1 Kings19:1-15a If you only knew this particular episode in the prophet’s life, then you would imagine Elijah must have had a pretty lousy run to get so far down in the dumps. But it is really just the opposite. Before this chapter, Elijah had just come off the greatest success imaginable. It’s one of the highlights of the Old Testament, in fact. Israel has been in a drought for three years. King Ahab would, of course, love to see the drought end because it’s eating away at his approval ratings. But Ahab has another problem too, which involves his wife – Queen Jezebel. She is not an Israelite. When she married Ahab and came to Israel she brought her gods with her – the Baals, as they are called. Baal is not a proper name, but a title, like lord. The Baals are idols of other cultures, and we know from the scriptures that the people of Israel were prone to dabbling in Baal worship. […]
Continue readingMonth: June 2022
Blessed Trinity
Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15 Today is Trinity Sunday, which is a thing that is hard to get excited about, I have to admit. It just feels very abstract. The doctrine of the trinity is hard. In fact, the first thing you need to say about it is that it is not a thing we can really comprehend, so we shouldn’t even try. But we do try. We are continually making all kinds of creative analogies in order to make sense of it. The Trinity is like water, we say, which can take three forms: ice, liquid, and steam. Or the Trinity is like a man, who can be at the same time father, son, and uncle. St. Patrick said the Trinity is like a shamrock, one object with three distinct leaves. And none of these analogies work. Because there is nothing that is like the Trinity. But we continue to try. […]
Continue readingSpirit Breath
Acts 2:1-21 Breath is the most natural thing in the world, until it’s not. It’s almost entirely automatic, and that’s a good thing. If we had to think about it our lives would be in peril every time we dropped off to sleep, or our minds wandered even a little bit. We take breathing for granted most of the time, but then there are moments when we realize how amazing it is. When a newborn child takes his first breath, there is a cheer of relief and delight in the room. In the same way, those who sit watch at a deathbed let out a sigh of prayer when the dying person has breathed her last. Breath separates life from death. So many more of us became acutely aware of this during these past couple of years of COVID-19. Many more people experienced what it is like to not be […]
Continue readingSacrifices
Amos 5:16-24 John 17:20-26 In ancient Israel the center of religion was the temple in Jerusalem. Before that it was the tabernacle that they constructed during their time in the wilderness. There was, for hundreds of years, a single place the people went to worship the Lord. And the central act of religion was sacrifice. Not prayer, not reading from scripture or singing hymns, but sacrifice. The book of Leviticus provides in detail all the written laws about how and why to make sacrifices to God. They were called offerings, and there were several kinds. There was a guilt offering, a sin offering, an offering of well-being, a thank offering. The offering might be the grain from your fields, but more often an animal was required – a bull, a sheep, a goat. And if you could not afford one of these larger animals, you could bring two turtle doves. […]
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