Texts: First Reading Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Psalm 100:1-5 Second Reading Ephesians 1:15-23 Gospel Matthew 25:31-46 Manuscript: Today is Christ the King Sunday, it is, as Maggie mentioned, the end of the liturgical year. It is also a bit of an odd day. Pope Pius XI first instituted the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday of October […]
Texts: First Reading Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 Psalm 78:1-7 Second Reading 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Gospel Matthew 25:1-13 Manuscript: We were supposed to be back together, in-person today. I know some of y’all are disappointed we are not, just as I know some of you would have been with us on Zoom today either way. I know, months ago, I promised […]
Texts: Acts 17:22-31, Psalm 66:8-20, 1 Peter 3:13-22, John 14:15-21 Manuscript I hope the labels I put on the background picture this week have been helpful. Each week I try to find something that is at least tangentially related to the scripture readings and is also free for us to use. This week’s picture, for those who can’t […]
Texts: Revelation 7:9-17 Psalm 34:1-10, 22 1 John 3:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12 Manuscript: It is a rare day that the lectionary brings us the Revelation of John. Revelation is a strange book. It is one scholars often struggle with—as one example, John Calvin wrote a commentary on every other book of the New Testament, and Zwingli, another […]
Texts: Acts 7:55-60, Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16, 1 Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14
Texts: Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Matthew 22:34-46 Manuscript: About eight months ago, I stepped behind this pulpit for the first time to talk about the Hebrews around Mt. Sinai, watching as Moses climbed the mountain and stepped into a cloud to meet with God. We talked about not knowing the path, not […]
Texts: Exodus 33:12-23 Psalm 99:1-9 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Matthew 22:15-22 Manuscript: One of the disadvantages of standing here, in the year 2020…and I will try to keep my focus on just this one, because I do not think there are many I need to name. I am, after all, still talking to a camera, at least […]
Texts: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19:1-14 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46 Manuscript: Last week we read verses 23 through 32. Jesus is teaching in the Temple when the chief priests and elders interrupt him to ask “By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answers with a question: “Did […]
Texts: Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 Philippians 2:1-13 Matthew 21:23-32 Manuscript: I have been thinking a lot about Harry Potter this week. Before I go further, I guess I should give warning about some minor spoilers to the overall series and more significant spoilers to the fifth book and movie, but really, the book was published […]
Texts: Exodus 16:2-15 Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 Philippians 1:21-30 Matthew 20:1-16 Manuscript: One of the small (very small) silver linings of the past few months is that, due to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, UVA gets another year as the reigning national champion. I said it was a small thing. I grew up […]