spirit – A Preacher’s Ponderings

Angels and wild beasts

First Sunday in Lent; 18 February 2024; Lent 1B (RCL); Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15.

We always hear the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness on the First Sunday in Lent. Mark’s account is the shortest and most cryptic. All we’re told is that the Spirit drove him into the wilderness, and he was there for 40 days, tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him. The forty days, of course, recalls the forty years that Israel wandered in the wilderness, but also Elijah’s journey to Horeb after his contest with the prophets of Ba’al (1 Kings 18-19).

Flesh/Spirit

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost; 16 July 2023; Proper 10A (RCL); Genesis 25:19-34; Psalm 119:105-112; Romans 8:1-11: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.

I’ve always found (and still do find) the parable of the sower a little bit troubling. Sowing seed was often used in the ancient world as a metaphor for teaching, but in most cases, the focus of the metaphor was on the careful preparation of the soil. The philosopher/teacher spent a great deal of care in preparation of the soil, so that the implanted seed would take root and bear fruit.

Greater works

Pentecost; 5 June 2022; Day of Pentecost C (RCL); Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:14-17; John 14:8-17, 25-27.

Luke has loaded these verses in Acts with a wealth of intertextual references. There is the reference to the creation story (God’s breath blowing over the primal chaos), the pillar of fire in the wilderness, and of course the quasi-reversal of Babel (the story of Babel is one of the optional readings on this day).