Month: June 2021
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Studying Leviticus 13 45-46
We are studying Leviticus 13:45-46 along with Luke 17:11-19 for Sunday, July 2. The Leviticus text is background for the Luke story, because it probably explains why Jesus encounters ten lepers “outside a town,” and why they keep their distance when asking Jesus for mercy. “Leprosy” has a place in what we might call “the […]
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Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Call to Worship [Based on Psalm 30] Come, extol the Holy One – Who draws us up and heals us – Who restores us to life – So that our souls may praise God! Come, extol the Holy One – Who weeps with us in sorrow Whose presence is consolation and hope and joy Who […]
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Shabbat shalom
The extended lines of relations meet in the eternal Thou. Martin Buber, I and Thou, Translated by Ronald Gregor Smith, Scribner Classics, 2000 (1956), 77. Image: “Sabbath,” Max Weber, from Wikipedia Loves Art participant “shooting_brooklyn”, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
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Reflecting on Matthew 14 22-33
We are studying Matthew 14:22-33 for Sunday, June 27 – Matthew’s version of the story of Jesus walking on water, which includes Peter also walking on water, briefly. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to think about or discuss: The place descriptions in this story might be […]
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Over Explaining
It finally dawned on me that when Romans 1:26-27 is read as “an explanation of same-sex behavior” it fails, because it massively over-predicts the incidence of the relevant dependent variable. Took long enough. Image: “Ältere Frau in der Bibel lesend,” Albert Anker, 1904, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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Studying Matthew 14 22-33
We are studying Matthew 14:22-33 for Sunday, June 27. This is the story in which Jesus walks on water. Peter manages to walk on water, too, for one verse. [Here are some questions on the text.] Here are my notes on this text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: We are a few chapters further on in Matthew’s […]
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Getting Unconfused About Justice, and Grace
Clean up, clean up,Everybody, everywhere!Clean up, clean upEverybody do your share! Daycare song Any three year old knows the difference between justice and injustice. We have to get older, better educated, more experienced, and more deeply invested in the profit sharing program, to get to the place where we think chronic, obvious injustice in the […]
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Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Call to Worship [Based on Psalm 9] The Holy One is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble; The Holy One defends those who trust and seek God. The Holy One is the remembrance of the needy, the restorer of the life of the poor, calling the mighty to account, calling […]
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Shabbat shalom
Individuality makes its appearance by being differentiated from other individualities. A person makes [their] appearance by entering into relation with other persons. Martin Buber, I and Thou, Translated by Ronald Gregor Smith, Scribner Classics, 2000 (1956), 67. “Jewish Bride,” Eugène Delacroix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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Reflecting on Matthew 9 18-26
We are studying Matthew 9:18-26 for Sunday, June 21. This is Matthew’s version of Jesus’s healing of a woman with a hemorrhage, and restoring the life of a little girl. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to consider in our study or discussion: Matthew’s version of this […]
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Assumptions, Questioned and Un-
What counts as knowledge – that is, knowledge of reality? This is a question for the philosophers, in the end; but, as Gramsci said, everyone is a philosopher, so it’s a question for all of us. And while Gramsci’s point was that everyone has a philosophy, one they live by, some philosophers are better than […]
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Studying Matthew 9 18-26
We are focusing on Matthew 9:18-26, which is Matthew’s account of the healing of a woman on the way to restore a little girl to life, for Sunday, June 20. Here are my notes on this text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: We are continuing to focus on Matthew’s gospel, one of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, […]
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Acceptance, Thankfully
Churches, like other organizations these days, have “retreats” and “planning meetings” and “visioning sessions.” Meetings where members get together and reflect on what seems to be going right and not right and where that seems to be headed, and in the case of the church, where God seems to be calling people. Our congregation has […]
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Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Call to Worship [Based on Mark 4:26-34] Seeds are gatheredbefore they are scattered and sown;Seeds are plantedbefore they take root and grow.Where do we find the seedsof the kingdom of God?In a word of thanks?In a shout of praise?In an act of serviceor sharing?In the silenceof our own hearts?Come, let us lookand listenand live into […]
Matters of Interpretation 