Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Feb. 20, 2022 (Epiphany 7C)


First Reading: Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Love without boundaries and live as God would have us live. Love your enemies. Turn your other cheek. Do not judge. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

St. Luke writing. Ancient Byzantine icon. (Click image to enlarge.)

Throughout Sunday’s readings, culminating in another passage from Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, we are called to listen for God’s desire that we forgive even those who have hurt us. In Sunday’s first reading, we learn that Joseph, even after having been sold into slavery by his brothers, has risen from that challenge to become a chief advisor to Pharaoh. Now Joseph’s brothers, fleeing famine back home, arrive in Egypt, where they find Joseph in his new, powerful position. The brothers are terrified, fearing revenge But Joseph forgives them, just as God forgave the wrongs of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Psalm: Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42

Trust in God and do good, we hear the Psalmist sing. Don’t worry about evildoers. Don’t be jealous of those who do wrong. Those evildoers will wither like grass, but those who follow God’s ways will receive their heart’s desire. Throughout this portion of Psalm 37 we hear parallels with Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Plain: Be patient. Don’t strike out in anger. These things only lead to evil. Trust in God, rather, knowing that the meek shall inherit the land. Wait for God with patience and confident trust. Follow God’s ways and be rewarded.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50

Paul moves toward the conclusion of his extended reflection on resurrection and how it works. In a typical Pauline form, he sets up an opposing question about what kind of body the resurrected will have, then shouts “Fool!” at this imagined debate opponent. Using metaphors of seeds and sowing, he points out that seeds of grain cannot come to life as plants unless they first die by being buried in the earth. Just as God then gives each kind of seed its own body, so it is with resurrection: Our physical bodies perish, but what is raised cannot perish. Adam, the first human, came from dust, but Christ, like a second Adam, came from heaven. In resurrection we will bear his image.

Gospel: Luke 6:27-38

Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Plain becomes even more challenging as the teaching of Jesus reverses our expectations. Last week we heard the blessings that will come to those who suffer, and the woes that await those who revel in riches. Now Jesus poses the difficult, counter-intuitive challenge that we must love our enemies and do good to those who hate and hurt us. We are to do to others not as they do to us but as we would want them to do to us. Then Jesus emphasizes that this Golden Rule is not to be followed with any hope of reward: “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same,” he says. “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Feb. 6, 2022 (Epiphany 5C)


First Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8

It is difficult for prophets to resist the power of God’s call to serve. We hear this through Sunday’s readings in God’s call to the Prophet Isaiah; the Psalmist’s conversation with a faithful God; Paul’s call as an apostle of Christ, and Jesus calling his apostles at the Sea of Galilee.

The Miraculous Draft of Fishes (1515), drawing in preparation for a tapestry by Raphael (1483-1520). The Royal Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London. (Click image to enlarge.)

In the first reading, Isaiah is granted a terrifying vision of a gigantic God on a throne surrounded by six-winged seraphim. This appearance is so majestic, so startling, that the prophet fears for his life, shouting that he is but an unworthy creature with unclean lips. But God sends a seraph carrying a hot coal to touch Isaiah’s lips and thus blot out his sin. Then Isaiah eagerly accepts God’s call, responding faithfully, “Here I am! Send me!”

Psalm: Psalm 138

Echoing the hope for return from exile and eventual salvation that we heard in the Isaiah reading, Psalm 138 thanks and praises God’s love and faithfulness. When we called, the Psalmist sings, God answered us and gave us strength. The litany of praise goes on: Although God is high, God cares for the lowly; God keeps us safe when we walk in the midst of trouble. The love of the Lord endures forever, the Psalmist sings. God will not abandon the works of God’s hands.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

In the second-to-last chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul begins summing up. He turns to the good news of Christ’s resurrection, declaring its central place in Christian theology. Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and was then seen by the Apostles and by hundreds of followers. Acknowledging his unfitness to serve Christ as one who persecuted the church, Paul declares himself the least of the apostles. He was the last to see Christ, he writes, but now he has been forgiven in spite of his sins and chosen to serve, not through his own merits but through God’s saving grace.

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

Jesus has left behind his angry neighbors who wanted to throw him off a cliff following his challenging remarks in his home synagogue in Nazareth. He moves on, followed by crowds, and now, in Luke’s account, he calls his first apostles. Jesus, teaching a huge crowd near the lake of Gennesaret (Galilee), got into Simon’s boat to address the people. Then he told Simon to head for deep water and put out his fishing nets. Simon was doubtful, since they had fished all night without success. But he trusted Jesus, and caught more fish than the nets could hold. Peter, in a response that might remind us of Isaiah’s fearful plea to God, dropped to his knees and told Jesus to leave him, a sinful man. But Jesus, told him not to be afraid. Jesus called them, and Simon, James and John eagerly dropped everything and followed him.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 30, 2022 (Epiphany 4C)


First Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10

If not us, then who? If not now, when? We hear this familiar call to mission echoed through Sunday’s readings, beginning with Jeremiah, one of the great prophets of the Hebrew Bible.

Jesus ejected from the synagogue. Ancient French painting, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague. (Click image to enlarge.)

Jeremiah foresaw destruction and exile for Jerusalem because the people had forgotten their covenant to follow God’s way. But like most of the prophets, Jeremiah was not eager for his role. Jeremiah thought he was too young for such a chore. “I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy,” Jeremiah said in response to God’s call. But God, reminding Jeremiah that God had consecrated him as a prophet before he was born, gave strength to Jeremiah’s spirit and sent him out with the words and the authority to warn his people.

