Author Archives: Robin Garr

Epiphany 6A

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014

Moses, in old age, sees the Promised Land from Mount Pisgah.

Moses, in old age, sees the Promised Land from Mount Pisgah.

First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
On the banks of the Jordan as the people prepare to cross into the promised land, Moses preaches the core of Old Testament teaching: Follow God’s commandments, and you will inherit the land. Defy God’s wishes, and you will lose the land and die. From Sinai to the Jordan, he people have repeatedly heard this covenant: Be righteous, be just. Care for the poor and the weak; the widow, the orphan and the stranger. And when the people fail, the prophets will rise up to remind them of God’s promise, which will play out in the loss of the land, the destruction of the Temple, and exile.

Alternate First Reading: Sirach 15:15-20
We rarely hear readings from Sirach, one of the “deuterocanonical” books (also known as Apocrypha) that come at the end of the Old Testament. Called “The Wisdom of Jesus, ben (Son of) Sirach” in the original Greek, Sirach took the Latin name “Ecclesiasticus” after the Emperor Constantine. It sums up God’s teaching (“Torah”) in the genre of wisdom literature: brisk, memorable advice akin to the Book of Proverbs. Today’s reading reminds us that we are given free will. God does not force us to keep God’s commandments – we may choose either fire or water – but God is all-knowing and wise and does not wish us to sin.

Psalm: Psalm 119:1-8

Today we hear only the first eight verses of this, the longest of the Psalms. But its central message, reinforcing the covenantal agreement that we heard in Deuteronomy, remains consistent through all 176 verses: God’s laws are wonderful, and those who follow that teaching and walk in God’s ways will be rewarded. The Psalmist calls on God to keep him steadfast in following God’s teaching.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
We continue working through the opening chapters of First Corinthians this week, listening in as Paul writes pastorally to a bickering church that has split into factions. Last week it might have sounded as if Paul was praising the Corinthians for a spiritual maturity that enabled them to understand the ways of God that aren’t so clear to those less mature. But no! Paul makes it clear that the Christians of Corinth have a long way to go. Their quarreling factions show that they aren’t ready for spiritual food, Paul warns, adding that we are all God’s servants. When we work together, God uses us to build and grow.

Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37

The Sermon on the Mount, which takes up three full chapters in Matthew’s Gospel, is all about discipleship, the hard work of following Jesus. In today’s passage, Jesus takes three commandments that we think we know, and reinterprets them in radical new ways. It’s not just “Do not kill” but do no harm; even respond to your enemies in peace! Do not commit adultery? No, treat women with respect! Do not bear false witness? No, do more: Be honest, be true, say exactly what you mean!

Epiphany 5A

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014

Sermon on the Mount

Sermon on the Mount window in Shrewsbury Cathedral, England.

First Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12
Two important ideas run through today’s readings: Righteousness and light. “Righteous,” in biblical understanding, may not mean quite what we think it does in modern times. It speaks of God’s call to God’s people to practice justice, as Isaiah insists and as Jesus, too, asks of us, by going beyond mere fasting and ritual practice to stand against oppression, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked. Righteousness heals our souls and lights up our lives, as the light of Epiphany that shines in the deep winter darkness will illuminate the way of our God.

Psalm: Psalm 112
Today’s Psalm, titled “Blessings of the Righteous,” echoes the Prophet Isaiah’s call: The righteousness of those who follow God and delight in God’s commandments will endure forever. Those who are gracious and merciful, who deal with others generously and act with justice, will “rise in the darkness as a light for the upright.” By living justly, we become an example for others and show the way to God.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
Paul continues his pastoral guidance for the quarreling community at Corinth, turning their thoughts toward humility as he reminds them that, although following the crucified Jesus in weakness and fear may make us appear “foolish” in the eyes of the world, we actually share God’s hidden and secret wisdom; the Holy Spirit will give us new life through the mind of Christ.

