Lectionary Readings: Year A, Proper 25 In 1962, the Swiss theologian Karl Barth was on a lecture tour of the United States. Barth was one of the most influential theologians of the last century, and had written a lot of books. One of his major works was called Church Dogmatics, a series of 13 books…
Lectionary Readings: Year A – Proper 19 Before we get into this parable in the Gospel, let’s remember the story of a minor prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai. God came to Jonah and told him to go to Nineveh, because the city was exceedingly wicked. And Jonah jumped up and immediately bought a ticket…
Lectionary Readings: Year A, Proper 18 Years ago I was listening to a husband and wife talking about their first few months as a married couple. Most of you may have a similar story, though maybe not as in depth as these two. It all started with the toilet paper roll. The husband liked the…
The first thing that popped into my head when I was preparing this sermon was a scene from the old classic Princess Bride. The hero of the story has been killed, and Fezzik the Giant and Inigo Montoya take him to Miracle Max, a man who sells miracles, and gives them a giant pill to…
Just this week, the country experienced the murder of a young man, a public figure, on a university campus. He was shot by another young man. People were shocked. And people are angry. In June, a man dressed as a police officer killed a politician and her husband, and attempted to kill another politician and…
And as long as they don’t get caught, then, as the Gospel says, “they have received their reward.” If it is the accolades and praise of people they want, then as long as they are able to keep up the front, they will have received what they were looking for. If what they are trying to do is to “look good,” and if they have managed it, then by all means, let them rejoice in “looking good.”
Lectionary Readings – 7th Sunday after Pentecost Since I grew up in northern Alaska, I have never spent much time farming, nor have I seen much in the way of wheat when it’s young. But from what I’ve been told is that when wheat is young, it looks very much like grass. More to the…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Mark 1:14-28 ) Today, in my Spanish class, one of the people used the phrase ‘sin embargo,’ which means ‘nevertheless.’ But every time I hear it, I say to myself that a ‘sin embargo’ is what is supposed to happen during Lent. Sin is something we are supposed to…