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Romans 8:12-25
Proper 11A
I have an acquaintance who not long after she graduated from college had to destroy all of her credit cards. She did so because she’d become so deeply indebted to the company that had eagerly given her those cards that she’d put herself in financial danger. My acquaintance had literally become a debtor. Few financially…
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Proper 11A
In the midst of a number of parables about the Kingdom, Jesus gives us another one leaning into the imagery of seeds and plants and weeds. This one is told to the crowd but only explained to the disciples. We might read some significance into the fact that Jesus is expounding upon the muckiness of…
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Proper 10A
We have the benefit of Jesus’s own interpretation for this parable, though the parable itself is told to one group and the explanation is only given to the disciples. It shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus emphasises the nature of the ground onto which the sower throws the seeds because it reveals his heart: as the…
Romans 8:1-11
Proper 10A
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson brings to mind a ceramic plate that I received for serving on the Calvin University’s Board of Trustees’ Student Life Committee. Its multi-layered motto of Calvin’s Student Life ministry surrounds a lovely image of the symbol of the Spirit that is a dove whose wings are outstretched. The plate reads “Learning…
Romans 7:15-25a
Proper 9A
Both Benjamin Franklin and George Washington reportedly quoted Edwin Sandys’ insistence, “Honesty is the best policy.” Yet this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson may make its proclaimers wonder if honesty is really the best policy. Some of Jesus’ followers like to quote Scriptural passages such as Psalm 38:18 as insisting confession is “good for the soul.” Yet…
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Proper 9A
Over the next number of weeks the lectionary will be giving us pairs of verses that skip over sections. Although some of us will feel relieved to not have to address things like the “woes” that are in verses 20-24 of chapter 11, some of us might feel like an interpretative angle has been forced…
Romans 6:12-23
Proper 8A
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson invites Jesus’ friends to think of both sin and salvation in perhaps fresh ways. In it, after all, Paul reminds Rome’s Christians that sin is not, as some Christians assume, just an activity. Sin is also a power. What’s more, as the apostle shows in Romans 6, salvation is not just…
Matthew 10:40-42
Proper 8A
The lectionary gives us a whole sermon to focus on what translators like to label as the “Rewards” section of Jesus’s mission instructions. What a misleading title! I mean, it makes sense why we like the title: who doesn’t like a prize? And we’ve also been chugging along for a few weeks now listening to…
Romans 6:1b-11
Proper 7A
There are enormous stakes involved in this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson. It, after all, deals with matters of life and death. But not just life and death in the conventional sense. Paul also speaks of life and death at their deepest levels. He names and describes the life that leads to death, as well as the…
Matthew 10:24-39
Proper 7A
We continue this week with Jesus speaking to his disciples as he commissions them to go out and to heal, cure, and generally spread the good news. But these words have such a ring to them that it’s also pretty clear that there’s something bigger, more universally true, being said here than some warnings for…
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