2 Cor 9:6-11; Psalm 111/112; 1 Kings 17 As I contemplate our Epistle reading for this coming Sunday, I sit surrounded by reminders of God’s goodness to our family. As ex-patriot Canadians, we celebrate Thanksgiving early, and I enjoyed spending time with my grandchildren this week, singing (to the Godspell tune) “All Good Gifts Around Us” with several of them. Even our pup, Angus, enjoyed the scraps of turkey that fell from…
(2 Cor 6:1-11; Psalm 68/69; Isaiah 52:13-53:12) Our faith is full of mysteries, and requires us to hold together ideas that may seem, on the surface, irreconcilable. After all, we worship the God-Man, glimpse a God who is utterly beyond us while unthinkably close by the ever-present Spirit, and understand ourselves to be creatures given the command to become like God. Our epistle reading for today reminds us not only of the…
1 Cor 1:18-25; Gal 6:11-18, Col 1:19-20; Numbers 21:4-9, Exodus 15:22-26; Proverbs 3:11-18 And so we come to one of the oldest feasts in our church year, all but forgotten by most Protestants today. No doubt this is because it focusses upon a holy object, the elevated Holy Cross, and the Reformation cast doubt on the use of such things in worship, focusing upon God’s connection with the spiritual, rather than the…
1 Cor 15:1-11; Daniel 12; Genesis 49; Exodus 1; Ezekiel 47-48. This week I had a spirited interchange with a former student and dear friend who reposted a meme that declared, “Religious tradition produces bondage; the Holy Spirit produces liberty.” At one of my not-so-tactful moments, I responded that this was “Balderdash!” Good thing that he and I have a long history, and love each other! Orthodox, of course, would be startled…
1 Corinthians 4:6-19; Job; Deuteronomy 8:7-9; Phil. 2:5-11. Sixteen-year-old Bram Bowman stands in formation along with other inmates in the courtyard of a dystopian labor camp. Dirty, damaged, and near despair, he, with the others, is being inspected by the pampered governor and his wife. The governor comments unempathetically, “Well, this is depressing!” But we viewers applaud the young man in his ugly environment. We know that Bram is brave and principled,…
1 Cor 1:10-18; 2 Chronicles 30, Colossians 1 We are surrounded on all sides by a culture that values diversity, novelty, and variety. Even the dog owners on my FB page talk about the importance of not “boring” your pup with the same food every day! I remember when we first moved to Pittsburgh 18 years ago, being struck by a beer add with about 8 different beers in identical steins, so…
Titus 3:8-15; Romans 12:6-14; Numbers 12:3; Isaiah 66:2; Proverbs 25:27 “You first!” “No, you first!” “No, I insist, you first” “No, indeed, you!” A crash ensues, as each obeys the other. We’ve seen this scenario in jokes, books, and comedies. And, like most humor, it has a foundation in reality. Both can’t go first. Similarly, those of us who are of a critical mindset might be distracted by our pre-communion prayer, recited…
