Authors /
Yvette Schock
Yvette Schock is a Lutheran minister and the chaplain of Riverview Retirement Community in Spokane, Washington.
Confronting difference in a spirit of peace (John 12:12-16)
Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem is full of confrontation.
March 24, Palm Sunday B (Mark 11:1–11)
Jesus moves in the same direction as other pilgrims but at a pace and purpose that is his own.
March 24, Passion B (Mark 14:1–15:47)
We fix our gaze on the cross because if we look away we will miss something vital.
Coming back together (16B) (Mark 6:30-34, 53-56)
We may all be in a phase of reorientation for a while.
July 18, Ordinary 16B (2 Samuel 7:1–14a)
God promises to build a bayit, a house. But not one with boundaries.
July 11, Ordinary 15B (2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19)
The gap in the lectionary’s account of the return of the Ark of the Covenant echoes a pattern we have seen too often in our country.
Why we need Christ the King Sunday (Luke 23:33–43; Jeremiah 23:1–6; Colossians 1:11–20)
The kings in the Bible feel pretty familiar.
When to panic and when to act (2 Thessalonians 3:6-13)
The authors of 2 Thessalonians saw a painful unraveling within the community, and they responded with urgency.
November 24, Reign of Christ C (Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 23:33-43)
The unfaithful shepherd sniffs out and stirs up fear, fragmenting communities.
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November 17, Ordinary 33C (Luke 21:5-19)
Jesus’ hearers are well-acquainted with calamity and crisis.
The Jerusalem church's measure of love
This week’s short passage from Acts gives a snapshot of the Christian community in Jerusalem, including a list of essential practices.
Sunday, May 11, 2014: Acts 2:42-47
Luke’s report of the church’s economic sharing interrupts our reading of what might otherwise be an easy passage.
Seen and unseen at Emmaus
The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is a favorite of mine. I love the image of pilgrims traveling together, struggling to understand tragedy and loss. I love that Jesus enters the story as a pushy traveling companion who sidles up beside them and talks their ears off for the rest of the trip.
And I love that it's not Jesus' incisive exegesis of the promises in scripture that open the disciples' eyes to his identity. It is his presence with them at a shared meal
Sunday, May 4, 2014: Luke 24:13-35
Our eyes drink in the world around us, but our brains develop filters. I imagine Cleopas and his friend sifting carefully through what they have seen.
Grace or judgment?
In this week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus says to the people,
Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No... Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No.
No.