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Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Proper 17B
Commentary: Hear and Live “Hear” is a key word in all of Hebrew Scripture, most notably in the Shema, which is the central prayer of Judaism. Perhaps Christians might think of it also as a credal formulation. It goes like this: “hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love…
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Epiphany 4B
Judges, Kings, Priests and Prophets – oh my! Up to this point in Deuteronomy, the law has spelled out the role of kings and judges and priests. Each is invested with a distinct kind of institutional authority. However, over time, in the history of Israel and her people, these roles began to take on a…
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Proper 25A
Preamble: Although this text comes to us through the ordinary three-year lectionary cycle, it also lands with particularly distressing and uncomfortable timing. As war rages over the lands once promised to Moses, I urge pastors to tread lightly, as I have attempted to do here. First, we acknowledge that the modern nation-state of Israel is…
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Epiphany 6A
One could wish that this Lectionary passage began a few verses earlier because there is delicious imagery starting in verse 11 where Moses says (in essence) to the people of Israel, “Hey, folks, this stuff God is saying to you through me about life in the Promised Land ain’t rocket science. You don’t have to…
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Lent 1C
This passage is at once lyric and heartbreaking. It’s lyric for all the reasons I will detail below in terms of how handily these verses get at some very core spiritual truths regarding our lives within God’s creation. It’s heartbreaking because you sense that things never quite worked out this way once the people of…
Deuteromony 18:15-20
Epiphany 4B
A couple of weeks before the Presidential election in the US, Pat Robertson gave another of his fantastic prophecies: President Trump would win the election, widespread civil discontent would follow, and five years later a huge asteroid would hit the world. Robertson has been giving spectacular prophecies for years now. He has predicted the exact…
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Proper 25A
How fitting it is that the life of Moses should end as it does! The man who spent all those days up on Mt. Sinai speaking to God face to face comes to the end of his days on Mt. Nebo speaking face to face with God. And the God who miraculously saved Moses at…
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Epiphany 6A
This is one hard text to preach. On the one hand, it seems so simple that it doesn’t even need a sermon. I mean, what more can we say about a text that is this straightforward. On the other hand, its simple straightforward message is so demanding and absolute that it will be unpalatable for…
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Lent 1C
Like all good preachers, Moses knew how important it is to end your sermon with a story. After multiple chapters of “do this and don’t do that,” Moses is coming to the climactic end of his sermon to Israel. They are at the last stop in their wilderness wandering, standing at the brink of the…
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Epiphany 4B
Those who take a deep enough whiff of Deuteronomy 18 may detect at least a hint of death clinging to it. In fact, we might even say that the scent of death both lingers within and bookends the Old Testament lesson the Lectionary appoints for this Sunday. The lesson begins innocently enough, though (again!) right…
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