Tag: lutheran
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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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Biblical Language as World-Building
Psalm 100 – 6/11/2026 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Psalm 100:1-2 (NRSVue) In third grade, the church of my childhood gave me a Bible. It was long enough ago that it as the Revised Standard Version, not the NRSV…
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Always Check the Greek
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:2 – 6/8/2026 Do not be mismatched with [the unfaithful]. For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common? 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NRSVue, my correction) When reading Scripture, if you encounter a passage or verse that gives you pause and makes you think, “That doesn’t seem quite right” or “That doesn’t sit well…
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A Cure Not a Miracle
Acts 28:1-10 – 6/5/2026 It so happened that the father of Publius lay sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and putting his hands on him. After this happened, the rest of the people on the island [of Malta] who had diseases also came and were cured.…
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The Time of Our Salvation
2 Timothy 1:8-12 – 5/28/2026 [God] saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before [historic time]. 2 Timothy 1:9 (NRSVue with my re-translation) When I left the life of the…
Dionysus on a Bike 