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Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost
“But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.” If you look closely at the Revised Common Lectionary Psalm assignment for Pentecost Sunday in Year B, you will notice they don’t want you to know about verse 35a. Just skip over it. Pretend it’s not there. It’s like an ugly belch…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost
The singer Sting says he’ll be watching “every breath you take.” The pop group Berlin gave the original Top Gun movie its romantic lead theme music with its song “Take My Breath Away.” Taylor Swift has a whole album titled “Breathe” and its lead song says that after her love went away, she just cannot…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost C
Sample sermon: You wouldn’t think a wasp could do so much damage. Unless you are allergic to bee and wasp stings, getting stung by these bugs, though briefly painful and annoying, does not generally create any lasting effect or damage. However, about 150 years ago there was one particular kind of wasp that appears to…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost B
You have to look pretty close to figure out what brings the latter portion of Psalm 104 to the fore on Pentecost Sunday. But then you read verse 30 and perhaps you are reading a translation that capitalizes the word “Spirit” there, and then you connect the Lectionary dots. That capital “S” signals that the…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost A
Probably Psalm 104:30 is the primary reason why this psalm is assigned in the Year A Lectionary for Pentecost Sunday. And probably this fits overall, but we have to admit that in those translations in which the word “spirit” is capitalized in verse 30—and in other psalms—we are being told by the translators to think…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost C
Sample Sermon: You wouldn’t think a wasp could do so much damage. Unless you are allergic to bee and wasp stings, getting stung by these bugs, though briefly painful and annoying, does not generally create any lasting effect or damage. However, about 150 years ago there was one particular kind of wasp that appears to…
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…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost B
Psalm 104 is the perennial choice for Pentecost Sunday in the Lectionary, because of verse 30, which mentions “your Spirit.” Though there is much plausible controversy about whether that should be translated with a capital “S” as a reference to the third Person of the Trinity, the church has taken it that way for centuries…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost A
Many scholars suggest that we could use Psalm 104 to put environmentalist spin on Pentecost, because of verse 30. “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” Imagine a Pentecost version of the secular Christmas carol. “Have yourself a merry little environmental Pentecost!” I agree with that…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Pentecost C
This Psalm gives the enterprising preacher a fresh alternative for a Pentecost sermon, because it focuses on the Spirit’s work not in redemption (as do the other readings for Pentecost Sunday), but in creation. Though a number of contemporary scholars think the mention of the Spirit in verse 30 is not a reference to the…
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