Proper 12, Year C, RCL, Track 1, Luke 11:1-13 It is hard to express how important the code of hospitality was to the ancient civilization of Palestine. I spoke last week about how this code played into the interaction between Martha, Mary, and Jesus. This society was knit together by what is known as the honor-shame code. If you do honorable things, you and your family are honored. If your actions break the rules, you and your family receive shame. There was an unwritten ledg

Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42 Martha is in a catch-22. On one hand, if she abandons her cooking and cleaning duties to sit down and listen to Jesus, her friends and neighbors would look down upon her. For she would be neglecting one of the most important cultural norms, hospitality. If Martha continues to work without complaint, who knows what would have happened to Mary after the guests left. Martha apparently has some pent-up anger and frustration at her sister for not

Proper 10, Year C, RCL, Track 1, Amos 7:7-17; Psalm 82; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37 A legal expert or a layer is the center of attention today. The laws being questioned are not the secular laws of Rome but the laws of Judaism, biblical law. Many of us will come into this story thinking that there is an adversarial relationship between Jesus and this layer. Yet, there really is little basis for this thought. Unlike our unfortunate modern context, having a free and ope

Proper 9, Year C, RCL, Track 1, 2 Kings 5:1-14, Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Many of us know what it is like to work in a garden, growing flowers, or vegetables, where the breezes blow, and the sun warms our faces. As novice gardeners, we soon learn that even a small garden takes a considerable amount of work. Just thinking about preparing the ground, sowing the seed, weeding the garden, and harvesting the produce. Thinking about this bolsters my understanding that this work is not f