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Luke 17:11-19
Proper 23C
As a college German major, I’ve known for a while of a curiosity in that language. In German if you thank someone by saying “Danke,” the person whom you are thanking is likely to respond with “Bitte,” which is the German equivalent of “You’re welcome.” Except that “bitte” is also the word for “please” and…
Luke 17:5-10
Proper 22C
You get the feeling that even the people who put together various Bible translations don’t know what in the world to make of—or therefore what in the world to do with—the first part of Luke 17. The NRSV chose as its sub-heading “Some Sayings of Jesus.” The NIV opted for something that looks like the…
Luke 16:19-31
Proper 21C
The author Robert Farrar Capon was a master of parabolic embellishment, being highly adept at bringing these ancient stories up-to-date through vivid contemporary language and imagery. Sometimes Capon also did what those of us who preach occasionally do as well: he’d name the characters. And so in the Parable of the Prodigal Son maybe we’ll…
Luke 16:1-13
Proper 20C
This is an odd one! Indeed, the parable in Luke 16 surely counts as the oddest of all Jesus’ parables. This is not even a close call! You can read the whole thing once, twice, three times and the precise meaning of it remains mysteriously elusive. The shank of the problem is that the “hero”…
Luke 15:1-10
Proper 19C
Some parables are meant to be overheard by those who are not (apparently) the primary audience. As Luke frames these parables in chapter 15, there are two audiences: there are the Pharisees who are out on the fringes, sneering at Jesus for the bad company he was keeping at table. But then there were the…
Luke 14:25-33
Proper 18C
Some while ago on TV I saw a news profile of megachurch pastor Joel Osteen. Peppered throughout the interview with this pastor were brief video clips showing him preaching to his vast congregation that numbers into the tens of thousands. The people of the congregation stretch out before this pastor like a vast sea of…
Luke 14:1, 7-14
Proper 17C
Tell any average child that she is forbidden to look at pages 67-82 of the book sitting on the coffee table in the living room and you can be absolutely certain that the first chance that child gets, she’s going to whisk that book to her room and turn directly to page 67! (I mean,…
Luke 13:10-17
Proper 16C
When the truth humiliates you, you are humiliated indeed. Worse, when a truth so obvious that it can be stated in a sentence or two humiliates you, then your shame is profound. It’s one thing if a philosopher builds an elaborate argument to disprove some point you had made but it’s another thing if a…
Luke 12:49-56
Proper 15C
In the television show “The West Wing,” White House deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman is shot during an assassination attempt on the President. He nearly dies and it takes months for him to get back to work. But one day sometime later, Josh loses it in the Oval Office, raising his voice to the…
Luke 12:32-40
Proper 14C
Homiletics Professor Paul Scott Wilson refers to it as “The Tiny Dog.” Specifically he uses as a mnemonic device the phrase “The Tiny Dog Is Now Mine.” TTDINM is meant to help insure sermon unity by asking students/preachers to have One Text, One Theme, One Doctrine, One Image, One Need, and One Mission. The Tiny…
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