Easter 2A

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, April 27, 2014

The Incredulity of St. Thomas, Caravaggio, 1602.

First Reading: Acts 2:14a,22-32

Christ is risen, and we move forward with joy into the 50 days of Eastertide. Today’s readings offer us insights into the meaning of resurrection in our lives. Throughout the Easter season, we replace our usual Old Testament reading with selections from Acts, the apostle Luke’s stories of the early church and how it grew. Listen today as Peter, touched by the Holy Spirit, declares the resurrected Christ as Messiah, fulfilling the prophecy attributed to King David in Psalm 16, and assuring us of our hope for eternal life through Jesus.

Psalm: Psalm 16

Here is the full Psalm from which Peter quoted in his sermon to the people of Jerusalem. If you’re paying close attention, you will notice that the words are similar but different here. That’s because Peter was using the Greek bible (called the Septuagint) that was standard in his time; today’s Psalm is translated from the original Hebrew bible. It can be fascinating to explore the similarities and differences, but both versions, of course, convey the same promise: God teaches us, God watches over us; God protects us, and God gives us joy and “pleasures for evermore.”

Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9

Written in Peter’s name by later followers, the two short epistles of Peter offer us fascinating glimpses into the developing ideas of Christ, resurrection and hope for salvation in the early church in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) around the end of the first century. Perhaps written to reassure a persecuted community suffering “various trials,” the author reminds us that through Christ’s resurrection and life, God offers us the joy of a lasting inheritance and salvation earned through our faith.

Gospel: John 20:19-31

The risen Jesus suddenly appears among the apostles in a locked room! He shows his rejoicing friends his wounds, then sends them into the world in peace, with the breath of the Holy Spirit, to declare the Good News. Then comes Thomas, who doubted that Jesus had truly risen until he could touch the wounds. They are real: He is no ghostly spirit! Jesus blesses those who believe through faith, reminding us that through our belief we have life in his name.

Easter Sunday A

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014

The Resurrection. Ancient Russian icon.

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:1-6
It is Easter! Jesus is risen! We shout “hallelujah,” “praise God,” as we celebrate the resurrection and its promise of victory over death. All our readings today speak of renewed life and joy. The Prophet Jeremiah, who celebrates the people’s return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, imagines a joyful scene of dance and music, and looks forward to re-planting the land in new vineyards that will bear delicious fruit.

Psalm: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
This ancient hymn sings Israel’s joyful thanks to God for victory over its enemies, and Christians have happily taken the prophetic words, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” as a foreshadowing of Jesus. These are verses that shout out the hope of an Easter people: “I shall not die, but I shall live … The Lord … did not give me over to death. … I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.”

First or Second Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Here in Acts, the evangelist Luke’s story of the early church, Peter takes the gospel for the first time to a Gentile family, preaching in the household of the centurion Cornelius. a ranking Roman army officer who, nevertheless, is described as a good man and a believer. Peter gives a quick, concise summary of the Christian way, telling how Jesus was sent by God to all humanity, was crucified but raised from the dead, and now saves us and forgives our sins in God’s name.

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
This short letter from the back pages of the New Testament, perhaps written by a follower of Paul in his name to the persecuted Christian community of Colossae in Turkey, expresses a clear understanding that just as Jesus was “raised” from the dead, so are we connected in baptism and “raised” through life in Christ. Note well that the message of Colossians is not about a future life after a second coming, but a promise that Christ is raised in us and we in Christ in the church in the here and now.

Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10
Just as multiple witnesses to any amazing event will recall the details in slightly different ways, each of the four evangelists remembers the story of Jesus’ friends finding the empty tomb with different details. Only in Matthew’s version do the women, Mary Magdalene and Mary, come to the tomb, find it empty, meet an angel in white and then encounter the risen Christ, who sends them to the other disciples with the good news. The other Gospels show them frightened, uncertain, running away in fear or running back to get the men. Only in this Gospel do the women do it all, in fear and great joy.

