Welcome to Holy Textures, Year C, Season of Pentecost, Part 1: June 16 to September 8, 2019

Holy Textures is my attempt to provide a spot for my musings on the various Biblical texts that come our way through the Revised Common Lectionary. My goal is to provide timely, short, easy to use and thought-provoking background commentary for your sermon or bible study preparation.

Easter was late this year, so the first three readings are not used this year. These are shown as Pentecost NN.

Note that in Pentecost, the Sundays are numbered as "after" Pentecost Sunday. So the first Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, is Pentecost 1. And I know that Pentecost Sunday is the final Sunday of the Season of Easter, but I've included it here just to get us started.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit

Pentecost Sunday
June 9, 2019
Acts 2:1-21  
"We might all hear the same words - each in our own language - but we will not all hear and understand exactly the same meaning. The problem with life, and faith, and following Jesus is always: What does this mean?"
Sermon: "All We Need Is Love."

 

The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name

John 14:8-17, (25-27)
"Those who are bonded into Jesus will know a Truthful Spirit who will (Verse 26): 'Teach you everything; and remind you of all that I have said to you.' We, who like Philip, have been with Jesus all this time, and still do not know him, should receive this promise with great joy and thanksgiving at Jesus' generosity. We have not been left alone." 
Sermon: "To be added."

 

The Spirit of Truth will guide you

Pentecost 1, Trinity Sunday
June 16, 2019
John 16:12-15
"We need to hear this brief section from Chapter 16, not as Jesus giving a lecture on the doctrine of the Trinity, but as a personally intense commitment of abiding, continuing, present love / loyalty / protection / guidance / bonding with his followers then - and now - and always."

 

Not even in Israel have I found such faith

Pentecost NN
Not used this year.
Luke 7:1-10
"It is crucial for our understanding of the Good News to recognize that "Good News" is not just a proclamation. It is also a response. It requires not only a Jesus, but also a centurion to be realized. And the centurion is both the model and the challenge for you and me."

 

Young man, I say to you, rise!

Pentecost NN
Not used this year.
Luke 7:11-17
"I'm left wondering how often I prefer being dead to being obedient. I wonder how many times, Jesus' command to, "Rise," has fallen on deaf ears?"

 

She anointed his feet

Pentecost NN
Not used this year.
Luke 7:36--8:3
"Just as the host is thinking to himself, 'Doesn't Jesus know what sort of person this woman is?' Jesus tells a story to make plain that he does indeed know what sort of woman she is, and more than that, knows what sort of person his host is as well. Ouch."
  

 

The demons entered the swine

Pentecost 2
June 23, 2019
Luke 8:26-39
"The name "Legion" has a double meaning. Literally, it means, "Many, thousands, multitudes." But it also alludes to the occupying Roman soldier legions which numbered 3,000 to 6,000 each. Many Israelites felt the Roman legions were another form of demonic occupation."

 

Nowhere to lay his head

Pentecost 3
June 30, 2019
Luke 9:51-62
"I'm hoping Jesus is saying: Make sure that following me is what guides all that you do. Don't put me aside to go bury your father; make following me guide you as you bury your father. ... I admit my hope is but a poor scrap of what Jesus has actually said, but I remember a time when even a scrap was good enough for Jesus to grant a woman's heart-felt desire."

 

Like lambs in the midst of wolves

Pentecost 4
July 7, 2019
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
"The joy in following Jesus is NOT in the results; the joy is in our relationship with him"

 

He took care of the wounded stranger

Pentecost 5
July 14, 2019
Luke 10:25-37
"Having created the impossible-possibility of a despised no-body doing what is needed to inherit eternal life, ... presents a double challenge. First. To be able to see someone we despise as being able to do what God desires. Second. To imagine ourselves lying left-for-dead in a ditch and being aided by such a one."

 

My sister has left me to do all the work by myself

Pentecost 6
July 21, 2019
Luke 10:38-42
"If we really do desire that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then we need to ask, "Who is doing the chores in heaven?" And if the answer is, "No one," then the second best answer for here on earth would be, "Everyone.""

 

Knock. And the door will be opened

Pentecost 7
July 28, 2019
Luke 11:1-13
"Up till this point who has said anything about asking for the Holy Spirit? Up till now, it's all been about bread and forgiveness and not being tested and asking and seeking and knocking. But now all of a sudden it's about the Holy Spirit. What are we to make of this?"

 

Storing up treasure but not rich in God

Pentecost 8
August 4, 2019
Luke 12:13-21
"While Jesus does not ALWAYS attack wealth, this parable is reflective a consistent theme of his teachings: Possessions distract us from true wealth; from what is rich in the eyes of God."

 

Where your treasure is, your heart will be also

Pentecost 9
August 11, 2019
Luke 12:32-40
"Wow. God, for no other reason than it simply pleases God - delights God - for this reason alone - God gives us the kingdom. No worries. So get over all your anxiety, guilt, shame, unworthiness, wretchedness, etc., etc. You don't deserve it, but God is giving it to you anyway."

 

Households will be divided

Pentecost 10
August 18, 2019
Luke 12:49-56
"It is difficult to over-emphasize how revolutionary Jesus is being in stressing loyalty to him - and kinship with those who are also loyal to him - over family."

 

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Pentecost 11
August 25, 2019
Luke 13:10-17
"This lesson invites all of us who seek to follow Jesus today to ponder the ways in which our own rules, customs, and habits of what is right and proper have in fact become "Bad News" for the poor, the blind, and the oppressed - and to break those bonds so that we might ourselves be proclaimers of Good News of release, recovery, and freedom."

 

When you give a banquet, invite the poor

Pentecost 12
September 1, 2019
Luke 14:1, 7-14
"This is what Jesus is teaching / proclaiming here. What does it look like for those with higher status / honour / privilege to live the year of the Lord's favour?"

 

Sit down first and consider the cost

Pentecost 13
September 8, 2019
Luke 14:25-33
"So at a minimum these sayings of Jesus ought to draw us up short. Cause us to reflect how much the choices we have already made are costing us - and our planet; and to consider whether the costs of following Jesus might be a better investment."

 

And here are the key calendar dates for 2019

2019 Liturgical Dates