Category: Lectionary

30 June 2013
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 8C (RCL)
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77:1-2,11-20
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62

After Elijah heard the sound of silence on the mountain of the Lord, God told him to return by way of the wilderness of Damascus, and to anoint Hazael King of Aram, Jehu King of Israel and Elisha as prophet in his place. Whoever, says God, Hazael doesn’t kill, Jehu will kill, and whoever Jehu doesn’t kill, Elisha will kill, until only 7000 remain in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Ba’al. Not a happy errand. No wonder, then, that Elijah doesn’t complete his errand. He throws his mantle over Elisha, and leaves it to Elisha to anoint Hazael and Jehu.

At his first encounter with Elisha, Elijah throws his mantle on him, and invites to come follow. Elisha responds, “First, let me go and kiss my father and mother.” Elijah replies, “What have I to do with you?” — do what you want. Elisha does not return to kiss his father and mother, but slaughters the yoke of oxen he is plowing with, and cooks them over the equipment he was using. He has just done away with all the capital he had in the world. He now has no choice but to follow Elijah Continue reading “By stages”

16 May 2013
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 6C (RCL)
1 Kings 21:1-21a
Psalm 5:1-8
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36 – 8:3

With the reading from Kings this week, we get to the heart of Ahab’s sins. The worship of other gods (Ba’al and Asherah) lead directly into economic conflict. Ba’al and Asherah guarantee fertility, but they are also not connected to the land in the same way YHWH is. Ahab, taking the role of a monarch, tries to buy Naboth’s land. Naboth understands that the sell his land is to lose his presence on the land, and therefore his presence to YHWH, or to say it another way, his stake in God’s covenant with the people.

Jezebel, coming from Sidon Continue reading “Canceled debts”

2 June 2013
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 4C (RCL)
1 Kings 18:20-39
Psalm 96
Galatians 1:1-12
Luke 7:1-10

Welcome to ordinary time. The readings from Scripture for this Sunday seem unconnected (and any connection will be accidental) since we are reading from different books “in course.” For the Old Testament, we are reading stories from the Elijah/Elisha cycle. For the epistle, we are reading Galatians in course, and in the Gospel, we are plowing our way through Luke for much of the rest of the year.

The Elijah cycle is a tradition that comes from the northern kingdom (Israel) after the separation from Judah, and is anti-monarchical. The contest with the prophets of Baal sets out the great conflict in the northern kingdom between YHWH, a God of a wandering people under Moses, and the agricultural gods of Caanan. Agricultural gods need to guarantee fertility Continue reading “Such faithfulness”

26 May 2013
Trinity Sunday
Trinity C (RCL)
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

The joke goes that the curate always gets to preach Trinity Sunday, not because the rector wants to test his or her orthodoxy, but because the rector doesn’t want to have to preach the Trinity. Having no curate . . . In fact, however, I enjoy preaching the Trinity. Not sure if parishioners enjoy hearing, however.

The difficulty is that we modern western Europeans tend to identify person and individual. We have no definition of person that takes account of relational context. We define person, for purposes of economic and social theory, as the self-interested individual. Governments Continue reading “Delight”

19 May 2013
The Feast of Pentecost
Pentecost C (RCL)
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
Romans 8:14-17
John 14:8-17

Each of the biblical authors who deals with the Spirit of God seems to have a different understanding of that Spirit. That makes our lessons for this Sunday not seem to hang together very well. However, Pentecost is one of those days especially appropriate for Baptism or the renewal of baptismal vows. In that regard, we can see the agency of the Spirit in establishing the church.

In the reading from Acts Continue reading “Spirit-ed identity”

12 May 2013
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Easter 7C (RCL)
Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
John 17:20-26

This is the Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost, so in some regard, the focus is on the upcoming gift of the Spirit. In the readings for this Sunday, the focus is pretty oblique.

The reading from Acts seems almost novelistic in the way it relates the story of release of Paul and Silas from prison. I find allusions to the tomb (the innermost chamber of the prison, the stocks) and the resurrection (the earthquake), and it certainly fits with Luke’s narrative purpose to show the apostles recapitulating the ministry of Jesus. But I think the point almost slips past us because of our familiarity with the language.

The slave girl, we are told, had the spirit of a python Continue reading “Shaking the foundations”

5 May 2013
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Easter 6C (RCL)
Acts 16:9-15
Psalm 67
Revelation 21:10, 22 — 22:5
John 14: 23-29

In all of this conversation in John’s Gospel, in which Jesus has said he is going away and we cannot come, but he is going to prepare a place, and will take us to himself so that where he is we might also be, it would be understandable if the disciples (and we) got a little confused. At 14:19, Jesus says that in a little while, the world will no longer see him, but we will, “because I live and you live.” So, Judas, not Iscariot, asks, “How is it that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

If we remember that John’s community Continue reading “Where we’re going”

28 April 2013
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Easter 5C (RCL)
Acts 11:1-8
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

Jesus tells his, “As I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.” Wait. What? Just a couple of paragraphs later, he will say, “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” Which is it?

Where Jesus is and remains Continue reading “Where are we going?”

21 April 2013
Easter 4C (RCL)
Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

This Sunday (the fourth of Easter) is traditionally called Good Shepherd Sunday. Most lectionaries include a reading from the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel. Years A & B in the RCL have much more “shepherd-y” readings than Year C. All three years include the 23rd Psalm. In this reading from John’s Gospel, the metaphor of shepherd and flock is used as a narrative devise for exclusion: You do not believe because you are not belong to my sheep. Not the warm fuzzy we hope for when we think of the Good Shepherd.

Chapter 10 Continue reading “The king of love and the Boston Marathon”

14 April 2013
Third Sunday of Easter
Easter 3C (RCL)
Acts 9:1-20
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

Again, this week, we have two stories of resurrection appearances in which the recognition of the risen Christ is delayed. It seems to be a theme that when we encounter the risen Christ, we don’t immediately recognize what’s happening.

Paul, on his way to Damascus to persecute those belonging to the way, has an epiphany on the road Continue reading “Recognizing resurrection, pt. 2”