Palm / Passion Sunday A

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, April 13, 2014

Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey.

Procession: Liturgy of the Palms A

Psalm: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
As we celebrate Palm Sunday, recalling Jesus’ traditional entry into Jerusalem before a cheering crowd, these verses from Psalm 118 portray another festive procession in honor of our Lord and God; in familiar words we celebrate “the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11
Matthew tells of Jesus’s triumphal procession into the city, complete with the odd image of Jesus riding two animals at once, recalling Zechariah’s prophecy that Israel’s shepherd-king would come, “mounted on a donkey, and on a colt.” It is an exciting time: Crowds surround Jesus, and he has warned the disciples that he will be mocked, flogged and crucified. Soon he will anger the authorities again when he drives the money-changers out of the temple, as the narrative leads inexorably to his passion and death on the cross.

Liturgy of the Passion A

First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a
This song of the Prophet Isaiah is called “the suffering servant.” Written about the people in exile in Babylon, it looks forward to a servant leader who will guide them back home to Jerusalem. Christian readers can hardly encounter these verses, though, without thinking of Jesus, our messiah and king, who suffered for us and who taught us to give our backs and turn our cheeks to those who strike us.

Psalm: Psalm 31:9-16
Suffering continues in this Psalm of lament, as the Psalmist recites a litany of sorrow, distress, grief, sighing, misery, scorn, horror, dread and more. He suffers, his neighbors scheme; they plot his death. Yet amid all this misery, hope glows like the sun breaking through clouds: Trust in God, place our faith in God’s love, and wait to be saved.

Second Reading: Philippians 2:5-11
Might Paul have had Isaiah’s “suffering servant” in mind as he wrote of Jesus’ death on the cross? We understand Jesus as both fully human and fully divine, yet he was willing to set aside his divinity – “emptying himself” – to bear the horrific pain of crucifixion as a vulnerable, frightened human. Jesus took on the full weight of all that suffering to show us the true exaltation of God’s love, calling us only to respond with love for God and our neighbor.

Gospel: Matthew 26:14 – 27:66
There’s a lot packed into this long Gospel, from the Last Supper to the crucifixion; but let’s focus for a moment on just one point: When Jesus warned the apostles that one of them would betray him, they all fretted. Every one wondered if he could turn traitor. One after another they asked, ‘Surely not I, Lord?” No matter how much we think we love, deep inside we worry. Like the apostles, we all know we are human, frail and weak. Yet Jesus, taking up the cross for our sake, loves us all the same.

Lent 5A

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, April 6, 2014

Jesus raises Lazarus. Sixth Century mosaic from Ravenna, Italy.

First Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14
As Holy Week and Easter draw near, this week’s readings begin to tantalize our spirits with promises of victory over death through resurrection. Listen to the poetry of the Prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones, an eerie and frightening sight. Was this the scene of a battle? A massacre? Through God’s power the dry bones are restored to life; God’s promise of resurrection offers us hope of eternal life.

Psalm: Psalm 130
This Psalm may be most familiar for its use, under the Latin title “De Profundis” (“out of the depths”), as one of the Psalms recommended for the burial of the dead in the Book of Common Prayer. It reminds us that in times of grief, pain and despair, we wait in hope for God’s love and grace. Even in death we await the resurrection, as in night’s darkest hours we wait for morning light.

Second Reading: Romans 8:6-11
This reading offers just a glimpse of Paul’s extended examination of the distinctions between flesh and spirit. All of us – even Jesus, as fully human – live embodied lives. But Jesus’s life, death and resurrection have given us a new reality: When we accept God’s spirit within us through Jesus, we gain the hope of life, peace and resurrection.

