Luke 1:26-38 Dear Partner in Preaching, I will confess that until I read Cameron Howard’s beautiful reflection on this week’s biblical story, I’d never noticed that Mary is perplexed by Gabriel’s greeting, not his presence. And… that has stayed with me all week. Most of us, I would imagine, would find the presence of the heavenly being enough to strike terror into our hearts, kind of like the guards at the resurrection in Matthew’s account or the people of Israel shaking in fear at the thunder and lightning of the Lord’s presence at Sinai. But no, Luke specifies that after Gabriel greets her with pretty magnanimous...

John 1:6-8, 19-28 Dear Partner in Preaching No complaints this week about the RCL Advent readings. Yes, it’s week two of an adult John the Baptist (meant to orient us to John’s role as the forerunner of Jesus and fulfillment of messianic expectation). Yes, this will make almost no sense to our folks absent our explanations. Yes, they could have chosen a story from Luke 1 about Elizabeth’s conception of the child John and made the same point. Yes, this jumping around in timelines for theological purposes was probably helpful when folks really knew their Bible but today probably only makes it harder for folks to learn the biblical...

Mark 1:1-8 Dear Partner in Preaching, I don’t know if it’s COVID-fatigue or something else, but I seem to have even less patience with the RCL-assigned readings for Advent than usual. A week of eschatological warning, two weeks of the adult John the Baptist, and then – finally on week four! – a reading that actually pertains to the Christmas story. I know, I know, week 1 is intended both to anticipate Jesus’ second Advent at the end of time as well as accent Advent’s theme of watchful anticipation and preparation and weeks 2 & 3 to emphasize the Gospels own casting of John as the Elijah-figure prophesized to come ahead...

Isaiah 64:1-9 Mark 13:24-37 Dear Partner in Preaching, You will likely hear any number of well-intentioned and liturgically astute commentators remind you this week that, “Advent is not about the baby Jesus.” Fine. Yes, the season that takes its name from the Latin adventus – “coming” – looks ahead to the second coming of Christ in power and glory as much, if not more, than the first coming of Jesus in the flesh of the Christ child at Bethlehem. Yes, we – and particular we North American, relatively affluent Christians – have largely allowed the cultural impetus to use the weeks before...

Matthew 25:31-46 Dear Partner in Preaching, First, a note of profound apology. I was experimenting over the weekend with embedding different kinds of links on blog posts and, much to my surprise and embarrassment, they were sent out to you on Saturday and Sunday. I’m assuming I had the temporary post up – oddly, for no more than 5 minutes – when the program that sends out new posts to subscribers went out. As I immediately deleted all temporary posts when I was finished, I have no idea how or why one went out again on Sunday. In event, this was not a meant as a sales-pitch, endorsement, or Christmas wish-list! J I’m...

Matthew 25: 13-40 Dear Partner in Preaching, I will say at the outset that I don’t think I have much new to say about this parable that falls near the end of the church year and near the close of Matthew’s record of our Lord’s earthly ministry, though I did hear it in slightly a new way relative to these last few weeks. So here we go…. While often lifted up as a good stewardship text – whether of money, time, or (most predictably) talents – this parable, I believe, has been read and preached in way that seems more fitting to one of Aesop’s fables than one of Jesus’ kingdom parables. So rather than offer the “moral...