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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 4:13-5:1
Proper 5B
The COVID-19 global pandemic has taken away more things than we can count. It has robbed countless people of their lives and livelihoods, as well as mental and physical health. But one loss that’s easy to overlook is our loss of funerals and memorial services that are attended by more than about 10-15 people. That…
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Epiphany 6B
This text has taken on a very personal character for members of my church, its food pantry ministry and me, especially in the past ten months. After all, 2 Corinthians 4’s description of the “veiled” nature of the gospel wasn’t, at least originally, alluding to all non-Christians. Chapter 3 makes it quite clear that Paul…
Four Pages: All-Surpassing Power
This sermon was preached at the Calvin Symposium on Worship, January 30 & 31, 2014 Theme: God’s all-surpassing power is our hope in every weakness. Doctrine: Hope Image: Jars of Clay Need: To own that we are fragile & ordinary. Mission: To celebrate that God’s all-surpassing power is enough. Introduction to Scripture Brothers and…
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Proper 5B
There’s no two ways about it: Paul’s second letter to the folks in Corinth can be tough to read. When Paul is not ranting and raving against his “super apostle” foes who have been badmouthing him up one side of the street and down the other, Paul also makes it clear that he himself has…
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Proper 4B
In her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion recounts what she thought about during the year following her husband’s sudden death. Near the end of December 2003, Didion and her husband were sitting down for dinner, having just come back from visiting their gravely ill daughter in the hospital. Her husband John was…
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Epiphany 6B
It is Transfiguration Sunday and so naturally the Lectionary gravitates toward passages that talk about light and shining and illumination. On that score, these verses carved out of 2 Corinthians 4 fit the bill. But it’s an open question whether this passage is finally all about that light imagery—it may be more about the nature…
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Proper 5B
This is the second Sunday of what the church has traditionally called Ordinary Time. The label is misleading. It doesn’t mean that the next 6 months of the liturgical are just ordinary days, devoid of anything special, dull time, boring time, time to be endured. This is called ordinary time because the church gives each…
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