Today, after more than twenty six years at the same congregation, I said goodbye. There were a lot of tears on many faces, mine included. I won’t quickly process what all of my emotions around those years, and this day. I stood looking out over all those people whose parents, and spouses, and in several cases, whose children I’ve buried. There were many couples whose weddings I officiated, and whose children I baptized; and in several cases, children I had baptized holding children of their own I have had the privilege to baptize.
Continue reading “On saying goodbye”Category: Uncategorized
Lost and found
31 March 2019
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 parable of the Lost Son comes as the third of three parables concerning things lost and found. The first is the one sheep out of 99, and the second is the one coin out of ten. Now, we have one of two. Stories of younger sons and elder sons abound in the scriptures of Israel. Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers – always the younger son comes out on top. Perhaps Israel experienced itself as the unlikely, lucky younger son. Continue reading “Lost and found”
Expect glory
3 March 2019
Last Sunday after Epiphany
Last Epiphany C (RCL)
Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12 – 4:2
Luke 9:28-43a
The passage we read from 2 Corinthians has unfortunately often been used as a proof-text for supersessionism – that Christianity has superseded Judaism. Of course, Paul was a Jew, and was critiquing his own religion, so I suggest that we should use this passage as a critique of Christianity. How often do we read our scriptures with a veil over our eyes? Paul’s great criticism was that we had used the law to draw distinction, rather than to create a righteous community. It seems like we do that with our Christian texts as well. Whom can we exclude is often the question we ask. Continue reading “Expect glory”
God’s economy
19 November 2017
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 28A (RCL)
Judges 4:1-7
Psalm 123
1 Thessalonians 5:1-7
Matthew 25:14-30
This parable sticks uncomfortably in our craw. If we are to read it as an allegory, with the man going on the journey as God, we get a picture of God as judgmental and even vengeful: take the talent away from him who has one and give it to him who has ten. We react strongly against this image of God. Continue reading “God’s economy”
Whatever is just
24 September 2017
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 20A (RCL)
Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16
We often read this parable as an assessment of the reaction of Jewish Christians to the admission of Gentiles into their fellowship. Much like the story of the prodigal in Luke, which aligns Jewish Christians with the older brother who has observed the father’s commandments, we align the Jewish Christians with those hired first in this parable, who have born the heat and burden of the day. These late comers receive the same reward, and the first are justifiable perturbed. In my evangelical days, we read this as a comment on death-bed conversions. This interpretation did not make the bulk of Christians very happy. Why not play around until the last minute? Continue reading “Whatever is just”
Keep it simple
9 July 2017
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 9A (RCL)
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Psalm 13
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
The story in Genesis is rather shocking to our sensibilities; Abraham’s servant is certainly forward in putting a half-shekel gold ring in Rebekah’s nose, and two ten shekel gold bracelets on her wrists. And Laban is certainly forward in promising her to Isaac without her consent — although she does consent after the transaction has already been completed to go with Abraham’s servant right away, rather than waiting ten days. But the story certainly fits within a standard pattern in Old Testament literature (and even an instance in the New Testament) – betrothal at the well. Continue reading “Keep it simple”
Reigning from the cross
20 November 2016
The Last Sunday after Pentecost
The Reign of Christ
Proper 26C (RCL)
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 146
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
The feast of Christ the King was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, as a response to the rise of secular regimes in Europe. Many of those regime were trending toward fascism. In the encyclical Quas primas, Pius stated that “Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence or usurped but by his essence and by nature.” Pope Benedict XVI, in a sermon on Christ the King said that Christ’s kingship was based not on human power, but on loving and serving others. Continue reading “Reigning from the cross”
Temptation and renewal
22 February 2015
First Sunday in Lent
Lent 1B (RCL)
Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm 25:1-9
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:9-15
Most of us have heard ourselves say, “If I were king/queen (or boss, or mayor, or president) . . .” We would know how to fix the world, or the department, or the city. A friend will tell me of some intractable problem, and my response (at least in my head), is “If I had a magic wand . . .” I believe the ancients would have seen in this the sin of pride.
Our readings for this Sunday bring us face to face with this temptation. Continue reading “Temptation and renewal”
What sort?
20 July 2014
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 11A (RCL)
Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139:1-11, 22-23
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
God certainly chooses the unlikely for the divine purposes. Jacob has little to commend him, ethically, for the job of divine agent. Having extorted Esau’s birthright, and then connived with Rebekah to cheat Esau out of the blessing due him, Jacob is fleeing for his life when we meet him in today’s reading. And yet God shows up in a vision, and assures Jacob that the promises made to Abraham and renewed to Isaac extend to him: he will become the father of a great nation through which the world will be blessed. I’ve joked before that God has to hit Jacob over the head with a rock to get his attention to extend the promise. But, as it turns out, Jacob is standing in the very vestibule of the divine court, witnessing the angels of God entering and leaving with their embassies for the world. This would become the site of the northern sanctuary at Bethel.
As I read the story of Jacob/Israel, I read exilic or post-exilic reflection on the unlikeliness of Israel’s choice as God’s chosen people. Continue reading “What sort?”
I AM
30 March 2014
Fourth Sunday in Lent
Lent 4A (RCL)
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
The story of the healing of the man born blind is wonderfully rich and complex. It forms something of a centerpiece of John’s Gospel, and encodes a moment in the life of the Johannine community. The passage is the most dramatic in John’s Gospel (outside of the trial before Pilate), and the drama is advanced by the convention of having two interlocutors in each scene. The passage opens with (1) a dialog between Jesus and disciples, (1-5), advances to (2) the interaction between Jesus and the man (6-7), moves on to (3) the exchange between the man and his neighbors (8-12), (4) the man and pharisees (13-17), (5) the pharisees and the man’s parents (18-23), (6) the man and the pharisees again (24-34), (7) the man and Jesus (35-39), and finally (8) Jesus and the pharisees (40-41, although that scene really extends to 10:21).
In the first scene, the disciples Continue reading “I AM”