Text: Luke 20: 1-8 Reflection and Question: : I can’t say that I have ever understood this exchange between Jesus and some religious leaders even though I can certainly see how clever Jesus is. And perhaps that is the point. Jesus had authority with the people because He was so able at speaking up to […]

Text: 2 Corinthians 12: 11-21 Reflection and Question: Paul is clearly apprehensive about his next possible visit to the church in Corinth. Some there are accusing him of skimming from the collection for Jerusalem and he is suspecting that some of them have fallen without repentance into the vices he lists. Sounds a bit like […]

Text: Luke 19: 28-40 Reflection and Question: All four Gospels include a version of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey with the triumphant cries of the crowd accompanying Him. Only Luke tells of Jesus’ exchange with some of the Pharisees who suggest that He stop the blasphemous shouting. Because He has done miracles, we […]

Text: 2 Corinthians 11: 21b-33 Reflection and Question: There has been dissent and division in the church Paul founded in Corinth and he is speaking here to those who find him weak with a good dose of irony in this list of the dangers he has faced in his ministry. His point is that he, […]

Text: Deuteronomy 30: 11-20 Reflection and Question: The most intimidating word in this passage is that “if” which places the unbearable burden on the Israelites to earn the life offered here by God. When God came in Jesus, that “if” was removed and Jesus simply asks us to choose life by following Him. As Jesus […]

Text: Luke 18: 31-43 Reflection and Question: The contrast is stark between the disciples who are blind to the road of suffering, death and life that Jesus outlines for them and the blind man who persists in his plea for sight and is commended for his faith. Perhaps we are to confess the ways in […]

Text: Revelation 12:1-12 Reflection and Question: There is general agreement that John wrote Revelation to sustain Christians in a time of persecution and peril. The images of the protection given to the child “taken to God (12:5)” and to the mother who “has a place prepared by God” (12:6) promise similar comfort to all threatened […]

Text: Psalm 63 A Wisdom Psalm of Trust Reflection and Question: The Psalmist gives us words for our faith in God, for the joy we know in worship and for the assurance we feel when we pray. With Paul and the Brief Statement of Faith, “We rejoice that nothing in life or in death can […]

Text: Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 Reflection and Question: When the Hebrews dedicate the first fruits of the year to God, they are to remember that God brought them out of Egypt to a fertile land. As the Brief Statement of Faith says, “Hearing their cry, God delivered the children of Israel from the house of bondage.” […]

Text: Luke 18:1-8 Reflection and Question: When I think of the three decades now that GLBT Christians have knocked at the door of the Church crying for justice, this parable comes to mind and renews my strength, as Jesus meant it to. If an unjust judge can grant a lowly widow’s prayer then how much […]