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Romans 9:1-5
Proper 13A
It’s sometimes easy to forget that the Spirit did not inspire the Scriptures’ authors like Paul to insert periods, commas, semi-colons, paragraph breaks or chapter headings into what they wrote. Biblical punctuation is the product of the work of editors, not the Holy Spirit. Just before this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson opens, the apostle makes a…
Matthew 14:13-21
Proper 13A
Our text begins with “Now when Jesus heard this…” What Jesus heard was not good news. What Jesus heard was that John the Baptist had been executed. Upon hearing such sad news, Jesus withdrew by himself, presumably to grieve and to pray. Wanting to be alone is a common reaction when someone you care about…
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Proper 12A
The lectionary has gathered for us here the rest of the parables about the Kingdom in Matthew 13. God’s Kingdom is like a mustard seed, yeast, a treasure that can be buried, and a pearl—all small things that have the potential to lead to big changes. The Kingdom of heaven is also like a net…
Romans 8:26-39
Proper 12A
Few biblical passages offer a greater wealth of preaching material than Romans 8:26-39. Several earlier commentaries on this site examined some of its most glittering treasures – in 2017, Scott Hoezee’s, and in 2020, mine. However, preachers whom the Spirit leads toward one of this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson’s other glorious themes might focus on verses…
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Proper 11A
There are three parables that Jesus tells to the crowds and then explains to his disciples and all of them are in this chapter of Matthew. We considered the first one last week as we read about Jesus the sower of the seed of “the word of the Kingdom.” The last one is much shorter…
Romans 8:12-25
Proper 11A
Those who wish to preach on this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson might benefit from spending some time reading the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. As we do so, we might note, among other things, the role that “seeing” plays in those Christian literary titans’ writings. Lewis, for example, sometimes refers to our world as…
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Proper 10A
This week we transition to parables, Jesus’s stories that bend and challenge our understanding with essential truths shared through images that spark our imaginations. The parable of the sower and the seed is a teaching about how—or even if—we come to understand these things of God and his Kingdom. We begin with the sower, or…
Romans 8:1-11
Proper 10A
Few things offend 21st century western sensibilities more than what our culture perceives of as closed minds. The mirror image of that is the high value that many of our contemporaries at least claim to attach to open minds. Perhaps especially North Americans and Europeans claim to abhor closemindedness and celebrate open-mindedness. It is, of…
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Proper 9A
What will Jesus call our generation? Do we run the same risk of refusing to join Jesus? Of rejecting the ways of God and God’s agents (like John the Baptist)? Does the Triune God look upon us and sigh, frustrated that we keep refusing to truly see and welcome wisdom, kindness, grace, and compassion for…
Romans 7:15-25a
Proper 9A
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson’s Paul simply can’t understand what he does. He repeatedly asserts that he knows what’s right and holy. Yet the apostle also just as persistently insists that he doesn’t do what he knows is right and holy. Throughout approximately the first quarter of his letter to the Romans, Paul talks a lot…
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