Podcasts about Epistle

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

The Epistle;: Philippians 2: 1-13 The Gospel: St. Matthew 21:28-32

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Hold on to your pulpits this week, preachers! The Gospel is one of the hardest parables in Matthew — and one with the most difficult history in Christian preaching. The parable of the wicked tenants has been used, throughout Christian history, to justify the church's replacement of Israel and to fuel centuries of anti-Jewish violence, from medieval pogroms through Nazi propaganda. Preachers must handle it with unusual care.Track One brings us the Ten Commandments at Sinai. Track Two brings us Isaiah's song of the vineyard — the direct source material for the Gospel parable. The Epistle gives us Paul's autobiographical turn: whatever gains I had, I count as loss for Christ.For preachers continuing a series: last week's parable of the two sons exposed the yes that did not go. This week's parable of the wicked tenants exposes what happens when tenants forget they are tenants. The Matthew arc keeps sharpening toward the passion.The ReadingsExodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20First Reading (Track One) — The Ten CommandmentsSummaryGod speaks to Moses at Sinai. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Then the commandments: no other gods. No idols. No misusing God's name. Remember the sabbath and rest. Honor your father and mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor. When the people see the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they tremble and stand at a distance. They tell Moses: “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses reassures them: God has come to test you, so that the fear of God may be with you and keep you from sinning.Key Ideas for Preaching* The commandments begin with a verb about God, not a demand of the people. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out.” Deliverance comes first; then the shape of life among the delivered. What might your sermon do with the specific order — grace before command — that most preachers know but many congregations have never actually heard?* The commandments protect people. Do not murder protects human life. Do not steal protects property. Do not bear false witness protects reputation and truth. Do not covet protects the heart from unrest. These are not arbitrary rules; they are the shape of a community where life can flourish. Where in your congregation have the commandments been imagined as arbitrary restrictions when they are actually protections?* “You speak to us, but do not let God speak to us” — the people's request captures a real spiritual pattern. We often prefer mediated religion to direct encounter. What might it look like to preach a God who is willing to be heard directly, and to name the tender fear that keeps us at a distance?Significant Cautions* Do not preach the commandments as if the whole ethical life of the church can be reduced to ten rules. Jesus himself will summarize them in two.* The lectionary omits verses 5–6 (the “jealous God” verses). Preachers should know what has been omitted and decide honestly whether to preach the whole passage or just the assigned selection.* The commandments have often been misused as a checklist for civic religion. Handle their communal, covenantal context carefully.Psalm 19The Psalm (Track One) — The Heavens Are TellingSummary“The heavens are telling the glory of God.” The psalm begins with creation's silent praise — day pours out speech to day — and moves to the law: perfect, reviving the soul; sure, making wise the simple. The psalm closes with a prayer against hidden faults and presumption, and the famous closing petition: let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm links creation and law in the same song. The heavens declare God's glory; God's word revives the soul. Both are revelation. Where has your congregation imagined creation and Scripture as competing sources of knowing God, when the psalm holds them together?* “Clear me from hidden faults” — the psalmist prays not for the sins he can see but for the ones he cannot. What might your sermon do with a spiritual practice that includes asking God to name what we are not yet aware of?Significant Cautions* “The heavens declare the glory of God” has been misused in the culture wars around science. The psalm is not a scientific claim; it is doxology.Isaiah 5:1–7First Reading (Track Two) — The Song of the VineyardSummaryThe prophet sings a love song about his beloved's vineyard. God did everything for the vineyard — dug it, cleared it of stones, planted choice vines, built a watchtower, hewed a wine vat. And expected grapes. But the vineyard yielded wild grapes. So God will remove its hedge, break down its wall, make it a waste. The song ends with the interpretation: “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!”Key Ideas for Preaching* The prophet's judgment on Israel is Israel's own prophet speaking within Israel's tradition. This is not an outside voice condemning God's people. This is Isaiah's love for his people speaking hard truth. What might it look like to preach a prophetic word that comes from love rather than distance?* The wordplay in Hebrew is untranslatable but worth naming. God expected mishpat (justice) but saw mispach (bloodshed); God expected tsedaqah (righteousness) but heard tse'aqah (a cry). Justice and bloodshed sound alike. Righteousness and outcry sound alike. Only one letter apart. What might your sermon do with the closeness of what God wanted and what God got?* Isaiah 5 is the direct source for today's Gospel parable of the tenants. Jesus is not inventing a new critique; he is quoting Israel's own prophet. Where in your congregation might people be helped by hearing that Jesus's hardest words about religious leadership are drawn from Israel's own tradition of self-critique?Significant Cautions* This passage should not be read as evidence that God has rejected Israel. Isaiah's critique is a call to return, not a decree of replacement.* “He expected justice but saw bloodshed” has been quoted in ways that reduce injustice to individual sin. Isaiah is naming systemic failure of leadership, not simply personal wrongdoing.Psalm 80:7–15The Psalm (Track Two) — The Vine You Brought Out of EgyptSummaryAnother vineyard psalm. God brought a vine out of Egypt, drove out the nations, and planted it. It sent out its branches to the sea, its shoots to the river. But now its walls are broken down and passersby pluck its fruit. “Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted.”Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm imagines God as the planter and Israel as the tended vine. It is a picture of intimate care — God's own right hand doing the planting. What might your sermon do with a picture of God's investment in the people that is this personal?