Break Open the Word

The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, 4 September 2016 Track One: Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17 Track Two: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Psalm 1 Philemon 1-21 Saint Luke 14:25-33 Background: Pottery That Jeremiah should use the images of and knowledge about the potter, as a way of describing Israel’s relationship with YHWH should not surprise us. This means of storage, cooking, and later decoration was the bedrock of civilization and it is the means by which we can identify peoples and tribes, in their distinctive potteries. The creation story itself relies on the notion of the potter as well, as Adam is formed from the earth and given the breath of life. In the Fertile Crescent, human beings were making pottery from ca. 7,000 BCE on. We can see its earliest manifestation at the Hassuna site (a tell near ancient Nineveh) where archaeologists have found a slab-built pottery that was undecorated and not glazed using a low fire and reddis...

The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17, 28 August 2016 Track One: Jeremiah 2:4-13 Psalm 81:1, 10-16 Track 2 Sirach 10:12-18 or Proverbs 25:6-7 Psalm 112 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Saint Luke 14:1, 7-14 Background: Pride We are caught, in our time, between two conflicting notions of pride.   On the one hand it is part and parcel of the Greek notion of hybris , an over-valued sense of self and importance in the scheme of things, and on the other hand, a sense of self and accomplishment that is part of the general good of things. Added to this are the psychological aspects of pride, or lack of it. If anything, our time seemed determined to address the sin of lack of self-esteem and self worth. Thus minority groups both racial and sexual, along with women and others have addressed the issues of pride and self esteem. Casting aside the devaluations that have been leveled against them by the prevailing patriarchy, or societal values in general, ...