Irreverently Reverend

  Ordinary Time; Pride Sunday Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest  2  and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  3  Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  4  He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  5  He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  6  But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”  7  The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.  8  Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus....

  Ash Wednesday             Shout out, do not hold back!   Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Today is Ash Wednesday, a day of remembering mortality, of talking about sins and penitence.   It is a gray day when the snow keeps coming and there are so many uncertainties about Ukraine and my voice is just not loud enough when the newscasters never stop talking. Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. This feels more like church—more like what we’ve made church into, at least.   We come to services to feel the ash drift down onto our eyebrows and be reminded that we are broken, we mortals who keep trying so hard, we humans who want to be loved. 2  Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;   What if we were a nation that practiced righteousn...

  Ordinary Time So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor.  2  The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle,  3  but the poor man had nothing—just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup—even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him. 4  “Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor.” 5  David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the one who did this is demonic!  6  He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over because he did this and because he had no compassion.” 7  “You are that man!” Nathan tol...

  Fourth Sunday in Lent 4  Then they traveled from Mount Hor on the road toward the Sea of Suf in order to go around the land of Edom; but the people’s tempers grew short because of the detour.  5  The people spoke against God and against Moshe: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There’s no real food, there’s no water, and we’re sick of this miserable stuff we’re eating!” 6  In response, Adonai sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra’el’s people died.  7  The people came to Moshe and said, “We sinned by speaking against Adonai and against you. Pray to Adonai that he rid us of these snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people,  8  and Adonai answered Moshe: “Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live.”  9  Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten some...