* “Turn again, O God” is a psalm of return — not the people's return to God, but a prayer that God will turn back toward them. What might it look like to preach a faith that includes asking God to notice again, when God's face seems turned away?Significant Cautions* This psalm's laments have sometimes been used to shame communities into thinking their difficulties are always God's judgment. Not all suffering is discipline.Philippians 3:4b–14The Epistle — I Count It All as LossSummaryPaul lists his credentials. Circumcised on the eighth day. Of the people of Israel. Tribe of Benjamin. Hebrew of Hebrews. A Pharisee. A persecutor of the church — by which he means he was zealous. Blameless under the law. Then the turn: whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. He counts everything as rubbish compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. He wants to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, the sharing of his sufferings. Not that he has already obtained this or reached the goal, but he presses on to make it his own, because Christ Jesus has made him his own. Forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead, he presses on toward the goal.Key Ideas for Preaching* Paul's list of credentials is not fabrication. He really did have every advantage of Jewish religious life in the first century. He is not saying his credentials were worthless in themselves. He is saying that compared to knowing Christ, they are loss. Where in your congregation has this passage been read as if Paul were dismissing Jewish life? Preach it more honestly.* Paul's word for what he considers his gains to be is stronger than “rubbish.” In Greek it means excrement — the kind of language you would not read from the pulpit lightly. Paul is being deliberately shocking. What is your sermon doing to hold the shock of this passage rather than sanitizing it?* “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal” — Paul refuses spiritual complacency. He has been at this for years, and still he presses on. What might it look like to preach a mature Christian life that includes this specific refusal of arrival?Significant Cautions* Paul is not rejecting Jewish life. He is naming his own reordering of priorities. Do not preach this passage as if Judaism were the enemy Paul overcame; that reading has caused enormous harm.* “Forgetting what lies behind” has been misused to shame people who need to process their past. Paul is talking about not resting on his own credentials, not about pretending painful history did not happen.Matthew 21:33–46The Gospel — The Wicked TenantsSummaryJesus tells another parable in the temple. A landowner plants a vineyard, puts a fence around it, digs a wine press, builds a watchtower, and leases it to tenants before going away. When harvest time comes, he sends slaves to collect his share of the fruit. The tenants beat one slave, kill another, and stone another. He sends more slaves; they do the same. Finally he sends his son, thinking “they will respect my son.” The tenants say, “This is the heir; let us kill him and get his inheritance.” They seize him, throw him out of the vineyard, and kill him. Jesus asks: what will the owner do to those tenants? The audience answers: he will put them to a miserable death and give the vineyard to others. Jesus responds by quoting Psalm 118: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” He tells them: the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The chief priests and Pharisees realize he is speaking about them but are afraid to arrest him because of the crowds.Key Ideas for Preaching* This is one of the parables most badly used in Christian history. It has been read as “God took the kingdom from the Jews and gave it to the Christians” — a reading that has fueled centuries of anti-Jewish violence. But the parable is not aimed at “the Jews” as a people. It is aimed at specific religious leaders in Jerusalem who have failed in their role. What might it look like to preach this passage without the supersessionist reading that has haunted the church for two thousand years?* The parable draws directly from Isaiah 5's song of the vineyard. Jesus is not inventing a new attack; he is speaking in Israel's own prophetic tradition. This is Israel's own prophet speaking Israel's own hard truth to Israel's own leadership. Where might your sermon make this connection explicit, so that the parable's real target — failed leadership — becomes clearer than the Christian misreading has allowed?* The tenants' fundamental problem is that they forgot they were tenants. They started acting as if the vineyard belonged to them. When the owner's son came, they killed him for the inheritance. What might your sermon do with a picture of religious leadership — or of Christian life generally — that reminds people they are stewards, not owners?* The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. That reversal is not simply about Jesus. It is about a pattern: what the systems of power reject, God builds on. Where in your congregation might people be helped by hearing that God's building materials are often the ones religious leadership has thrown out?Significant Cautions* This is the critical caution for this passage. The parable has been used throughout Christian history to justify anti-Jewish violence — from medieval pogroms to Nazi propaganda. Preachers who do not name this history and preach against it become complicit in it. Handle with utmost care.* “The kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits” has been read as “given to the church instead of Israel.” This is a distortion. The “you” is specific religious leadership; the “people that produces fruits” is not the church replacing Israel but any community that lives faithfully.* The parable ends with the crowd protecting Jesus from arrest. This detail is often overlooked. It is precisely “the crowds” — the people, largely Jewish — who are Jesus's protection here. Do not read this as “the Jews were all against Jesus.”Thematic ConnectionsThe Gospel is the natural center — and it is one of the most difficult parables in Matthew. The three other readings, in different ways, deepen its themes without letting it be reduced to the supersessionist reading that has haunted Christian history.Track One's Ten Commandments give us the shape of life for a community that has been delivered. The commandments are not the vineyard's product; they are the trellis on which the fruit is meant to grow. Preachers can name this pairing: the commandments are what God expected the tenants to steward.Track Two's Isaiah 5 is the direct source material for the Gospel parable. Reading them together makes clear that Jesus is not inventing a new critique of Israel — he is quoting Israel's own prophet. That connection alone can inoculate the sermon against the supersessionist reading.Philippians 3 sits inside the day as Paul's own reordering of what counts. Paul has all the credentials the wicked tenants would have envied — he was a Pharisee, blameless under the law. And he now counts it all as loss for Christ. That is not a rejection of Jewish life; it is a specific spiritual reorientation. Paul, of all people, would not have preached the supersessionist reading of Matthew 21.For preachers continuing a series: last week's parable of the two sons exposed the yes that did not go. This week's parable of the wicked tenants exposes what happens when tenants forget they are tenants. The Matthew arc keeps sharpening toward Holy Week. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

