Mindful Leader

Luke 18: 35 to 19: 10 -- Seeing Jesus

The sermon is on the Luke 18: 35 to 19: 10.  I am not 100% sure why we read the passage before except maybe for the forecast of Calvary.  I used this as an opportunity to review where we had been over the earlier four weeks and try, key word - try, to put a cherry on top of those four reflections.  

narrative Lectionary -- New Testament Week Thirteen -- Industrial Strength Joy

 

This reflection is drawn from the Luke 15, three parables.  The liturgist will only read the first two to provide context, and then I re-tell the third one.  A parable familiar to us.  

Narrative Lectionary -- New Testament Week Eleven -- The Scandalous Samaritan

 

This is the familiar story of the Good Samaritan.  This was acrtually extremely scandalous for Jesus to use this imagery.  Amy Jill Levine, Jewish New Testament Scholar at Vanderbilt, suggests that the image is someone coming to your rescue, that was so detested, that you would just as soon die rather than be helped by him.  Wow.  

This is an excellent text for us to examine in this most hostile of times.  How do we learn to listen to each other in a way to understand rather than to hate and reject?  

Narrative Lectionary -- New Testament Week Nine -- The Woman Washes Jesus' Feet -- 900 version

Narrative Lectionary -- New Testament Week Three -- 1st Sunday of Christmas - Simeon and Anna

A little riff here on the idea of "New Year's Resolutions" and play with that.  This is Luke 2: 21-36 (or so).  Simeon and Anna -- their resolve.  

Narrative Lectionary -- Old Testament Week Twelve -- Joel and Advent 2

 

Joel 2 with two separate passages.  This was keyed quite a bit from the anthem Lost in the Night.  The hymn is a plaintive call to Jesus to hurry and come again, soon.  

Narrative Lectionary -- Old Testament Week Eleven -- Daniel and Advent 1

 

Pastor Emily continues our "romp" through the Hebrew Bible with an Advent look at Daniel.  She reads from Daniel 6 but the reflection is more than Daniel 6 ... 

The podcast starts with the statement of the theme which draws from Elijah and 1 Kings where Yahweh does not speak in the earthquake or the wind or ... but rather ... in a small, still voice.  

Narrative Lectionary -- Old Testament Week Three -- Joseph

This starts with Genesis 37 and ends with Genesis 50 and a good pick of skipping over key elements of the story.  And it was a communion Sunday.  Whew.  But "Houston, we've got a problem" seemed to work on this one.  

Hosea: God has not given up on us ...

The Northern Kingdom has been conquered.  But God continues to act in the role of loving parent and shows love even for the child who has spurned him.  This has some elements of personal reflection on my time at Central UMC in Arlington, VA.  Finding my voice and all of that ... but as much as anything it is a hopeful gesture that says that the God of the Hebrew Bible is a God of Love, Forgiveness and Mercy ... 

Deuteronomy 5 -- Covenant Relationship

Moses reading of the Decalogue the second time, this time before entering the Promised Land brackets the Wilderness narrative.  There are hints of the "ancient future" idea I find so resonant.  The ancient words apply to us in this future time.  But at the key this is about relationship -- God initiates, we are invited to respond.  God loves us ... it would be so easy to see Grace as conditional, but it isn't.  

(Note:  we split the reading and I pick up the reading on the podcast about 5:17.  Had read 5:1-16 or so earlier.)

This is from October 11, 2015 @ 9:00.  The 10:30 version was not useable.