Category Archives: A Lamp for Today

Hebrews 13:17-21, Judges 1-5, Psalm 1, St. John Chrysostom’s Sermon 34 on Hebrews This Sunday we read the conclusion of that rich letter to the Hebrews, the authorship of which was debated even by some fathers.  Whether the letter is indeed by St. Paul, or by another master of theology, rhetoric, and pastorship from thoseContinue reading “The Complete Community”

Colossians 3:4-11, Psalm 94/5 Advent, or the Fast of the Nativity, is a time of waiting:  preparing for when we will joyfully celebrate, yet again, Christ’s nativity (His first Advent!) and waiting with patience for when He will come again in glory at his second promised Advent.  Consider this stirring and demanding passage from ColossiansContinue reading “Awaiting His Advent Actively”

Ephesians 4:1-6, Genesis 37-50, Psalm 132/3 You know what happens when you do not keep a schedule?  Frequently you end up with a harder task than you would have had if you hadn’t shirked a responsibility.  That is my plight this week – I did not work on my blog and podcast according to schedule,Continue reading “Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Covid-19 Land”

Hebrews 2:2-10; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 6:2-24; Galatians 6:11-18 For some reason, this is a week in which I have been thinking about angels: what an odd thing to be doing during election week! But in my teaching, I am preparing to lecture on and to discuss C. S. Lewis’s cosmic trilogy.  In these books, theContinue reading “Angels, Elections, and the Marks of the Lord: the Synaxis of the Archangels”

Gal 1:11-19; passages from Jeremiah; 1 Cor 15 On FaceBook this morning, an argumentative friend in a Dialogue group responded to a wise saying of a Church father by reminding us that all prayer in the New Testament is directed towards God, not the saints.  Her fear concerning mediation, of course, is shared by manyContinue reading “From, In, and For God: the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost”

2 Cor 9:6-11; Psalm 111/112; 1 Kings 17 As I contemplate our Epistle reading for this coming Sunday, I sit surrounded by reminders of God’s goodness to our family.  As ex-patriot Canadians, we celebrate Thanksgiving early, and I enjoyed spending time with my grandchildren this week, singing (to the Godspell tune) “All Good Gifts AroundContinue reading “Scattering Abroad and Thankful Generosity”

(2 Cor 6:1-11; Psalm 68/69; Isaiah 52:13-53:12) Our faith is full of mysteries, and requires us to hold together ideas that may seem, on the surface, irreconcilable.  After all, we worship the God-Man, glimpse a God who is utterly beyond us while unthinkably close by the ever-present Spirit, and understand ourselves to be creatures givenContinue reading “Pastors and Paradox: Sixteenth after Pentecost, First Sunday of Luke”

1 Cor 1:18-25; Gal 6:11-18, Col 1:19-20; Numbers 21:4-9, Exodus 15:22-26; Proverbs 3:11-18 And so we come to one of the oldest feasts in our church year, all but forgotten by most Protestants today.  No doubt this is because it focusses upon a holy object, the elevated Holy Cross, and the Reformation cast doubt onContinue reading “Exalting and Exulting in the Cross”

1 Cor 15:1-11; Daniel 12; Genesis 49; Exodus 1; Ezekiel 47-48. This week I had a spirited interchange with a former student and dear friend who reposted a meme that declared, “Religious tradition produces bondage; the Holy Spirit produces liberty.”  At one of my not-so-tactful moments, I responded that this was “Balderdash!”  Good thing thatContinue reading “Traditions of First Importance: Twelfth Sunday of Matthew/after Pentecost”

1 Corinthians 4:6-19; Job; Deuteronomy 8:7-9; Phil. 2:5-11. Sixteen-year-old Bram Bowman stands in formation along with other inmates in the courtyard of a dystopian labor camp. Dirty, damaged, and near despair, he, with the others, is being inspected by the pampered governor and his wife. The governor comments unempathetically, “Well, this is depressing!” But weContinue reading “An Unseemly Spectacle?: Tenth Sunday after Pentecost”