Join us as we study through the Epistle to the Galatians in our sermon series, "The Gospel at Work."In today's podcast, we will be focusing on Galatians 5:22-23.If you have any questions or would like to leave a comment, please feel free to email us at info@ravenswoodbaptist.org

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

This week Fr. Michael talks about how he thinks about putting together a homily. He uses a recent Sunday Gospel and Epistle to show how he thinks about homilies and how we can link passages to our daily lives. Fr. Michael talks about the importance of reading the readings ahead of Divine Liturgy, especially if you are cantoring them.References:The Hidden Power of Silence in the Mass: A Guide for Encountering Christ in the LiturgyFollow and Contact Us!Follow us on Instagram and FacebookWe're on YouTube!Join our Goodreads GroupFr. Michael's TwitterChrist the Bridegroom MonasteryOur WebsiteOur NonprofitSend us Fan MailSupport the show

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Another week, another great set of readings. Let's think about preaching!The Gospel is the confrontation in the temple. Jesus is teaching after his triumphal entry when the chief priests and elders come to challenge his authority. He refuses to answer directly. Instead, he tells a parable that exposes them — a parable about two sons, one who said no but did the work anyway, and one who said yes but did not. The parable closes with one of Jesus's sharper lines: tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.Track One brings us the Israelites at Massah and Meribah — a story of thirst, complaint, and water from the rock. Track Two brings us Ezekiel's rejection of the proverb “the parents have eaten sour grapes,” insisting that change is possible for anyone and ending with God's astonishing plea: “turn, then, and live.” The Epistle gives us the Christ hymn — Christ's self-emptying as the pattern for the church's common life.For preachers continuing a series: last week's parable of the vineyard workers exposed our envy of God's generosity. This week's parable of the two sons exposes the difference between the yes we say and the yes we do. The Matthew arc keeps sharpening.The ReadingsExodus 17:1–7First Reading (Track One) — Water from the Rock at Massah and MeribahSummaryThe Israelites are camped at Rephidim, and there is no water. They quarrel with Moses, demanding water. Moses asks why they are testing God. The people press harder — they and their children and their livestock are thirsty; they wish they had died in Egypt. Moses cries out to God: what am I supposed to do? They are ready to stone me. God tells Moses to take his staff, go ahead of the people to the rock at Horeb, and strike it. Water will come out. Moses does this in the sight of the elders. The place is named Massah (testing) and Meribah (quarreling), because the people asked: “Is the Lord among us or not?”Photo by Jakob Owens on UnsplashKey Ideas for Preaching* The people's complaint is real. They are thirsty. Their children are thirsty. Their livestock is thirsty. The text does not shame them for being scared; it simply gives them water. Where in your congregation have people been told their complaints were faithless when what they actually needed was water?* Their question — “Is the Lord among us or not?” — is honest. It is the question we ask when we are exhausted and afraid, when God's presence seems more theoretical than real. What might your sermon do with a God who does not answer this question with a lecture on faith, but with actual water?* The place is named Massah and Meribah, and the naming stays in the tradition. Israel remembers their doubt as part of the story, not as something to be edited out. Where in your congregation has the impulse been to erase the memory of doubt rather than name it as part of the faithful story?Significant Cautions* Do not preach this in a way that shames people who are asking honest questions about God's presence. The people's question is not what the text critiques; it is the testing (implying “prove yourself to us or we walk away”) that is more problematic.* Later in the Torah, Moses's own impatience at another version of this story will cost him entry into the promised land. Do not conflate the two stories.Psalm 78:1–4, 12–16The Psalm (Track One) — We Will Tell the Coming GenerationSummaryA wisdom psalm calling for the passing down of God's works from one generation to the next. The selected verses focus on Egypt and the wilderness — the dividing of the sea, the cloud that led by day and fire by night, the water from the rock that split open like rivers. The psalmist insists this story must be told to children.Key Ideas for Preaching* “We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation.” That is a specific pastoral commitment. Where in your congregation is the passing-down of the faith going quiet, and how might this psalm invite grandparents, parents, and mentors into concrete practice?