Lessons: Jeremiah 33:14-16 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36 Psalm 25:1-9 Be on guard, Jesus says, so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life. Or that day will catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. It is the start of Advent, the start of a newContinueContinue reading “First Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Tag Archives: The Rev. Martin Elfert
Last Sunday after Pentecost Christ the King by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 Psalm 93 Revelation 1:4b-8 John 18:33-37 We are in the bustle and the heat that is Jerusalem, the most distant and forgotten corner of the Roman Empire. Inside the headquarters of the occupying forces, Pontius Pilate sits at his desk. Pilate is thirty-five years old. He is a mid-level government bureaucratContinueContinue reading “Last Sunday after Pentecost Christ the King by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Daniel 12:1-3 Psalm 16 Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25 Mark 13:1-8 What do we do when we hear a reading like the ones that we encounter today in Daniel in and Mark? Daniel says: Michael shall arise. There will be anguish. Many of those who sleep in the dust will awake, some toContinueContinue reading “Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 53:4-12 Psalm 91:9-16 Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45 The comedian Hasan Minhaj is a second generation American. His father, like me, is an immigrant to this country. I come from Canada: Minhaj’s Dad, Najme, comes from India. Unlike me (I grew up in a stable and peaceful context in Vancouver, BC), prior to comingContinueContinue reading “Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Amos 5:6-7,10-15 Psalm 90:12-17 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 The blogger and comedian Gaby Dunn talks about engaging in a do-it-yourself social experiment. Dunn’s experiment involved going up to strangers in coffee shops and other public contexts and saying: Can I ask you two questions? Most folks said “yes,” and so Dunn began. HerContinueContinue reading “Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Blessing of the Animals by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Jeremiah 22:13–16 Galatians 6:14–18 Matthew 11:25–30 Psalm 148:7–14 I’ve been struggling these past few days. Maybe you have been struggling too. Watching and listening to and reading about Thursday morning’s hearings was hard. Witnessing the kind of pain we saw on Thursday morn, the kind of grief that we saw, the kind ofContinueContinue reading “The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Blessing of the Animals by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Jeremiah 11:18-20 Psalm 54 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 A professor emeritus from the University of British Columbia by the name of Dennis Danielson has taken on an unusual retirement project. Danielson decided to examine curricula and student handbooks from educational institutions across Canada. Danielson reviewed these documents looking for a particular word.ContinueContinue reading “Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 35:4-7a Psalm 146 James 2:1-10-17 Mark 7:24-37 A couple of minutes ago we listened to part of a letter written by James, an epistle that today might be most famous for reputedly really annoying Martin Luther. Those of you who know a little bit about Lutheran theology, who have hung out with LutheransContinueContinue reading “Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18 Psalm 34:15-22 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69 This teaching is difficult; who can accept it? Of all the things that the disciples say in all four of the Gospels, this one might be my favourite. It is such an unvarnished, such a direct, such a real response to a teaching by Jesus. AndContinueContinue reading “Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Proverbs 9:1-6 Psalm 34:9-14 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58 The novelist Salman Rushdie has a line about storytelling, about crafting words, that goes like this. Rushdie says: Good metaphors shock. Good metaphors don’t merely surprise us or delight us or invite us into curiosity – although they certainly do most or all of those things.ContinueContinue reading “Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost by The Rev. Martin Elfert”