Psalm 16
Easter 2A
Psalm 16 is the perfect Psalm for this second Sunday of the Easter season. The last 3 verses were the text for Peter’s Pentecost sermon, in which he proved from Scripture that Jesus’ death and resurrection had always been at the heart God’s plan of salvation. Psalm 16 is also the perfect Psalm for […]
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Proper 16C
[…] about a certain text, just a few months ago. Now here it is again in the cycle of readings. That’s the case on this Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, deep in the heart of Ordinary Time. Exactly 8 months ago on January 28, Jeremiah 1:4-10 was the reading for the Fourth Sunday of Epiphany. In […]
1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)
Proper 5B
After our celebrations of the mighty acts of God from Advent to Pentecost, the prospect of entering Ordinary Time might seem like a bit of a downer. But the Old Testament readings for the next couple of months plunge us right into the kind of social and political turmoil that characterizes our own time. […]
Psalm 67
Easter 6C
[…] Psalm 67 in liturgical perspective. Next week, we will celebrate Christ’s Ascension when, according to Matthew, Jesus gave the Great Commission. And the week after that is Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church so that it could fulfill that Commission. Our New Testament readings for this sixth Sunday of […]
Psalm 8
Proper 22B
[…] to see how Psalm 8 fits a Trinitarian theme but since in Year B we are getting this psalm well into Ordinary Time / The Season after Pentecost, we won’t worry about that either! Despite the soaring words of this psalm’s opening lines, I have always found the center of the poem to be […]
Psalm 81:1-10
Proper 4B
[…] us. We are entering that long stretch of time during which we focus on living out the Good News that we celebrated at Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost. Psalm 81 starts us off by calling us to keep celebrating the mighty acts of God. Don’t let ordinary time become ordinary time. Keep worshipping with […]
1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20)
Proper 4B
Illustration It is a strange trick of the lectionary that we are back to 1 Samuel 3 for the season of Pentecost even though we just engaged it during the season of Epiphany — there are several archived sermon commentaries you can access for the text. For the purpose of this week, though, I […]
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Advent 3B
[…] interesting translation, given that the word “fire” doesn’t occur in the Greek. Paul really says, don’t quench the Spirit. But the presence of tongues of fire on Pentecost and Paul’s similar command in Romans 12:11 (“be aglow with the Spirit”) and Wesley’s famous words (“my heart was strangely warmed”), give us a powerful image […]
Psalm 130
Proper 8B
[…] deep awareness of human sin and sinfulness, it also affirms that God’s gracious redemption eventually sweeps away even the most awful iniquities. On this fifth Sunday after Pentecost in year B, the Lectionary appoints passages that also speak of various “depths.” 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 is the Old Testament reading. Its King David has […]
1 Kings 8: (1-6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43
Proper 16B
[…] Most High God at that time, Israel could never quite claim ownership of that God any more than they had private access to him. As people of Pentecost, this is in one sense easier for us to swallow today. But even so, it is striking how insular Christians can get. Maybe it’s because I […]
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