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20
Today’s Gospel picks up in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, just after Jesus has given the crowd the Beatitudes, promising God’s kingdom to the poor, the hungry, the thirsty; those who mourn, the meek; the humble, and all who are persecuted and oppressed. You, God’s people, are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, Jesus tells the crowd; and with that comes the responsibility to let the world see God through your good works. Jesus says he has not come to change God’s law that calls us to righteousness: Love God, and love our neighbors as ourselves. But in fulfilling the law, Jesus will show us new ways, as he goes on to do on the next pages of this great Sermon: “You have heard that it was said … but I tell you …” That which was old becomes new again in Jesus.

Epiphany 4A

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014

Sermon on the Mount

Sermon on the Mount, from L’histoire dv Vieux et dv Nouveau Testament, Nicolas Fontaine, 1625-1709.

First Reading: Micah 6:1-8
The prophet Micah imagines humanity standing before God as a defendant in a trial, pleading our case before the almighty Judge. God “has a controversy with us,” the prophet warns. God has done so much for us since bringing the people out of Egypt to the promised land. How are we to respond? Not with burnt offering or sacrifice, but, in Micah’s memorable terms, simply by doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God.

Psalm: Psalm 15
Historically, bible scholars believe, this short Psalm may depict ancient Temple liturgy and practice, questions to be asked and answered as the priests led the people in procession up to the doors. Who may enter? those who do right, speak truth, don’t slander or reproach and do no evil. These are rules to live by in any age. Surely there are echoes of Micah in, “Walk blamelessly, do what is right, and speak the truth from [your] heart.”

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Paul, continuing his lecture to the quarreling factions in the church at Corinth, repeats the verse that concluded last Sunday’s reading: Jesus’ death on the cross – a horrific form of execution reserved by Rome for the worst criminals – “is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Yet God chose this way to celebrate the weak, the poor and the despised and to shame the powerful and the strong through Jesus, who gives us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
Ah, the Beatitudes! Jesus’s loving verses in the Sermon on the Mount are central to Christian thinking, so much so that it is easy to hear them with more affection than deep reflection. But beatitudes – a Scriptural genre found also in Psalms and Proverbs – reward deeper thought. In eight quick phrases, Jesus turns the world upside down: The poor are blessed, not the rich. Mourners, the meek, the hungry; the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the oppressed win God’s blessing. This should come as no surprise to those who follow Jesus: “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”

The Presentation of our Lord

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014

Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, Master of the Cini Madonna, Rimini, 14th century.

Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, Master of the Cini Madonna, Rimini, 14th century.

First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4
“Who can endure the day of his coming?” “He is like a refiner’s fire!” If you love Handel’s “Messiah,” you may feel like singing along with the Prophet Malachi. The prophet, writing after the people’s return from exile, isn’t happy. He calls on God to cleanse the rebuilt temple with fire and to send a messenger to keep it clean. Christians, seeing an image of Christ in the ancient prophecy, imagine a more generous Messenger, who purifies us and makes us pleasing to God.

Psalm: Psalm 84
When we read this Psalm during Christmastide, we heard it as a hymn of joy in knowing that God will provide protection, favor and honor to those who trust in God. Now reflect on the details: As God provides nests for the small birds, so will God provide for us. As God provides pools of water for thirsty travelers, so will God hear our prayers.

Second Reading: Hebrews 2:14-18
Hebrews was written for Jewish Christians who were undergoing frightening persecution, causing many to abandon their new faith. Hebrews stands strong in its call for perseverance. It names Jesus as Son of God and great high priest, God who became fully human like us and overcame death through his sacrifice. The early church, scholars believe, did not understand this sacrifice as tribute demanded by an angry God. That idea came only centuries later. Rather, it joyfully saw Jesus’s sacrifice as freeing us from death, so the old Temple’s sacrificial rites were no longer needed.

Gospel: Luke 2:22-40
Today’s readings celebrate Joseph and Mary presenting baby Jesus in the Temple, sacrificing a pair of birds to fulfill the Jewish practice that the author of Hebrews would later declare superseded. Simeon, a very old man who had heard God’s promise that he would meet the Messiah before he died, joyfully takes the baby, blesses Jesus and his family, and utters the verses that we know as the Nunc Dimittis, the Song of Simeon: “Lord, you now have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised; For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see …”

Epiphany 3A

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014

The Calling of Peter And Andrew

The Calling of Peter And Andrew, Caravaggio, 1590.

