Tag: christianity

  • Preaching Paths 5 October 2025, Proper 22C

    Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary A helpful step toward preaching from today’s text, Luke 17:5-10, will be to begin reading at v 1, both for study and in the worship service. The high bar of addressing and forgiving others’ offenses that Jesus sets in vv 1-4 is the impetus for his disciples’…

  • Sunday,12th & 5th October 2025

    12th October 2025, 18th Sunday after Pentecost Luke 17:11-19 The healed leper gives thanks to Jesus 17:11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 17:12 As he entered a village, ten with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, 17:13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master,…

  • Preaching Paths 21 September 2025 Proper 15C

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Preachers and scholars agree: the parable of the “dishonest manager” (Luke 16:1-13) is arguably the most difficult of Jesus’ parables to interpret. Consternation centers on vv 8-9. In v 8a, the master commends the cleverness of the “dishonest” account manager he intended to dismiss. In v 8b,…

  • Preaching Paths 14 September 2025 Proper 19C

    Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Context matters for rightly interpreting the first two of Jesus’ three parables of God’s persistent seeking of that which is lost (Luke 10:1-15). Jesus is responding to grumbling Pharisees and scribes who criticize his habit of dining with the tax collectors and “sinners” who follow and listen…

  • 28th,21st,14th,& 7th September 2025

    28th September 2025 Luke 16:19-31 Poor Lazarus and the rich man 16:19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 16:20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 16:21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell…

  • Preaching Paths 31 August 2025 Proper 17C

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Preaching well from this week’s gospel reading (Luke 14: 1, 7-14) requires preachers to stay alert to the specific social customs and circumstances that provoke Jesus’ teaching on this occasion. More than any other gospel, Luke presents Jesus’ ministry as filled with table scenes and table-related teachings.…

  • Preaching Paths, 24 August 2025, Proper 16C

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Jesus’ healing of a bent-over woman at the synagogue on a Sabbath day is the subject of today’s dramatic Gospel text, Luke 13:10-17. Bent nearly double “by a spirit” for eighteen years, this woman’s field of vision is little more than the ground at her feet. She…

  • Preaching Paths 10 August 2025 Proper 14C

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary In today’s Gospel reading, Luke 12:32-40, Jesus continues urging his followers to invest in the coming reign of God, free of material concerns. The text unfolds in three sections. Verses 32-34 warn against being preoccupied with a deluded quest for possessions, imagining that these can offer us…

  • 3rd August 2025, 8th Sunday after Pentecost

    St Luke 12: 13-21 Be rich toward God, your treasure 12:13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 12:14But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 12:15And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your…

  • Preaching Paths 3 August 2025

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary In today’s text (Luke 12:13-21), a man in the crowd calls out to Jesus, asking him to settle an inheritance dispute with his brother: “Tell him to divide the inheritance with me!” While it would not have been unusual for a respected rabbi to consider such a…