Month: January 2023

Hear, of mountains, the case of the LORD, and you mighty pillars of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and with Israel He would dispute [Micah 6:2, THE HEBREW BIBLE, tr. by Robert Alter]. Dusting off some old notes related to this week’s Old Testament reading, Micah 6:1-8 [Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary, Year A], I’m reminded that in these verses the prophet is describing what my Divinity School professors called a “covenant lawsuit,” a rare type of biblical narrative found only in scattered portions of Holy Scripture (e.g., within the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos). It’s a scripture passage gift-wrapped…

For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? … For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are…

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ [1 Corinthians 1:4-7]. If you read last week’s meditation, you may recall that I wrote about the church’s belief that, following His death and before His resurrection, Christ descended into hell. Light descended into darkness. One of the…

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ–he is Lord of all [Acts 10:34-36]. I remember vividly the first time I worshipped in a Methodist church. It was July 1968—the summer of Simon & Garfunkel, of Vietnam war protests, of the riots that rocked the 1968 Democratic Party Convention in Chicago. It was the summer Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. Truly a liminal moment for me, it was also the summer…