Deuteronomy 6: 1-9 In this passage we are commanded to love one another. This is not a recommendation or piece of wisdom. There is no disclaimer such as “if you feel like it” or a promise of reward such as “if you want others to love you.” This is not a helpful Tips for Living…

Jeremiah 31:7-9 Slowly the lectionary is making a turn toward the final days. The Season after Pentecost ends with the vision of Christ the King, who comes to render judgment and restore God’s kingdom in its ultimate fullness on earth. Appropriately, Advent begins with a similar sense, for we wait in joyful anticipation for Jesus’…

Job 38:1-7, (34-41) In today’s Old Testament reading, God responds to Job’s questions about suffering. The whirlwind (and other storms and natural phenomena) appear in scripture to signify theophany. The lectionary has only treated us to Job’s problem (Propers 22 and 23) and God’s response. We have been spared his friends’ lengthy attempts to justify…

Job 23:1-9, 16-17 As the story of Job unfolds, Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, have come to sit with Job in his suffering, and to convince him that his fate is deserved. They represent the voices of traditional theology and piety. They insist that the old explanations must hold true, evil deeds are…

Job 1:1; 2:1-10 It has been said that the Book of Job is where the Bible runs off a cliff! The text probes the mystery of suffering, but ultimately yields no satisfactory answer. The great contribution of Job lies in its realistic assessment of the explanations that traditional theology often provides for suffering. Those traditions…