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Rev. Chelsey Harmon lives in Vancouver, BC and is a bivocational pastor at The Bridge Community Church (CRC) in Langley, BC. Chelsey is also on staff at Churches Learning Change, a non-profit that aims to help congregations and leaders pursue personal and congregational transformation. She earned her M.Div. at Calvin Theological Seminary (2009), a ThM in Spiritual Theology at Regent College (2023) and is currently a part-time PhD student at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Divinity where she studies historical examples of Trinitarian mysticism and theology.
Chelsey has been writing sermon commentaries for the CEP website since 2019.
Matthew 21:23-32
Commentary
Proper 21A
Comments, Questions, and Observations This is the day after Jesus has cleansed the temple. Now he has returned and the leaders have come out in force to challenge this man upsetting the system. They demand that Jesus tell them who he thinks he is: by what authority is he changing and teaching things, and who…
Matthew 20:1-16
Commentary
Proper 20A
Jesus’s questions, on the lips of the vineyard owner, hit like bricks: “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” That second question’s literal translation is, “Is your eye evil because I am good?” Though the “evil eye” image is unfamiliar…
Matthew 18:21-35
Commentary
Proper 19A
Having just been told that their community will be one known for its willingness to stand by people who are repenting and in need of reconciliation, Peter now asks Jesus how personal this work shall extend. Peter’s question makes me feel more confident that the “against you” in verse 15 (which we talked about last…
Matthew 18:15-20
Commentary
Proper 18A
If you have a gut reaction of fear, dread, or hopelessness when you read this message from Jesus, you’re not alone. Let’s be honest at the get-go: this passage has become its own clobber tool and a cover for a lot of sinful practices, structures, and further victimization of some of God’s beloved children. Frankly,…
Matthew 16:21-28
Commentary
Proper 17A
How quickly being a “rock” can make you a stumbling block. Peter learns the very hard lesson that some of us also need to hear: just because someone tells you that you’re their rock doesn’t mean you get to tell them what to do with their life. Granted, last week Jesus didn’t mean that Peter…
Matthew 16:13-20
Commentary
Proper 16A
Comments, Questions, and Observations We continue in the borderlands of the north this week, but this time we’re a little more firmly located in Israel in the district of Caesarea-Philippi. Both Matthew and Mark (8.27-30) highlight the location of this famous conversation, whereas Luke (9.18-20) helps us understand its heavenly prompt. In all three synoptics,…
Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28
Commentary
Proper 15A
By going to the region of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus enters a borderland—where the people of Israel give way to a more Canaanite population. Considering closely what the woman says throughout this pericope, it’s clear that she knows some things about Judaism, and she’s come to believe some things about Jesus. This borderland, this place…
Matthew 14:22-33
Commentary
Proper 14A
Jesus’s literal declaration, “I am” (translated as “it is I”) is the very center of this story. Literally: in his commentary on the miracles of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, Birger Gerhardsson counted the Greek words and noted that these two, egō eimi, are the exact middle of this story. Because Jesus is the…
Matthew 14:13-21
Commentary
Proper 13A
Our text begins with “Now when Jesus heard this…” What Jesus heard was not good news. What Jesus heard was that John the Baptist had been executed. Upon hearing such sad news, Jesus withdrew by himself, presumably to grieve and to pray. Wanting to be alone is a common reaction when someone you care about…
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Commentary
Proper 12A
The lectionary has gathered for us here the rest of the parables about the Kingdom in Matthew 13. God’s Kingdom is like a mustard seed, yeast, a treasure that can be buried, and a pearl—all small things that have the potential to lead to big changes. The Kingdom of heaven is also like a net…
About Chelsey Harmon