Commentary posted on January 30, 2017

Epiphany 5A Sermon Commentary

 

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Matthew 5:13-20 Sermon Commentary

Epiphany 5A

At a restaurant in California recently I asked the waitress if their Cioppino was good.   She assured me it was.  Cioppino is a wonderful seafood stew, and the server assured me theirs contained a lot of very fresh clams, shrimp, calamari, and more.   I ordered it.    And . . . it lacked all salt.   Seemed…

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Psalm 112:1-9 (10) Sermon Commentary

Epiphany 5A

Well, they did it again.  I mean the compilers of the lectionary.  For the second week in a row, the lectionary returns to a Psalm that we studied less than half a year ago.  I know, I’m beginning to sound like one of those “grumpy old men” who complain about everything. But, really, with 150…

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1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) Sermon Commentary

Epiphany 5A

Already on the first pages of J.K. Rowling’s first “Harry Potter” book we knew she was going to come up with a whole little universe of wild and funny things.   The first such gadget we encounter is Dumbledore’s “deluminator.”   It was the opposite of a cigarette lighter—you did not use the deluminator to light a…

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Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) Sermon Commentary

Epiphany 5A

God expects our lifestyle to reflect our worship.  That is to say, God’s not pleased when God’s children act one way on Sunday, but quite a different way during the rest of the week. Isaiah 58 oozes frustration.  Clearly Israel is frustrated.  After all, she assumes that she takes God very seriously.  Israel claims to…

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