Break Open the Word

  The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, 6 September 2020     Track 1 or Track 2 Exodus 12:1-14 Psalm 149 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20   Ezekiel 33:7-11 Psalm 119:33-40 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20   The Collect   Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.     Background: The Family   If you grew up in the fifties or sixties, your concept of the family may be at odds or quite different from the notion of the family in the Bible. The Track One First Reading is the founding text of the Passover, and we may think that it was celebrated in the intimacy of the nuclear family as we understand it from our own personal histories. The family of biblical times was much diff...

  The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17, 30 August 2020     Track 1 or Track 2 Exodus 3:1-15 Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c Romans 12:9-21 Matthew 16:21-28   Jeremiah 15:15-21 Psalm 26:1-8  Romans 12:9-21 Matthew 16:21-28     The Collect   Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.  Amen.     Background: The Son of Man in Matthew   In last Sunday’s Gospel, The Confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi ( Matthew 16:13-2 0), we encounter two terms that might be worthy of further exploration. In an article on these two titles [1] , Jack Dean Kingsbury describes the title “Son of God” as confessional, and “Son of Man” as public in nature – a comp...