Posts by Street Psalms

Welcome to the second week of Advent. As is our practice during this season, we sit in what we call the “waiting rooms of Christmas”: Apocalypse, Wilderness, Prison, and Public Disgrace. These unsettling rooms mirror the lived experiences of vulnerable communities and the simmering anxieties of our world today. Each waiting room yields its own gift. This week, we join John the Baptist in the wilderness, where the unquenchable fire of God’s love is kindled.

Welcome to the first week of Advent. It’s a season of waiting for the Christ who is always coming at an “unexpected hour.” As is our practice during Advent, we will sit in what we call the “waiting rooms of Christmas.” Together, we will wait for the always-coming Christ. Fair warning, these are difficult rooms to occupy: apocalypse, wilderness, prison and public disgrace. As always, Advent begins in the Apocalypse…

Welcome to the final week of the liturgical year — “Christ the King” Sunday. The feast was established in 1925 amid global power struggles, as the era of Monarchies gave way to the rise of nationalism and secularism. Even Vatican City had become its own sovereign state. So what did the Church intend by calling Christ “King”? Was it an attempt to reassert its power over the nations, or to redefine it in light of Jesus’ self-giving love? Either way, the royal metaphor can be challenging for modern ears.

Welcome to the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost. In this week’s Gospel, people are marveling at the temple, the shining centerpiece of God’s presence. It’s dazzling. But Jesus isn’t dazzled. He sees what’s coming: “Not one stone will be left upon another.” And within a generation it was true — not only the building, but the whole system it represented came crashing down in 66 CE.

Welcome to the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost. For the last several weeks, Jesus has been traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, by way of Samaria. In this week’s Gospel, he finally arrives in Jerusalem, where he is confronted by the Sadducees. Unlike the Pharisees, who accepted the prophets and the wisdom texts that taught there is an afterlife, the Sadducees only recognized the first five books of the Bible (Torah), which don’t mention it.

Welcome to the 20th Sunday after Pentecost. In this week’s Gospel, a Pharisee and a tax collector go up to the temple to pray. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, and maybe it is.

One man stands tall, praying not so much to God as to himself. His words drip with comparison…

Welcome to the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost. In our Gospel this week, Jesus heals ten lepers. Nine of them go to the priest for further inspection hoping to be declared “clean” and thus cleared to be reintegrated into the life of the community.

But the leper who is a Samaritan cannot be cleansed of his Samaritan-ness. He has no place in the community, even when cured of leprosy. And so he “turns back” to Jesus’ fledgling community of outcasts and “gives thanks”…

Welcome to the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. This week’s Gospel begins with a desperate plea from the disciples: “Increase our faith!” No wonder. Just before this, Jesus tells them forgiveness must flow seven times in a single day. Elsewhere he says seventy times seven. Whoa! Who can forgive like that?

At first glance, Jesus seems to belittle their concerns…

Welcome to the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost. This week’s Gospel is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. One dines like royalty behind the gates of privilege. The other rots outside, longing for scraps. The only ones who cross the threshold are the house dogs, who lick Lazarus’ wounds with more compassion than their master shows.

But here’s the twist: Jesus gives the poor man a name — Lazarus — and leaves the rich man anonymous. In Scripture, names mean relationship, dignity, belonging. God remembers the forgotten. The “blessed” man has no name…

Welcome to the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. This week’s Gospel is one of Jesus’ strangest parables — a story about a dishonest manager who cooks the books and then gets praised for it. What’s going on here?

At first glance, the manager looks like a cheat. He reduces debts behind his master’s back, cutting a hundred jugs of oil down to fifty, a hundred containers of wheat down to eighty. But if we peek behind the curtain, something else comes into focus…

Welcome to the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. This week’s text goes straight to the heart of the Gospel. And it sets up camp in the most toxic of places: fear and resentment. The Pharisees and scribes are filled with it, chewing on their grievances like a cow chewing its cud. They grumble: “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Jesus responds with two stories about parties.

In the first, a shepherd foolishly leaves ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to go after one that’s lost. The ninety-nine are left exposed while the shepherd seeks out the one. Who risks ninety-nine for the sake of one? It’s bad math…

Welcome to the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. In this week’s text, Jesus’ popularity is building and the momentum of his grassroots movement is on the rise. It’s a perfect time to cash in. Instead, Jesus speaks a series of hard words designed to awaken the “large crowd” to what’s really happening. He ends with these words, “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” This must have seemed like an odd request, given that the crowd Jesus attracted had little in the way of personal possessions…

Welcome to the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. Once again, Jesus is reimagining the Sabbath in light of God’s love. Last week, Jesus right-sized the Sabbath bed for a woman in need of rest. This week, he resets the Sabbath table to include the excluded in need of nourishment. He does this at the house of a prominent religious leader hosting the Sabbath meal…

Welcome to the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus heals a woman who has suffered for eighteen years from a spirit that has stolen her ability to stand upright. The leader of the synagogue responds with indignation, aghast that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath. The bitter irony is thick: the Sabbath — meant to bring healing and restoration — has become an obstacle to both…

Welcome to the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost. Last week, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.” This week, he talks about casting fire on the earth and bringing division. What happened? Did Jesus change his mind? Or are we being invited to change how we see?

