Living the Lectionary

Luke 2:22-40 This is another Biblical story I learned by means of the Lutheran liturgy before I could read. We sang the “Nunc Dimittis” (Lat...

  The Adoration of the Shepherds  by  Caravaggio , 1609 Galatians 4:4-7 The fullness of time is the pregnant pause in the history of humanit...

Psalm 148 Psalm 148 is an all inclusive “Praise the Lord!” song but unless “Sweet Jesus!” or other less pastor- like expletives count as pra...

Isaiah 61:10  -  62:3 It is hard to imagine that the captives returning unto Zion found reason to rejoice when they first saw the ruins of t...

John 1:6-8,   19-28 Not the Messiah, not Elijah, not the prophet (Moses not Mohamed) John is just a voice that makes straight the way for so...

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 I don’t know about you but there are very few things I do that can be followed by “always” or “unceasing” or “in all...

Psalm 126 The first four verses of Psalm 126 remember the dream come true as exiles returned home and mouths were filled with laughter and t...

Isaiah 61:1-11 Isaiah 61 is the measure of whether one has been anointed by the spirit of the Lord or not. Good news for the oppressed, not ...

Mark 1:1-8 The beginning of Jesus’ story anticipates the end of our story which because of Jesus will not be as final as it otherwise might ...

2 Peter 3:8-15 So how are we to “regard the patience of the Lord as salvation” while worrying about “the rest of the world is toast thief in...

Psalm 85 We could use a long embrace with steadfast love and faithfulness and more public displays of affection between righteousness and pe...

  Isaiah 40:1-11 “Comfort, comfort” is a doubly welcome word when it feels like you’ve paid double for whatever it was that required you to ...

Mark 13:24-37 2000 years is a long time to stay awake so I can understand how the church has dozed off now and then. It is true for you and ...

Psalm 80 The psalmist does not stop talking to God even when fed on the bread of tears or drinking from the bowl of weeping. When life laugh...

Reprint from my daughter's 16th birthday. She just turned 26! Isaiah 64:1-9 “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so th...

  Ephesians 1:15-23 Paul writes more run on sentences than I do and sometimes his thoughts and mine can be lost in the language, so let me k...

  Psalm 90:1-7 I can’t read psalm 95 without thinking of the Venite from the Office of Matins in the Lutheran hymnal of my youth. (The 1941 ...

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 The Lord God is critical of what seems to come naturally to sheep - pushing with flank and shoulder, butting each ot...

Matthew 25:1-13 I think the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids should be called the parable of the tardy groom. And what about the ...

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 The Thessalonians were worried that those who died before Jesus returned would be left behind. Paul assures them tha...