[RCL] Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17 Three mountains stand within our scripture reading—Sinai, Zion, and Calvary—and on these mountains of God, we learn how we can find healing and wholeness. Only Zion is named in the reading, but all three of these mountains overshadow the words in Hebrews. While these are real…

[RCL]: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17 Harvard Professor Hugh O’Doherty says that all conflict is about power and control, and in fact, a great deal of other human activity involves power and control in one way or another. Two of today’s scripture readings bear out this reality. The gospel’s central issue focuses…

Today’s readings and Collect can be seen as a unit teaching us about God’s power and how it works in us. The opening Collect (prayer) in the Episcopal Church says: “Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples…” This…

In our reading from Hebrews today, the Word of God is described as “living” and “active.” That is, the Word of God is not dead and static. Because we tend to associate the Word of God primarily with the texts of the Bible, we tend to lose sight of its living and dynamic character. And…

It is a wonder, why, in their infinite wisdom, the compilers of the Revised Common Lectionary chose to begin this week’s epistle where they did. The syntax and cadence are difficult enough, without even beginning to look at the content and context thereof. The reading seems to drop right into the middle of an ongoing…

Of all the issues facing the church 120 years ago, one that was considered so pressing that it was addressed by bishops throughout the Anglican Communion at the Lambeth Conference of 1888 was this: the observance of the Sabbath. The bishops at that conference issued a report including these statements: “The principle of the religious…

A favorite prayer for “birthday blessings,” in churches where people’s birthdays are publicly celebrated, begins: “O God, our times are in your hand…” (Prayer #50, BCP p.380) Isaiah would recognize the phrase, and being a daring and confrontational prophet, he would no doubt ask if we lived, not just on our birthdays, but every day…

Can you imagine what it’s like to experience an earthquake? I don’t mean a tremor that makes the china cabinet rattle — I mean an EARTHQUAKE that cracks streets, splits open houses, throws people to the floor, an earthquake where walls move, furniture slides, and you’re desperate to hang onto something solid. Can you imagine…