Category: Lectionary

7 April 2013
Second Sunday of Easter
Easter 2C (RCL)
Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 150
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31

The Emperor Domitian came to the throne of Empire in the year 81. Suetonius records that he was the first emperor to demand being called dominus et deus, Lord and God. Translating that phrase into Greek yields ho kyrios kai ho theos, exactly the words on Thomas’ lips when he has touched the wounds of Christ. Thomas, at the end of John’s Gospel, recognizes Jesus as the true emperor.

The gnostics (if there were such Continue reading “Resurrection wounds”

31 March 2013
Easter Day
Easter C (RCL)
Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
John 20:1-18

One year, at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington, Vermont, I heard the bishop say, to open his Easter sermon, “Easter 1982 is not all that different from Easter 1981.” I don’t remember much else of the sermon. Preaching Easter presents a challenge. First, there are all of those folks one doesn’t normally see — how to speak to them in a single shot. Second, most folks have the dinner they will attend after service as much on their minds and any doctrine of the Church.

But, these readings have too much to say. Isaiah’s Continue reading “Recognizing resurrection”

17 March 2013
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Lent 5C (RCL)
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8

We are drawing closer to Palm Sunday/Holy Week/Easter, and our readings bring us closer to the paschal mystery. The passage from Isaiah speaks of the new thing God is about to do. If you thought the Exodus was amazing, says the prophet, wait until you see the return from Exile. God will make a new heavens and a new earth, streams will flow in the desert, jackals and ostriches will honor God. God asks, “Do you not perceive it?” It would have been hard for the fractured little community in Exile to perceive God’s hand in anything. It was not a mighty group who returned from Exile, and they would need great faith to perceive in their circumstances God’s plan for a new universe.

Paul is also facing a bleak future. I believe Continue reading “Sweet smelling extravagance”

10 March 2013
Fourth Sunday in Lent
Lent 4C (RCL)
Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

The fourth Sunday in Lent is often known as “refreshment Sunday,” a little vacation from Lent. In congregations that have eucharistic vestments in all the colors of the rainbow, rose is often worn on this Sunday, lending it the name “Rose Sunday.” The collect speaks of Jesus being the bread come down from heaven, by which we have life, by which we are refreshed. In some years, a passage from John 6 is assigned as the Gospel.

This year, we hear the reading of the prodigal son. I am convinced the story is as much about the older brother as about the younger. The first verses Continue reading “This brother of yours.”

3 March 2013
Third Sunday in Lent
Lent 3C (RCL)
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 63:1-8
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Luke 13:1-9

The Old Testament reading for this Sunday is a continuation of event in the great salvation history we read during Lent. After the covenant with Abram (last week), we hear the story of Moses’ encounter with I AM at the burning bush. Despite Moses’ objections, I AM sends him to release the people from Pharaoh’s oppression.

The Gospel reading presents a number of opportunities for interpretation. First, the fig tree. Mark intercalates the parable of the vineyard and its wicked tenants into the account of Jesus cursing the fig tree on his way into Jerusalem. The fig tree, in that instance, surely represents Israel, reflecting Isaiah 5, along with the vineyard. When the disciples see the withered fig tree, Jesus says that whoever has faith the size of a mustard seed could say to “this mountain” ‘be uprooted and cast into the see’ — obviously, Mount Zion. Mark takes a very dim view of ‘Israel’, and sees the destruction of Jerusalem as Israel’s just deserts. Luke softens Mark’s view of Israel, having Jesus twice lament over Jerusalem.

The only appearance of a fig tree in Luke’s Gospel is this parable. If the fig tree Continue reading “Manure happens”

24 February 2013
Second Sunday in Lent
Lent 2C (RCL)
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35

I wonder why the designers of the lectionary chose this particular reading from Luke’s Gospel to follow the story of Jesus’ temptation. Perhaps they chose it as a way of indicating that Jesus is continuing his work despite his approach to his passion, and so we continue our approach to Holy Week. But, it’s an odd passage at any rate. It’s not exactly a “woe” statement, and it doesn’t seem to fit well with Luke’s overall style. Luke has another lament over Jerusalem, when Jesus enters the city: even now, if you would turn to God, you would know the things that make for peace. Odd, since Luke is writing after the destruction of the Temple — even now.

Luke does soften Jesus’ stance toward Jerusalem, compared Continue reading “Staying in the game”

17 February 2013
First Sunday in Lent
Lent 1C (RCL)
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13

Jesus’ temptation takes place after 40 days in the wilderness with nothing to to eat. In many ways, Luke has written the story of Jesus as a recapitulation of the story of Israel. Jesus has been through the water of baptism (Red Sea), and is now in the wilderness. Jesus’ temptations will be the same as those of Israel.

The tradition looked back Continue reading “Going it alone”

3 February 2013
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Epiphany 4C (RCL)
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Luke 4:21-30

Today’s Gospel reading is often called “the rejection at Nazareth.” Jesus has been preaching and healing, and everyone in his home town wants to see him, and he can do nothing at Nazareth. At least that’s the way Mark and Matthew present the story. The rejection at Nazareth occurs well along in their narratives. Luke, on the other hand, moves it right up front. This is Jesus’ first sermon, and already the home-town crowd is filled with rage. Why would Luke tell his story this way?

There are several puzzling aspects Continue reading “Jesus gets testy”

27 January 2013
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Epiphany 3C (RCL)
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21

The first thing to notice is that the RCL leaves out all the names of the Levites and lay friends of Ezra who interpret the scripture reading. Pity the lectors when we used the BCP lectionary, who had to pronounce all those names!

The second thing to notice is that it is the people who ask Ezra to read the Torah (the Penteteuch? we’re not sure what shape the scriptures took at the time). At any rate, Ezra reads for six hours, and presumably they maintain their attention the whole time Continue reading “Reading scripture”

20 January 2013
Second Sunday after Epiphany
Epiphany 2C (RCL)
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11

Six stone water jars, each holding twenty to thirty gallons, and the servants filled them to the brim. If you do the math, that’s somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons of wine. Let’s just say 150 gallons. That’s a lot of wine. Of course a marriage feast involved the whole village, and would last for several days, but still, it’s a lot of wine, and really good wine.

Many readers have difficulty with Jesus’ seeming rudeness to his mother: “Woman, what is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” It would have been a great shame Continue reading “That’s a lotta wine”