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“I am a servant.” – Larry Norman, 1976 This lectionary reading for Palm Sunday is the third of four servant songs in Second Isaiah (see also Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 52:13-53:12), explicitly identified as Israel in (...)

As we near Holy Week, we arrive in Jerusalem with Jesus in the Gospel of John.  Jesus enters to much fanfare, with calls of “Hosanna” from Psalm 118 and a re-enactment of Zechariah 9:9 marking (...)

Reality bites.1 The book of Numbers from the Hebrew Bible is not well-represented in the lectionary; only three different texts (Numbers 6, 11, and 21) are included. Our text this morning could be preached in (...)

The fact of human difference may no longer surprise us.1 What may surprise us in this passage is that the author stops to thank God for the foresight and grace to plan this messy human (...)

In the popular imagination, Advent is often depicted as the slow liturgical crescendo leading up to Christmas day. Each day of the advent calendar presents waiting children with something sweet and delightful. In designing worship (...)

Christmas may be one of the most difficult days on which to preach during the entire liturgical year. It is not that the texts are themselves complicated; it is that everyone has heard the Lukan (...)

Hebrew Bible scholar Renita Weems’ work on Mary inspired this writing, and offers refreshing insights for deeper reflection. To a girl named Mary an angel came.1 Greetings favored one, the Lord is with you. This (...)

The Beatitudes in Matthew’s Gospel occur within the literary context of inauguration of the new community. Jesus has just announced that the kingdom of heaven has come near (Matthew 4:17) and invited people to repent. (...)

When many of us were growing up, the assumed truth about the United States—as it is still for some—was that we were the greatest nation on earth. And perhaps in those days we were, if (...)

Isaiah 25:1-9 testifies to God’s wonderful transformation. It emerges from the so-called Isaiah Apocalypse (Isaiah 24-27). The presence of eschatological language and a reference to the consumption of death/resurrection give rise to the notion of (...)