Gospel: John 11:1-45
Jesus’ dear friends, Mary and Martha, devastated by the death of their brother Lazarus, each confront him in turn with the words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” To bold, brash Martha, Jesus offers the promise, “I am the resurrection and the life. … everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” When he sees quiet Mary crying, though, Jesus simply weeps. And then he calls Lazarus back from death. But there’s more to this story. Jesus thanks God that the amazed crowd that witnessed Lazarus rising will now believe that Jesus is the Messiah. But, in the verses that follow today’s reading, things take an ominous turn: The temple authorities, fearful about the uproar that Jesus is causing, decide that he has to die.

Lent 4A

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, March 30, 2014

Jesus opens the eyes of the man born blind

First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
God is no longer satisfied with King Saul, so Samuel, prophet and judge, gets orders to find the new king that God has chosen. It takes a while for him to work his way down to David, a handsome lad but the youngest of Jesse’s sons, so far down Samuel’s list that he had been left out in the fields to watch the sheep. Christians celebrate this story because prophets foretold that the Messiah would come in David’s line. But it also offers us a simple lesson for our daily lives: “Don’t judge a book by its cover. Look inside and learn.”

Psalm: Psalm 23 
Who doesn’t know and love the 23rd Psalm? It brings comfort in time of trouble and trial, reminding us that in our darkest hours and most threatening times, God walks with us, protects us and comforts us. Ancient tradition held that David himself wrote these verses. Most modern scholars doubt that. But kings and commoners alike can take joy from knowing that God’s rod and staff comfort us, and God’s goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives.

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
This short letter, probably written in Paul’s name a generation or more after his death, contains some problems for modern Christians who take it out of its historical and cultural context. It appears to sanction slavery, for example, and it firmly puts women in their place as “subject” to their husbands. Today’s short reading, however, offers a poetic view of light against darkness, perhaps echoing John’s vision of Jesus as the light shining in the darkness, and pointing us toward today’s Gospel about the man born blind.

Gospel: John 9:1-41
Speaking of harsh ideas that linger from ancient times, the sad notion that blindness and other disabilities reflect God’s punishment for one’s sins or the sins of one’s parents has been hard to overcome, despite Jesus’ emphasis that God does no such thing. Rather, the very words that the man born blind utters upon his healing make the case for grace, not punishment, as we hear them in one of Christianity’s most beloved hymns: “I once was lost, but now am found … Was blind, but now I see.”

Lent 3A

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, March 23, 2014

Jesus and the woman at the well. Ancient mosaic at Ravenna, Italy.

First Reading: Exodus 17:1-7
This week’s readings focus our thoughts on water and food … and a bit of gratitude. We hunger and thirst for sustenance, and we hunger and thirst for righteousness and justice. When we face basic needs of hunger and thirst, though, it’s all too easy to forget to be grateful for past blessings. In the previous chapter of Exodus, God provided manna for the hungry people. Now they are angry because they have no water, complaining that they were better off in slavery in Egypt than dying in the desert. Moses is about out of patience with them, but God provides.

Psalm: Psalm 95
Today’s Psalm begins with a surprisingly joyous tone for the penitential weeks of Lent, but the joyful noise of praise for God changes key abruptly in Verse 8 when the Psalmist reminds us of the story we heard in today’s Exodus reading. The thirsty, angry people turned their hearts from God and put God to the test; the Psalmist imagines that these actions drove God to “loathe” these ungrateful people and leave them lost 40 years in the desert. We might prefer to envision a more loving and forgiving God, but the Psalmist’s opinion is clear.

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-11
Even though we are sinners, we are justified through faith and saved through Jesus’s death on the cross, Paul writes to the people of Rome. But, in language that hints at the modern notion, “no pain, no gain,” he suggests that just as Jesus suffered and died, we mustn’t expect an easy road as we hunger and thirst for God’s grace.

Gospel: John 4:5-42
Jesus, like the people in the desert, was tired and thirsty after a long journey. He struck up a conversation with a Samaritan woman, asking her for a drink. These actions surprised her, as Jewish men of the era weren’t likely to engage with women or Samaritans. Then his conversation surprised her even more, as he promised her the unending “living water” of God’s spirit, foretold an end to the differences between their people, and declared himself the Messiah.

