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Romans 4:13-25
Lent 2B
It sometimes feels as if alienation, hostility and division flourish nearly everywhere we look. Hostilities that have turned violent between Ukrainians and Russians, as well as Israelis and Palestinians. Alienation between American Democrats and Republicans, as well as advocates for traditional and non-traditional understandings of human sexuality. Churches and denominations dividing over race relations, climate…
Romans 4:13-25
Proper 5A
This week’s Epistolary Lesson draws those who follow it back to the theme of, among other things, hope. It does so, however, not long after we contemplated it in an earlier commentary. While that may seem repetitive, any “reading” of 21st century culture suggests that hope remains in short supply. In fact, one might argue…
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Lent 2A
Few things seem more deeply lodged within the human heart than the longing to belong to something bigger than ourselves. Few people articulated that longing more poignantly than the Irish poet John O’Donohue. In his book Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong (Harper Perennial, 2000) he wrote, “The hunger to belong is…
Romans 4:13-25
Lent 2B
Death continues to intimidate many people. As a result, most people will do almost anything to avoid or at least indefinitely postpone death. The Bible suggests that we’d even trade everything we have in exchange for an escape from death. We sometimes sense that many people believe that if we just didn’t have to worry…
Romans 4:1-5,13-17
Lent 2A
When I was a teenager, we liked to sing a song that also had motions. With arms and legs flailing, we’d sing something like: “Father Abraham/ Had many sons;/ Many sons had Father Abraham;/ And I am one of them,/ And so are you,/ So let’s all praise the Lord.” Now once you got past…
Romans 4:13-25
Lent 2B
Life comes from death. Perhaps there has never been a more counter-intuitive statement but there it is at the very heart of the Gospel: life comes from death. But since none of us is capable of bringing life out of death, that paradoxical statement is also a huge red arrow pointing straight at grace. It’s…
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Lent 2A
Considering that we all love gripping courtroom dramas at the movies or on TV, it’s a wonder people don’t find parts of Romans more engaging. When you read Romans 4, for instance, it’s not the least bit difficult in your mind’s eye to picture Paul as an attorney, pacing furiously in a courtroom as he…
Romans 4:13-25
Lent 2B
Comments and Observations Did the apostle Paul distort the teachings of Jesus? That’s the claim of some higher critics of the New Testament. Jesus taught a simple but stringent Jewish Gospel, while Paul complicated it with categories taken from Hellenistic thought that dramatically changed Jesus’ message. Paul, say the most radical critics, invented Christianity. A…
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