Month: July 2024

Ephesians 1:3-14 In 1871 two archeologists found a piece of engraved stone from the Jerusalem temple – the one King Herod built; the one that was destroyed in the year 70 AD. The Greek letters carved on it spelled out a stern warning: “No foreigner is to enter the barriers surrounding the sanctuary. He who is caught will have himself to blame for his death which will follow.” This was one rule it appears they were strict about. No gentiles were permitted to enter the temple. But it was not the only rule. There were degrees of acceptability in the temple worship of the time. The outermost area of the temple was called the court of the gentiles, and it was a large, open, public area. Anyone could come into the outer court, and it was the place where pilgrims could exchange their currency and purchase animals for sacrifice. Within […]

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Psalm 85:8-13 Ephesians 1:3-14 Just last week I was remembering a sermon I once heard that left me feeling both angry and sad. The preacher began in a lighthearted manner, real folksy, telling lots of stories about this and that. Nothing, really. He told some jokes at other people’s expense, making them look foolish, which I didn’t like. But I waited him out, to see if he had a point. And eventually, I guess you could say, he did. Suddenly, his tone changed as if he flipped a switch. Now the folksy good humor was gone, and he was dead serious when he told the congregation that we had better get right with Jesus. “Because some of you,” he promised, “are going to hell.” If we wanted to be saved, he said, there was only one thing we could do, and we’d better do it. Or else. I don’t know […]

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Mark 6:1-13 I am making a trip to Chicago in a couple of weeks. It is a journey I try to make once a year, to see family members who are still there. I grew up in the Chicago area, so this is going home, in a way. Even though I have not lived there for 40 years. It is home also because I will be back with my people, the ones who have known me forever. And I feel pretty sure, based on my experience, that it will be a week full of love and joyful moments, and also some failures. Some amount of failure is baked into the cake when you go back home. I will have expectations of someone that won’t be met. I will hurt someone’s feelings, and someone will hurt my feelings. I will have a knee-jerk reaction to something someone says, because that’s the […]

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Mark 5:21-43 Today is another one of those “sandwich” stories Mark is so fond of. This is a technique Mark used frequently – breaking up one story by inserting another story within it. It’s a great literary trick. It can serve to increase the suspense in the story, leaving the reader hanging, biting their nails, wondering what will happen. In this case, we are holding our breath wondering if Jesus will get to Jairus’ house on time to save his daughter. This is very serious, we already know. Jairus fell on his knees before Jesus and begged him to come save his little daughter, who is at the point of death. This is a 911 moment. So Jesus went with him. The crowds are still ever-present, pressing in on him. Nonetheless, he makes his way through – no doubt, Jairus’ people and Jesus’ disciples are probably facilitating this, forming a […]

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