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Philippians 1:3-11
Advent 2C
Comments, Observations, and Questions Of the four lectionary readings for this Second Sunday of Advent, this passage from Philippians gives the lightest and least obvious perspective on Advent. I say, least obvious, because apart from the two references to “the day of Christ,” there’s no clear Advent character to Paul’s words. These two references occur…
Luke 21:25-36
Advent 1C
Comments and Observations For Luke “as it was in the beginning” might be a good slogan to encapsulate his Gospel’s conclusion. Because when Luke began, we heard a lot of very dramatic rhetoric as to what the coming of the Messiah would entail. Even the Virgin Mary’s song in Luke 1—the Magnificat—is filled with violent…
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Advent 1C
Comments and Observations We would never guess that this reading is an Advent text, until we come to the last words of verse 13, where the coming (Greek, parousia) of the Lord Jesus is mentioned. Before that word, everything is very commonplace. Paul is writing about everyday life, particularly about the love he has for…
John 18:33-37
Proper 29B
Comments and Observations: He doesn’t look like a king. More like a car accident victim. Or someone who went one too many rounds with Rocky Balboa in the boxing ring. Whether you call this last Sunday before Advent “Christ the King Sunday” or “Reign of Christ Sunday,” there is a kind of delicious irony to…
Revelation 1:4-8
Proper 29B
Comments and Observations We have spent an entire year following the ministry of Christ and learning what it means to be followers of that Christ. Now, on this last Sunday of the liturgical year, as we celebrate the Reign of Christ, our reading from Revelation 1 brings us face to face with Christ the King. …
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?”…
Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25
Proper 28B
Comments and Observations All right! Enough already! For what seems like the 10th time, the author of Hebrews comes back to his theme that Christ is better than the whole system of the Jewish faith (a theme that will seem politically incorrect to many a contemporary reader and listener). He covers the same ground again…
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…
Hebrews 9:24-28
Proper 27B
Comments and Observations The lectionary reading for this Sunday is the high point of the argument of the letter to the Hebrews, but for many people today, including many Christians, it is the low point. Way back in 1926 Harry Emerson Fosdick preached a now famous sermon in which he labeled the whole idea of…
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…
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