Daily Office Readings – NT ( Hebrews 11:1-12 ) As I read through the New Testament reading for today, the same two words kept jumping out at me: “by faith,” “by faith,” “by faith,” kind of like the steady beating of a drum. (Or a hammer on my thick skull, perhaps…) The other thing that…
Daily Office Readings Gospel ( John 4:43-54 ) Every now and again I hear people talking about “putting faith into action.” It is generally when they are talking about going out to do some sort of service project, because we tend to equate a defined set of rules to live by with Faith. Sure, there’s…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel (John 2:1-12) Today’s gospel reading is about the wedding in Cana. I’ve always marveled at this bit of scripture. First, when younger, that Jesus turned water into wine. Then, as I got older, and I started drinking wine myself, I became amazed at how much normal human behavior is found…
I’ve been working my way through Paul Tillich’s collection of sermons in The Eternal Now, and came to the sermon entitled Forgetting and Being Forgotten. Tillich says the following: Forgetting is probably more difficult for a religious tradition than any other human heritage. But God is not only the beginning from which we came; He…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel (John 10:7-17) In today’s reading, Jesus gets confronted by the Pharisees who tell him that because he is testifying on his own behalf, his testimony is not valid. The law, it seems, requires at least two witnesses to make a testimony valid. And Jesus says he has a witness, and…
Lectionary Readings – (The Epiphany) When most people hear the word epiphany, the don’t think of the twelfth day after Christmas, or about the story of the wise men coming from various lands to see the baby Jesus. Instead, when most people think of the word epiphany, they think of an “aha!” moment like when…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel (John 4:46-54) Recently, here in Arizona, the director of the Department of Public Safety was caught speeding at 90 miles an hour, weaving in and out of traffic. Anything over 85 miles per hour in Arizona is considered criminal speeding, and usually brings with it a fine. After flashing his…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Matthew 24:32-44 ) In today’s Gospel reading Jesus says the following: “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” He goes on to say that “then two will be in the field; one will be taken…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Matthew 23:27-39 ) Jesus has been going on a tear, ripping into the Jewish leadership in this chapter of Matthew, using multiple “Woe to you!” statements when calling out the Scribes and the Pharisees for their behavior. Jesus is giving them a warning that if they continue in their…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Matthew 23:1-12 ) The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. Matthew 23:2-3 In the news recently, at a race in Georgia, a man came…