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2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Proper 9B
Given the choice between “power” [dynamis]* (9) and “weakness” [astheneia], people naturally choose power. It’s a tendency that’s not easy for even Christians to shake. In fact, I wonder if some of Christ’s Body’s deepest divisions aren’t at least partly rooted in the members of that Body’s desire to cling to the power we have….
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Proper 8B
It’s probably a good thing that the Revised Common Lectionary offers preachers the opportunity to preach on this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson once every three years. Otherwise some of us might never feel emboldened to preach on what the apostles call “the grace of giving” (7). Yet this is another text about which preaching on it…
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Proper 7B
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote one of the most formative and influential books of the 20th century. He entitled it, The Cost of Discipleship. In his book that he wrote under the dark cloud of Nazi tyranny, he explored how costly it can be to take God’s grace not “in vain” (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:1) but, instead,…
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13) 14-17
Proper 6B
Students decorated the back bumpers of cars on the campus of the dispensationalist Christian college near which I grew up with a number of eye-catching bumper stickers. Among the most memorable was “Read the Bible. It will scare the hell out of you.” I’m not sure reading the Bible ever scared anyone away from eternal…
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Proper 5B
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson brings to mind two relatively famous quotes about the dangers of thinking too much about our “eternal house in heaven” (5:1) that is our resurrected bodies in the new creation. Oliver Wendell Holmes once reportedly said, “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.” Johnny Cash…
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Proper 4B
God graced my father with a long and fruitful career as a professor of Germanic Languages. He was widely respected and appreciated by his students and colleagues. However, his teaching style was quite understated. My dad seldom raised his voice or made demonstrative gestures while he was lecturing. I sometimes wonder if that was the…
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Epiphany 6B
At one level, Christians recognize the seasonal timeliness of 2 Corinthians 4:3-6. After all, this Sunday marks the transition from Epiphany, with its emphasis on light, to Lent, with its emphasis on darkness. It’s also Transfiguration Sunday, the day on which much of the Church focuses on “the glory of God in face of Christ”…
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Trinity Sunday A
The Revised Common Lectionary invites those who follow it to observe the first Sunday after Pentecost as Trinity Sunday. So we’re not surprised that the RCL chooses part of 2 Corinthians 13 as its Epistolary Lesson. Paul’s second letter to Corinth’s Christians ends, after all, with what we sometimes call a “Trinitarian Formula.” However, there…
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Lent 4C
There are Sundays when nearly all of us feel like the Spirit inspired the Scriptures’ authors to address the day’s headlines. This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson is one of those times. As I write this Commentary, Russia continues to escalate its assault on Ukraine and its people. Its troops recently bombed a maternity and children’ hospital,…
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Last Epiphany C
Some biblical texts hit so close to home that their proclaimers find them hard to proclaim. 2 Corinthians 3 and 4 is one of those texts. I can’t read this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson without seeing in my mind’s eye dear people like Bill and Carl, as well as Sharon, Ashley*, and countless others. I, honestly,…
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