#proper 5a

For Sunday  Proper 5A Collect O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Reading Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 Reflection I often worry that we don’t consider how radical Jesus…

One of the first rules of preaching I was taught was Don’t try to do everything. Which was part cautionary tale for the would-be preacher and part revision of a previous first rule of preaching: sermons need three themes. The new idea replaces the old. Focus on one theme and repeat it. No longer come up with three themes and connect them. Keep it simple. This relatively new school credo of…

For SundayProper 5A Collect O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Reading Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 Reflection This week: three stories at once. In the first, Jesus…

A look at the gaps in the lectionary. This week: the gap between Trinity Sunday and Proper 5AThe text: before Matthew 9:9 and 9:14-17 Let’s kick it back a little. Remind ourselves of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). How it speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven, how it presents itself differently than we expect. And we connect with it, not as aggressors or receivers, but as interveners,…

When we take the Great Commission as our marching orders, we often make the same mistakes about Jesus the first disciples made.

First Sunday after Pentecost  |  Matthew 28:16-20

These are the last words in the gospel of Matthew. Words which are often referred to as “the Great Commission.” A name which has parallel and perpendicular resonance with another teaching of Jesus’s often called “the…