Elephant in the Room, Isaiah 51:1–6, Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16), August 23, 2020 ************************************************************ There was an elephant in the room, one of those things which everyone knew about, but no one wanted to talk about. There was a lot of shame involved with what he had done. People had been hurt, but all […]

Outside the Realm of God’s Love, Isaiah 56:1, 6–8, Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15), August 16, 2020 ************************************************************ It was a sweltering August day in 1937 when the Cohen brothers entered the posh Dearborn Michigan, offices of Henry Ford, the car maker. “Mr. Ford,” announced Norman Cohen, the eldest of the three. “We have a […]

The Life of Job, Job 38:4–18, Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14), August 9, 2020 ************************************************************ A lot of people are probably familiar with the story of Job, but chances are, not everybody is familiar with the real message of Job. For many Christians it is a story about a guy who lost it all, and […]

Dance of Death, Isaiah 55:1–5, Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 13), August 2, 2020 ************************************************************************* A Concordia Seminary professor, Dr. David Schmitt, described the first recorded history of the idea of the Dance of Death. He tells how the Treschel Brothers, in their printing of the Old Testament in 1538, included a picture of life after […]

Treasure of God, Deuteronomy 7:6–9; Romans 8:28-39 Matthew 13:44–52 Eight Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12), July 26, 2020 ************************************************************************* Does it appear to you, as it does to me, that our world is careening toward a cliff? The old foe wants us to lose hope and is bringing to bear an onslaught of troubles, laying […]

We Live in Hope, Isaiah 44:6–8, Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11), July 19, 2020 ************************************************************ Our Old Testament reading is nestled within a larger dialogue of a chapter in Isaiah that glorifies the God of creation over the idols made by man, while reminding us that the creator God is also a redeeming God. In […]

Hide and Seek with God, Isaiah 55:10–13, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost 6 (Proper 10), July 12, 2020 ************************************************************************* The prophet Isaiah proclaims that the word of the Lord “shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (11). So today while being made aware of our own frailty, […]

God Bless America, Zechariah 9:9–12, Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9), July 5, 2020 ************************************************************************* Happy Birthday America! 244 years ago was the official severing of ties between the original 13 colonies and the rule of Great Britain. But it also represents the core of our beliefs, the very makeup of our identity as citizens of […]

The Truth of the Matter, Jeremiah 28:5–9, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8), June 28, 2020 ************************************************************************* On May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill addressed the British parliament as he was about to become prime minister. Hitler’s troops had already invaded Poland, and they had just begun their Blitzkrieg advance into France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. War […]

Amazing Trust, Jeremiah 20:7–13, Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7), June 21, 2020 ************************************************************ Name the author of this quote: “O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word […]