The Modern Need for Lamentations (Lamentations 1:1-11)

September 30, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By Kimberly D. Russaw Twenty first century readers of the Scriptures are likely uncomfortable with the book of Lamentations and its stories of weeping, groaning, and grieving. But, the act of lamenting is not unique to biblical Israelites. Today’s world is full of lament-worthy situations. One need only turn on the nightly news to hear countless stories from places like Detroit, Michigan and Camden, New Jersey – plagued by record foreclosures, abandoned buildings, corrupt government officials, and boarded up businesses... Read more

It Is about the Land. It Is Not about the Land (Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15)

September 23, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By Jennifer Peace Our relationship to place is so conditioned by our life experiences. When I moved to North Cambridge, MA, from the expansive West Coast, I got a lesson in the meaning of “near” and “far.” Walking around my new neighborhood, I greeted an old woman sitting in front of her house. “Did you grow up around here?” I asked. “Oh no,” she assured me, “I grew up way over on Sherman Street.” Sherman Street is about three... Read more

Shrewd Christians (Luke 16:1-13)

September 16, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By Verity A. Jones We worry now, but we’ve been concerned about the economy for a long time. The economic recovery from the recession in America has been slower than we hoped, and people continue to suffer from the collapse of so many industries and jobs and safety nets. Much of the pain seems new for large swaths of the American population. But in reality, we’ve been worrying about money forever. The August employment report from the Bureau of Labor... Read more

I Know What God Looks Like (Luke 15:1-10)

September 9, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By Matthew L. Skinner Do you want to see what God is like? It just got harder to do so on Wikipedia. Wikipedia still has an article called “God,” and it hosts a range of ever-changing perspectives. But a few days ago the site made God less visible when it deleted its short article on Antoinette Tuff, the bookkeeper who in late August may have prevented a massacre at an elementary school near Atlanta. Wikipedia merged her name into another,... Read more

It’s Not About You (Luke 14:25-33)

September 3, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By John Nunes A life transition—like any effort to follow Jesus—is stressful: packing and unpacking, bidding farewells, refocusing from one set of commitments to a new future. It might be summarized in the early North African church leader’s interpretation of this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke 14:27: “Take up your stress and your tortures.” (Tertullian) This September, my family’s transition from the hazy days of summer’s more casual pace back into the back-to-school rat race is tougher than usual. It... Read more

Whose Banquet Is It, Anyway? (Luke 14:1, 7-14)

August 25, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By Rev. Shanell T. Smith, Ph.D. The upcoming March on Washington has been on my mind as I reflect upon this week’s Gospel reading from Luke about a banquet. I personally love banquets. You get to adorn yourself with the finest trappings, dance the night away, and if the food is good, that is an added plus! But what I find most frustrating? Knowing a banquet is occurring, and I have not been invited. “Did I do something wrong? Do... Read more

The Power of Love (Luke 13:10-17)

August 19, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By Paul Lutter We know neither her name nor the location from which she comes. All we know is that she was “a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years,” and that, “[s]he was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.” (Lk. 13:11) We don’t know from the text exactly what causes this spirit to lash out at this woman. We do know, though, the power of this spirit is to slowly and... Read more

From Egypt to South Africa, We Are Each Other’s Keepers

August 16, 2013 By Odyssey Networks

By James W. McCarty III Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected president of South Africa, has been in the hospital for over two months. Nearly twenty years after his election South Africa remains, despite a myriad of troubles, a stable, multiracial, and democratic country. Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president of Egypt after the world-changing protests in Tahrir Square led to the resignation of former president Hosni Mubarak, has been out of office, by way of military coup, for... Read more

The Ballad of Sour Grapes

August 12, 2013 By Guest Contributor

By Greg Cuéllar Many of life’s memorable moments can be brought to mind just by hearing a favorite song. Consider Sam Cooke’s protest song, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and the ways it evokes the civil rights crisis of the early 1960’s, or John Lennon’s song of peace, “Imagine,” which has as a point of reference the Vietnam War. These and many other songs not only encapsulate moments of the human experience but also give voice to a social critique. Attuned... Read more

The Social Shape of Divine Generosity (Luke 12:32-40)

August 5, 2013 By Guest Contributor

By Greg Carey It all sounds so… demanding. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. “Be dressed for action” (NRSV). Imagine yourselves as slaves who remain ready for their master’s return – not knowing when it might come. Luke’s Gospel is big on demanding. In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus encounters three would-be disciples. Each receives a warning that would vanquish enthusiasm like an ice-cold shower. “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man... Read more