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Mark 1:4-11
Epiphany 1B
Comments and Observations: Fans of Peter Jackson’s films in The Lord of the Rings trilogy will recall the opening sequence in the final film, The Return of the King (all this years before Jackson’s—in my humble opinion—disastrous return to Tolkien in his Hobbit trilogy!). As the movie opens, we are taken back hundreds of years…
Acts 19:1-7
Epiphany 1B
Although this reading from Acts 19 may initially seem an odd selection for the church’s celebration of the Baptism of Jesus, it is actually very fitting. For one thing, it is a sequel to the Gospel reading for today, the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist as told in Mark 1. Here in our…
John 1:(1-9), 10-18
Christmas 2B
Comments, Observations, and Questions The Lectionary may get the last laugh here, and savvy preachers can curl up the corners of their mouths to join the mirth. Because here it is the first Sunday of a new year and really the first Sunday in the 2014-2015 holiday season after Christmas is officially finished. For weeks…
Ephesians 1:3-14
Christmas 2B
Comments, Observations, and Questions Almost exactly a year ago (on the first Sunday after Christmas) the lectionary reading for the epistles was this same lesson. At that time, I wrote a long piece on this Center for Excellence in Preaching website in which I focused on a couple of the “spiritual blessings” listed by Paul….
Luke 2:22-40
Christmas 1B
Comments, Observations, and Questions It’s amazing how much detail Luke gives us. If Luke were a movie, it would have been directed by Cecil B. DeMille with a cast of thousands and long, lingering scenes on most every situation imaginable. The Gospel of Mark by comparison is like a PowerPoint presentation where the presenter goes…
Galatians 4:4-7
Christmas 1B
Comments, Observations, and Questions While it is true that there are no birth narratives outside the synoptic Gospels, it is not true that the rest of the New Testament pays no attention to the miracle of the Incarnation. In fact, right here in one of (if not the) earliest epistles, Paul offers as profound a…
Luke 1:26-38
Advent 4B
Comments and Observations: Biblical scholars call passages like Luke 1 “type scenes.” A modern kind of “type scene” might be something like this: one evening while channel-surfing, you run across a movie already in progress. It’s obviously a Western with two cowboys standing about thirty yards apart in the middle of a dusty street. Each…
Romans 16:25-27
Advent 4B
Comments, Observations, and Questions We’re almost there. The journey is almost ended. Joseph and Mary are nearing Bethlehem; the manger is in view for us now. The long period of waiting is nearly over, so in this lectionary reading from the epistles we turn from eschatology to doxology. As the angels will soon fill the…
John 1:(1-9), 10-18
Christmas 2A
Comments and Observations The Lectionary may get the last laugh here, and savvy preachers can curl up the corners of their mouths to join the mirth. Because here it is the first Sunday of a new year. For weeks now, starting well before American Thanksgiving even, it’s been all Jesus, all the time. The Muzak…
Ephesians 1:3-14
Christmas 2A
Comments, Observations, and Questions to Consider On this second Sunday after Christmas, I wonder how many children could answer the question, “What did you get for Christmas?” I’m guessing that some have forgotten at least a few of the many they received. Not me. When I was a kid, back when we walked three…
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