2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Sermon Commentary
Proper 28C
“Doing what is good [kalopoiountes*]” (13) can be very hard work. It can be “tiring” [enkakesete]. Doing good can, in fact, be downright exhausting. Especially when the Scriptures appear to summon Jesus’ friends to do things those Scriptures call “good” but seem to us to be at least somewhat harmful. Preachers prompted by the Holy…
Isaiah 65:17-25 Sermon Commentary
Proper 28C
Heaven is a Place on Earth A lot of ink has been spilled in scholarly spaces debating the nature of the New Jerusalem that Isaiah celebrates here in this passage. Some say the New Jerusalem will be an eternal heavenly reality after this earth is destroyed, first by human hands until, finally, (as though mercifully)…
Luke 21:5-19 Sermon Commentary
Proper 28C
When Luke wrote this passage of Scripture, including Jesus saying, “But not a hair of your head will perish,” people following Jesus had already been arrested, persecuted, handed over to synagogues and prisons, brought before kings and governors because of the name of Jesus—people like James and Stephen. The witness of the martyrs had already…
Psalm 98 Sermon Commentary
Proper 28C
I come from an ecclesiastical tradition that for a long time shunned the singing of anything but settings of the 150 psalms in worship. Despite a burst of hymnody in the post-Reformation church world—think of names like Isaac Watt or the Wesleys—singing any text that was not straight out of the Psalter was verboten. Ironically…
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…
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.
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