Tag: <span>covid-19</span>

Published January 23, 2022

Staggering Love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

Summary: The Apostle Paul is in the middle of an extended discussion about spiritual gifts when he breaks stride to explain the importance of love. It isn’t just that love is an amazing force for good; love is permanent. Love does not energize spiritual gifts; love is the point of all the spiritual gifts. That’s a critical thing for preachers to remember, since preachers as much as anyone else have a responsibility to exercise and build their gifts. They also need to devote themselves to love and urge others to love. Nothing else matters. This is a vital message, too, for people doing ministry during a pandemic in a divided and frustrated society, when loving others is much more difficult than it sounds. Fortunately love never falters.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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Published November 21, 2021

What Are You Waiting For? (John 18:33-37)

Summary: The conclusion of the church year, Reign of Christ (or Christ the King) Sunday presents preachers with an opportunity to reflect on the future, especially to examine what assumptions about the future influence their own theologies and sermons. The scene in John’s Gospel when Pontius Pilate interrogates Jesus manifests the failure of Pilate’s imagination. He cannot understand Jesus’ identity as a king in a manner other than what he is used to; it must be about power and domination. Pilate’s categories are inflexible. This resembles too much Christian preaching and teaching about the future and about the nature of the gospel. A kingdom or reign that is “not from this world” is one that is unfamiliar to this world and our norms. One piece of a preacher’s job description is to break open our closed minds so that we might imagine and live into a future that is indeed different.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on John 18:33-37. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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Published August 24, 2021

Public Health (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

Summary: When a conversation between Jesus and a group of scribes and Pharisees moves from hand washing to the dangers of moral impurity, preachers have an opportunity to explore the capacity each of us has for doing harm to others. During our current journey with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are already well acquainted with the ways in which the actions or inactions of individuals can have widespread negative consequences. But preachers can find ways to put this Gospel text into conversation with our circumstances to help a congregation see the ways in which our existence and wellbeing are corporate, collective things. Facing the realities of our interdependence and the obligations we have to one another is an important step toward fostering a community that takes healing seriously.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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Published March 7, 2021

Love among the Ruins (John 3:14-21)

Summary: Believing in God’s love is much easier than trusting in it. Trust implies action and a willingness to open ourselves up. It has become increasingly difficult to trust in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and God’s love appears not to have motivated the most of our wider society to imitate it. To embrace a passage like the one in which Jesus insists that he has come because “God so loved the world,” we need to do more than just convince ourselves and our neighbors about God’s love and its benefits. We need to open ourselves up to the magnetic power of that love, something we experience less through intellect and more through desire.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on John 3:14-21. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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Published August 19, 2020

Psalm 126: Dreams of Restoration, in Every Sense

Summary: Psalm 126 originally spoke of the cultural and geographical restoration experienced (or expected) by those who had returned home from a prolonged exile. It delights the senses with its images of refreshment and sustenance. It reminds us that dreaming can offer a way into knowing who we are, why we suffer, and what we want for our future. The short and colorful psalm gives us language to use when imagining the kinds of restoration we long for as we move forward in the confidence that God is committed to our well-being and in the hope that the future must be greater and more just than the past.

I wrote this article for PsalmSeason, a project led by Hebrew College’s Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership and Interfaith Youth Core. PsalmSeason is an 18-week exploration of 18 Psalms conducted by a diverse and multifaith group of religious leaders, cultural critics, musicians, poets, artists, and activists. Read the full article at PsalmSeason.

Bible commentary: general audience

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Published August 16, 2020

The Preacher as Liberator (Matthew 16:13-20)

Summary: In Matthew’s Gospel, as soon as Peter correctly identifies Jesus as “the Christ,” Jesus offers an enigmatic saying: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” It’s noteworthy that the conversation about who Jesus truly is leads directly to a discussion about freedom. That reminds us who preach that our primary task is liberation — not inspiration, not instruction, but deliverance. If you’re going to preach “Jesus is the Christ,” then the purpose of your preaching has to be to set people free. Of course, people are bound by many things in these awful days. The locks that hold the chains tight are not always easy to locate, but fortunately preachers have a key that fits.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on Matthew 16:13-20. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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Published July 6, 2020

At Work in the Fields of the Lord (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

Summary: The Parable of the Sower (or Parable of the Soils) is simple enough, as a story about planting, growth, and yield goes. But the way the Gospels present it to us quickly reveals itself to be disturbing. Those who interpret the parable without consulting Matthew 13:10-17, the verses in which Jesus implies that his parables keep the truth hidden from many, miss the point. This is a parable that underscores the difficulty of the good news taking root in the world. It is a parable that asks us to consider the rest of the Gospel story if we are going to be able to consider difficult and unnerving questions about the goodness of God and the problem of resistant hearts. Fortunately, most preachers are well equipped and situated to venture into difficult places.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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Published June 5, 2020

God with Us (Matthew 28:16-20)

Summary: When Jesus, at the end of the Gospel according to Matthew, assures his followers that he will be with them always, he does not promise that he will be always offering them comfort or always present “for” them or endorsing their agendas. We might read it, instead, as another of his statements about his solidarity with people, especially the oppressed and ignored. Trinitarian theology stems from a related conviction: in various ways, God shows up and becomes manifest in our experiences and our encounters with others. We encounter the Trinitarian God not through transcendental escapism but in, among, and always for the sake of human bodies. That is a vital truth for churches that need to remember and then repent of their role in overt and covert systemic racism. Together we can discover Jesus dwelling among our neighbors and affirming life–their lives.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on Matthew 28:16-20 for Trinity Sunday. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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Published April 20, 2020

The Road to Emmaus Feels Longer This Year (Luke 24:13-35)

Summary: The story that Luke tells about the risen Christ becoming known to Cleopas and his partner at a dinner table in Emmaus makes a statement about the power of community and shared spaces. That statement is painful to hear, however, during an Easter when the Covid-19 pandemic has taken so much community and interpersonal interaction away from us. But Easter does not mean that we cannot lament the things we have lost and the things for which we long. The good news in this story isn’t simply that Jesus becomes recognized when he shares hospitality with friends; it’s also residing in the fact that he journeys alongside them, without being recognized, while they pour out their disappointment.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on Luke 24:13-35. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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Published March 22, 2020

Coronavirus, John 9, and What the Church Is Doing Here Anyway (John 9:1-41)

Summary: When people ask Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” his answer rejects the premises of the question. He would rather talk about what it means to see “the works of God” become manifest among us. Jesus’ move in John 9 provides an insight for preachers who are facing enormous challenges as they figure out how to do ministry in the midst of a pandemic and all the public-health controls that have been put into place: focus less on the “why?” and “how?” questions and instead think creatively about how to point people toward the works of God in our midst. Christian faith refuses to be bound by prevailing assumptions about how things “must” be done but instead sees signs of God’s presence and transformations in seemingly desolate conditions. Christian faith knows how to find creative ways to love and serve others in the midst of adversity. Indeed, Christian faith came into being in precisely that kind of a context.

I wrote this article for those preparing to preach or hear sermons on John 9:1-41. It was originally a contribution to the “Dear Working Preacher” series. Read the full article at Working Preacher.

Bible commentary: preachers & teachers workingpreacher.org commentary

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