[RCL] Isaiah 65:17-25; Canticle 9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19 In just a couple of weeks, we will send the Gospel of Luke to the barn and saddle up the Gospel of Matthew, as we inaugurate Advent and turn the liturgical calendar from Year C to Year A. When we do, there will surely be…

[RCL] Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; Luke 19:1-10; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 Trouble and distress have come upon me, yet your commandments are my delight. The righteousness of your decrees is everlasting; grant me understanding, that I may live. Amen. Today’s scripture lessons present a unified whole, in lovely, surprising connections. The prophet Habakkuk is…

[RCL] Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18; Luke 18:9-14 When Jesus walked this earth, he was known not only for the miracles he performed but also for the parables he told. The genius of Jesus’ parables is the way they shock and surprise the audience by subverting conventional wisdom and expectations. One such parable…

[RCL] Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8 In the tradition of oral storytelling, there is a notion that when a story is written down, it ceases to be the living, changing thing that was passed down from one storyteller to the next. In oral tradition, the story is alive in the imagination…

[RCL] Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-11; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19 Look again at today’s collect. “Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works…” That’s a good thing to pray for— “that we may continually be given to good works.” In other…

[RCL] Lamentations 1:1-6; Lamentations 3:19-26 or Psalm 137; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10 “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” This is according to G.K. Chesterton, who found Christians, including himself, did not put their faith into action. But even the curmudgeon Chesterton would…