First Reading: Isaiah 9:1-4
Swirling snow and bitter chill remind us that this is January, the darkest month of the year. Yet Epiphany draws us to the light of hope that calls us to join Jesus in “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.” That gracious light shines through today’s readings. In this first reading, the Prophet Isaiah still promises, despite hard times when the northern lands of Zebulon and Naphtali have fallen to the Assyrians and the nation’s fate is in doubt, that God’s light will banish the darkness. In word’s familiar from Handel’s Messiah, he foretells a world of bounty and joy.

Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 5-13
God indeed is our light, the Psalmist exults, and our stronghold and our salvation, so there is nothing to fear. This is not just a happy-clappy song, though. The verses remind us that bad things can happen even in the lives of God’s people. The people face adversaries, armies of enemies; sometimes it even feels as if their own parents have turned against them. But we pray that God will hear us, love us, protect us and keep us safe.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Last week we heard Paul greeting the church at Corinth with fondness. Now he gets to the point: He has learned that this small church is falling into disunity, quarreling over doctrinal issues and leadership. Remember that baptism brings us together in unity in Christ, Paul reminds them. Our belief in the Resurrection and salvation through Christ may sound like “foolishness” to those who haven’t found Christ, but it saves us through God’s power.

Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23
Quoting Isaiah to name Jesus as fulfillment of Messianic prophecy, Matthew presents a fascinating narrative of Jesus, grieving the murder of his cousin John, moving from his home in Nazareth to Capernaum, a larger city on the shore in Galilee, the old Northern Kingdom of Zebulon and Naphtali. There Jesus begins his public life, preaching in the same words as John: “‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Jesus calls four fishermen who eagerly drop their nets and follow as he preaches, teaches, cures and heals. But how do we think James’ and John’s father Zebedee felt about being left behind with the nets? The gospels often warn us that following Jesus may require leaving everything else behind.

Epiphany 2A

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014

Russian icon of the Prophet Isaiah, 18th century (iconostasis of Transfiguration Church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia)

Russian icon of the Prophet Isaiah.

First Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7
On the second Sunday after the Epiphany, the Gospel gives us another perspective on the baptism of Jesus, this one from the Gospel according to John. First, though, our Old Testament reading tells us more about Isaiah’s vision of the Suffering Servant, a figure that the prophet understood as God’s savior coming to lead the the people back to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile. But Christians can’t help imagining Jesus in the prophet’s words, a servant, once despised, who rises up and extends God’s saving power to all the nations, to the ends of the Earth.

Psalm: Psalm 40
Like the people waiting in ancient exile for their servant savior, the Psalmist waits with patience and faith for God to act. Although surrounded by too many evils to count and blinded by iniquities until his heart fails, the Psalmist remains firm in the hope that God’s faithful, steadfast love will eventually bring mercy, deliverance and safety.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
In these opening verses of his first letter to the people of Corinth, a major Greek trading and seafaring city. Paul’s friendly greetings give us insight into the letter that follows. The congregation in Corinth probably wasn’t large, but it was divided into quarreling factions, each with its own ideas about Christian practice. Faith in Christ has already given them gifts that have made them strong, Paul reminds the people of the church, urging them to stay strong and to remain blameless as they await the day of Christ’s coming.

Gospel: John 1:29-42
Last week in Matthew’s account of the baptism of Jesus, we heard John the Baptist ask why Jesus shouldn’t be baptizing him. Today, John’s gospel takes another approach to this sticky question: why would Jesus need to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins? John’s answer is simple: John, baptizing in hope that the Lamb of God would be revealed, saw the Spirit coming down to Jesus, showing that Jesus is the Son of God. Then the first disciples recognize Jesus as the Messiah and start to follow him.

Epiphany 1A/Baptism of Our Lord

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014

The baptism of Jesus, Russian icon, 1430-1440; the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.

