Matthew 3:1-12
Advent 2A
[…] a kind of weird new normal. Indeed, if I had not told you this is what I wrote three years ago when last Matthew 3 was the Advent II Lectionary text, you would have assumed I had been describing the last two months in 2019. Perhaps it was not so different in the days […]
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Advent 1B
The Lectionary directed us to Psalm 80 not long ago during Year A on October 3 and now here it is again at the head of Advent for Year B. If you want to see the commentary on this from just two months ago, you can click here. For this commentary we will look […]
Psalm 80:1-7
Advent 4C
If you are going to choose a Psalm of Lament for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, you may as well include the most Adventy and hopeful part of the Psalm! But the RCL did not do that, choosing to break off the reading of Psalm 80 already at verse 7. Had they gone on […]
Psalm 85:1-3, 8-13
Advent 2B
This week’s Psalm selection for the Second Sunday in Advent is in some ways very similar to last week’s selection of Psalm 80. In both psalms there are pleas for revival and restoration, for a relenting of divine anger over sin so that restoration could come to both land and people. Insofar as Advent […]
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Advent 2B
[…] (to invoke Paul’s image in also Romans 8). In the Bible, matter matters. And that is why this is a fitting text for the Second Sunday in Advent. It is fitting not just in the sense of what we saw last week in terms of focusing on not only Jesus’ first advent but also […]
Isaiah 2:1-5
Advent 1A
Over time many people, including most certainly many church people, have come to view Advent (and certainly Christmas) as a time when we need to do our level best to keep at bay any and all thoughts about sad things. Hence, a death in the congregation anywhere near Christmas just feels worse somehow than […]
Luke 1:68-79
Advent 2C
[…] or ugly. By now, however, you may be wondering why I’m talking about this seeing as the Lectionary passage from Luke 1 (replacing the usual Psalm for Advent 2) never once mentions the word “visit.” But that’s true of only the English translation. In the original Greek of Zechariah’s song, a very interesting word […]
Romans 15:4-13
Advent 2A
[…] fact that there is high anxiety among many families as to how this will go. But that only means we need to pay more attention in this Advent Season to what Paul is saying. It is not totally clear what may have prompted these words. But clearly something was rocking the boat in Rome. […]
Isaiah 35:1-10
Advent 3A
[…] taking a cue from the passage itself. Because in verses 3-4 Isaiah addresses those who are for now weak, worried, and afraid. The fact is that in Advent as at any time of the year, we preach to plenty of people for whom the dream of a New Creation is not just a dream, […]
Romans 13:11-14
Advent 1A
[…] Good News. This is a new life lived in glorious freedom in front of a gloriously gracious God. This Epistle text comes on the First Sunday of Advent as the Year A Lectionary launches. It’s paired in the Gospels with Jesus’ apocalyptic words in Matthew 24 and his urging that people “watch” because as […]
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