Living the Lectionary

  John 8:31-36 Freedom: i.e. "the power to determine action without restraint." Even in a nation founded on the principle of freed...

Romans 3:19-28 It is God’s righteousness that matters because none are justified in God’s sight without the divine forbearance that passes o...

  Psalm 46 Outside the city made glad by streams, the Lord of Hosts was led like a lamb to the slaughter. The "Refuge and Strength...

Jeremiah 31:31-34 I shudder whenever someone says “the days are surely coming” because it sounds like whatever is coming is bad news. But Je...

  Mark 10:35-45 “When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John” presumably because the ten were sorry they  hadn't...

Mark 10:17-31 Maybe if we don’t ask the rich young man’s question, “what must we do to be saved” we don’t have to apply Jesus’ answer, “give...

  Hebrews 4:12-16 The first humans hid in the bushes when after eating the forbidden fruit they suddenly realized  they were naked. The writ...

  Psalm 90:12-17 The last lesson we seem to learn is to number our days aright since we act as if we have an unlimited supply. “Bet your bot...

  Amos 5:6-15 There is no mistaking the economic element in the prophet Amos’s description of sin. Those who rule the house of Joseph despis...

  Hebrews 1:1-4 ;   2:5-12 If “in these last days” Jesus is the reflection of God’s glory and the very imprint of God’s very being” then God...

  Psalm 8 Psalm 8 marvels that the “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name” is mindful of mortals. I suppose it does beg the question s...

 G enesis 2:18-24 The trouble in paradise comes in chapter three but in the beginning everything was perfect. The “one flesh” couple lived w...

James 5:13-20 I am confident Elijah was a human being but I’m not so sure about “quite like us.” On the other hand he was fully dependent on...

  Psalm 19:7-14 We tend to think of the law as limiting, maybe for good reasons, but restrictive none-the-less. The psalmist sees the law as...

  Numbers 11:4-29 The children of Israel, fairly well fed on manna and quail, weep in the wilderness because they long for the days when the...

  James 3:13-4:8 If it were as easy as James makes it sound “submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you” the devil...

  Psalm 54   The lectionary often skips over verses that call for the destruction of enemies even if there is good reason for enemies to be ...

  Jeremiah 11:18-20   Jeremiah gives voice to the cry and complaint of the un-numbered and un-named throughout human history who led to the ...

Mark 8:27-38  If Jesus thought of his generation as adulterous and sinful what would he say of ours? I know there are a number of well-meani...

  James 3:1-12 James does not mean to discourage “my brothers and sisters” to become teachers, nor does he expect them to be perfect, he jus...