The second part of this week’s Gospel follows an interlude in which Jesus has again instructed his disciples to set out in their boat. Jesus himself goes off alone to pray,...

Mark’s Gospel is breathtaking, both in its pace and its content. We are still reeling from the story of John the Baptist’s execution when the disciples return to Jesus with an...

When I worked as a carpenter remodeling older homes, I was sometimes part of the demolition crew. As the name suggests, this involved tearing things down, breaking through old walls which...

Our scripture today is full of architectural imagery. The writer of Ephesians celebrates how Christ has broken down a "dividing wall," and is building a new dwelling place for God and...

This week’s psalm was quite possibly written during the time of the Babylonian Exile. A few years before, the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed by a foreign power, and Israel’s...

While King David is obviously at the center of today’s scripture, I find I am drawn to the prophet Nathan. Nathan is introduced here as a kind of spiritual advisor to...

As we continue the saga of King David, we find the monarch mulling over his success and coming to an embarrassing realization. He is living in a fine palace; but the...

“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?” the psalmist asks. We return to the question that opened our week together. The psalm continues, greeting God the King of glory whose...

I knew that I was adopted before I knew what the word meant, long before I understood the other stories behind the word. I knew that I was claimed and sealed...

According to the notes in all of my Bible translations, the dedication of this letter to the people of Ephesus is optional. Why does that matter? It matters because Paul is...