God Beyond All Relationships and Agendas: Exodus 24:12-18

February 24, 2014 By K. Mulhern

By Walter Brueggemann Exodus 19-24 enacts an agreement of mutual fidelity between YHWH and Israel. That covenant consists in two major parts: YHWH’s commands set the requirement of covenant in the form of the Ten Commandments (20:1-17), and Israel pledges allegiance to the covenant through obedience to YHWH’s commandments (24:3, 7). This enactment creates a relationship in which the defining dynamic is one of “command-obey,” with the understanding that Israel’s obedience will result in abundant covenantal blessing. That dynamic of... Read more

How to Be Perfect (Matthew 5:38-48)

February 17, 2014 By Odyssey Networks

By Eric D. Barreto There’s more to this year’s Olympics than sports. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Seriously, Jesus? Have you even met some of us? Have you seen the depths of our jealousies, the breadth of our greed? Have you noticed how insatiable our egos are? How deeply insecure we all are? Perfect? You cannot mean what you seem to mean. What then do we do with this seemingly impossible call? For many... Read more

A New Way of Being “Pro-Choice”

February 10, 2014 By Odyssey Networks

By Rev. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Ph.D. Ella Baker chose her own path to effecting positive change. “I knew from the beginning that as a woman, an older woman, in a group of ministers who are accustomed to having women largely as supporters, there was no place for me to come into a leadership role. The competition wasn’t worth it.” These are the words Ella Baker spoke regarding her decision to leave the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, in 1958. Baker... Read more

A Hard Word to Hear This Winter (Isaiah 58:1-9a)

February 3, 2014 By Odyssey Networks

By Barbara Lundblad Midnight Run distributes food, clothing, and toiletries to the homeless. his has been a hard winter—from Minnesota to Alabama. It’s been a very hard winter for Tanya and Red and Jamie and Andre and Adrian and Mercy. They are my neighbors here in New York City. It’s not that the heat was shut off in their apartments because they didn’t pay their bills. They have no apartments. Since last fall, they have made their beds on the... Read more

Enjoy the Super Bowl; Be Suspicious of Its Values (Matthew 5:1-12)

January 27, 2014 By Odyssey Networks

By Matthew L. Skinner Eye-opening numbers about the Super Bowl…and how they stack up against other things going on in America. If the outcome of Sunday’s Super Bowl comes down to the game’s final play, and you find yourself inclined to ask Jesus to help your favorite team win, remember: It’s quite possible he doesn’t know squat about tackle football. At least, when we read the opening sentences of his Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 5:1-12), it... Read more

Paul’s Call to Unity and Dr. King’s Legacy (1 Corinthians 1:10-17)

January 20, 2014 By Odyssey Networks

By Doug Hume Does the faith community fall short of the ideals established by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.? There is no question that our nation is currently deeply divided about a great many issues. In our effort to enshrine him, some may have lost sight that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. too addressed a nation that was divided. With all the media focus on the fiftieth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination this past fall, the fiftieth anniversary of another... Read more

An Unexpected Servant: The Leadership of Pope Francis (Isaiah 49:1-7)

January 13, 2014 By Odyssey Networks

By Lynn Huber Pope Francis signaled a new kind of Vatican leadership from the very first acts of his papacy. As the New Year brings reflection over the past year, we have heard much about Pope Francis and the ways he has surprised Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The suddenness of his predecessor’s resignation this past spring, the fact that he is the first Pope from the Americas, and his apparent commitment to his namesake St. Francis’ concern for the... Read more

Baptism, Righteousness, and the War on Poverty: A 2014 Epiphany (Matthew 3:13-17)

January 6, 2014 By Odyssey Networks

By Roger Nam Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a “war on poverty in America.” On January 8, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a landmark State of the Union address, inaugurating the War on Poverty. The speech preceded a variety of legislative actions that addressed the enormous levels of poverty of the 1960s and explicitly linked the crisis to racial and ideological tensions. Regardless of one’s own political leanings, the ideals of fairness and justice expressed within... Read more

Matthew 2:13 – 23: The Massacre of the Innocents and the Soul of the Warrior

December 23, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By Coleman Baker Soldiers across millennia have had to take actions that violate basic human morality, from Herod’s slaughter of the innocents to soldiers in the field today. As we move into the Sundays following Christmas and begin to anticipate Epiphany, we face the terror of the coming week’s Gospel reading, the Massacre (or Slaughter) of the Innocents. While there are a number of stories in the Bible that are difficult to read/hear, Herod’s murdering the innocent children of Bethlehem... Read more

#firstcenturyproblems (Matthew 1:18-25)

December 16, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

The Rev. Keith Anderson Joseph’s story of concern for his family echoes in the story of Glen, a father struggling to provide for his daughter. With just a few days to go before Christmas, many Americans will be rushing around completing their Christmas preparations: doing their last minute shopping, finalizing travel plans, figuring out how to deal with awkward family dynamics. In many cases, they will be faced with what is popularly known as #firstworldproblems—problems of inconvenience of a privileged... Read more