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Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Lent 1A
There are no “only children” in God’s adopted family. Since, as Paul insists in this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson, Abraham is our father, we don’t just have a second (and third — in God) father. We also have countless siblings with whom we now and in the future will share an enormous inheritance. So preachers might…
Romans 5:12-19
Lent 1A
This first Sunday in Lent offers those who preach on the Revised Common Lectionary’s Epistolary Lesson a chance to proclaim the gospel through some theology about what Jesus came to do. By the power of the Holy Spirit it may even offer a chance to humbly present a corrective to several narrow emphases about the…
Romans 1:1-7
Advent 4A
When I read this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson, I think of the English Standard Version’s translation of John 1:16: “From [Christ’s) fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (italics mine). Since Paul layers Romans 1 with grace upon grace in both obvious and subtle ways, it offers preachers an opportunity to explore how God’s grace…
Romans 15:4-13
Advent 2A
My wife and I recently accepted our friends’ invitation to join them in their home for supper on Friday night. At first glance, little seems to be unusual about that. We have, after all, joined our friends for no fewer than 10 meals over the course of our 10-year friendship. We are very comfortable in…
Romans 13:11-14
Advent 1A
Preachers might consider opening a message on this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson with an anecdote that’s similar to mine. As I write this, my wife and I have just returned from a two-week vacation in Hawaii. While both the scenery and people were lovely, we’re exhausted. The current five-hour time difference between Hawaii and the US’s…
Romans 5:1-5
Trinity Sunday C
Hope is not just the name of my alma mater’s most heated rival. It’s also that without which no image bearer of God can truly live. While their hearts may beat and brains may still function, people who have no hope are, as Lewis Smedes once noted, basically walking dead people. Conversely even if their…
Romans 8:14-17
Pentecost
No one should be surprised that the Revised Common Lectionary’s editors included Romans 8:14-17 in their “rotation” of Pentecost Sunday Epistolary Lessons. After all, on this Sunday on which the Church celebrates God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to all of God’s people, it speaks of the Spirit four times. In The Heidelberg Catechism Answer…
Romans 10:8b-13
Lent 1C
In the United States across the last decade or so, partisan political divides have been more evident in society than has been true in a very long time. But it’s not just society. Christian congregations have been riven over such issues too. A recent study showed that during and after the COVID pandemic, many congregations…
Romans 8:12-17
Trinity Sunday B
This is not an easy text for preachers who regularly follow the Revised Common Lectionary to preach on. After all, each year the Lectionary cycle includes at least part of it. What’s more, on what we call Trinity Sunday, Romans 8:12-17 doesn’t mention the word “Trinity.” In fact, its readers are left to deduce that…
Romans 8:22-27
Pentecost
It is a grace that patience is one of the Holy Spirit’s fruits. Otherwise patience would be in far shorter supply, if not non-existent in 21st century society. After all, in an age of things like high speed internet and microwave ovens, we just don’t get much practice at being patient. Is that a reason…
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