glad to lend a hand if it doesn’t take too long […]
Angela and I binge watched our way through the Crown. Never having had much of an interest in British Royalty it surprised me how compelling, if not always enjoyable, I found the show to be. There was one episode – or actually, a particular segment of an episode – that’s been playing in my mind […]
Dec. 13, 2020 1 These 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, 19-28 As I mentioned last week, Advent always gives us a double shot of John the Baptist before turning to Mary and Joseph and something that sounds a little more Christmassy on the fourth Sunday of the season. Last week’s “John the Baptist” was Mark’s version […]
Dec. 6, 2020 Advent 2 Isaiah 40:1-11 Mark 1:1-8 “‘What genre is the bible?’ she asked me, over a table full of half-empty wineglasses and scattered paperbacks.” That’s how Julia Seymour, a Lutheran pastor in Montana, begins her lectionary reflection for the Christian Century Magazine this week. What genre is the bible? What an […]
Nov. 8, 2020 Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 One thing is clear to me: a lot of the little league dads I got to know while Charley spent all those years discerning that in truth he didn’t really like baseball do not share my political views. They have expressed this mostly on Facebook, which I didn’t […]
Nov. 1, 2020 All Saints 1 John 3:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12 In my attempt to read Christ’s Beatitudes again with fresh eyes I noticed two things I hadn’t noticed before. The first was that Jesus climbed the mountain alone and sat down, almost like this started out as a solitary moment. Only after did the […]
Oct. 25, 2020 Matthew 22:34-46 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 So, today we have the greatest and next greatest commandments in all of scripture according to Jesus. I’m guessing you are familiar with the passage, so rather than elaborate I’ll jump right into the commentary. This is from Lutheran minister, Clayton Schmidt: “To love God with all […]
Oct. 4, 2020 Psalm 19:1-6 Philippians 3:4b-14 Throughout my 16 years of serving Methodist churches “World Communion Sunday” was something of a thing. While we never went overboard with it, we took the opportunity to highlight the grace of the sacrament and acknowledge a practice and a kind of kinship that we shared with […]