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Hebrews 12:18-29 2025
Proper 16C
Whenever I read this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson, I’m reminded of how both our relationship with and worship of God is a kind of balancing act. Our natural preference for cut-and-dried answers may at least help explain why any form of relating to God easily devolves into one extreme or the other. Jesus’ friends easily either…
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Proper 15C
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson continues Hebrews 11’s exploration of faith. It offers more examples of God’s people who were so sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they could not yet see that they lived lives of faithful obedience. However, Hebrews 11:29ff. offers examples not just of the blessings God extends to…
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Proper 14C
While it doesn’t explicitly identify Christian faith’s Object, this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson begins with what some of God’s adopted children consider to be the classic definition of Christian faith. In verse 1 Hebrews’ unnamed author says, “Faith is confidence [hypostasis*] in what we hope for [elpizomenon] and assurance [elenchos] about what we do not see…
Hebrews 10:5-10
Advent 4C
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson offers preachers one more opportunity to publicly reflect on how God comes to us in the here and now. Hebrews’ author, after all, professes in verse 10 that “we have been made holy [hagiasmenoi*] through the sacrifice [prosphoras] of the body of Jesus Christ once for all [ephapax].” On this last…
Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25
Proper 28B
While Hebrews’ author uses the word only in chapter 10:22, one might argue that plerophoria that most English versions translate as “assurance” is the beating heart of not just this week’s Epistolary Lesson’s message, but also all of Hebrews’. In fact, while the entirety of the Scriptures uses the word only twice, one might make…
Hebrews 9:24-28
Proper 27B
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson addresses an issue that western citizens of the 21st century would prefer not to talk about: death. We are, Hebrews 9:27 announces, “destined [apokeitai*] to die [apothanein] once [hapax].” In other words, from the moment our parents conceive us, each one of us is on a one-way road to death that…
Hebrews 9:11-14
Proper 26B
This week’s Epistolary Lesson is a bloody one. In fact, it’s so bloody that citizens of the already figuratively blood-soaked 21st century may be uncomfortable with it. Even its preachers and teachers may wonder how to apply Hebrews 9’s truths to a world that’s already in some ways soaked in the blood of war, ethnic…
Hebrews 7:23-28
Proper 25B
In the United States, this is a season of campaigning and electioneering. On top of all the uncertainty that elections ordinarily create is the fact that the incumbent president, Joseph Biden, is not running for re-election. America’s next president will be different from the current one. This means that there will be a transition between…
Hebrews 5:1-10
Proper 24B
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson is so grounded in Jewish theology and praxis that 21st century non-Jewish preachers may find it challenging to preach about in a way that’s faithful to both the text and our own context. However, given the text’s focus on the work of a high priest, preachers might ask if there are…
Hebrews 4:12-16
Proper 23B
Preachers might listen for the Spirit’s promptings to move us in one of two directions with this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson. We might prayerfully concentrate separately on either verses 12-13 or 14-16. Each, after all, contains a veritable goldmine of theology that has rich pastoral implications. However, preachers might also listen for how the Spirit may…
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