Luke 18:1-8 Dear Partner in Preaching, Where has the persistent widow showed up in your life? Or, maybe better, who has been the persistent widow in your life? Perhaps it was an advocate for LGBT inclusion, motivated by the love of a gay son or daughter who is always pushing you to move your congregation to a more inclusive welcome sooner than you – charged with keeping the congregation together and therefore leery of divisive issues – were ready. Or maybe it’s the parent of a special-needs kid, asking – and, honestly, it probably feels more like demanding – more accommodation for his or her child than your congregation...

Mark 6:14-29 Dear Partner in Preaching, I’ll be honest, when this story comes along once every three years, my first response is to scratch my head in bewilderment. I mean, what is going on? Or, more particularly, what is going on with Mark? Usually the soul of brevity whose favorite word, if not middle name, is “immediately,” Mark luxuriates over this gruesome scene for sixteen whole verses – a veritable novella in relation to the rest of his Gospel! Not only that, but it is the only story Mark tells in which Jesus makes no appearance. And it’s told in flashback, the only time Mark employs this particular literary device. So,...

Mark 4:26-34 Dear Partner in Preaching, I love these couple of mini-parables in Mark. (“Mini” in the sense that they aren’t the extended stories like the Prodigal Son or Good Samaritan, etc.) They’re small, but pack a punch. In this case, I’d describe that punch as a kind of quiet and dynamic confidence. Before jumping into that fully, let me offer just a couple of words of background information that might help. First, what is a parable? In some ways, maybe it’s easier to say what it’s not. A parable is not simply an analogy for us to figure out, where A=God and B=Jesus and C=us, etc. Some parables do function analogically,...

Luke 18:9-14 Dear Partner in Preaching, What sets the two men described in today’s reading apart? There are a variety of ways of answering this question. On the surface, we might observe that one of them is part of the religious establishment while the other is an outsider. Or we might notice that one is law-abiding while the other is not. (And here it’s important to acknowledge that the Pharisee isn’t boasting so much as he is simply describing accurately that he has done those things the law prescribes as proper.) Going a little deeper, we might similarly recognize that one prays from a sense of confidence while the other from...

Luke 18:1-8 Dear Partner in Preaching, So what is this parable about? I realize this isn’t the first time we’ve asked this question this fall, but I find this to be yet another rather vexing little story. In part, that’s because the “parable proper” seems to end one way, promising that God will indeed grant justice quickly to those who call out for it, while Luke introduces the story with another interpretive slant altogether, encouraging Jesus’ followers to pray always and not lose heart. Then again, perhaps the interpretive key falls right in the middle, as we are encouraged to beseech God day and night for justice and, indeed,...