Introductory Note: A week ago I was informed by email that Luther Seminary has determined that the column I started five years ago, Dear Working Preacher, can only be written by a member of Luther’s faculty and so I was asked to draw my involvement to a close. I did that last week. Over the course of the years I wrote my weekly letter, connecting with preachers and inviting them to share in the road of experimentation and discovery I have been on has become a central part of my own vocation as a preacher and teacher. And so I will continue writing these weekly letters of encouragement and post them here. I hope they are helpful. While...
Mark 12:38-40
posted by DJL
As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long...
Mark 2:13-17
posted by DJL
Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house,...
3. Mark 14:3a
posted by DJL
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper…. Simon the Leper. Truth be told, we don’t know much about Simon the Leper. He is mentioned only in Mark and Matthew (26:6-13). There is a Simon the Pharisee in Luke’s story who also hosts Jesus for dinner when a woman anoints Jesus...