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John 6:56-59
Proper 16B
But how does it all end? After plunking us down in John 6 for the whole of August in Year B, the Lectionary puts on the brakes before we can get to the end of the story where the REACTION of the crowds to all of this is recorded. So I would suggest to my…
Ephesians 6:10-20
Proper 16B
No matter when and where you read this, you are under attack. After all, Ephesians 6:10-20 at least implies that those who read, study, consider, proclaim and hear it are under siege. So Paul summons his readers to properly arm ourselves for that battle lest we go down to at least temporary defeat in the…
John 6:51-58
Proper 15B
In her short story “The River,” Flannery O’Connor depicts a child who actually drowns when trying to baptize himself in a river. After this startling story was published, someone asked O’Connor about this grotesque depiction of baptism. O’Connor’s critics thought this story was too extreme. But her goal was to remind her readers of how…
Ephesians 5:15-20
Proper 15B
Intelligence doesn’t necessarily equal wisdom. In fact, some of us can identify people who rank among the highest on the intelligence quotient (IQ) scale but rank among the lowest on the “wisdom quotient” scale. Perhaps that’s why our text’s Paul feels the need not to tell his readers to be “intelligent” or “smart,” but to…
John 6:35, 41-51
Proper 14B
“Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert yet they died.” That’s what Jesus said and it’s a pretty easy verse to cruise past and not much ponder. I mean, of course those people died—in fact, they had died about 1,000 years ago!! And since no one even a millennium earlier had ever said manna…
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Proper 14B
“Imitation” may be, as Charles Colton once famously wrote, “the sincerest of flattery.” However, some attempts at imitation may also be the sincerest of sheer folly. A son may, after all, flatter his mother by trying to successfully cook like she does. Who can, however, as Paul’s calls us in Ephesians 5:2, imitate God? Even…
John 6:24-35
Proper 13B
(Note: Since the Lectionary is having us pastors camp out in John 6 for five whole weeks, this week I offer something a bit different than the usual sermon commentary: A sample sermon titled “Never Go Hungry” derived from the middle of John 6. I hope it sparks ideas for my fellow preachers!) In the…
Ephesians 4:1-16
Proper 13B
E Pluribus Unum (“out of many, one”) is one of the United States’ oldest mottoes. It originally referred to the diverse American colonies’ desire to unite into one nation. Throughout American history people have also seen it as the motto for the incorporation of diverse people into American society. However, Ephesians 4 implies that E…
John 6:1-21
Proper 12B
Hang on to your hats, preaching partners, because we are beginning a 5-week odyssey in John 6. Granted this is an important chapter but 5 whole weeks of preaching sermons on variations of Jesus’ being the bread of life can be a bit taxing. Having skipped over the Feeding of the 5,000 in last week’s…
Ephesians 3:14-21
Proper 12B
The Bible is inspired. But that does not mean it is always “inspiring” in the typical sense of that word. There are plenty of Bible passages that very nearly repulse the reader: all-out war in the Old Testament where men, women, and children are slaughtered; psalms that delight in smashing babies against rocks. Other Bible…
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