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Easter 2, Year B, 2024: Acts 4:32-35

In theology, as in all academic disciplines, there are ways in which a person can “specialize”. One can be a biblical theologian, a systematic theologian, a historical theologian, or a practical theologian - and within each of these types of theology, the theologian further specializes. For example, no one claims to be a historical theologian of all of history. The theologian chooses a manageable subset and lives in that world in the same way as a  lawyer practices a particular area of law or a musician focuses on their specific instrument. The wider categories make it easier for us to communicate with one another without having to go too far into the weeds and the specialties help us to focus on the parts of the whole.  What we see in our reading from Acts today is a great example of the specialty of practical theology. Practical theology, broadly defined, examines and reflects on religious practices in order to understand the theology underneath that which was enacted through those p
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Easter Day, 2024: John 20:1-18

  At the end of the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Buffy sacrifices herself in place of her sister. Buffy jumps from a tower, causing a portal to another dimension to close, and while her sister lives, she dies. Notably, that episode is not called “The Sacrifice”, it’s called “The Gift”. But in the beginning of the next season, Buffy’s friends decide to magic her back to life. They go to her grave and do a spell and, when nothing visibly happens, they assume they’ve failed and leave. But they haven’t failed, they just didn’t dig her up, and Buffy, with her superhuman strength, digs her own way out. But Buffy wasn’t resurrected. She was simply resuscitated; forced back into her old body and thrown back into the fight. And through the following episodes, Buffy tries to figure out why she feels so wrong, so off, so empty. And finally, in the best musical episode in all of television, Buffy is forced to honestly sing her discovery to her friends. She sings: “there was no pain /
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Lent 2, Year B, 2024: Psalm 22:22-30

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?*     and are so far from my cry     and from the words of my distress? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer;*     by night as well, but I find no rest. Yet you are the Holy One,*      enthroned upon the praises of Israel. Our forefathers put their trust in you;*      they trusted, and you delivered them. They cried out to you and were delivered;*      they trusted in you and were not put to shame. But as for me, I am a worm and no man,*      scorned by all and despised by the people. All who see me laugh me to scorn;*      they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying, “He trusted in the Lord; let him deliver him;*      let him rescue him, if he delights in him.” Yet you are he who took me out of the womb,*      and kept me safe upon my mother’s breast. I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born;*      you were my God when I was still in my mother’s womb. Be not far from me, for trouble is near,*      and there is
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Ash Wednesday 2024

One of the things I appreciate about being an Episcopalian is the Revised Common Lectionary. That is, the source from which we get our scripture readings. I don’t get to choose the readings from week to week, which keeps me from starting from whatever message I want to give and finding the text that fits. Instead, I start from the scriptures for the day and find what the Spirit is saying to me through that text. Our Sunday readings are on a three-year cycle, so each set of lessons occurs once every three years. During the Season after Pentecost there are two Old Testament choices, but that is as close as we get to “choosing” - and even then we pick a track, either “Gospel related” or “semicontinuous”, and stick with it for the year. For Christmas there are options, Easter cycles and provides options on top of the usual Year A, B, and C. But Ash Wednesday lessons are the same. Every year. That is, there is no three year lectionary cycle.  Every year, on this fast day, the prophet Joel r
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Epiphany 5, Year B, 2024: Mark 1:29-39

 I have yet to meet an American adult who, if the topic comes up, doesn’t acknowledge a “pyromania” stage at some point in their lives. We have a fascination with fire that tends to correspond to the time in our lives when we are least heedful of the future. High school chemistry teachers all give warning stories of how quickly your hair will go up in flames if you’re not paying attention when in too close of proximity to a Bunsen burner. The lighted Bunsen burner is vital to many labs, but without the proper precautions can turn into a head full of fire. An early warning given to acolytes lighting incense for the first time is to tie back their long hair to make sure it isn’t caught in the torch or coals and then to properly dispose of the coals after use. The burning incense can be a fragrant and visible sign of our prayers and offerings being lifted up to God, but improperly disposed of coals can be disastrous. The word translated as “fever” in today’s Gospel text is “πυρετός,” whic
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Epiphany 4, Year B 2024: Mark 1:21-28

  In the television show Doctor Who, there are villains called Carrionites. For anyone who’s seen Doctor Who, it’s the Shakespeare episode. They seem like witches, but in Doctor Who the answer is never magic - it’s always science, and a science that is different or more advanced than what we have on earth, so the Carrionites are simply aliens who harness the power of words, using the right words in the right places to gain control over their foes. Carrionites placed great importance on knowing the name of an individual to give them personal, one-on-one power. Once The Doctor figures out with whom he’s dealing, he says, “I name you Carrionites!” At which they are repelled for a bit. In reality, the belief in the power of a name is certainly not a more advanced idea. It is an ancient method of making declarations about your relation to and power relative to others. In antiquity, knowledge of someone’s name or identity was thought to provide power over that person. So, when the unclean sp
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Epiphany 3, Year B, 2024: Mark 1:14-20

My cat, Scribbles, is allowed in every room in the house except for one. She is not allowed in the office. If she gets in, she eventually climbs up behind my husband’s desk, will end up in a drawer, and will get stuck. Every time. She could go literally anywhere else in the entire house. But she spends a good portion of her day sitting outside that office door, mad that she can’t get in, and waiting for any opportunity for the door to be open for a little longer than we should leave it open so she can slink in. We like to think we’re smarter than cats. We at least have some more logic, right? But when it comes down to it, the cat disobeys me for the same reasons we disobey God. She thinks she knows better. She really wants to do what she wants to do. She doesn’t remember how badly it went last time. Even when she does remember - which I know she does because she runs away as soon as she sees the spray bottle, not even waiting for the water to come - she still tries because maybe I won’
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