"podcast" Tagged Sermons (Page 79)

We are, finally, back in the gospel of Luke! And, we start off with a busy story. I think, the key to understanding it, is to look at the context. Now, directly before today’s story, Jesus decided to go to the other side of the lake – a place that was not Jewish (and remember, Jesus is Jewish) and a place that was probably unknown to him. So, Jesus was in the boat with his disciples, and after a storm raged, Jesus calmed the storm. That scene ends with the disciples asking each other, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?” (Luke 8:25). This question about Jesus’s identity is what frames today’s reading…

“Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?” This is the question that begins today’s poetic excerpt from Proverbs. And, if you’re anything like me, you probably haven’t spent too much time in Proverbs. The book is part of the Hebrew Scriptures, and its purpose is to teach the reader how to embody wisdom and avoid folly. That is, to move away from ignorance, arrogance, and stupidity, and to move toward understanding, knowledge, and good sense. What fascinates me about today’s passage is that in that male-centric society, wisdom is personified as a woman…

Today’s gospel reading is part of a long conversation Jesus had with his disciples. In the book of John, it’s known as Jesus’s “Farewell Discourse.” And, this final conversation began with Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, it continued with last Sunday’s reading reminding us of the new commandment to love all people, and just before today’s reading two disciples ask Jesus some questions. Today, we got Jesus’s response to a third question…