RCL: Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Joshua 5:9-12 During the wilderness years following the exodus from Egypt, God sustained the Israelites with manna, a miraculous bread from heaven. This experience prepared the people to enter the land God had promised to their ancestors. Now, under the leadership of Joshua, a…

Isaiah 11:1-10 It is interesting that the text offers a telltale expansive view of justice that includes all creation. The prophecy describes the peaceful cohabitation of the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion, humans and snakes. Life against life is pacified. The language is rich with the…

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 This passage comes from the section of Jeremiah that contains a series of poetic oracles of God’s judgment in the form of conquest and destruction by Babylon, the foe from the north. It is a dialogue between the prophet Jeremiah, God and the people of Israel. It is not always clear who is…

A father knocks on his son’s door. “Jaime,” he says, “Wake up!” Jaime answers, “I don’t want to get up, Papa.” The father shouts, “Get up, you have to go to school.” Jaime says, “I don’t want to go to school.” “Why not?” asks the father. “Three reasons,” says Jaime. “First, because it’s so dull;…

Exodus 33:12-23 For several weeks now, our Sunday readings from the Hebrew Scriptures have followed Moses through his time at Sinai. After the incident with the golden calf that we heard about in last week’s readings, the Lord sends the Israelites away from Sinai but says he will not accompany them because of his anger….

“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.” These words of Jesus have become a sort of proverb, and those who know little of scripture may still have heard “Render unto Caesar.” Yet, digging beneath the surface of this short encounter helps uncover some of the deeper currents in the exchange. First, the combination of…

[RCL] Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22 “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.” These words of Jesus have become a sort of proverb, and those who know little of scripture may still have heard “Render unto Caesar.” Yet, digging beneath the surface of this short encounter helps uncover some of…

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” At first sight the lessons today seem to give us confusing messages. On the one hand we are called by Saint Paul “stewards of the mysteries of God.” On the other hand Jesus tells us…

Jesus was always confronted with those who wanted to trip him up. The folk with the trick questions were trying to get him to identify himself with the Saddusees. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. The Pharisees did. If he agreed with the logic of the Sadducees, then the Pharisees could condemn him….

“And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in…