In this Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary, we are reading the gospel of Matthew, but rarely will you hear the reading below from the first chapter of the genealogy of Jesus. It is full of unpronounceable and obscure names which do not make for good sermon material. * see below In the wonderful old Advent book Watch for the Light which I have been reading since 2001 the year it was published by the Plough Publishing House, Gail Godwin's entry for December 16 reminds u

Zechariah 1:7. On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo. On the tenth day of the twelfth month of the year 1966 of the Gregorian calendar in Truro Cathedral, Cornwall England, the bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev. Maurice Key, laid his hands on my head, confirming me and empowering me for service to God*, praying that God would sustain me all

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23. 27. - 39 What makes one wise? According to Mr. A. I. Google, wisdom is "the skillful, God-honoring application of truth in everyday life, starting with reverence

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. 2 Peter 3. 1 - 10 Yet again in today's reading from 2 Peter, we are warned that "the Lord will come like a thief" and in Sunday's gospel we heard the daunting prediction that "two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left." What is this Second

"This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. " 2 Peter 1. 12 - 21 In my quest to put on the Armor of Light, the reading from 2 Peter this morning reminded me of one of the wonderful ways to bring Light into the world. As he recalled the Transfiguration, Peter remembers the voice from heaven that came down on that holy mountain as he was a witness to that prophetic message. That little world "beloved" can brighten a face, a scene, a situation in so many ways.

"Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." Romans 13. 11 - 14 Yesterday I confessed that my goal this Advent is to put on the Armor of Light, and I questioned what that might look like. In a beautiful sermon I heard yesterday, I was reminded of the answer. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians we get a literal description of the Armor of Light, when the writer says: Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstan

Happy New Year! Today is Advent 1 and the first day of Year A in the Revised Common Lectionary. Always we begin again ...as someone wisely said. But what are we beginning you might say? Just a new and different way to welcome the Christ Child? What's all this talk about the Second Coming? And you can only decorate your hearth and your home so much. The Collect and our readings today give us a clue about what we are called to do in this season of Advent - a season of arrival,

Dearly Beloved, Grace and Peace to you. Give thanks Give thanks. Give thanks for the whole thing, this whole Milky Way-cradled world, this sun-held, moon-adored earth, this land and water throbbing with life, and all the swarming life therein. For the breadth of life, for plains and forests, for herds and flocks and pods and schools, for colonies and webs of living things—give thanks. For generations threaded back through centuries, for all who have borne us to this day, who

There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ Luke 23. 35-43 Christmas stuff was out before Halloween, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and yet in our gospel reading for today we have to face the gruesome story of the Crucifixion of Jesus. Luke's telling of the horrible event provokes great pain for the readers...cruelty, mockery, humiliation and torture of the Prince of Peace. It is hardly what we want to think about while we are hearing sl

You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls. Luke 21. 5 - 19 In today's gospel according to Luke, Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple, the endtime signs and the persecution of the disciples. He warns the people of false prophets who will lead them astray and "parent