Psalm 119:33-40 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
A few weeks back, for the last Sunday in July, the RCL took us to a snippet of Psalm 119 (verses 129-136), and now here we are again – but this time verses 33-40. So to review all the basics: Psalm 119 is the longest of all the psalms clocking in at 176 verses. Those…
Romans 13:8-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
In this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson Paul continues his extended discourse on God’s call to love not just God above all, but also our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. In fact, while Romans 13:1-7’s treatise on Christians’ relationships with earthly authorities may seem to interrupt that discourse, it’s actually an integral part of it….
Exodus 12:1-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
Illustration Back-to-School season has evolved since my day. A trip to Walmart for a Trapper-Keeper and new colored pencils, maybe a special new outfit has been elaborated with specific first-day-of-school social media posts, maybe a clap-in at school, a “Blessing of the Backpacks” at church. None of it is wrong … it’s just become elaborate,…
Matthew 18:15-20 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
These are tricky times, full of cancel culture, rejection of woke culture, scandals and “rehabs” leading to readmittances—well at least for some. In times like these, how do we make sure we’re living the spirit of this passage rather than the literal letter of the procedure Jesus describes here? Looking at the textual clues around…
Exodus 3:1-15 Sermon Commentary
Proper 17A
From the banks of the Nile to a parched mountain (the literal translation of Horeb), we find Moses settled into the humble lifestyle of a nomadic shepherd just about as far from Pharaoh’s court as humanly possible. The King James tells us that, as the curtain rises on this scene, Moses is hanging out with…
Matthew 16:21-28 Sermon Commentary
Proper 17A
From the highest of highs in their relationship with one another to a new low point, Peter goes from identifying and worshipping Jesus as the true Messiah to Jesus calling out Peter’s collusion with the devil. Jesus looks right at Peter as he tells to the evil one to shove off and quit trying to…
Romans 12:9-21 Sermon Commentary
Proper 17A
Most Christians find it reasonably easy to love people who love and like us. It can be harder to genuinely love people who don’t like us. It may feel almost impossible to love people who have harmed us or shown they wish to harm us. Yet this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson strongly implies Jesus’ friends’ “sincere”…
Psalm 26:1-8 Sermon Commentary
Proper 17A
Probably it is the Calvinism that is fairly well ingrained into my being that makes me hesitate over parts of Psalm 26. I mean, I just cannot imagine coming before my God in Christ and saying, “I have led a blameless life.” Were I to pray along the lines of saying to God, “I wash…
Matthew 16:13-20 Sermon Commentary
Proper 16A
Comments, Questions, and Observations This passage sits in the middle of the gospel of Matthew. It is the first time that the term “Messiah” is applied to Jesus Christ, and it is the first time that the church (ecclesia) is mentioned. It’s also the moment that Simon Peter becomes Peter in the narrative, the rock…
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.