Living the Lectionary

John 15:1-8 I understand the point of the passage, “abide in me as I abide in you” but what choice does a branch really have? It doesn’t cho...

1 John 4:7-21 “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” You would think the church could get this right since the command ...

  Psalm 22:25-31 Psalm 22 begins not with praise, but lament. “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” In the verses that follow human su...

Acts 8:26-40 The Ethiopian eunuch was well respected in the court of Candice but in Jerusalem he would have been denied access to the temple...

John 10:11-18 We had a Rambouillet lamb named Louie who grew up to be a sheep so tame as to be a nuisance. I’m not sure the Good Shepherd an...

1 John 3:16-24 If my mind could convince my heart of the surpassing greatness of God’s goodness maybe it would stop condemning me. But then ...

Psalm 23 Souls are restored when guided along right pathways even if it takes a rod and staff to get us there. That’s because we can get los...

  Acts 4:5-12 The same Peter who cowered in courtyard and wept bitterly because of it has become the rock who will not back down even when c...

  Luke 24:36-48 “Peace be with you” doesn’t do the trick. “Look at my hands and feet” doesn’t dispel disbelief. Even touch me and see doesn’...

1 John 3:1-7 There is no way around it. We all sin and are all guilty of lawlessness, even if in the love the Father has lavished upon us we...

  Psalm 4 When we love illusions and seek after lies we lose sleep even if we pass out in the process. Like a good magic trick we ask to see...

  Acts 3:12-19 The scene that precedes this speech to the people is the healing of the lame man. “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I d...

John 20:19-31 In the Gospel of John believing is seeing. We can speculate as to Thomas’s whereabouts that first day of the week but his abse...

1 John 1:1-2:2 Sin by its very nature is deceptive so that even when we confess our sins we can walk in the darkness that masquerades as lig...

Psalm 133 In three short verses Psalm 133 states the obvious and makes me wonder why the church doesn’t pursue unity with more purpose. Inst...

  Acts 4:32-35 When believers are of one heart and mind there are no needy persons among them because believers are of one heart and mind. W...

Mark 16:1-8 It is a strange way to end a story when clearly the women who “said nothing to anyone” must have told something to someone. Then...

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 “I would remind you brothers and sisters of the good news…” is a recurring theme of the Corinthian correspondence. Div...

  Psalm 118 The Lord is the psalmist’s strength and song because in the “day that the Lord has made” the right arm of the Lord has acted val...

  Acts 10:34-43 God’s “no partiality” is still particular even if the promise to the Jews was extended to Gentiles. That doesn’t mean the na...