Break Open the Word

The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 13, 4 August 2013 Hosea 11:1-11 Psalm 107:1-9, 43    Or Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:1-23 Psalm 49:1-11 Colossians 3:1-11 St. Luke 12:13-21 William Blake - "Job"                                                                                     Background:  Wisdom Literature Gerhard von Rad, a biblical scholar with a special interest in the Hebrew Scriptures, along with others is skeptical about this genre of literature in the Bible.  None-the-less, there are enough unique...

The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 12, 28 July 2013 Hosea 1:2-10 Psalm 85    Or Genesis 18:20-32 Psalm 138 Colossians 2:6-19 St. Luke 11:1-13                                                                                     Background:  Sodom This city, along with its sister community, Gomorrah, really serves as a fulcrum that stands between the texts regarding the Visitation at Mamre, and the Bargaining over Sodom, and its eventual Destruction.  There is no clear evidence that these cities even existed, alth...