Matthew 14:22-33
Proper 14A
If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. That was the title some years back of a popular book written by John Ortberg. And the title reflects what is doubtless the most common “take” on this story. Over and again this well-known story comes to mean something […]
Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28
Proper 15A
Years ago F.F. Bruce published a book titled The Hard Sayings of Jesus. That title prompted a friend of mine to comment, “Hard sayings? I didn’t know there were any easy ones!” But, of course, it is true that some of what Jesus had to say was easier to puzzle out than some other […]
Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28
Proper 15A
Years ago F. F. Bruce published a book titled The Hard Sayings of Jesus. That title prompted a friend of mine to comment, “Hard sayings? I didn’t know there were any easy ones!” But, of course, it is true that some of what Jesus had to say was easier to puzzle out than some […]
Psalm 138
Proper 16A
Years ago I read a wonderful novel by Indian writer Arundhati Roy and one of the things I liked about the book was its great title: The God of Small Things. That title can be an apt summary for something you run across often in the psalms, including in Psalm 138. Israel praised their […]
Symposium 2021: Children of God
A well-known American theologian named Dale Bruner wrote a book about the Holy Spirit several years ago, and he titled his book The Holy Spirit: The Shy Member of the Trinity. In his book Dr. Bruner shows how often the Holy Spirit works silently behind the scenes, rarely pointing to himself but always pointing […]
Malachi 3:1-4
Advent 2C
[…] meadow, “Let us sing for joy!” Illustration Idea As parents, maybe some of you utilize the “1-2-3” method of discipline (we even had a book that was titled 1-2-3 Magic when our kids were little). If a child talks back or does something wrong, you respond by saying, “That’s 1!” If it happens again […]
Exodus 34:29-35
Last Epiphany C
[…] divine holiness reveals about each one of us. Illustration Idea: In her book Speaking of Sin, Barbara Brown Taylor has a chapter that bears the rather startling title, “Sin Is Our Only Hope.” It seems an oddly perverse title and yet Brown Taylor makes a good point. After all, if we look around us […]
Psalm 63:1-8
Lent 3C
[…] trip, when we got much more than we ever expected. It was a conversation on public radio with Winifred Gallagher, who had just written a book en titled, Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life. The title of the first chapter says it all–“Pay Attention: Your Life Depends on It.” The opening lines of that […]
Mark 8:31-38
Lent 2B
[…] Illustration Idea: Throughout much of her life actress Helen Hayes was regularly hailed as “The First Lady of the American Theater.” Clearly this was a lofty, flattering title. Ms. Hayes must have felt honored each time she heard it. Or maybe not. Because as it turns out, Ms. Hayes is the one who came […]
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