The Riverside Gathering Posts

What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? [Isaiah 5:4]. I can remember the moment as clearly as if it had occurred just a few minutes ago. In point of fact, almost 56 years have passed since that sunny, clear afternoon and what amounted to an eighth grade study hall, during which I read the final sentence in Shirley Jackson’s masterful short story, “The Lottery,” and fell in love with narratives that have unexpected endings: “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her. If…

Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?" [Matthew 21:23] Along with me, some pastor friends of mine–two elders in the United Methodist Church, one a teaching elder/pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)–have sometimes joked among ourselves, "How would Jesus have fared if he had come before a Conference or Presbytery Board of Ordained Ministry?" I can hear some of the Board's conversation now. "I don't know that I can support this man, Jesus. He caused his parents all sorts…

That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity [Jonah 4:2b]. As I have related from time to time, during the 50s and early 60s, one of the mothers who played an important role in the biblical education of the elementary school-aged children at Olney Presbyterian Church (southern Gaston County, NC), was a frustrated thespian. She could, and did, turn most of the Old Testament stories into little dramas, with parts set out for every boy and girl. To her credit, she didn’t play…

“I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” [Matthew 18:32b-33]. I’d wager that at some point in your schooling, you had a classmate who thought that the best way to demonstrate his or her “smarts” to the teacher was not so much to have an effective answer ready for questions related to the assigned reading, but rather to jump ahead a few chapters before class, then raise his or her hand and, when acknowledged by the teacher, ask an intelligent-sounding question (from the upcoming reading) and then quickly supply the answer.…

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commands there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor [Romans 13:9-10a, NIV]. About a dozen years ago, during a long period of time in which I taught the “Sola Scriptura” adult Sunday school class at Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church, we had an occasion to discuss one of the best-known of Jesus’ parables — that of the “Good Samaritan” — found only in Luke’s Gospel [Luke 10:25-37]. We took time to discuss an important contextual…

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life [Matthew 16:21, NIV]. Back in my Wake Forest undergraduate years, now half a century ago, I had a favorite Ancient History professor with an unusual first name and several idiosyncrasies. His name: Cyclone Covey. “Cyclone” was not a nickname, but rather the name given him by his parents. He had two PhDs: one in Music, the other in Ancient History.…

“But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” [Matthew 16:15] When the Roman authorities forcefully put down the abortive Jewish revolt against Rome in 70 A.D., they leveled Jerusalem, and destroyed the Temple. Some reports even say the Romans sowed salt in the ground so as to prevent crops from being subsequently grown. Having rid themselves of the Jewish menace, or so they thought, the Romans went to a special place to celebrate: Caesarea Philippi — the seat of Roman power in the area, the spot where the temple to the pagan god, Pan, has been constructed, the place that represented all the trappings and powers…

The Gospel reading appointed for this upcoming Sunday [Matthew 15:10-20, 21-28, RCL, the 11th Sunday After Pentecost] provides us with, by my count, the third consecutive “withdrawal” narrative about Jesus. Two weeks ago, we learned that, prior to feeding the multitude, Jesus had attempted to withdraw, perhaps to process the death of John the Baptist. In last week’s narrative, in which Jesus miraculously walks on the water, He had retreated to the mountain for centering prayer and communion with Yahweh. This week, following a heated argument with some Pharisees and “teachers of the law,” He withdraws to Tyre and Sidon [15:21]. No sooner has he done so, than he runs…

Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, Listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. [Isaiah 55:1b-2]. Last Tuesday, I had my “AWV.” For you non-Medicare folks, “AWV” stands for “annual wellness visit.” As many of you know, an AWV isn’t an annual physical; the stern lady at the front desk will remind you if you use the wrong words. “Medicare doesn’t reimburse for physicals; it’s a wellness visit.” I passed with flying colors, but that isn’t the reason I’m mentioning…