The baptism of Jesus, Russian icon, 1430-1440

First Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9
The book of Isaiah actually incorporates the work of three separate prophets, modern Bible scholars tell us. The First Isaiah warned of the loss of Jerusalem and the Temple and exile in Babylon if the people didn’t follow their covenant and walk in God’s ways. In today’s reading we come to Second Isaiah. The dire predictions of First Isaiah have come to pass, and the prophet reminds the exiled community of God’s call for justice and righteousness. There is still hope – God is always with us and will send God’s servant to lead us – but God’s covenant must be fulfilled with all the nations.

Psalm: Psalm 29
Whether we huddle in the basement, listening to the radio for news, or venture out onto the porch to watch in fearful awe, we all surely know how it feels to live through a powerful thunderstorm. Lightning flames like fire. Thunder shakes everything. Giant oak trees seem to whirl, and large limbs come crashing down. We may sense God’s power in the frightening storm, but we also feel the comfort that comes with knowing God’s protection and peace.

Second Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Peter, alive with the Holy Spirit, tells the Roman centurion Cornelius, an early Gentile Christian, that God’s message through Jesus is for everyone and every nation. God’s generous gift of grace to all, without partiality, surely reflects God’s righteousness to all the nations expressed in today’s Isaiah reading. As Peter so firmly states, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17
All four Gospels tell of Jesus coming to John the Baptist, who was baptizing crowds in the Jordan River for “repentance and the forgiveness of sins.” But then we have to wonder: Why would Jesus need to repent or be baptized? The Gospels show John pointing out that Jesus should be baptizing him, not the other way around. But Jesus insists, and John agrees. And then we see a vision of the Trinity on Jordan’s bank as Jesus, the Son, comes up from the water to see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, while the Creator God’s booming voice declares Jesus as the beloved son.

Christmas 2

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014

One of the earliest known depictions of the Magi, from a 3rd-century sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum.

One of the earliest known depictions of the Magi, from a 3rd-century sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum.


First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-14
Sunday is the Twelfth Day of Christmas! Wish your friends a very Merry Christmas one more time before we move on through Epiphany toward Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week and Easter. In today’s first reading, we hear the Prophet Jeremiah in exile, dreaming of a beautiful future day when the people have returned to Jerusalem and are revived as a great nation, filled with prosperity; singing, dancing and feasting with joy. Centuries later, the evangelist Matthew will look back and interpret Jeremiah’s prophecies as promises of the resurrected Christ as Messiah.

Psalm: Psalm 84
Today’s Psalm echoes Jeremiah in its lyrical hope to find joy in God, urging the people to worship and pray for God’s favor, trusting that God will welcome the people home and will offer protection, favor and honor to those who trust in God.

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a
Paul reflects today’s previous readings as he offers generous, expansive praise in the opening pages of his letter to the people of Ephesus, then a Greek city on what is now Turkey’s Aegean shore. Paul praises the Ephesians for their faith in Jesus and reminds them – and us – that knowing and trusting God through Jesus opens us up to hope in God and the glorious riches of God’s grace.

Gospel: Matthew 2:13-23
This is a hard reading to ponder during the joy of Christmastide; and we haven’t made it easier for you: We’ve chosen to retain the optional, horrifying verses about Herod’s slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem. This bloody event may not be historical, as neither Flavius Josephus nor other historians of the era mention it. But the terrible story, which evokes Moses and Pharaoh and the Exodus and provides Matthew a firm link between Jesus and Old Testament prophecy, also frames an important reality: Jesus’s call to bring in the Kingdom of God by delivering good news to the poor and the oppressed will not always be received with joy and approval. There is risk in following Jesus, yet we must do it all the same.

Gospel (Alternate Reading): Matthew 2:1-12
The Gospel gives us a preview of the feast of the Epiphany tomorrow, as we hear Matthew’s account of the wise men from the East (“Magi,” or literally “magicians” in the original Greek). Matthew tells the fascinating tale of astrologers summoned to the infant Messiah by a shining star; verses from the prophet Micah that seemed to foretell the future king’s birthplace in Bethlehem, and a suspicious, sneaky King Herod who plots to use the Magi to track down the baby. (You’ll notice that the Magi found the holy family in a house, not a manger … it is only Luke’s Nativity story, not Matthew’s, that places them with the shepherds, cattle and sheep.)

