Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Mark 7:24-37 Mark 7:24-37 Jesus loves the little children. And I am equally thankful that Jesus loves those a bit further down the road; we “older children.” Jesus, in our reading this week, brings His healing power to bear on two in need...
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Epistle, James 2:1-10, 14-18 James 2:1-10, 14-18 James is tricky. Judgment is tricky. Heaven’s sake, being a Christian is tricky. To those of us who claim legacy from the Reformation, especially the Lutheran stripe of it, James can be troublesome. But...
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Isaiah 35:4-7a Isaiah 35:4-7a Lots of clamor in my country these days. Politics. Surface ideas. Human greed and deep incompetence have a lock on nearly every issue brought to the fore. And somehow in the...
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Mark 7:14-23 Mark 7:14-23 Classic Jesus! What in the world does that mean? Well, two things. First, Jesus speaks of the condition of the human heart quite a bit. And second, in His divine diagnoses He is always honest to speak to us the truth...
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Psalm, Psalm 119:129-136 Psalm 119:129-136 The longest chapter in the Bible is pretty well-known. And its subject matter is appropriate to the length. Psalm 119 is a rejoicing in the law of the LORD. And all facets of the law are expounded. Better here to...
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9 Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9 Each time I open the book of Deuteronomy I think, “Oh, I need to spend more time here.” It is a wonderful collection of, not just sermons by...
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Mark 7:1-13 Mark 7:1-13 Whenever people begin to add things to the Bible-and I’m writing about moral demands-we need to run the other direction. Why? Because whenever...
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Psalms, Psalm 14 Psalm 14 Oh boy! Here we find words of our God that come to the point quickly, no apologies, and no place for backtalk. God labels us as fools. We are lazy, says the King. We are by...
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Isaiah 29:11-19 Isaiah 29:11-19 I know I have heard this idea expressed in several ways through the years. Distilling the thought comes down to this: “You can’t appreciate...
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, John 6:51-69 John 6:51-69 We continue where we left off last week. Wrapping our western, scientific heads around the discourse of Jesus in John 6 takes a bit of effort. Add to that, that in the American church landscape, many have actually been...
