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Psalm 23
Lent 4A
On the Fourth Sunday of Lent, we are given a tough assignment by the RCL: preach on Psalm 23, the best known, best loved text in the entire Bible. Rolf Jacobsen summarizes the difficulty of such an assignment. We can run the risk of trivializing the sublime. Or we can turn the sermon into an…
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Lent 4A
God is in the habit of graciously turning grief into joy. Sometimes, however, the Lord does so in startling ways. So those who grieve learn to stay on the lookout for God’s gracious comfort. The Old Testament lesson the Lectionary appoints for this Sunday begins in deep grief over the tragic character of Israel’s King…
Psalm 95
Lent 3A
The readings from the Psalms for this season of Lent are carefully and well chosen. We began our Lenten journey with Psalm 32, which sets the penitential tone of Lent while still calling us to rejoice in forgiveness. Psalm 121 gives Lenten pilgrims the deep assurance that Yahweh is watching over us as we make…
Exodus 17:1-7
Lent 3A
At first glance, Exodus 17 may seem like just another story of Israelite bellyaching about leaving Egypt. It appears to reveal nothing new about Israel or her journey toward the land of promise’s freedom. As you might expect of people traveling through a wilderness that has no fast food restaurants or rest areas, our text’s…
Psalm 121
Lent 2A
If Psalm 32 was the perfect Psalm for the beginning of our Lenten journey because of its classic description of “the way we should go” to move from guilty silence to joyful song, then Psalm 121 is the perfect Psalm for the next leg of the journey, because of its profound assurance that God will…
Genesis 12:1-4a
Lent 2A
The Old Testament lesson the Lectionary appoints for this Sunday reminds us that the God whom we worship in Jesus Christ is a God who calls. Yet it also reminds us that God always calls for a purpose. So we listen, not just for God’s call, but also for what purpose God calls us. At…
Psalm 32
Lent 1A
It is no wonder that the Lectionary takes us to Psalm 32 on this first Sunday of Lent; its somber focus on sin, confession, and forgiveness is perfect for this season. But it is also a bit tiresome, because this is the third time in a little over a year that Psalm 32 is the…
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Lent 1A
If you’re anything like me, you ask something like “What on earth is wrong with us?!” just about every time you read a newspaper, watch the news on television or peruse a news website. There is something wrong, very wrong, with us. We naturally prefer to blame someone or something rather than accept personal responsibility…
Psalm 2
Last Epiphany A
This is Transfiguration Sunday, the glorious conclusion of the season of Epiphany. The story of Christ’s Transfiguration pre-figured in Exodus 24:12-18, told in Matthew 17:1-9, and retold in II Peter 1:16-21 (our other lectionary readings for today) is given a dark twist in our reading from Psalm 2. The other lectionary readings point to the…
Exodus 24:12-18
Last Epiphany A
Perhaps few preachers and teachers will tackle Exodus 24 as a stand-alone passage, even on Transfiguration Sunday. That’s, however, at least somewhat regrettable. The Spirit has, after all, embedded at least a few gems into this passage. Exodus 24 functions as a kind of “swing chapter,” in the words of Old Testament scholar, Terrence Fretheim. …
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