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Exodus 32:1-14
Proper 23A
In this text, Paradise has almost been regained. Oh, yes, Israel is in a dry desert, not a lush garden. But so much of what had been wrong has been put right. Israel has been released from the house of bondage. Their covenant Lord is leading them to the land of milk and honey, providing…
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Proper 22A
What a massive text for one sermon! I’ve preached ten-part series on these verses, spending much time on each word of the successive commandments. No wonder the RCL tried to help us by leaving out the crucial theological material connected to the second and fourth commandments, which is unfortunate given how important those verses are….
Exodus 17:1-7
Proper 21A
Israel is wandering in territory that is all too familiar to us—in the great wilderness of In Between, between release from bondage and possession of the Promised Land. As the New Interpreters Bible puts it, this passage is “a paradigm for the crisis of faith that occurs between bondage and well-being.” Thus it is relevant…
Exodus 16:2-15
Proper 20A
This text is about grumbling and grace. To preach it powerfully, we need to hold those two opposites in dynamic tension. On the one hand, it is easy to be so tough on Israel’s ungrateful grumbling that we miss how completely human their complaints were. If we do that, we won’t see ourselves in them. …
Exodus 14:19-31
Proper 19A
“Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!” Well, not so fast, children of Israel. You have walked away from your enslavement in Egypt, but your former Master is chasing you down. Once Pharaoh awakened from the midnight horror of losing his oldest son and looked at his situation in…
Exodus 12:1-14
Proper 18A
Since the three main characters in Exodus (Pharaoh, Moses, and Yahweh) were identified in Exodus 1-3, the narrative has been focused on the struggle with Pharaoh. In an effort to make Pharaoh “let my people go,” God through Moses has been displaying his mighty power with nine plagues. Pharaoh has been stubborn, hardhearted, to the…
Exodus 3:1-15
Proper 17A
And, now, for the third and most important actor in the drama that unfolds in the book of Exodus. In last week’s reading from Exodus 1 and 2 we met the villain, Pharaoh, and the hero, Moses. Now we meet the director, producer, creator, redeemer– God, Yahweh, “I am what I am.” God is mentioned…
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Proper 16A
Our RCL reading for last week was a story of triumph, the surprising climax of the story of Joseph that ended the Patriarchal narrative with an Aha, a Whee, and a Yeah (you have to read it to get it). Our reading this week is a story of transition, the surprising beginning of the story…
Exodus 17:1-7
Lent 3A
In my last two Sermon Commentaries on the Old Testament readings for Lent (Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 and Genesis 12:1-4a), I noted that the Lectionary is focusing on texts that highlight the “one for all” theme running throughout salvation history, culminating in the One who died for all, once for all. That theme continues here in…
Exodus 24:12-18
Last Epiphany A
We come at last to the last Sunday of Epiphany, Transfiguration Sunday. Epiphany began with the proclamation of Christ to the nations, represented by the Magi from the East, and it ends with an even more dramatic presentation of God’s glory on a mountain. Indeed, all of the lectionary readings for today feature a mountain…
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