Rev. Jonathan R Thomas August 7, 2016 (Proper 14C) Heb.11:1-3, 8-16 & Lk 12:32-40 Holding on to Faith The letter to the Hebrews is one of the latest books written to make it into the New Testament. That’s important for understanding it. In the letters written by the Apostle Paul earlier in the…
The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas July 24, 2016 (Proper 12C) Luke 11:1-13 Shameless Prayer Prayer was a central part of Jesus’ life, even right up until the moment of his death. So much so that everyone seemed to notice it. All the gospel writers mention moments when Jesus went off to pray. It’s interesting…
The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas June 26, 2016 (Proper 8C) Gal 5:1,13-25 & Lk 9:51-62 The Freedom to Become I must admit, in all the times I have read the gospels, I don’t remember ever noticing this story before: The Samaritans did not listen to Jesus so the disciples asked, “Lord, do you…
The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas June 12, 2016 (Proper 6C) Gal. 2:15-21 & Lk 7:36-8:3 The Voice of Shame and the Voice of Jesus A version of this story appears in all four gospels. That’s unusual so it must have been quite noteworthy. As a matter of fact, we even read it, in the…
The Rev. Jonathan R. Thomas May 29, 2016 (Proper 4C) Luke 7:1-11 An Example of Faithfulness I am sure many of you know that we don’t get to choose the readings every week. They are assigned on a three year rotating lectionary, with each year focused on a different gospel. Year A is Matthew,…
Rev. Jonathan R Thomas May 14, 2016 (Pentecost C) Acts 2:1-21 & John 14:8-17 Experiencing the Spirit Ourselves Pentecost, which literally just means fifty, because it takes place fifty days after the Passover feast, is the Greek name for the Jewish feast of Shavuot. That was the feast of weeks, one of the three main feasts in the Jewish tradition, and…
The Rev. Jonathan Thomas May 8, 2016 (Easter 7C) Rev. 22:12-21 & Jn. 17:20-26 A call to Unity in Christ This gospel passage is part of what is known as Jesus’ farewell discourse – the long series of proclamations that he made before his was arrested and carted off to be tried and killed. Many of the last few weeks’ gospel…
Rev. Jonathan R Thomas April 24, 2016 (Easter 5C) Acts 11:1-18 & John 13:31-35 Changing the Focus During the Easter season, in place of Old Testament readings, we get passages from the Acts of the Apostles. The text is about the formation of the early church, and we are supposed to learn from the Apostles how to act in the world…
The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas April 3, 2016 (Easter 2C) John 20:19-31 The Woundedness of Christ The focus of this story is always on Thomas, and he generally gets a bad rep – “Thomas the doubter,” he is called, the one who had to see and touch in order to believe. Never mind the fact that all the other disciples…
The Rev. Jonathan R Thomas March 27, 2016 (Easter Vigil) Telling the Eternal Story The liturgy of the word begins tonight with the call: “Let us hear the record of God’s saving deeds in history, how God saved the people in ages past.” There is nothing new about this salvation story told and…