“Justice, Kindness, and Humility

Micah 6:1-8

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

“The Confession of Peter”

Matt 16:13-19

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

“The Baptism of Our Lord”

Matt 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

“The Miracle of Christmas”

Luke 2:1-14

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

“Immanuel”

Isa 7:10-17

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

“The Stump of Jesse”

Isa 11:1-9

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

“Ascending Mount Advent”

Isa 2:1-5 • Ps 122 • Matt 24:29-44

The scriptural image of the mountain conveys the nature of Advent as an upward pilgrimage. We are called to come to the God who comes to us. This is a joyous and toilsome journey by which we prepare ourselves for Christ's coming.

“Christ the King!”

Col 1:15-20

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

“The Patient Endurance of the Saints”

Luke 21:5-19

Three things are connected in the “eschatology vision” of Jesus: Human longing (for another world), God’s judgment (making all things right), and the patient endurance of the saints. The wellspring of life that gives us unspeakable joy is the same life that sustains us in all kinds of suffering; and it's the same self-sacrificing love of Christ. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7).  For “the joy that was set before him [Jesus] endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). We are also called to patient endurance that God would reveal himself to a wanting world.

“The Faith of Zacchaeus”

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus tells Zaccheaus, “I must stay at your house today.” This a sign of salvation. It reminds us of Revelation 3:20, where Jesus says, “If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in … to eat with you, and you with me" (Rev 3:20). Jesus lodges and dines with the poor and the wealthy, all those with sincere faith. There is fellowship and communion. This, no doubt, would have been a deeply affecting moment for Zacchaeus, who was a wealthy, lonely, and despised person. He longs for the same connection with God as the contrasting Rich Young Ruler—but he is the one who opens the door of faith and his heart overflows with generosity.

“For All the Saints”

Revelation 7

All Saints’ Day comes near the end of our ordinary time. It anticipates “Christ the King” Sunday, which is the culmination of the story of God, “Christ reconciling all things to himself by the blood of his cross” (Col 1:20). We currently live in the middle of this story. In Revelation, John provides an image of the victorious church, our brothers and sisters sheltered by the presence of God, which is His glory reflected to the world by the church.

“For All the Saints Who From their Labors Rest”, verse 3:

O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

“Crying Out to God”

Jer 14:1-10, 19-22; Ps 84; Luke 18:9-14

Our readings present us with an array of distinct prayerful cries. The tax collector in Luke 18 cries for mercy, Jeremiah for the people of Judah, and the psalmist for the Lord's house. Where do you find yourself? Let us learn from these men and join them in coming with confidence and reverence before the throne of grace of Jesus Christ, through whom our own little prayers can become part of God's grand story of redemption.

“Training in Righteousness”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

“Complaining and Waiting by Faith”

Hab 1:1-13, 2:1-4

Faith consists in believing through God's Word that what we cannot see is more real than what we can see. Today's lessons flesh out different aspects of what it means to live by faith. Complaining and waiting are two frustrating but vital components of this process which shift our focus from the passing chaos around us to Christ's promised kingdom.

“Seeing Lazarus”

Luke 16:19-31

The rich man in Luke's Gospel ignored Lazarus during his life and only became mindful of him when it was too late. Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Do we see the people around us who are in need and suffering? Who is your Lazarus?

“The Parable of the Shrewd Manager”

Luke 16:1-13

The life of discipleship is responding to the invitation of Jesus. It is a willingness to live in way that says no to our corrupted heart seeking self-importance and self-preservation. There is a line in Psalm 36 that says “sin whispers in the depths of the heart.” The self-deception that we all face is thinking that focusing on the self will make the self more happy. But this leads us away from discipleship and away from the joy of Christ. Rather, it is humility and faith that actually get us there. The main difference between disciples and the Pharisees was a willingness to respond to the invitation of Jesus, trusting his wisdom above their own. The Pharisees guard their earthly attachments and call it righteous. They suffer the same idolatry that they themselves teach against.

“Hannah More on the Virtue of Moderation”

Luke 14:25-33

Hannah More shows us how to evangelize with integrity and charity. Holding fast to the truth and exercising wisdom in how we communicate it are both essential for our witness to the world, as reflected in More's life and writings.

Check out Hannah More’s essay, “On the Conduct of Christians in their Intercourse with the Irreligious."

“The Narrow Door”

Luke 13:22-30

“Light has come into the world.” Christ, the light of the world, sees us as we truly are. His gaze penetrates all lies and self deceit, seeing us as we truly are. His penetrating gaze is filled with love. He is light, revealing our false understanding of ourselves and of others. To walk through this door is to confess the truth, which releases us from the attachments we have made to this world, finding salvation in the light of Christ.

“Not Peace, but Division”

Luke 12:49-56

Jesus asks the rhetorical question: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” On the surface, a difficult passage to understand, especially when that we see that he is called prince of peace in Isaiah 9 and when the angels announce Jesus’ birth to the shepherds saying, “peace and good will toward men.”

“Discipleship as Pilgrimage”

Luke 12:32-40

The Christian life (discipleship) is a pilgrim existence. While we don’t identify with this world as it currently is, we identify with what it will one day become by God’s power. Discipleship is securing our primary attachments to God’s kingdom, which is the way life was meant to be lived. The person who looks to another world (God’s kingdom) is actually living for this world.