Lent 2A

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, March 16, 2014

Nicodemus visiting Jesus at night.

First Reading: Genesis 12:1-4a
Last week as Lent began we contemplated temptation in our lives. Now in the second week of Lent our lectionary readings turn to faith: Trust in God. Close your eyes, believe, and take that long leap of faith. In our first reading, we hear the ancestral story of Abram – who would become Abraham – the patriarch of the chosen people, who even in the fullness of years trusted God’s call to uproot his home and family and move out toward the people’s eventual arrival in the promised land.

Psalm: Psalm 121
This short Psalm, a “song of ascents” that was probably originally sung in procession as the people and priests moved up toward the Temple, continues the idea of faith and trust in God to watch over us and protect us. We sing our thanks and praise to God, who unfailingly, without pausing to sleep, guards us and protects us from evil, now and forever.

Second Reading: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Paul’s pastoral letter to the people in Rome draws us back to Abraham, turning the ancestral story to a new purpose: While Abraham was the ancestor of the chosen people in the flesh, through generations passed down from parent to child not only to Israel but to many nations, God’s promise of eternal life comes to us, as it came to Abraham, through faith by grace.

Gospel: John 3:1-17
Poor Nicodemus just couldn’t get his mind around the idea of being “born again,” a term that, confusingly, in the original Greek word “anothen” might mean “anew,” “again,” “from above,” “in the future,” or even all of those. Nicodemus, in an exchange that the author of John might have intended to draw chuckles from believers, couldn’t figure how a grown person could creep back into the mother’s body to be re-born. But Jesus understood that there is no contradiction between being born of the flesh as an infant and being “born again,” or, for that matter, “born from above,” not in the flesh but through faith and the Spirit.

Lent 1A

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, March 9, 2014

The temptation of Jesus as envisioned by an African artist.

First Reading: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
This week’s readings open the Lenten season with scriptural views of temptation and sin. In the creation legend, Eve and Adam give in to temptation and eat the fruit that God had told them not to touch. Not even God’s warning that the fruit would bring death was strong enough to block the overpowering temptation that came with the crafty serpent’s promise that they would gain Godlike knowledge of good and evil. Temptation is powerful; and so is the shame that comes with realizing that we have distorted our relationship with God and each other, a loss of loving connection that we know as sin.

Psalm: Psalm 32
Many of the Psalms celebrate the joy of loving God and living in God’s way. This Psalm in particular makes this point with an unusual twist: It exalts the joy, relief and “glad cries of deliverance” that erupt from our souls when we accept God’s sure forgiveness. Indeed God’s steadfast love surrounds all of us who trust enough to acknowledge our wrongdoing, confess our transgressions and accept God’s loving deliverance from the pain and guilt of separating ourselves from God through sin.

Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19
Offering pastoral guidance to the people of the ancient church in Rome in its struggle with human relationships, Paul sketches a direct connection between the sin of Adam (curiously, he doesn’t mention Eve) and the divinity of Jesus Christ, the son of God. If Adam’s yielding to the temptation of the fruit brought death into the world, as the Genesis verses foretell, then Jesus’ incarnation as one of us restores justification and life for all through God’s free gift of grace.

Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
These verses come immediately after Jesus’ baptism, where he heard the voice of God declaring him God’s beloved Son. Now Jesus goes into the wilderness. To meditate and pray? Wait! What’s this? The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? That’s not the way most of us remember this Gospel story! The devil – not a scary red horned creature but something more like the “Adversary” who tested Job’s faith in the Old Testament story – tries to test Jesus, tempting him three times to perform miracles to help himself. But Jesus shows that he is Son of God, standing strong against temptation.