Christmas 1

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Dec. 29, 2013

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

First Reading: Isaiah 61:10-62:3
The Twelve Days of Christmas continue from Christmas through Epiphany. Still, it’s hard to resist the feeling that Christmas is past. We’ll return to work Monday, if we aren’t back already; soon we’ll pack the colorful lights, the Christmas gift boxes and the holiday CDs. Today’s reading, from near the end of Isaiah, finds the people getting back to work too. Returned to Jerusalem after years in exile, they rejoice in God’s righteousness as they face the hard work of rebuilding.

Psalm: Psalm 147
One of the half-dozen great songs of joy that conclude the book of Psalms, this memorable hymn begins with a mighty “Praise the Lord,” a shout of exultation that the ancient Hebrews sang as “Hallelu-Yah!” We praise the Lord who is near, who heals our hearts and binds our wounds; and we praise the mighty far-off God of all creation, Lord of stars and clouds, winds and waters, rain and the growing grass and all the animals and all of us, too. Praise the Lord!

Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-25;4:4-7
Our faith opens a world of grace and joy to us, Paul tells the Christians of Galatia, a group of Gentile churches in central Turkey. These words of Paul are said to have been strongly influential on Martin Luther, who relied on them in working out his theology of faith and works. But Paul doesn’t stop there! The beautiful, hope-giving verses that follow offer God’s Christmas gift to all humankind and claim us as adopted children and heirs of God through our sisterhood and brotherhood with Jesus.

Gospel: John 1:1-18
These spiritual and poetic words that begin the Gospel of John are so familiar that we may hear them without deep thought. But let’s stop to pay attention: Surely John had the creation story from Genesis in mind when he began with the very same words, “In the beginning.” Then he goes on to place Jesus, the Word, at the moment of creation, when God uttered the creative Word, “Let there be light.” He defines John the Baptist as the witness to Jesus’ divinity, and he echoes Paul’s point about Moses giving the Law while Jesus gives grace. Let’s reflect on this in the Christmas glow of knowing Christ as the Incarnate Word, the son of God.

Advent 4A

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Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013

The Apparition of the Angel to St. Joseph

The Apparition of the Angel to St. Joseph

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16
The joy of Christmas is drawing near, but we still have another week of Advent to reflect on the Incarnation, God becoming human in Jesus, the Messiah. Isaiah foresaw the Messiah as a good king, the successor to King David. He spoke of current times when he warned King Ahaz that by the time the child was weaned (“eating curds and honey”), the king’s land would be conquered. Christians would later look back and see Jesus in Isaiah’s prophecy about a child named Immanuel (“God with us”) born to a “young woman,” the Hebrew word​ “almah,​”​ which the Greek Old Testament that the Evangelists knew would later translate as​ “parthenos” or “virgin.”

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
A Psalm of lament over Israel’s exile, this song, too, expresses hope that God will free the people and come with power to restore the kingdom and the Covenant. Early Christians surely took hope from reading these ancient verses as speaking of Jesus, “the one at God’s right hand whom God makes strong.”

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7
The opening verses of Paul’s letters follow formal patterns set in Greco-Roman culture, like the “To whom it may concern, I hope this letter finds you well” that we might see in modern formal correspondence. Still, even these formulaic verses tell of Paul’s pastoral concerns for the Romans. Paul emphasizes that he is an apostle of Jesus, and that Jesus is the son of God, the descendant of David prophesied in Scripture – such as the Isaiah verses we read today. Paul assures Rome’s Christians that he comes in Jesus’s name to the Gentiles, who are God’s beloved, called to be saints.

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25
Now we come to the brink of Christmas! Imagine Joseph, a man of an ancient, patriarchal culture, discovering that his sweet young fiancee is pregnant, and not with his child! Who wouldn’t decide to call the whole thing off? But Joseph is righteous and prefers to end the engagement quietly, without scandal or gossip. And then an angel comes to assure Joseph that Mary is bearing God’s son. And the angel repeats Isaiah’s prophecy! “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” And then, as in an exciting movie serial, we must breathlessly wait for Christmas Day and the birth of Jesus.