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 […]
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 […]
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Proper 20B
[…] story of the time she threw someone out of church. Her story illustrates the difficulty of being a peace-loving Christian in a hostile and violent world. On Pentecost morning, a visitor arrived early at Fischbeck’s Episcopal church with “an urgent message.” She introduced herself as Vicki and said to Rev. Fischbeck, “God is going […]
Luke 4:1-13
Lent 1C
[…] for more opportune times to get at even Jesus, we can assume as believers today that we are being stalked no less certainly. True, as people of Pentecost we have a major advantage now in having the Spirit dwelling right within our hearts, giving us a power to resist temptation that is wonderful. But […]
Luke 7:11-17
Proper 5C
[…] is what we mean when we speak so lyrically of the kingdom of God. This lectionary passage comes in the Year C cycle in the Sundays after Pentecost, a stretch that broadly fits the liturgical designation “Ordinary Time.” So how good to be reminded through this mundane, ordinary incident that God continues to come […]
Psalm 50:1-6
Epiphany 6B
[…] who made covenant with me by sacrifice.” Picture the scene. Israel is gathered in the courtyards of the Temple at one of the three annual pilgrimage feasts—Passover, Pentecost, or Tabernacles. A prophet/priest speaks in God’s name to his people. But it’s not a call to worship as in so many other Psalms. Rather, it’s […]
Psalm 25:1-10
Lent 1B
[…] not be able to stay on “the Way” in our Lenten journey or on the rest of the Pilgrim Way. The Cross was followed very quickly by Pentecost, so that we could stay on “the Way.” Or as verse 8 so eloquently puts it: “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners […]
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