By Stephen Fowl

• More Righteous than the Scribes and Pharisees by Stephen Fowl (1/31/2017)
  Fifth Sunday after Epiphany Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 58:1-12 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 Matthew 5:13-20 In a world where ever more people think of themselves as “spiritual but not religious,” one may be suspicious of any serious concern with and reflection on ritual observance. That suspicion may draw some energy from this Sunday’s reading from Isaiah 58. The people of God to whom Isaiah shouts out like a trumpet seem genuinely baffled by the criticisms lodged against them. Their ritual observance seems to have been devout. They seek God. They “delight to know [God’s] ways.” They fast, humble themselves...
• Money and Friends by Stephen Fowl (9/12/2016)
  Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 16:1-13 There are a number of interpretive puzzles in this story of the so-called dishonest manager that forms the gospel reading for this Sunday. I will try to say something about them in due course. First, let us look at the end of the story. Here Jesus is talking, adding some comments to the story he has just told. He concludes these comments by saying that no one can serve two masters for obvious reasons. Then he says, “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Whether or not I always serve God, I hesitate to accept the idea that I might be serving wealth. Rather, wealth is there to serve me. I think tha...
• Neighboring by Stephen Fowl (7/6/2016)
  Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 10:25-37 Our gospel reading for this week contains the story of the Good Samaritan. The story is so well-known that the phrase Good Samaritan has made its way into everyday English usage. We use it to refer to someone who unexpectedly and out of the blue does a generous or even heroic act for someone in trouble. Unfortunately, the past month has given us far too many opportunities to point out good Samaritans. The phrase made its way into our everyday discourse from our Gospel reading for this Sunday. Our familiarity with this story and our conventional use of the term Good Samaritan might lead us to miss some of the more interesting details o...
• The Death of Jesus by Stephen Fowl (3/15/2016)
  Palm/Passion Sunday Luke 19:28-40 Luke 22:14-23:56 Beginning with his entry into Jerusalem and culminating with his crucifixion, this Sunday is devoted to the death of Jesus. He died as part of a public execution. Until relatively recently states, governments and empires always executed their perceived enemies publicly. It was an opportunity for the powers that be to make a statement. The Romans were particularly good at this. Their victims became billboards for the empire’s power. From the perspective of the Romans, Jesus’ death on the cross was simply one more occasion for the empire to announce that if you disrupt things, and even if we t...
• I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? by Stephen Fowl (3/8/2016)
  Fifth Sunday of Lent Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4-14 John 12:1-8 Deep into Lent, it seems appropriate to have a gospel reading that focuses on preparing Jesus for his death. It is also refreshing to have a set of readings that focus on transformation and renewal. In Isaiah, just before the passage for this Sunday, the LORD announces the immanent defeat of Babylon. From there, today’s reading begins with an allusion to God’s deliverance of the Israelites and the defeat of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. Although this is Israel’s climact...
• Feasting with the Saints by Stephen Fowl (10/26/2015)
  Feast of All Saints Isaiah 25:6-9 or Wis Sol. 3:1-9 Ps 24 Rev 21:1-6 Jn 11:32-44 I love All Saints Day. It is one of my favorite feast days of the church year. It is a time for joyfully remembering those who preceded us in the faith, both those well-known and those known only to God. It is one of the traditional days for baptism, too. When this happens it provides a community with a chance to look both backward to remember departed members of the body and forward with those beginning their new lives in Ch...
• The Authority of Prisoners by Stephen Fowl (7/29/2015)
  Tenth Sunday after Pentecost 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a Psalm 51 Ephesians 4:1-16 John 6:24-35 In Ephesians 4 Paul begins a sustained account of the shape, nature and practices of life in Christ. He calls on the Ephesians to embody a vibrant unity based on their common faith and baptism. He uses the metaphor of “walking” to describe how believers are to embody a common life in Christ. One of the most striking things about the epistle reading for today is that it begins with a personal plea from one who is a “prisoner in the Lord.” In the NRSV Paul is said to “b...
• The Advocacy of the Spirit by Stephen Fowl (5/19/2015)
  Pentecost Sunday Acts 2:1-21 Romans 8:22-27 John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 Although this piece is about Pentecost, I am writing it on the Feast of the Ascension. This fact along with the Pentecost reading from Acts 2 brings Elijah to mind. Like Jesus, Elijah ascends into heaven. Unlike Jesus, he does not conquer death prior to his ascension. Like the followers of Jesus, Elijah has powerful experience of the Lord’s presence. In 1Kings 19 Elijah has just accomplished the most powerful act of his prophetic ministry. On behalf of the one true God, Elijah has challenged the prophets of Baal, who enjoyed the favor of the ...
• Death Defeated by Stephen Fowl (4/1/2015)
  Easter Sunday Isaiah 25:6-9 Acts 10:34-43 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 John 20:1-18 OR Mark 16:1-8 This Easter will be the first since my mother died in July. She died so unexpectedly and quickly that I could not be with her when it happened. Still, mom was a believer and hers was a fast, peaceful death. As these things go, we would call it a good death. Nevertheless, as I found out at Christmas, and I expect I will find out at Easter, her death has upset me more than I first knew. Without question, there are v...
• Contemplatives in Action by Stephen Fowl (2/3/2015)
  Fifth Sunday after Epiphany Mark 1:29-39 Scholars often speak of Mark’s gospel as a passion narrative with a long introduction. The readings for this week as well as the past couple of weeks are part of that introduction. Last week’s gospel reading and the first part of this week’s reading cover just one day in the ministry of Jesus. In Mark’s typically laconic style, we learn in short order that Jesus calls two sets of brothers to be his first followers (1:16-20). They enter Capernaum on a Sabbath and “immediately” go to the synagogue. There, Jesus teaches “with authority.” Though we don’t learn what he says, we do learn that he casts out a demon. This activity certainly serves to buttress Jesus’ authorit...
• Enter Into the Lord's Joy by Stephen Fowl (11/11/2014)
  Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Matthew 25:14-30 Our Gospel reading for today comes from Matt 25. Paired as it is with the passages from Zephaniah and 1Thessalonians, it seems to paint a rather stark and uncomfortable picture of judgment. This is the sort of thing that is easily caricatured by those throughout the ages who have thought of Christianity as little more than a religion whose adherents’ faith is based on the fearful desire to avoid some future judgment by God. Although Christians have from time to time evangeliz...
• The Quality of Mercy by Stephen Fowl (9/15/2014)
  Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Exodus 16:2-15 OR Jonah 3:10-4:11 Philippians 1:21-30 Matthew 20:1-16 There are Sundays when it seems that God simply can’t catch a break. In one Old Testament reading, the people of God grumble and complain because they don’t have enough; they are worried about where their next meal will come from; they do not believe that Moses or God can provide; they are uncomfortable with having to rely on God. Alternatively, if you opt for the reading from Jonah, God gets slammed by Jonah for b...