Living the Lectionary

Matthew 5:1-12 Those of us who have been forever contaminated by close contact to Monty Python’s movie “Life of Brian” are no longer abl...

Psalm 15 These are not requirements for entering the tent of the Lord but a description of what happens to those who abide there. Ones w...

Micah 6:1-8  The controversy God has with the people of Micah’s time is that they prefer ritual righteousness to righteous acts, thoug...

Matthew 4:12-23 I don’t want to burst any Bible balloons but Matthew’s call of the disciples is quite different from the Gospel of John....

1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Okay, so I got ahead of myself last week and skipped over Paul’s introductory remarks about sanctified saints enri...

Psalm 27:1, 4-9 The confidence celebrated in Psalm 27 is not due to the absence of things of which one might rightly be afraid. In fact ...

“ Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God...

John 1:29-42 How is “Rabbi, where are you staying?” an answer to “What are you looking for?” unless of course what the two disciples ...

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 It is a lovely beginning for a difficult letter to the Corinthian church. They are not lacking in any spiritual gift...

Psalm 40:1-11 I don’t mean to question the psalmist’s recollection but most people don’t wait patiently while sinking in a slimy pit. Of...

Isaiah 49:1-7 “You are my servant” is a dialogue between the “Holy One” and the “polished arrow” who wonders aloud if it was all for not...

Matthew 3:13-17 Matthew’s version of Jesus’ baptism has more dialogue than Mark or Luke but all three end in the same way. God declares ...

Acts 10:34-43  “I truly understand that God shows no partiality…” I don’t think we can truly understand the magnitude of that stateme...

Psalm 29 You might want to “ascribe to the Lord” from a distance when the Lord’s voice breaks cedars and makes oaks whirl while the wi...

Isaiah 42:1-9 It is a vision offered to people whose strength like a bruised reed was close to breaking, whose hope like a dimly burning...

Jeremiah 31:7-14 Jeremiah’s “great company” returning from captivity in the north includes the blind and lame, those with child and thos...

 Matthew 2:13-22 Herod, remembered by history as “the Great” for his architectural achievements, was also good at killing. His hit l...

Hebrews 2:10-18 During the summer of 1975 I was the wrangler at Camp Lone Star, LaGrange, Texas. Before the summer was over I had wrecke...

Psalm 148 This is an “all God’s creatures got a place in the choir” praise the Lord psalm, though I’d rather not be included in the ch...

Isaiah 63:7-9 The amazing thing to me is that this less than noteworthy nation on the world’s stage, even during its forty year go...