Luke 20:27-38 Sermon Commentary
Proper 27C
This exchange is less about the topic and more about motive. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection so their question is not in good faith, but is actually an attempt to prove how unrealistic the whole concept is. Underlying the Sadducees’ subject choice are two interconnected things: their love of Scripture and the way…
Psalm 17:1-9 Sermon Commentary
Proper 27C
If you bring last week’s psalm lection of Psalm 32 and place it next to Psalm 17, you find a curious contrast. In Psalm 32 the psalmist wrestles with unconfessed sin and how his not confessing it led to no small measure of torment for his spirit but even for his body. Finally he does…
Haggai 2:1-9 Sermon Commentary
Proper 27C
Names and Dates Haggai is a short book, wedged between Zephaniah and Zechariah, toward the end of the 12 books of the Minor Prophets. With just three chapters, you might say that Haggai is more minor than most! Using the dating scattered through the book like a modern-day time stamp, we learn that Haggai only…
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 Sermon Commentary
Proper 27C
I grew up near a college that tried to take the Scriptures quite literally. One of the most memorable bumper stickers that “graced” at least some of its faculty and students’ cars read “In the case of the Rapture this car will be unoccupied.” As I matured, I wondered what havoc Rapture would wreak on…
Isaiah 1:10-18 Sermon Commentary
Proper 26C
Commentary: As Worship Sourcebook: While the point Isaiah is making is that Israel’s worship is unacceptable to God because it does not match their behavior toward the most vulnerable in society, this text is also — kind of accidentally — a primer on the central aspects of worship among the faithful in Jerusalem. We can…
Luke 19:1-10 Sermon Commentary
Proper 26C
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he… You probably know the song. But have you ever wondered why it only tells part of the story in Luke 19.1-10? We sing of Jesus inviting himself over, but we never voice the part about what happens when Zacchaeus fully welcomes Jesus…
Psalm 32:1-7 Sermon Commentary
Proper 26C
Psalm 32 has multiple voices. In this commentary I will comment on the entire Psalm despite the RCL’s cutting it off at verse 7. But the four remaining verses are important to get the upshot and meaning of the entire poem. The psalm begins with the first voice with a double beatitude pronounced by an…
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 Sermon Commentary
Proper 26C
This Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson returns to one of last Sunday’s themes that is suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ. However, while last Sunday’s Lesson largely addressed Paul’s suffering for his faith, this week’s focuses mostly on the Thessalonian Christians’ suffering for their faith. By the power of the Holy Spirit, preachers might let 2…
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 Sermon Commentary
Proper 25C
Dialoguing with God This text—not just the parts chosen by our Lectionary editors but the whole chapter—offers a beautiful example of God and God’s people in relationship, dialoguing and talking out their differences. In this case (and, to be honest, most cases), their difference of opinion shows up over sin, over human failure to keep…
Sermon Commentary Library
Our weekly sermon commentaries are Lectionary-based, which across its three-year cycle, encompass a vast array of biblical texts. Filter the Sermon Commentary Library to search Scripture texts by book and chapter to find commentary, illustrations, and reflections to spark ideas.
Looking for something else? View our Heidelberg Catechism sermon resources and our Reformed Connections to the RCL section that traces Lectionary texts to specific parts of the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession.