Qoheleth Chapter Eight
Translation from the Anchor Bible commentary by R.B.Y. Scott 1 Who can compare with the wise man? Who else understands what things mean? A man’s wisdom lights up his face, and the hardness of his countenance is transformed. 2 Do what the king commands, because of your sacred oath. 3 Do not hurry from his presence in agitation; nor hesitate to go when the errand is distasteful. For he does was he pleases. 4 Since a king’s word is law, who dare say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 He who obeys will avoid trouble, and the wise mind will know when and how to act. 6 For there is a proper time and action in every circumstance. To his great misfortune 7 man does not know what will happen, and who can tell him how it will happen when it does? 8 As no man can control the...
Read MoreQoheleth Chapter Seven Actual
It has been a long break on this blog since I wended through the book of Ecclesiastes. Not counting my April Fool’s Joke, it has been more than eight months since I wrote my entry about Chapter six. But this Blog began with an outpouring about Ecclesiastes, so I feel dedicated to finishing my brief commentary on the book before the end of this year. So bear with me, dear reader, as I once again delve into the words of the Preacher (Qoheleth). — Translation from the Anchor Bible commentary by R.B.Y. Scott 1 “Better is fame than fine ointment” –hence the day of one’s death is more important than the day of one’s birth. 2 “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a feast” –for that is how all everyone comes to an end, and the living take it to...
Read MoreSermon on The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids.
Grace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Sometimes I wish Jesus would just keep his mouth shut. I’m going along just fine, I’m fighting on his side as he squabbles with the chief priests and elders in the temple, and then he drops something like this parable today. Really Jesus? You had to go there? I bet you just said that to make it difficult for 21st century vicars to preach. You purposely made up that parable to make sleepless nights for people like me, didn’t you? It is as if he said: “Let’s watch the preachers squirm and wiggle about this one on Sunday.” In all seriousness, the parable of the ten bridesmaids is a difficult text. Its imagery is obscure and it does not easily translate into modern day understanding. It...
Read More-Autumn Without Family-
He sat, or rather, the bench held him while he curled like paint flakes and watched for the bus. Breath percolated out of his nose as if unsure. Short motes, and long ice trails. He briefly adjusted his woolmitts from folded to crossed with elbows. But the real cold was in the set of his face. That sat stronger than the rest of him, or even the bench. Dignity freshly siphoned from his shoulders. His grey pant-legs quaked above his shoes. Shivering shins tapping out an argument between being old and being free. Where he was going was not home. And where he left was just as empty. The bus curchunked, and swung its grimeglass doors. There was a grateful air in the way it swallowed him. 00 Be the 1st to vote.Share...
Read MoreThoughts About Stewardship-Vicar’s Corner
Newsletter article on Stewardship written to my internship congregation Trinity Lutheran Church wherein I make a poop joke. — In this time of gathering harvest, families, and thoughts– it is good to take a moment and think about what lies at the heart and other end of gathering: giving. What do I mean by “what lies at heart and other end”? I mean that what we often take to be the opposite or other-end of a thing (gathering in, versus giving out) can often also be found deep at the very heart of that thing itself. Luther made this discovery in distinguishing between Law and Gospel, that is, the word that puts to death and the word that brings to new life. Sometimes at the very bottom of the law is written the gospel. The very thing that puts us to...
Read MoreRender Unto Caesar- Sermon.
Grace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, Amen. To say there is very little the Pharisees have in Common with the Herodians, is an understatement. It would be like if Sarah Palin didn’t like what Jesus was saying, so she went and got together with her good chum Hillary Clinton and approached him. Their main platforms are exactly opposite one another. The Pharisees on one side, don’t like Rome and its constant meddling in their affairs. Meanwhile, the Herodians are committed to keeping Rome in power through the puppet King Herod. About the only thing they have in common is that they don’t like Jesus. So I hope you can feel the tension in the room when they ask their question: “Tell us, is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor,...
Read MoreSermon for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost
This is my first sermon that I gave as Vicar at Trinity Lutheran Church. The text is Matthew 21:23-32. Not the easiest text for a first sermon, but I’ll let you be the judge of how I did. — Grace and peace be unto you from God our father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Jesus has done it again! He got into a spat with the chief priests and elders while teaching in the temple. It seems like just about every other week Jesus gets into one of these battles of wits. This time, the chief priests come to Jesus asking a me-me question. Now, you all know what a me-me question is, you just didn’t call it that until I invented the word for it just now. It’s a question that is completely focused in on yourself. No matter what the words of the...
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