If our image of God is violent, we might see this as a threat. But if we look with Easter eyes, something else comes into view…

Welcome to the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. This week’s passage begins with a shot of courage — “Do not be afraid.” It ends with a warning about a thief in the night. In between lies the not-so-hidden treasure of God’s delight: a joyful, complete, continuous and unconditional self-giving love that overflows. This is the “unfailing treasure” at the heart of reality. And in discovering this treasure, we locate our own hearts…

Welcome to the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost. In our Gospel, a man asks Jesus to settle a dispute over family inheritance. Jesus refuses to play judge between the man and his brother. Instead, he tells a story that holds up a relational mirror. He shifts the focus from “stuff” to the relational dynamic that has the man and his brother locked in rivalry. Jesus knows: the thing is never really about the thing, it’s always about the relationship that makes the thing desirable…

Welcome to the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. In today’s Gospel, the disciples see Jesus pray and ask him to show them how. Perhaps his prayer is different from what they’ve known — not heavy with shame or striving, but light with love. It awakens something: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

So he does. Not with theory, but by modeling…

Welcome to the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost. In today’s Gospel, Jesus enters the home of Martha and Mary, who were outsiders in the broader culture, but insiders in Jesus’ community. Luke tells us Martha is “distracted by many tasks.” Mary, by contrast, breaks from the culturally acceptable role of women and sits at Jesus’ feet.

Martha is frustrated. She addresses Jesus with a thinly veiled question that’s probably more like a comment: “Don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work?” You can hear the sting in her voice: the loneliness, resentment, the desire to be seen. Jesus gently redirects: “Martha, Martha…you are worried and distracted by many things. One thing is needed…”

In today’s Gospel, a lawyer stands to test Jesus: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It sounds like an honest question, but it’s really an attempt to justify the limits of his own goodness. “Who is my neighbor?” he asks — hoping to draw a line.

Jesus responds with perhaps the most well-known story in all of Scripture. A story that messes with the moral calculus of the lawyer and all those trying to justify themselves through their own goodness project. In the process, what gets shattered are not only the limits of goodness, but also the acceptable agents of grace…

Welcome to the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. Last week, Jesus was rejected by a Samaritan village. James and John were quick to seek vengeance: “Shall we call down fire from heaven?”

This week, Jesus goes back to the drawing board. He sends out more messengers, but this time with clear instructions. No weapons. No money. No backup plan. He sends them out in small groups, two by two — exposed, dependent, and vulnerable — “like lambs among wolves.” On the surface, these instructions are absurd. He’s giving the competitive advantage to the wolves, who are already wired to dine on stray lambs…

Welcome to the third week after Pentecost. In this week’s text, Jesus turns toward Jerusalem. On the way, he takes time to address some unresolved family matters. The rift dates back to 722 B.C., when the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom of Israel. The Samaritans, descendants of intermarriage with the oppressor, were seen by most Jews as impure — half-breeds and infidels…

Welcome to the Second Sunday after Pentecost. This week, Jesus meets a man tormented by a legion of demons — naked, chained, isolated, crying out among the tombs. His suffering is undeniable, and his healing is dramatic. But what if the real sickness wasn’t just in the man?…

Welcome to Trinity Sunday. In this week’s text, we see in Jesus the heart of a teacher who has so many things he wants to share with his disciples. But how does one teach the inner dynamic of God’s joy-filled, self-donating relationality — one that functions more like a dance than a doctrine? Thankfully, Jesus spares his disciples a theological explanation. He knows that what humans want most is experience, not explanation. And so, he opts to demonstrate his love rather than dissect it…

Welcome to Pentecost Sunday. It’s tempting to think of the Holy Spirit as a kind of consolation prize — a divine stand-in now that Jesus is gone. But that’s not how Jesus sees it. In this week’s Gospel, he describes the Spirit as God’s Presence — no longer bound to one body, but dwelling within and among us forever, teaching us everything, and reminding us of all he said. In fact, “It is better for you that I go,” Jesus tells us elsewhere (John 16:7)…

