Tag: christianity
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Showing One’s True Self
Luke 11:53-12:3 – 6/20/2026 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. Luke 12:3 (NRSVue) Jesus warns against the hypocrisy of religious leaders who preach and teach one thing and do the opposite. Why? It’s all…
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The Eternity of God’s Suffering
Hebrews 2:5-9 – 6/18/2026 We do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9 (NRSVue) This verse from Hebrews presents us with an…
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The Anti-Sacrament
Proverbs 4:10-27 – 6/17/2026 For [evildoers] eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. Proverbs 4:17 (NRSVue) Today’s Hebrew Bible reading in the Revised Common Lectionary has a verse reminiscent of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. In a section that exhorts the reader to follow the path of good and reject the…
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Where did the Lutheran Prophets Go?
1 Samuel 3:1-9 – 6/16/2026 The word of the Lord was rare in those days; no [prophetic] vision [broke forth]. 1 Samuel 3:1 (NRSVue, translation corrected) When God called Samuel in the sanctuary, it was at time when the biblical narrator says there were no prophetic revelations that “broke forth.” It’s unclear whether this means…
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Sending Another
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 – 6/15/2026 When we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 (NRSVue) Paul is on a mission to the…
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The Need and the Solution
Matthew 9:35-10:23 – 6/14/2026 – The Third Sunday after Pentecost When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send…
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Tradition Less Important than Love
Mark 7:1-13 – 6/13/2026 You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! Mark 7:9 (NRSVue) Yes, this Jesus talking, but it could have just easily been Martin Luther. Or rather Martin Luther is simply channeling Jesus when he opposed the traditions of the Roman Church that…
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Idolatry and Freedom
Acts 7:35-43 – 6/12/2026 They made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands. Acts 7:41 (NRSVue) A god is what you trust. Idolatry, at the must fundamental level, is trusting in and “reveling” in one’s own work, one’s own ability, one’s own creation. Idolatry in its…
Dionysus on a Bike 