Month: March 2019
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Fourth Sunday in Lent
Our pastor was on vacation this week. When I saw the bulletin for this morning’s service, I thought: Will we ever get out of the fourth chapter of Luke? Is something going on, or is this just what happens when pastors are ill or on vacation and guest preachers substitute during Lent? Did Jesus wonder […]
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Matthew 4 12-22
We are studying Matthew 4:12-22 for Sunday, March 31. This text includes a prologue to Jesus’ ministry that presents Jesus as fulfilling a prophecy in Isaiah[*], and then tells the story of Jesus calling Simon [Peter], Andrew, James, and John. [Study notes on the text are here.] Here are a few questions we might want […]
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How Can We Possibly Read Isaiah?
Modern historical critical scholarship reads Isaiah 9:1 as an explicit reference to Israelite provinces annexed by Assyria in 732 BCE, and Isaiah 9:2-7 as a “royal song of thanksgiving” that gives hope to those who wait for YHWH “to act to restore righteous Davidic rule in Israel” (NOAB, note on Isaiah 9:2-7); the “child” “born […]
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“You First …”
Talk about “throwing someone under the bus,” here are the People of Israel to Moses: So now why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of YHWH our God any longer, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of […]
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Study Notes – Matthew 4 12-22
We are studying Matthew 4:12-22 for Sunday, March 31 – our second look this quarter at Jesus’ calling of the disciples Simon [Peter], Andrew, James, and John. This time we’re looking at Matthew’s version of the story – which is very similar to Mark’s, but not identical! But, before we get to that, there’s a […]
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Obviously Good Rules
Moses tells the Israelites that the Torah will be RECOGNIZABLY good, to outsiders, because “the peoples, … when they hear all these statutes, will say ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!’” (Deuteronomy 4:6) That is, the Torah will recommend itself. In context, this self-recommendation seems to depend on the practice of […]
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Third Sunday in Lent
[“The Humble Questioner,” a sermon for First Unitarian Church, Louisville, Sunday, March 24.] I come from a tradition in which it’s customary to prepare a sermon as a reflection on a text – so here’s one text – it’s a little proverb, actually, that according to tradition was collected by one of the wisest people […]
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Luke 19 1-10
We are studying Luke19:1-10, the story of Zacchaeus, for Sunday, March 24. [Study notes on the text are here.] Here are a few questions we could consider before or in class: Have we heard this story before? Where? When? What images do we associate with this story? Where did those images come from? (E.g., illustrations […]
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A Toolkit for the Life of the Mind
Julian Baggini and Peter S. Fosl. The Philosopher’s Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods. Second edition. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. [An installment of the “Read Me” Project.] My sister-in-law has bought me a number of outstanding books for Christmas over the years. This is one of them. I’m not technically a philosopher. I like philosophy, […]
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Study Notes – Luke 19 1-10
We are studying Luke 19:1-10 for Sunday, March 24 – the story of Zacchaeus, “a wee little man” who not only sees Jesus but gets to host him as one of the last stops on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. [Questions on the text are here.] Here are my notes on this text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: […]
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Where Violence Has to End
When I heard the news about the massacre at the New Zealand mosques on Friday, I had to stop, and think. Something my dad taught me, a long time ago, came back to me: “What’s your part in this?” I hadn’t thought of that conversation for a long time. We had it more than once. […]
Matters of Interpretation 