Irreverently Reverend

  Fourth Week of Lent Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?  7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,  10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.  11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your n...

  Epiphany Sunday 1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."   3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" 7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.   8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word ...

  Blue Christmas/Longest Night (last week of Advent) We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now.   And it’s not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free.   We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. Who hopes for what they already see?   But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans.   The one who searches hearts knows how the Spirit thinks, because he pleads for the saints, consistent with God’s will. (CEB)             One of my favorite book series is The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper.   It’s been on my mind this week because the BBC...

  Advent II In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be call...

  Ordinary Time Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through town.   2  A man there named Zacchaeus, a ruler among tax collectors, was rich.   3  He was trying to see who Jesus was, but, being a short man, he couldn’t because of the crowd.   4  So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.   5  When Jesus came to that spot, he looked up and said,  “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today.”   6  So Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus. 7  Everyone who saw this grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8  Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.” 9  Jesus said to him,  “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham.   10  The Human One...