RCL Reflection for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, October 11, 2020
Here is a different take on the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. This week we learn how one non-conformist Jesus shows us a different path to real life—a life beyond the violence, hatred, power jockeying, and window dressing. And this, my friends, is very good news indeed.
RCL reflection for Reformation Sunday and the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 25, Oct. 29, 2017
It’s been 500 years since Martin Luther’s 95 Theses started making the rounds, and a lot has changed and will continue to change. The church is always reforming, and so are God’s faithful people. We are called–always–to love God with every fiber of our being and our neighbor as ourselves, but how we do that involves being flexible, open to change, and willing to listen to the Holy Spirit’s movement in the world. (Photo: Keren Tan, Creative Commons)
RCL reflection for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 24, October 22, 2017
As Christians, we confess that we believe in “God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” We ask God’s will to be done in the Lord’s Prayer, and we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy.” I guess we need to figure out if this is lip service or a life of service. Is God really Lord of all creation–including us? How we answer this question makes all the difference in the world. (Photo: Paradise Nazarene, Creative Commons License)
RCL reflection, 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 23, Oct. 15, 2017
Evidence of God’s abundance is all around us, and yet many of us – and a lot of our congregations – live out of sense of scarcity, fearing that there will not be enough for us, much less for anyone else. Our challenge, this week and every week really, is to help people live into the reality of God’s provision, care, and abundance. In bread and wine, in word and deed, we are fed richly. There is more than enough for all and an open invitation to come to God’s table. (Photo: TEDManhattan, Creative Commons)
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year A, October 12, 2014
God sets a forth a feast in three of today’s four readings, sending a message of abundance and provision. Yet how often do we seek to accept God’s blessings on our own terms and at our own convenience–often to the detriment of others? (Photo: zoe.wang, Creative Commons, Thanks!)
LECTIONARY REFLECTION – What will it be…a “pity party” or a “plenty party”? With God the answer is always the latter. No matter which lesson you choose this week, there is plenty of mercy, grace, and joy to share. (Photo by khrawlings used under Creative Commons License. Thanks!)
