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Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Sermon Commentary
These words are utterly familiar and yet so few of us (myself included) actually take up the fullness of the call that Jesus gives to the seventy in this passage. Do we even take it up in part? Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem and he commissions pairs of his followers to go out…
2 Kings 5:1-14 Sermon Commentary
How status works: The kings in this story set up a stark distinction. First, the narrator highlights the king of Aram’s many and great military victories. Ordinarily, this is an ancient near-eastern literary device to demonstrate, according to the CEB Study Bible “that a country’s gods were able to give victory to their people in…
Psalm 66:1-9 Sermon Commentary
To read Psalm 66 while bombs are dropping in Israel, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, and maybe other places is an odd, disconcerting experience. “All the earth bows to you, they sing the praises of your name.” Really? “His eyes watch the nations, let not the rebellious rise up against him.” Is God just watching, just observing? …
Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16 Sermon Commentary
This Sunday brings us to the end of the Revised Common Lectionary’s very brief tour of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Galatia. The epistle’s tone is among the strictest if not harshest of all the Pauline letters. Yet the apostle ends it with verse 18’s “The grace [charis*] of our Lord Jesus Christ be…
Sermon Commentary From Other Lectionary Cycles
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Sermon Commentary
Proper 9C
All things being equal, would you consider it a good idea to interrupt Jesus? Does our Savior need cutting, a bit of shushing now and then, or perhaps some retrospective editing? The Lectionary seems to think so and with all due respect to the good folks who compile the Revised Common Lectionary, I can’t see…
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Sermon Commentary
Proper 9C
Jesus came to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom of God, and in Luke 10 he is authorizing a wider band of disciples to go out and do the same thing. He’s not sending them out to be door-to-door salespeople hawking magazine subscriptions or lawncare services. He doesn’t want them to look like moochers or…
Psalm 66:1-9 Sermon Commentary
Proper 9C
Even the staunchest believer sometimes wonders about the efficacy of prayer. Does it really work? Does God listen to our prayers and answer in identifiable ways? Not only our personal experience of apparently unanswered prayers, but also some of the more difficult Christian doctrines (the sovereignty of God manifested in predestination and election) make us…
Sermon Commentary for Sunday
This Week's Commentary
Proper 9C
The Proper 9C Sermon Commentaries include reflection and illustration ideas for Luke 10:1-11,16-20 from the Lectionary Gospel; 2 Kings 5:1-14 from the Old Testament Lectionary; Psalm 66:1-9 from the Lectionary Psalms; and Galatians 6:(1-6),7-16 from the Lectionary Epistle.
Related Reformed confession: Lectionary Epistle: Heidelberg Catechism: Q&A 111 (Lord’s Day 42)