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Ruth 1:1-18
Proper 26B
As we near the end of Ordinary Time the lectionary lessons begin to lean into Advent with a focus on three faithful people, two of them in the genealogy of the Christ. The end of the book of Ruth reminds us that Ruth, against all odds, was part of the family tree of David and,…
Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22)
Proper 25B
Digging Into the Text: 1). The first thing to notice about this Psalm is that it is an acrostic. The poet/Psalmist not only takes on the usual formal patterns of Hebrew poetry such as parallelism, but adds the even more demanding form of the acrostic. It is analogous to the modern poet adopting the form…
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Proper 25B
After surviving a blizzard of words (some from Job, many from his friends, and a few from God), we come to the end of the book of Job with this short chapter which reports on Job’s last words and last days. It is a surprising and, for many readers, controversial ending to a surprising and…
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
Proper 24B
Digging into the Text: During the week in which I am writing this sermon commentary a UN Commission released disturbing report on global warming and climate change. With an array of scientific studies to back it up, the report predicts that we have about 10 years in which to sharply reduce the levels of CO2…
Job 38
Proper 24B
Job is a book full of long speeches by people who are absolutely sure of themselves. Job’s erstwhile friends have turned into prosecutors for the state, pressing their case that Job is guilty of great crimes. Otherwise he wouldn’t be suffering the way he is. And Job gives long passionate defenses of his innocence and…
Psalm 22:1-15
Proper 23B
It seems odd that Psalm 22 should crop up in the lectionary at this time of year. We tend to associate it with Lent and Holy Week, not the middle of autumn. Lots of you will probably turn to another of the lections for your text for that reason alone. But hold it. Psalm 22…
Job 23:1-9; 16-17
Proper 23B
When we left Job last week, he was sitting in the ash heap, covered with nasty open sores, surrounded by three compassionately silent friends, quietly accepting the trouble the Lord had presumably sent into Job’s life. Here, twenty chapters later, not much has changed in one sense. Job is still in utter misery. But in…
Psalm 26
Proper 22B
Digging into the Text: I am writing this piece a day after the gut-wrenching spectacle of the Kavanaugh hearing. If you ever wondered about the context and meaning of Psalm 26, just think of it on the lips of either one of the witnesses who testified before the Judiciary Committee. Think of Blasey Ford’s hesitant,…
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
Proper 22B
After a month of looking at Wisdom literature from a woman’s point of view, we will now spend a month in the decidedly masculine book of Job which wrestles with the question that has confounded the wisest women and men in the world. Why should a righteous person suffer in a world ruled by a…
Psalm 124
Proper 21B
Digging into the Text: Psalm 124 is again one of that special collection of Psalms called “Songs of Ascent.” These Psalms were associated especially with the liturgical life of Israel during the pilgrim feasts in which the people traveled to Jerusalem and its Temple. It’s clear that this Psalm has a liturgical setting. It begins,…
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