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Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost: Jeremiah 2:4-13; Psalm 81:1, 10-16; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14 God is angry with the House of Jacob and the families of the house of Israel, Jeremiah tells us. “I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled…

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17 The woman appeared, bent over by a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She cannot stand up straight. Jesus sees her, and calls her over. “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” My first reaction on reading this week’s gospel…

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost: Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56 There are weeks when I read the lessons for Sunday and would like to wish them away. The lectionary doesn’t allow us to do that. We begin with Isaiah’s account of how the house of Israel will be destroyed because it has…

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 14: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40 Isaiah’s vision is dramatic: “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?says the Lord; / I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams / and the fat of fed beasts”. The rituals of the Hebrews are…

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost: Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21 “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions”, Jesus proclaims in today’s gospel. The Gospel gives us a Jesus who is very counter-cultural, both for the first century and the 21st. Certainly modern American capitalism wants our lives to be…

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: Hosea 1:2-10; Psalm 85; Colossians 2:6-19; Luke 11:1-13 There’s a lot in our readings today. The Gospel gives us the Lord’s prayer. We say the prayer at least once a week, many of us daily. We know it by heart: it is, in many ways, written in our hearts. But it’s…

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost: Amos 8:1-12; Psalm 52; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42 Some weeks, I think the organizers of the lectionary have it in for me. Our readings start out with Amos, decrying those whose only goal is to make more money, resenting the times they could not sell, using false weights to cheat the…

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 10: Amos 7:1-17; Psalm 82; Collosians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37 The story of the Good Samaritan is one of the most familiar of Jesus’ parables; the term “good Samaritan” has even entered the language to refer to those who help us, especially when traveling. Like all the parables, it is open…

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: 2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Galations 6:7-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 “The Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.” He told them, “Go on your way”. I’m a good Episcopalian. I don’t like to knock…

Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20; Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62 Elisha asks Elijah for a “double share of your spirit”. Elijah tells him he has asked for “a hard thing”. Faith is often a hard thing. In today’s gospel, we meet Jesus as a fierce taskmaster: he…