Last Epiphany A/Transfiguration

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, March 2, 2014

Moses receives the Law and the Commandment.

First Reading: Exodus 24:12-18
Transfiguration Sunday marks the liturgical midway point between Christmas and Easter. Now we turn from the incarnate light of Epiphany toward the penitential pathway of Lent that leads toward the crucifixion and then the joy of the resurrection. Today’s readings show us the awe and fear of humans encountering the divine. Exodus describes Moses going up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from a fearsome God cloaked in clouds and fire. This scene is a surprising contrast with the verses that came just before, in which Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the people apparently dine and drink with a more accessible divine being. In our quest for God, humans have always wrestled with the contrasting ideas of an intimate God who knows our deepest thoughts, and a transcendent God who surpasses human understanding.

Psalm: Psalm 99
This hymn of praise envisions God as a mighty king, at whose appearance the people tremble and the earth shakes. Yet, recalling Moses and Aaron receiving God’s law and teaching, it also shows us God as forgiving and kind, a doer of justice, equity and righteousness. Again the people look for God and find both distant might and present love.

Second Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-21
Here’s something to know about the New Testament’s Letters of Peter: The Apostle Peter didn’t write either of them, and this one was probably written 100 years or more after the Crucifixion, long after Peter’s death. But that doesn’t matter! This letter may have sought to bridge quarreling factions in the young church as believers wondered why Jesus hadn’t yet kept his promise to return. Recalling Peter’s presence at the Transfiguration, it reminds us to trust in God.

Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Using images that recall Moses on the mountain and in words that precisely echo God’s approving words at Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan, this account shows us Jesus with Old Testament prophets, glowing in dazzling light, revealed as both human and divine. It’s no wonder that Peter, James and John were afraid … until Jesus’ loving touch reassured them. Jesus calls us, too, to follow his way … and not to be afraid.

Epiphany 7A

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Robin Garr

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014

Temple code sacrifices in Leviticus. (Woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld from the 1860 Die Bibel in Bildern.)

First Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18
Torah, the ancestral stories of God’s chosen people, is best translated as “teaching.” Torah tells of God’s covenant with the people, given at Mount Sinai. It teaches in detail how we are to practice righteousness and justice as we try to walk in God’s ways. Today’s reading commands us to deal justly with our neighbors. Surely this is the Torah that Jesus taught when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan: Everyone is our neighbor. We are to share our bounty with all who are poor and hungry; the foreigner, those who labor and those who struggle with disability.

Psalm: Psalm 119:33-40
We return to Psalm 119, the longest of the Psalms, for another excerpt that celebrates love for God’s teaching. Listen as the Psalmist lifts up humility and generosity, calling us to turn from selfish gain and avoid “vanities” as we follow God’s ways through life-giving righteousness. This is what Torah teaches; it is the way that Jesus urges us to live.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11,16-23
Continuing his pastoral advice to the church at Corinth, Paul uses metaphors to make his point. In last week’s reading he first likened the Corinthians to children who need milk before they are ready for solid food, then as a field to be planted and watered. He now describes the church as a building set on the strong foundation that is Jesus: We are God’s temple, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Repeating key themes from earlier verses, he reminds us that we accept that the world calls us “fools” when we accept the scandal of the Cross, and that we all belong to God, not to factions led by mere humans.

Gospel: Matthew 5:38-48
Our Gospel reading again comes from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus urges us to go beyond the old teaching to a new way, hearing God’s commandments not only as rules to live by but as new ways to understand our relationship with God and our neighbors. “An eye for an eye” was a humane practice in ancient times when “death for an eye” was the usual response. Jesus now calls us not merely to equity in justice but to radical forgiveness. Love all our neighbors, no matter what, Jesus insists, calling us to the lofty if impossible goal of emulating God’s perfection.

Illuminations

Welcome to Illuminations. We hope these brief reflections on Sunday's readings will help you prepare thoughtfully for worship.

Author Archives: Robin Garr