Friday, December 24, 2021: Luke 2:1-20 “[A] decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.” The writer sets the stage right off the bat, and we know a couple things about this world being described: there’s an authority, and there’s order. Orderliness. Structure. Planning. Control. And then there’s literally everything […]

Sunday, December 19, 2021: Luke 1:39-55 Over the last few years, along with Die Hard getting getting added to the official Christmas movie canon, another, somewhat forgotten movie has started to get more attention: The Star Wars Holiday Special. It was the second Star Wars production, preceding The Empire Strikes Back by about a year. […]

Sunday, December 12, 2021: Zephaniah 3:14-20 Luke 3:7-18 At the recent retirement home services I’ve led, I’ve made a joke about how “You Brood of Vipers” has yet to make it into our holiday season lexicon. It’s not on any Christmas cards… yet to be featured on the often-controversial Starbucks cup that people use as […]

Sunday, December 5, 2021: Baruch 5:1-9 Luke 3:1-6 That’s a short gospel reading we just heard: six tiny verses. Jesus isn’t featured (explicitly). But in those few verses, six places are named. And names — ten of them appear. Eleven if you count “God” as one of them. And this week and next we focus […]