Home »
Psalm 67 Sermon Commentary
Proper 15A
Psalm 67 is one of the shorter songs of all the 150 psalms. Yet twice in these brief verses—at the end of verse 1 and again at the end of verse 4—we find the mysterious Hebrew word selah inserted into the text. No one to my knowledge claims definitively to know what this word means. …
Romans 11:1-2a; 29-32 Sermon Commentary
Proper 15A
In a text that Paul packs with observations that can be hard to interpret (some of which the Revised Common Lectionary deftly sidesteps), few are more difficult than verse 32’s “God has bound [synekleisen*] everyone [pantos] over to disobedience [apeitheian].” Even preachers who look to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) may find little help…
Genesis 45:1-15 Sermon Commentary
Proper 15A
It matters how you tell the story. After chapters and chapters of some narrator telling us Joseph’s story, with very few places where Joseph, himself, gives meaning to the unfolding events. After the most recent 3 chapters that focus on the brothers’ strange experience in Egypt, where we get to hear the whole story from…
Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28 Sermon Commentary
Proper 15A
The lectionary’s focus is on the story of the Canaanite woman’s transforming conversation with Jesus but also provides us with the preceding section where Jesus teaches about holiness being measured by what’s within—much to the chagrin of the Pharisees. The two scenes are connected by a participle in verse 21: having discussed that it’s what…
Commentary posted on August 10, 2026
Proper 15A Sermon Commentary
The Proper 15A Sermon Commentaries include reflection and illustration ideas for Matthew 15:(10 – 20), 21-28 from the Lectionary Gospel; Genesis 45:1-15 from the Old Testament Lectionary; Psalm 67 from the Lectionary Psalms; and Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 from the Lectionary Epistle.
Related Reformed confession: Lectionary Gospel: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 20 (Lord’s Day 7)