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Rev. Scott E. Hoezee (Hoe-zay) is an ordained pastor in the Christian Reformed Church in North America and has served two congregations. He was the pastor of Second Christian Reformed Church in Fremont, Michigan, from 1990-1993. From 1993-2005 he was the Minister of Preaching and Administration at Calvin CRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the spring of 2005 Scott accepted the Seminary’s offer to become the first Director of the Center for Excellence in Preaching. He has also been a member of the Pastor-Theologian Program sponsored by the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey, where he was pastor-in-residence in the fall of 2000. From 2001-2011 Scott served on the editorial board of Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought and was co-editor of that journal from 2005-2011. He blogs regularly for The Reformed Journal and along with Darrell Delaney is the co-host of the Groundwork radio and podcast program.
Rev. Hoezee is married to Rosemary Apol and they have two children. He enjoys birdwatching, snorkeling, and exploring the beauties and wonders of God’s great creation.
Rev. Hoezee is the author of several books including The Riddle of Grace (1996), Flourishing in the Land (1996), Remember Creation (1998), Speaking as One: A Look at the Ecumenical Creeds (1997), Speaking of Comfort: A Look at the Heidelberg Catechism (1998), and Proclaim the Wonder: Preaching Science on Sunday (2003), Grace Through Every Generation (2007), Actuality: Real Life Stories for Sermons That Matter (2014), and Why We Listen To Sermons (2018).
Scott Hoezee has been writing sermon commentaries for the CEP website since its inception in July 2005.
Psalm 82
Commentary
Proper 15C
Some translations of Psalm 82, including the New International Version I typically look at, put scare quotes around the three instances of the word “gods” in this short psalm. Sometimes such scare quotes get called air quotes if invoked by a preacher or other public speaker. If you say, “Well, according to certain ‘experts’ ….
Psalm 33:12-22
Commentary
Proper 14C
When I was somewhere around the age of 9 years old and my brother was 5 years old, my Dad bought us a Shetland-Welsh Pony. We had moved out to the country the year before and so had our own barn and fenced-in pasture. I had said I was interested in having a horse or…
Psalm 49:1-12
Commentary
Proper 13C
There are a number of psalms in the Hebrew Psalter that stray a bit into the biblical genre of Wisdom Literature. And a couple of those psalms in particular work the same Wisdom territory you can find in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Psalm 39 most closely resembles Qoheleth right down to that most-oft used word…
Psalm 138
Commentary
Proper 12C
The 138th psalm covers a lot of ground. It also reflects both high aspirations and hopes and also notes of utter realism from the hardscrabble reality of life in a broken world. On the one hand we encounter here the opening sentiments of full-throated, full-hearted praise of Israel’s wonderful and faithful and gracious God. God…
Psalm 15
Commentary
Proper 11C
It’s quite the list. Is blameless (so commits no sin presumably) Does what is righteous Speaks the truth and so never lies Never slanders a neighbor or utters any kind of slur against anyone Despises the vile but honors the good Keeps promises no matter what it costs Gives interest-free money to the poor and…
Psalm 25:1-10
Commentary
Proper 10C
Some years back I was a guest preacher at a local church and they told me that the service for that Sunday was going to be focused on education. They were celebrating that spring’s graduates in the congregation as well as noting the importance of running Christian day schools as in my Reformed tradition we…
Psalm 66:1-9
Commentary
Proper 9C
To read Psalm 66 while bombs are dropping in Israel, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, and maybe other places is an odd, disconcerting experience. “All the earth bows to you, they sing the praises of your name.” Really? “His eyes watch the nations, let not the rebellious rise up against him.” Is God just watching, just observing? …
Psalm 16
Commentary
Proper 8C
We have all seen the latter portion of Psalm 16 used at Christian funerals. It gets printed on the memorial folder or the funeral service bulletin. Or we preachers are asked to base our funeral sermon on Psalm 16, especially verses 9-11. And we have occasionally seen verse 9b engraved on headstones at the cemetery. …
Psalm 22:19-28
Commentary
Proper 7C
Psalm 22 certainly appears to have one of the biggest turnarounds in the Hebrew Psalter. After famously opening with a cry of divine abandonment and utter dereliction—followed by increasingly graphic descriptions of suffering and ridicule by enemies—the psalm concludes with effusive praise. The God who could not be located as the poem began returned, came…
Psalm 8
Commentary
Trinity Sunday C
Some years back I was slated to preach a sermon from Hebrews 2 as part of the major annual Worship Symposium we have held for many years at Calvin University and Seminary. The portion of Hebrews 2 I preached on quotes Psalm 8 and applies some of the psalm’s language to Jesus. In particular it…
About Scott Hoezee