Living the Lectionary

Which of the following four items does not belong to the group? A: Jeremiah 1:4-19 B: Psalm 71:1-6 C: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 D: Luke 4:2...

Luke 4:21-30 The sermon that began so well has taken a turn for the worse and Jesus has no one to blame but himself. Somewhere in the wel...

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 It doesn’t matter if your language is laced with love if your words fall on deaf ears. And if Paul’s second letter to...

Psalm 71:1-6 We will only recite the first six verses of Psalm 71 but I imagine Jeremiah knew the whole psalm by heart. It is a good psalm ...

Jeremiah 1:4-19 This is not the kind of call a prophet wants to receive. Given a choice a prophet, or a pastor for that matter, would pre...

This morning I sat down in my writing chair at Roots Coffeehouse, powered up my lap top and got ready to write when I began to experience t...

Luke 4:14-21 I was invited to preach at the congregation where I was brought up, Grace Lutheran, River Forest, Illinois, during their 100t...

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Maybe Paul never looked into a mirror that wasn’t dim because although the nose might be necessary, more often than...

Psalm 19 I practice yoga three nights a week and if it weren’t for the mirrors around the room I’d think I was quite good at it. That’s ...

Nehemiah 8:1-3; 5-6; 8-10 The exiles, including the lay reader's nightmare list of names in the omitted verses, have returned from cap...

I spent a week in Port-au-Prince in 1997 and stayed with missionaries in Pétionville in a house with no electricity or running water. We ...

John 2:1-11 I ran out of time this morning so I’m writing this with one hand while giving platelets and plasma with the other at Carter Bl...

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 I do not want you to be uniformed, brothers and sisters. I imagine that line didn’t go over so well with the sisters...

Psalm 36:5-10 You save humans and animals alike. While we depend on God to do the first Lisa and I have been helping God do the latter for...

Isaiah 62:1-5 The people to whom these words are addressed have grown weary of hope. They were promised a return to Zion with singing but ...

Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17,21-22 The Baptism of Our Lord affords us the liturgical opportunity to remember our b...

Luke 3:15-22 It was a time of expectation, like when the planets line up in a way they haven’t for a long time and won’t ever again in one...

Acts 8:14-17 The Word of God spent some time in Samaria and promised a thirsty woman there would be a day when Samaritans and Jews and all...

Psalm 29 The voice of the Lord is LOUD. Glory! Many people experience God in the beauty of nature; sunsets, mountain tops, misty lakes a...

Isaiah 43:1-7 I was the Spiritual director of a Via de Cristo retreat weekend years ago when Isaiah 43:1 was a prophetic word for me in a ...