The Riverside Gathering Posts

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi [Matthew 2:16, New International Version]. There are two ways to preach the story of the visit of the magi to the Holy Couple and the Messiah. One method–the more popular one–is not only suitable for children, its three wise men, three gifts, and popular Christmas hymn, “We Three Kings,” supply the pastor with a ready-made “three points and a poem” sermon for the congregation.…

Copyright 2018 by Thomas A. Robinson. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission from Questions of Faith: Encountering Christ at the Point of Doubt and Confusion, by Thomas A. Robinson [p. 159-62; Mazarin Press, Raleigh, NC]. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too” [Luke 2:34-35, portion of the Gospel lesson, First Sunday After Christmas, RCL, Year B]. My close friend — and theological sparring partner…

Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever [2 Samuel 7:16]. As I noted almost six months ago in another post, Walter Brueggemann, notable, contemporary OT theologian (Professor Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary) allows that the word of God never comes to fruition as we expect it [see Genesis: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Pp. 181, et seq., emphasis added]. Brueggemann’s point can certainly be made about the OT reading for this upcoming Sunday [2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16, Fourth Sunday of Advent, RCL, Year B]. As we would have noted from 2 Samuel 5, in his early years…

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, … [Isaiah 61:1-2, NIV]. Anyone returning to Jerusalem–or what was left of it–in the early years following the Edict of Cyrus [538 B.C.E.], would have quickly determined that pessimism, even hopelessness, had taken root. Yes, there was some cause for relief. The Persians, led by…

On a high mountain go up, O herald of Zion. Raise your voice mightily, raise it, do not fear. Say to the towns of Judah: here is your God [Isaiah 40:9, The Hebrew Bible, tr. by Alter] November 22nd marked the sixth anniversary of our Father’s death. He was 91 years old when he died. Married to our Mother for almost 72 years, he enjoyed excellent health for most of his life. For his final five years, however, he lived in exile. That is to say that–because of advanced dementia–although he “resided” in Durham, he felt as if he had been taken to a far-off land that he didn’t recognize…

How long, Lord God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people? You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful [Psalm 80:4-5]. Patience has never been my long suit. Whether it was high school basketball, where Todd and I sat on the end of the bench with close friend, Robert, waiting for our team to fall sufficiently far behind so that those of us on the “second string” could do no real damage to the cause, whether it was Jane’s and my inability to wait two additional years for graduation–talking both sets of parents into consenting to…

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The king will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’ [Matthew 25:37-40, NIV]. For the past six weeks or so, the folks in “my” Carolina Arbors Bible Study have pretty much followed the Gospel reading appointed for the…

"For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away" [Matthew 25:15-15]. If one understands the context of a person's words, one is, generally speaking, pretty far down the road toward grasping their true meaning. That is one of the inherent problems with scriptural interpretation. The context is often exceedingly difficult to nail down. Not only were the words uttered in a foreign tongue, they were spoken two thousand or more years ago and sometimes not written down…

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” [Matthew 25:13] And so, we wait. Oh, I bet you thought I was talking about the results of the national election. No, I’m actually referring to something much more important: the return of the Messiah. That return, the so-called Parousia, is more or less the central theme of Matthew’s Gospel from chapters 23 through 25, inclusive. That challenging swath of Scripture, sometimes referred to as “the Judgment Discourse,” is shoehorned into Matthew’s treatment of Holy Week. Having completed his jousting matches with the scribes and Pharisees during the early part of the week before he’d give up…

And the priests, bearers of the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant, stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, with all Israel crossing over on dry ground until the whole nation finished crossing the Jordan [Joshua 3:17, The Hebrew Bible, tr. by Robert Alter (2018)]. Sometimes you need a sign. It isn’t so much that you want a sign; you may be so discouraged, so distraught, so afraid or bewildered, that you have given up on wanting for much of anything. Wants and needs are not the same thing, of course. While we’re often aware of our wants, we sometimes don’t fully appreciate our needs. That’s the…