Irreverently Reverend

  Ordinary Time Then he went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat.  21  When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”  22  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”  23  And he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?  24  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  25  And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand .  26  And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come.  27  But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. 28  “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and w...

  Trinity Sunday Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “ All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you . And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age .” (NRSVue)             A congregant said to a colleague of mine once that she clearly needed to have some extra training as a pastor because the congregation wasn’t growing.   My colleague asked what the congregant was doing to grow in their own faith and the person looked at her with scorn; the purpose of a pastor is to grow a church, they said, and to make sure there were people to step up to take over leade...

  Trinity Sunday In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the edges of his robe filling the temple.  2  Winged creatures were stationed around him. Each had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew about.  3  They shouted to each other, saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces! All the earth is filled with God’s glory!” 4  The doorframe shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke. 5  I said, “Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!” 6  Then one of the winged creatures flew to me, holding a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.  7  He touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt has departed, and your sin is removed.” 8...