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Mark 13:1-8
Proper 28B
Comments and Observations We don’t mean to do it. But sometimes out of sheer distraction, we do it anyway. Your own precious child comes up to you and is excited to show you something and . . . you brush the child aside. “Not now please” or “Can you just be quiet for a bit?”…
Mark 12:38-44
Proper 27B
Comments and Observations Preachers don’t always pay much attention to the acoustics of Bible stories but they should. How something sounded may be the key to getting a passage correctly. But as I say to my preaching students, this is where the Bible does not help us a lot. It is a rare Bible verse…
Mark 12:28-34
Proper 26B
Comments and Observations: Today Jesus would be seen surrounded by reporters and cameras, with a half-dozen microphones being shoved toward his face. Today Jesus would be hounded by paparazzi as the center of a small media blitz. Passersby would be leaning in, camera phones held out in front, to take a selfie with the rebellious…
Mark 10:46-52
Proper 25B
Comments and Observations Bartimaeus. Jericho. Just names, right? Well, not really. Sometimes the Bible discloses some of its most vital points in the details we tend to just skip over en route to the “main” story or the “meat” of a given passage. But in the case of Mark 10, the two names mentioned above…
Mark 10:35-45
Proper 24B
Comments and Observations: They just don’t get it. Period. The disciples do not understand. Again. Readers of Mark know the by-now all-too-predictable pattern: Jesus predicts his death and so commends humble and sacrificial living and the disciples respond with an argument over rank, power, and position. Even as readers we are getting a bit weary…
Mark 10:17-31
Proper 23B
Comments and Observations: Don’t forget, bracket out, or lose sight of verses 10-13!! This Lectionary text may include only Mark 10:17-31 but trust me: the four verses prior are the kicker. Here’s why: Picture the scene: Jesus has just lifted his hands off the heads of the little children he had been blessing. His words…
Mark 10:2-16
Proper 22B
Comments and Observations: “Is it OK to smoke while you are praying?” a man once asked a wise old abbot. “Oh no,” the abbot replied. “Prayer must be the whole focus of one’s mind.” Later another person came up to the abbot and asked “Can a person pray while smoking?” to which the abbot immediately…
Mark 9:38-50
Proper 21B
Comments and Observations: Unity is important in preaching and teaching. We drill that message into our seminary students in preaching class. We often refer to the mnemonic device devised by Paul Scott Wilson that can be remembered by the phrase “The Tiny Dog Is Now Mine.” The first letter of each word in that phrase…
Mark 9:30-37
Proper 20B
Questions to Ponder / Issues to Address: It’s quite a picture: Jesus is walking up ahead of his disciples. Outwardly Jesus is watching the path ahead, minding the curves in the road and stepping over potholes. Inwardly the eyes of his heart are on the cross and on all that was now just ahead of…
Mark 8:27-38
Proper 19B
Comments and Observations: If you are busy, you must be faithful. In the United States at least, being a kind of holy blur of activity in the church is seen as a key mark of Christian commitment. Busy = Faithful. Woe betide the congregation whose list of support groups, youth opportunities, small groups, and service-oriented…
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