Welcome to the seventh and final Sunday of Easter. Jesus has been preparing his disciples for a certain kind of Presence — one that is available to all people, everywhere, all at once. The historical Jesus occupied one body in one place at one time. But the Spirit of the risen Christ is poured out on all flesh. This means that we (all of creation) become “the Body of Christ,” in whom and through whom God is present to us…

Welcome to the Sixth Sunday of Easter. We are nearing the end of the 50-day celebration called Eastertide. Jesus has been preparing his disciples for his “going away.” His ascension makes room for a new kind of Presence made possible by the pouring out of his Spirit. What was once revealed through the sign of one body, in a specific time and place, is now revealed through the sign of the collective. Jesus is preparing the disciples to become what they have received — the Body of Christ…

Welcome to the Fifth week of Easter. This week’s text is situated between two betrayals. Judas has just left to complete his treachery, and Peter’s denial waits in the wings. It’s here that Jesus speaks of a “new commandment” — to “love one another as I have loved you.”

The content of the commandment isn’t new, but the source is…

Welcome to the Fourth Week of Easter. This week, we hear Jesus say, “My sheep hear my voice.” It’s a voice made fully audible only in the resurrection. Of course, we catch faint whispers of it in Jesus’ life and death, but it’s only in the light of Easter that we hear it clearly. And so, with Easter ears, we return to the words of Jesus and hear them afresh…

Welcome to the Third Sunday of Easter. This week we find Jesus hosting breakfast around a charcoal fire — echoing the courtyard fire where Peter denied him three times. But rather than a scene of public shaming, this encounter invites us to witness restoration. […]

Welcome to the second week of Easter. Jesus enters the locked room that entombs the disciples. It’s from within their experience of fear and shame that He invites the fledgling community to imitate His life. […]

Welcome to Palm Sunday, Jesus’ celebrated entry into Jerusalem. It is a confusing celebration. The crowd shouts “Hosanna, Hosanna” this week, and “Crucify him, Crucify him” next week. We are left to wonder, “Is this a victory march or a funeral procession?” […]

Welcome to the Fifth Sunday of Lent. In this week’s Gospel, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with costly perfume. Judas — who will soon betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver — grumbles about this “waste,” claiming it could’ve been given to the poor. […]

Welcome to the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Today, we encounter one of the most beloved stories in Scripture — the Parable of the Prodigal (wasteful & reckless) Son. […]

Welcome to the third Sunday of Lent. This week’s text begins with two stories of victims who died tragically through no fault of their own. In both cases, Jesus asks the crowd a rhetorical question: Were the victims of these tragedies worse “sinners” than anyone else? […]

Welcome to the final week before Lent — Transfiguration Sunday. This week’s Gospel calls to mind Moses’ cloud-covered meeting with God on the mountain. He descends with the Ten Commandments, only to be met by “the noise of war in the camp” (Ex. 32:17) — a fearful people who turned to the golden calf in their anxiety. […]

Welcome to the 7th Sunday after Epiphany. In this week’s text, Jesus calls us to love our enemies — the heart of the Gospel. It sounds nice in theory, but it’s rarely popular in practice. […]

Welcome to the 5th Sunday after Epiphany. Last week, Jesus’ refusal to play the scapegoating game nearly got Him lynched. This week, He leaves the synagogue to preach on the shores of Lake Gennesaret — where chaos still brews, just in a different form. […]

Welcome to the third Sunday after Epiphany. Last week, we witnessed Jesus’ first miracle. This week Jesus preaches his first sermon. It starts with a bang! […]

Welcome to the 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany. This week we’re fellow guests at a wedding in Cana. Jesus serves up 120 gallons of the best wine. This is not a quaint tea party. It is a joy filled love feast. […]

Welcome to the first Sunday after Epiphany. This week, we find ourselves in the baptismal waters with Jesus, undergoing his baptismal blessing: “You are my child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” […]

Welcome to the second week of Advent. We are in the waiting rooms of Christmas. Having waited last week in the apocalypse, we now find ourselves in the wilderness with John the Baptist. Here, he echoes the words of the prophet Isaiah, proclaiming, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” (Isaiah 40:3-5). […]

Welcome to the first week of Advent. It’s a season of waiting. We wait for the coming Christ who is always “drawing near.” Over the next four weeks, we will sit in what we call the “waiting rooms of Christmas.” These rooms are not easy to inhabit, but when occupied with open hearts they are transformational. […]

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

25:32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,

25:33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

Matthew 25:14-30

“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;

25:15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Matthew 25:1-13

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

25:2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

25:3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;

25:4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

23:2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat;

23:3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.

Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,

22:35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

22:36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

Matthew 22:15-22

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.

22:16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.