12th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A (Matt. 18-15-20)

”If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”  For someone to be as a Gentile and a tax collector most likely means that Jesus is having dinner with them.   What seems at first glance a condemnation turns out to be a kind of blessing.   The text seems to suggest that the ultimate response to differences is not excommunication but communion, not exclusion, but table fellowship.  Our efforts at inclusion sometimes fall short in this crucial area.  In many ways, being inclusive of those who differ from us is much easier than being inclusive of those who have differences with us.  The only agreement required is the shared belief that God hears us and that Jesus is present in our gathering together.

11th Sunday after Pentecost Year A (Matt 16:21-28)

Following immediately upon Peter’s confession of faith, Jesus dramatically contrasts that faith, which came from God, to Peter’s rejection of the cross, which Jesus calls satanic.  There is, then, no real knowing of who Jesus is apart from the cross.   This passage then goes even a step further to connect the paschal mystery to God’s eschatological promise.  The death and resurrection of Jesus is the judgment and the reward.  The reign of the Son of Man has already been inaugurated and its reality upturns the logical view of reality to which we cling in such a way that we are no longer even able to distinguish between life and death.  We are, as always, utterly dependent on God’s grace.

10th Sunday After Pentecost - Year A (Matt 16: 13-20)

At first glance, it appears that Peter is being praised by Jesus for doing something, in this case, finally giving the correct answer.  If you look more closely, however, Jesus makes it clear that Peter has actually done nothing.  The “correct answer” is not the result of Peter’s theological acumen.  It is rather, God’s work.  And so we should have great courage, because the church built on the rock of Peter’s affirmation of faith is not ultimately dependent on the achievements of any human beings but always and only on the gracious gift of God.  The work of the church that we set our hands to is, the work of binding and loosing that Jesus gives to us, is indeed God’s work.  May God who has begun this good work in us bring it to fulfillment.

9th Sunday after Pentecost - Year A (Matt 15:[10-20] 21-28)

This is at once one of the most disturbing and hopeful portraits of Jesus found in the Gospels. Jesus’ initial response to the Canaanite woman is, to put it mildly, unkind. Why does he feel the need to put this woman in her place? Perhaps it is so that she is then in a position to put him in his. Jesus responds to her retort, not with further insult or by ignoring her and moving on. Instead, he recognizes both her dignity and her faith.
This story stands in sharp contradiction to all those who would suggest that Christians have nothing to learn from other religions. If Jesus himself was willing to be taught by a Canaanite, how much more should we be humble enough to recognize and accept those teachers who come to us from outside our own faith tradition? I have a fantasy of this woman standing beside Jesus on the Last Day, judging our faith. Fortunately, we have every reason to believe that she too will be merciful.

8th Sunday after Pentecost - Year A (Matt 14:22-33

While placed by Matthew in the context of Jesus’ ministry, this text bears all the marks of a post-resurrection appearance; a body not bound by ordinary physics, speculation about a ghost, fear and then faith on the part of the disciples. In particular, this story parallels the post-resurrection story of Thomas, with Peter being the doubter who demands evidence. In this case, the evidence is his own (Peter’s) ability to join Jesus on the water. This story makes another important connection as well. It connects Jesus to the very moment of creation. Just as God’s spirit hovered over the waters and brought order to chaos, so does Jesus stand on the waters, calming the wind, and bringing order to creation.


The church like a tiny boat on a large sea; small, vulnerable, and seldom faithful, hardly seems fit for its task. Left to its own devices it would surely fail. There is no cause for triumphalism on the barque of Peter, no place for pride. There is only the need for faith and, in the end, worship.