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.

Seventh Sunday After Pentecost - A (Matt. 14:13-21)

It’s been a commonplace over recent years to explain away the miraculous in this Sunday’s gospel text.  You know how it goes:  one person gives something they have stashed away and then another does the same.  Generosity begets generosity.  The real miracle according to this view is that the people shared what they had.  I am no critic of sharing.  A generous sharing of what we have with those who have not is, indeed, very important.  It’s just that in this instant, to emphasize human sharing misses the point.  The whole of the gospel message, including this pericope, is about what God does for us in Jesus Christ.  The answer to our chronic weariness and hunger is not to be found in our own striving but in God’s gracious gift.  This miraculous feeding becomes a type for the Eucharist.  In communion, we are given something we could never provide for ourselves, no matter how generous.  Christ gives us himself as food for those hungers that are too deep for words.  Christ gives himself to us as medicine, healing the weariness born of our bondage to sin.  God, in Christ Jesus, is the giver.

2nd Sunday after Pentecost - Year A (Matt. 10:40-42)

Summing up the theme of this Sunday’s Gospel lesson, The Rule of Benedict suggests that all guests are to be received as Christ.  Benedict’s wisdom transforms hospitality from a good work into an affirmation of faith.  Each person who comes to the door is seen through the eyes of faith.  Insofar as all guests are Christ, all guests are equal.  It is not up to the host to decide who is sent, who is prophet, who is righteous, or who is “one of these little ones”.  All are welcomed equally.  Just as God’s rain falls on both the just and the unjust, so too does authentic Christian hospitality reach out to absolutely everyone.