( Lectionary for November 13, 2016  Isaiah 65:17-25) There can be no better text than Is 65 to ponder after the startling victory of Donald Trump in the presidential election. So many, including me, were so certain of a victory for Hillary Clinton, that the very thought of a Trump presidency was unthinkable. Now we all must think it, for it has come to pass. I readily admit to a profound fury and deep sadness in the face of this... Read more

 (Lectionary for Nov 6, 2016)In many respects the prophet Haggai is unique in the Hebrew Bible. His name is built on a familiar word for pilgrimage feast, chag, or hajj in Arabic, that word that indicates the need for yearly pilgrimage to Mecca for all able-bodied and financially capable Muslims. It appears then to be a created name, appropriate for a prophet whose ministry was built around concerns for a rebuilt temple in a partially restored Jerusalem. By happy chance... Read more

  (Lectionary for October 30, 2016) The small book of Habakkuk throws up an unusual number of textual and contextual difficulties. The received Hebrew text is peculiarly thorny, riddled with grammatical and syntactical conundrums able to keep scholars busy at their desks and computers long into the night. Arguments abound concerning the date of the prophecy. Suggestions have been offered from a time contemporary with Jeremiah (7th century BCE) down to the time of Daniel, late in the 2nd century... Read more

God’s revelation in the Bible comes in multiple ways. In 1 Samuel 28, the first king of Israel, Saul, despairs of not hearing the word of YHWH any more, a word that has come to him in the past “by dreams, by Urim, by prophets” (1 Sam 28:6). Dreams were regularly seen as loci of revelations from YHWH. Surely the most famous dreamer and interpreter of dreams in the Hebrew Bible is Joseph, whose prowess as purveyor of dreams from... Read more

(Lectionary for October 16, 2016) This passage is so rich historically, theologically, and anthropologically that one tiny article can scarce do it any justice. On the historical side, the language of the “new covenant” (Jer 31:31—a delightfully easy verse number to remember!) was borrowed by the collectors of the New Testament who decided that their collection of texts was in myriad ways the fulfillment and conclusion of the earlier sacred texts that they knew well, and now called the Old... Read more

 (Lectionary for October 9, 2016) Chapters 28 and 29 of the long book of Jeremiah raise two crucial questions for all believers in the existence and activity of God: how can one understand what that God wants, and what exactly is it that God is doing? The scenario of this story is memorable and classic in formulation. In chapter 28 we are presented with a super bowl of prophecy. On one sideline we find the prophet Hananiah, whose name means... Read more

(Lectionary for October 2, 2016) We are people who do not like to lament. Let me say that more strongly; we do not like to admit that there is anything in our lives worthy of lamentation. When we are asked how we are, our automatic response is, “Fine,” or “Can’t complain,” or even “Blessed!” I admit that as religious as that last one sounds, it always grates on me, suggesting sub rosa that terrible things are actually afoot, but I... Read more

 (Lectionary reading for September 25, 2016) (The rose above is called “Hope for Humanity”) There are few more hopeful passages in the Bible than this strange, yet very compelling, story of land purchase in the midst of an enemy siege. It is decidedly odd, and more than a little sad, that this tale is not better known among those who love the Bible. It is written in such a prosaic manner that it lacks on the surface the spit and... Read more

 (Lectionary for September 18, 2016) We live in hard and brittle times. The current presidential election cycle is too often characterized by personal assault rather than policy discussion. Donald Trump majors in language that belittles, attacks, and makes fun of any number of persons or groups: foreigners, women, the disabled, minorities. Hillary Clinton paints Trump with the broad brush of bigotry, racism, and misogyny. Though I tend to think she is quite often right about her opponent, as my earlier... Read more

(Lectionary text for Holy Cross, Sept 14, 2016 or Sunday Sept 18, 2016) Oh, dear, it is snake time again in the lectionary! And like Indiana Jones, peering into that deep Egyptian pit, we cry, “Snakes! Why does it always have to be snakes?” Of course, the answer to that question for us Bible readers is all too obvious: John 3:13-17. The author of John’s gospel had a look at the snake passage in Numbers and found there, through an... Read more