Romans 7:15-25a
Proper 9A
[…] are we to call ourselves wretched!? The Christian life is about joy, liberation, willing service, and freedom from every kind of wretchedness and death. The Spirit of Pentecost sets us free from what we read in Romans 7. Let’s not retreat back to this chapter but move forward in the glorious freedom of being […]
Genesis 12:1-9
Proper 5A
[…] and it is supposed to be also our model in reaching out to the whole world via the Church to this day. But in these weeks after Pentecost, we can recall that we struggle to be hospitable. As Neal Plantinga has pointed out, the virtue of hospitality has a surprisingly high profile in the […]
Matthew 16:21-28
Proper 17A
[…] the most common understandings is that Jesus meant some kingdom expressions that happened within the disciples’ lifetimes, such as (1) the Transfiguration; (2) Jesus’s resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost; (3) the subsequent expansion of the mission to the Gentiles; or (4) the destruction of Jerusalem, which was interpreted as a foreshadowing of future judgement. Illustration […]
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Trinity Sunday A
[…] our hearers are not only physically distant from each other, but are also somewhat fearful of coming together in physical community. The Spirit is, as the first Pentecost shows, endlessly creative in creating community. Illustration Idea Note: I am indebted for this illustration to my friend and colleague Scott Hoezee who, in turn, borrowed […]
Colossians 3:1-4
Easter Day A
[…] Jesus to take his resurrection life and squirrel it away in the heavenly places? The answer would come ten days later during a Jewish festival known as Pentecost. The good Jesus’ absence would do was the sending forth of one very powerful Holy Spirit who would be the energizing force for the life of […]
Acts 8:26-40
Easter 5B
[…] Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” If the Spirit is “the stone” to which I alluded earlier, its first landing spot is on the first Pentecost in Jerusalem. Acts 2:4, after all, reports, “All of were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2-8 focuses on the Jerusalem on which God first “drops” […]
Luke 7:1-10
Proper 4C
[…] Jesus come under the roofs of our houses, the fact is he doesn’t do that now in any event. A few weeks out from Ascension Day and Pentecost, this story can remind us that indeed we live in “the already and the not yet,” in that in-between time during which our Savior is not […]
Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16
Proper 9C
[…] as a single nation was never God’s end game scenario. It was always to be bigger and once Christ came and reached out to all people—and once Pentecost came and universalized the message to all nations—Israel did not cease to exist but came into a whole new form called the Church of Christ. This […]
2 Peter 1:16-21
Last Epiphany A
[…] what Christians think of as the Old Testament. Those biblical prophets are trustworthy, unlike the false prophets whom the apostle condemns in chapter 2. In fact, at Pentecost the Spirit made “the word of the prophets more certain,” (19) perhaps making that word more obviously the product of that Spirit’s inspiration. The Old Testament […]
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Trinity Sunday A
[…] we tend to be. And we need—oh, how badly we need—that koinonia, that abiding fellowship of the Holy Spirit who took up residence in our hearts after Pentecost. The Holy Spirit alone is the glue that can hold together people who sometimes (let’s be honest) don’t have a whole lot in common outside their […]
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