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Hebrews 9:11-14
Proper 26B
Comments and Observations Many modern congregants will want to run from this text, and not just because of the strange old priest-haunted world to which it is addressed. More than the unfamiliarity of its cultural background, our text for today is hard for our congregations to hear because it reeks with blood. And we are…
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…
Hebrews 7:23-28
Proper 25B
Comments and Observations The Protestant Reformation, the French Revolution, and the recent sex scandals in the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church will make this text (and much of Hebrews) a real challenge to preach. With its emphasis on the priesthood of all believers, the Reformation made the intercession of human priests unnecessary. All believers…
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…
Hebrews 5:1-10
Proper 24B
Comments and Observations In the verse right after our reading, the author admits that what he has just written is “hard to explain.” That is an understatement. It is particularly hard to explain today’s lectionary reading to a 21st century church that isn’t one bit interested in closely reasoned arguments about a “high priest in…
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…
Hebrews 4:12-16
Proper 23B
Comments and Observations As I reflected on this text, my mind went to Harriet, a member of one of my churches who, like the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews, was slip-sliding away from the church. No, Harriet wasn’t drifting back to her native Judaism, as they were. A baby boomer of my vintage,…
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…
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Proper 22B
Comments and Observations In all the Bible studies I’ve been part of for the last 40 years, I can’t remember anyone exclaiming, “Let’s study Hebrews!” At least once a year someone will urge the group to study James, the focus of the lectionary last month, because “it’s so practical!” Hebrews is so… impractical, so theological…
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…
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