Meet Our Clergy
The Rev. Kelly Kirby
Rector
The Rev. Suzanne Barrow
Dir. Congregational Life
The Rev. Jan Scholtz
Deacon
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Joseph recognized by his brothers (1863), oil painting on canvas by Léon Pierre Urbain Bourgeois (1842-1911). Musée de la Faïence et des Beaux-Arts, Nevers, France.
Read the Illuminations
Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Epiphany 7C, February 23, 2025
First Reading: Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Throughout Sunday’s readings, we hear a clear call to listen for God and to forgive even those who have hurt us. So it is with Joseph in our first reading. Sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, Joseph rose through difficulties to become a chief advisor to Pharaoh. Now Joseph’s brothers, who have come to Egypt to escape a famine at home, find Joseph elevated to this powerful position. They are terrified, fearing their brother’s revenge, but Joseph forgives them amid tears and kisses.
Psalm: Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42
Trust in God and do good, the Psalmist urges the people. Don’t worry about evildoers or envy those who do wrong: They won’t last. But those who follow God’s ways will receive their heart’s desire. As we sing these verses, notice the parallels with Jesus’s instructions in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain: Be patient. Don’t strike out in anger. These things only lead to evil. Trust in God, rather, knowing that the meek shall inherit the land. Wait for God with patience and confident trust. Follow God’s ways and be rewarded.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50
In the passage we read this Sunday, Paul continues his extended theological reflection on resurrection and how it works. He sets up an opposing question, asking what kind of body the resurrected will have; then he shouts “Fool!” at his imagined debating opponent. Using the example of seeds and sowing as a metaphor, he observes that seeds of grain cannot come to life as plants unless they first die by being sown in the earth. Just as God then gives each kind of seed its own body, Paul says, so it is with resurrection: Our physical bodies perish, but what is raised cannot perish. Just as Adam, the first human, came from dust, but Christ, like a second Adam, came from heaven, in resurrection we will bear Christ’s image.
Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
This week we hear more of Jesus’s Sermon on the Plain as told by Luke, and its reversal of expectations continues in a more edgy and even challenging interpretation of Jesus’s words than we hear in Matthew’s Beatitudes. Moving from the blessings for those who suffer and the woes for those who revel in riches, Jesus now poses a difficult, counterintuitive challenge: Love our enemies and do good to those who hate and hurt us, doing to others as we would have them do to us. Jesus goes on to make clear that practicing this Golden Rule is not to be done in hope of reward: “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. … But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”
First Reading: Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Throughout Sunday’s readings, we hear a clear call to listen for God and to forgive even those who have hurt us. So it is with Joseph in our first reading. Sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, Joseph rose through difficulties to become a chief advisor to Pharaoh. Now Joseph’s brothers, who have come to Egypt to escape a famine at home, find Joseph elevated to this powerful position. They are terrified, fearing their brother’s revenge, but Joseph forgives them amid tears and kisses.
Psalm: Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42
Trust in God and do good, the Psalmist urges the people. Don’t worry about evildoers or envy those who do wrong: They won’t last. But those who follow God’s ways will receive their heart’s desire. As we sing these verses, notice the parallels with Jesus’s instructions in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain: Be patient. Don’t strike out in anger. These things only lead to evil. Trust in God, rather, knowing that the meek shall inherit the land. Wait for God with patience and confident trust. Follow God’s ways and be rewarded.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50
In the passage we read this Sunday, Paul continues his extended theological reflection on resurrection and how it works. He sets up an opposing question, asking what kind of body the resurrected will have; then he shouts “Fool!” at his imagined debating opponent. Using the example of seeds and sowing as a metaphor, he observes that seeds of grain cannot come to life as plants unless they first die by being sown in the earth. Just as God then gives each kind of seed its own body, Paul says, so it is with resurrection: Our physical bodies perish, but what is raised cannot perish. Just as Adam, the first human, came from dust, but Christ, like a second Adam, came from heaven, in resurrection we will bear Christ’s image.
Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
This week we hear more of Jesus’s Sermon on the Plain as told by Luke, and its reversal of expectations continues in a more edgy and even challenging interpretation of Jesus’s words than we hear in Matthew’s Beatitudes. Moving from the blessings for those who suffer and the woes for those who revel in riches, Jesus now poses a difficult, counterintuitive challenge: Love our enemies and do good to those who hate and hurt us, doing to others as we would have them do to us. Jesus goes on to make clear that practicing this Golden Rule is not to be done in hope of reward: “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. … But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”
Dimensions of Faith Lectures
Dimensions of Faith invites thinkers and writers to explore the interface of religion and culture, as we continue as a parish to challenge our minds and renew our spirits.
Upcoming Speaker:John Dear, March 30, 2025
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Dr. Lewis Brogdon / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House/Bishop Marianne Budde / Elizabeth Schrader-Polzcer
Upcoming Speaker:John Dear, March 30, 2025
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Dr. Lewis Brogdon / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House/Bishop Marianne Budde / Elizabeth Schrader-Polzcer
