epiphany 5
The first deacon: Mark 1:29-39
The Christian church was born with Simon Peter’s mother-in-law.
It's about God: Isaiah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11
Last fall a friend of mine attended a lecture at the University of Mississippi delivered by Stanley Hauerwas. His talk was followed by an invigorating, hour-long question-and-answer dialogue. My friend reported that afterward he and some students, another minister and several laypeople went to someone’s house and talked about God for another hour or so. How novel.
Boast not: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Several decades ago, when I was filling out my application for seminary admission, I came to a question that asked me to provide biblical justification for my calling. I knew I wanted to attend seminary, but found it difficult to state why. Then I remembered my Wesley Foundation pastor preaching on 1 Corinthians 9:16b, and I wrote, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” The text expressed the urgency I felt and even a tinge of divine necessity—although I think I knew even then that I was going a bit too far.
An outbreak of Easter (Luke 5:1-11)
By Luke 5 Jesus is master not only of the word of God, but also of fish.
No comparison: Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-11
We know things only insofar as we can describe their likeness.