“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (Lk. 13:34).
I’ve never been to Jerusalem, but everyone I’ve ever spoken to who’s been tells me that it’s an unforgettable experience: the city of David and the seat of the kings of Israel; the site of the ruined Temple; and of course for Muslims, a holy place as well. No wonder people from many religious traditions make their … Read more
“Then the devil took him to Jerusalem” (Lk. 4:9).
Did you notice how Luke tells the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness? The order of the temptations is different in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke: both are agreed on three temptations, but Luke places the temptation for Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple as the last in the series, instead of placing it second, as Matthew does.
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk. 5:31).
The theme for this Quiet Day is supplied by our Convention this year: “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” The words from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans are an invitation to go deeper in discipleship; as the Apostle goes on to say in … Read more
“[Moses and Elijah] appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:31).
“Departure” not “death”: this is the word that our Gospel writer Luke uses to describe Jesus’ mission in Jerusalem, the task he was meant to accomplish, as it says in our Gospel today. In our reading we see Jesus at a crucial point in his life, about to turn his face to Jerusalem … Read more
“I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt” (Gen. 45:4).
It’s so easy to mistake our true situation, isn’t it? Easy to think that things are of one sort when they really are another. We can think that the field of action before us has certain contours, a definite topography that demands certain things from us, and we respond as moral actors accordingly. Then suddenly we discover that things are not as they … Read more
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you… for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets” (Lk. 6:22-23).
Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount, unlike Matthew’s more familiar version, poses a series of blessings and curses. Jesus pronounces only blessings in Matthew’s version: on the poor in spirit, on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, on the pure in heart, and … Read more
“For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27).
Our gathering today is graced by the observance of Charles Todd Quintard, whose memory we celebrate today. Bishop Quintard was our second bishop in Tennessee, elected in the aftermath of the Civil War, and following the death of Bishop Otey almost two years previously. Quintard was from Connecticut, a medical doctor who had come south to practice and teach … Read more
“Jesus said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch’” (Lk. 5:4).
Some stories a priest hears only after being called. When I arrived at a new parish as rector some years ago, a friend on the search committee told me that when they were doing their work and had received a list of names from the bishop, the bishop had written by my name, “Fr. Bauerschmidt … Read more
“Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:4-5).
Prophets are called by God. Prophets have a definite experience of being set apart by God for specific work. God reveals himself to the person he has chosen and outlines the appointed task. But all call begins with revelation, an … Read more
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me” (Lk. 4:18).
Jesus is reading from the prophet Isaiah this morning, here in our gospel today; recalling the vision of prophetic anointing, the announcement of a new day to come and a new hope ahead. The Prophet had foreseen a time when God’s Spirit would rest upon an anointed one, a Messiah in other words. This Messiah or King would put the … Read more
