Tag Archives: Gospel

Lent 3 C: Our Chance to Get Things Right

The readings for the Third Sunday of Lent are: Old Testament      Isaiah 55:1–9 Psalm                    Psalm 63:1–8 New Testament     1 Corinthians 10:1–13 Gospel                   Luke 13:1–9 The Gospel of Luke is the text where God’s grace and human … Continue reading

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Epiphany 5 B: Wait for the Lord, Not Just for the Vaccination

There’s something ancient and eternal here. We are always tempted to modernize the message of the church—to speak in the most fashionable jargon of the philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, or “with it” youth on the streets. But Isaiah, chapters 40-55, makes … Continue reading

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Epiphany 4 B “Rebuke the Disease, Not the Diseased”

Years ago we fought off a family disease. Substance abuse was our plague, and we were in a group family therapy program where the leader had each set of parents draw a picture of the disease, place it on a … Continue reading

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Advent 2 B: Plague Days as Messy Beginning

It’s starting to look a lot like winter here on the farm. First things first: Out of bed just as dawn is breaking I fortify myself with warm clothes from head to toe, and brave the dark, cold and windy … Continue reading

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Pentecost 10: Little Faith, Big Job, Big God

The Gospel Reading for this, the 10th Sunday after Pentecost, is Matthew 14:2-33   Jesus comes to the boat of the disciples in spite of battering waves. He walks on the waves. Peter hopes to do the same. Jesus says, … Continue reading

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Should We Buy a New ATV?

Reflections on Luke 12:13-21, the Gospel reading for the 8th Sunday of Pentecost. Almost every day on the farm we are faced with quite consequential decisions. Today it is about our ATV. Most days we use it several times for … Continue reading

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Mary Magdalene: The Easter Angel

The Easter Gospel: John 20:1-18 Very often, my wife, Connie, will see me growing cranky looking for something. She says, “What are you looking for?” And no sooner than I name the elusive thing, she finds it. And often it … Continue reading

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Turn the Page: Reflections on Lessons for Pentecost 24 A

The very first time I assisted with leading worship at my home congregation the very first thing I was assigned to do was to go to the altar and read aloud the introit from the big book lying there. I … Continue reading

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Reflections on Lessons Pentecost 23 A

We had a spirited discussion today in our weekly Bible study of area pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). It was fed by a feeling of dread about recent signs of sickness in our society. One of … Continue reading

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Antidote for Complacency: Reflections of Sunday’s Readings

The very first thing that caught my eye as I drove into Ann Arbor the spring of 1966 was that strange graffiti on a huge concrete retaining wall. Being in Greek I could not decipher it and perhaps for that very … Continue reading

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