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Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Proper 11B
At first, these verse selections seem odd; why leave out the feeding of the five thousand-plus? If you’ve looked ahead at the lectionary then you know that the loaves and fishes miracle is next week as we transition to John 6, so what do these handful of verses bring to the fore? There are some…
Ephesians 2:11-22
Proper 11B
If ever there were a text that resonates with life today, it is this ancient word. In this text Paul answers the burning question at the heart of the immigration debate in America. What is the right path to full citizenship? Of course, Paul is not talking about full citizenship in a country; he is…
Mark 6:14-29
Proper 10B
It’s been a while since the lectionary has included a story about John the Baptist, and here it’s more of a memory than anything else. Herod thinks of John because of the stories coming out about Jesus’s disciples. They’ve just returned from their missionary journey and they displayed a lot of familiar influence. Not only…
Ephesians 1:3-14
Proper 10B
It’s ironic and sad that predestination is such a contentious issue among some of Jesus’ friends. We sense, after all, that God graciously intends it to be a source of comfort for rather than division among Christians. Thankfully, then, this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson offers preachers a chance to let the Spirit help us unpack this…
Mark 6:1-13
Proper 9B
There are many reasons to go home, and there are plenty of reasons some of us would rather not. Being fully differentiated, Jesus didn’t have the same baggage as some of us do related to our hometowns, but that doesn’t mean the welcome wagon rolls out for the Son of Man. Nazareth was a small…
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Proper 9B
Given the choice between “power” [dynamis]* (9) and “weakness” [astheneia], people naturally choose power. It’s a tendency that’s not easy for even Christians to shake. In fact, I wonder if some of Christ’s Body’s deepest divisions aren’t at least partly rooted in the members of that Body’s desire to cling to the power we have….
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Proper 8B
It’s probably a good thing that the Revised Common Lectionary offers preachers the opportunity to preach on this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson once every three years. Otherwise some of us might never feel emboldened to preach on what the apostles call “the grace of giving” (7). Yet this is another text about which preaching on it…
Mark 5:21-43
Proper 8B
We have another one of Mark’s story sandwiches, but in this one, the connections are quite obvious: healing that results in restoration, and faith. The daughter of Jairus and the woman who had been hemorrhaging blood for so long represent two different kinds of backgrounds. One is part of a family, another is alone. One’s…
Mark 4:35-41
Proper 7B
What an interesting detail Mark gives us when he narrates the story of Jesus calming the storm. He says that the disciples “took him [Jesus] with them in the boat, just as he was.” Just as he was… The disciples took Jesus just as he was. Which, apparently, was a tired man because the next…
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Proper 7B
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote one of the most formative and influential books of the 20th century. He entitled it, The Cost of Discipleship. In his book that he wrote under the dark cloud of Nazi tyranny, he explored how costly it can be to take God’s grace not “in vain” (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:1) but, instead,…
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