Today’s Old Testament and Gospel lessons were probably put together because, on the surface, they share the characteristic of being  “blessings and curses” or “woes.”  No really – blessings and curses don’t really play with most of us today. While we might like to think of ourselves as “blessed,” we don’t usually think in terms of “cursing” others or “being cursed,” ourselves. It all sounds outdated, medieval, and, frankly, a little creepy. The Epistle lesson from 1 Corinthians 15 deals with the resurrection, which, on the surface at least, has nothing obvious to do with “blessings” or “curses,” but seems… Continue reading →

Today’s scripture lessons use distinct kinds of literature to relate three particular life-changing experiences with God.  We are liable to name each of these passages the account of “a call” from God. First we read Isaiah’s call to the prophetic office and ministry. There is also the story of some Galilean fishermen  to answer Jesus’ call to God’s service. Finally, we hear Paul relate tradition he had received concerning those to whom the risen Christ had appeared by faith. He concluded this account with his own story of Christ’s call to God’s service in a oblique reference to his experience… Continue reading →

Do you remember your first day on your first “real” job?  Did you have any anxiety about what was going to be expected of you?  I did.  Although I had grown up in a minister’s home and cannot remember a time when “church things” were not part of my own background, I had chosen what I thought was a different path.  I had prepared long and hard for an academic career in biblical studies. I had just finished my doctoral dissertation and was awaiting a possible oral exam back in the UK.  I had, further, just finished teaching for one… Continue reading →