Psalm: Psalm 71:1-6

The Psalmist sings in harmony with God’s message to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” In the Psalm, too, we sing gratitude to God who sustains us and who has been our strength since before we were born, since we were carried in our mother’s womb. We sing only the first seven of the entire Psalm’s 24 verses on Sunday, but the message of this Psalm is consistent throughout: God is our rock and refuge. We sing thanksgiving for God’s presence and protection. Our trust in God’s strength gives us hope.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Now we hear Paul’s beloved celebration of love, a passage that the Book of Common Prayer suggests for use in weddings. Paul is not speaking of romantic love here, of course; the Greek word “agape” represents a gentle but powerful selfless love. Agape binds us all as worshipers in Christian community. Agape gives us the strength to carry out God’s work together. These words complete the readings that came before it in the previous two Sundays, in which Paul spoke of the way that God gives us all different gifts and calls us to different duties. We all work together like the parts of the body; each is important and all are necessary. Now we learn that love is the glue that holds the community together: Faith, hope and love abide, but love is the most important of all.

Gospel: Luke 4:21-30

Last Sunday we heard Jesus impressing his neighbors in the synagogue at Nazareth, declaring that he had come to fulfill Isaiah’s call to bring good news to the poor. Today, in Luke’s account, Jesus pushes them a little too far. First, he predicts that they will reject him because they knew him when he was a child: “No prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.” Then he indicates that his good news might be for all the poor, not just the poor who are our friends and neighbors and part of our community: He reminds them of two Hebrew Bible stories in which God’s grace was given to Gentiles. At this they rise up, drive him out of town and threaten to throw him off a cliff. But Jesus slips away from his captors and goes back to Capernaum in Galilee to continue his work.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 23, 2022 (Epiphany 3C)

First Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Torah – The body of God’s teaching, so holy and beloved that it is understood as law – informs our Sunday readings.

Christ in the Synagogue at Nazareth (1658), oil painting on canvas by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674). National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. (Click image to enlarge.)

We begin with a reading from the minor prophet Nehemiah, who tells of the scribe Ezra reading the Torah to the people of Jerusalem, now settled back at home after the exile and regaining familiarity with the written tradition. It is clearly a holy moment when Ezra opens the Torah scroll and spends the entire morning reading and interpreting the text. The people, understanding the text perhaps for the first time, weep with joy at the revelation.

Psalm: Psalm 19

Today’s Psalm sings the praises of Torah, not as harsh legislation but nurturing teaching that inspires us. A hymn of worship and praise, this Psalm first celebrates God’s glory and creation, then rejoices in the Torah. God’s teaching revives our souls, turns our innocence into wisdom, makes our hearts leap up and our eyes sparkle, the Psalmist sings. We gain enlightenment from God’s teaching; in following its precepts there is great reward.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Last Sunday, in the verses just before these, we heard Paul declare that each member of the church receives different spiritual gifts. Now Paul continues this theme with a striking metaphor: He likens the church to Christ’s body in the world. Every member of the church – like every bodily part – plays a different but important role. The foot, the ear, the hand, the eye: Each has its job, each is critical to the body’s operation, and all are important. Just as this is true for the body, Paul says, so it is for the church.

Gospel: Luke 4:14-21

Returning home from his baptism in the Jordan and his time in the desert, Jesus begins his public ministry according to Luke in the synagogue in his childhood home in Nazareth. Unrolling the Torah scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus reads verses that will define his mission, ideas that echo his mother’s song and God’s covenant with the people at Sinai. This scripture is fulfilled in him, he declares. He claims as his own the duty to bring good news to the poor and the oppressed and to declare the year of Jubilee in which slaves are freed and debts are forgiven.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 16, 2022 (Epiphany 2C)

First Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5

In Sunday’s first reading, the people have returned from exile to Jerusalem, site of Mount Zion where the temple had stood. Now the joyous celebration of return is over now, and the people recognize that a long, hard time of rebuilding lies ahead.

Detail from The Marriage at Cana (1571-1572), oil painting on canvas by Paolo Veronese (1528-1588). Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany. (Click image to enlarge.)

“I will not keep silent … I will not rest,” pledges the prophet, promising to continue calling on God’s help until the temple and the city are rebuilt. God delights in the people and the land, the prophet says. like a bridegroom and will bring the people joy. Then, in Sunday’s Gospel we will hear another story of God blessing a new marriage – in a wedding feast at Cana.

Psalm: Psalm 36:5-10

We drop into the middle of Psalm 36 to hear the Psalmist celebrating God’s love. These trusting verses compare God’s faithful righteousness to the lasting, immovable strength of the mountains and the deep seas. God’s love is so broad that it extends to all humanity and to all animal life, we sing. God gives us shelter, abundant food and drink. God’s priceless love shows us a perfect model that can serve us well as we, in our small, imperfect ways, seek to build good relationships in our lives.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

The Christian community at Corinth, in Greece, probably consisted of fewer than 100 people, about the size of an average Episcopal church; but it had plenty of issues with differences of opinion, arguments and even cliques that called for Paul’s pastoral touch in this letter sent to them from far away. Through the rest of the Sundays after Epiphany we will read from three particularly beautiful chapters in this letter. This Sunday and next week we’ll hear Paul’s poetic thoughts about the people of God as Christ’s body, with each member of the church enjoying certain gifts and being responsible for particular duties, much as each part of our bodies has its own function.

Gospel: John 2:1-11


The miracle of water turned into wine at the wedding feast at Cana is surely one of the most beloved of the Gospel stories. But why do we hear it during Epiphany? As we go through the season, we will hear a series of “epiphanies” in which Jesus is revealed to the people of the world. Here, called on to sustain the joy of the wedding party by providing new wine, Jesus objects at first that it is not yet “his time.” But his mother won’t take no for an answer, and his newly gathered disciples are amazed at his glory and believe in him.