Month: September 2020
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Studying 1 Samuel 19 1-7
We are studying 1 Samuel 19:1-7 for Sunday, October 4 – which happens to be World Communion Sunday, too. The text is one of the key episodes in the story of the famous friendship of Jonathan and David. [Some questions on the text are here.] Here are some notes on that text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: […]
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Noticing Grace
The parable of the laborers in the vineyard was the gospel for last Sunday. We could think of it as being about egalitarianism, and the source of opposition to it: the laborers who get hired early in the day feel aggrieved, because they feel they deserve more than the latecomers. “It’s not fair.” The loafers […]
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Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost
Make me to know your ways, O YHWH; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Psalm 25:4-5
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Shabbat shalom
They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden;they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Hosea 14:7 “On the Essence of Shabbat Shuvah”
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Reflecting on Genesis 45 1-15
We’re studying Genesis 45:1-15 for Sunday, September 27 – Joseph’s tearful reunion with his brothers – they have a history, as we know – after they beg for mercy for Benjamin. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we could consider as we think about how to read this text for […]
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Prayers for Louisville
7 Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! 8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night,who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth,the Lord is his name,9 who makes destruction flash out […]
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Studying Genesis 45 1-15
We’re studying Genesis 45:1-15 for Sunday, September 27: the climax of the story of Joseph and his brothers that we’ve been following for the past three weeks. [Some questions on the text are here.] Here are some notes on this text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: We’ve been following the unfolding of the story of Joseph from […]
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Taking Forgiveness Seriously
The gospel last week was Jesus’s words to Peter about forgiveness: “not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Or, if we were raised on the KJV, “seventy times seven.” Either way, the main point is: Christians, following Christ, forgive. Or, aspire to. It’s a harder, more complicated lesson than it seems, actually. In the back of […]
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Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that […]
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Shabbat shalom and L’shanah tovah!
God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good. Genesis 1:31 Rosh Hashanah begins this evening, ushering in the ten Days of Awe that culminate in Yom Kippur. More about Rosh Hashanah is here, and here. “May you be written down for a good year.”
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Reflecting on Genesis 42 6-25
We are studying Genesis 42:6-25 for Sunday, September 20. This is the episode in the story of Joseph and his brothers when the brothers arrive in Egypt to buy grain, which is not exactly a family reunion. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to consider or discuss […]
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What Makes a Book Political? Thoughts on *The Hate U Give*
Our church book group finished working its way through The Hate U Give last week. It’s a novel. This was a feature that some of the members really liked, and some others went along with, because of trying to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and all that. The ones […]
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Studying Genesis 42 6-25
We are studying Genesis 42:6-25 for Sunday, September 20. This is Joseph’s first meeting with his brothers, now that the tables are turned, and they have come to Egypt to buy food for their famished family. A food supply which Joseph controls. [Some questions on the text are here.] Here are some notes on this […]
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No! … ? … !
I got email that reported 30% of “evangelicals” surveyed agree with the statement “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God”. And I admit, after 15 years of teaching freshmen, not too many things shock me when it comes to what people don’t know about religion, including their own. But that one I […]
Matters of Interpretation 