* Read alongside the Exodus reading, the psalm's calm narration of “water flowed from the rock” flattens the tension of Massah and Meribah. Where has your congregation's remembering of the past made the actual difficulty feel smaller than it was?Significant Cautions* Do not use the psalm to shame parents who are struggling to pass the faith on. The passing-down is a communal responsibility, not a solo parental burden.Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32First Reading (Track Two) — Turn, Then, and LiveSummaryGod rejects the proverb Israel had been quoting to itself: “the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.” This proverb had become an excuse — the current generation is suffering for what their ancestors did. God insists otherwise: every life belongs to God; the person who sins is the one who is accountable. If a wicked person turns from their sin, they will live. If a righteous person turns from righteousness, they will die. The people complain that God's way is unfair; God answers that it is their ways that are unfair. And the passage closes with God's astonishing plea: “Have I any pleasure in the death of anyone? Turn, then, and live.”Key Ideas for Preaching* The rejected proverb had become a way of avoiding responsibility — blaming the past for the present. God's response is not “let it go” but “turn.” Where in your congregation has intergenerational blame become a substitute for actual change?* The passage insists that change is possible in either direction. A wicked person can turn. A righteous person can fall away. Neither category is permanent. What might your sermon do with a God who refuses to give up on people who have failed and who refuses to guarantee people who have succeeded?* “Have I any pleasure in the death of anyone?... Turn, then, and live.” That is God's own posture. God is not eager for judgment; God is longing for return. Where in your congregation has God been imagined as more eager for judgment than the text depicts?Significant Cautions* The passage's insistence on personal responsibility should not be used to dismiss the real effects of intergenerational trauma. Ezekiel is arguing against fatalism, not denying that families and communities pass down real wounds.* “The soul that sins shall die” has been used in ways that make God sound bloodthirsty. In context, this is a call to change, not a threat of eternal punishment.Psalm 25:1–9The Psalm (Track Two) — Remember Not the Sins of My YouthSummaryA psalm of trust and prayer. “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” The psalmist asks to be taught God's ways, remembered by God's mercy, forgiven for the sins of youth. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. The humble are led in what is right and taught his way.Key Ideas for Preaching* “Remember not the sins of my youth… according to your steadfast love, remember me.” That is a prayer many people in your congregation have never given themselves permission to pray. What might it look like to offer them the specific practice of asking God to remember them by mercy rather than by the mistakes they made when they were younger?* “He instructs sinners in the way.” That is a striking picture — God as a teacher of the ones who have failed. Where in your congregation has failure been imagined as the end of instruction, when the psalm imagines it as the beginning?Significant Cautions* “Sins of youth” should not be read narrowly. The point is that God's memory of us is not our worst moments.Philippians 2:1–13The Epistle — The Mind of Christ; the Christ HymnSummaryPaul writes to a community he loves, urging them to be of one mind, one love, one accord. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit; in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Then the great Christ hymn: let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name. The passage closes: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, because God is at work in you.Key Ideas for Preaching* The Christ hymn is the pattern — self-emptying downward before glory. Paul asks the Philippians to have this same mind. That is a radical reframing of how a Christian community holds together. Where in your congregation has upward mobility (position, recognition, honor) been mistaken for the shape of Christian life?* “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit” is not a call to passivity — it is a call to reorient ambition itself. The Christ of the hymn is enormously active; he simply does not act for himself. What might your sermon do with the difference between Christian ambition and Christian selfish ambition?* “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you.” That paradox holds together human effort and divine work in the same sentence. Where in your congregation has one been emphasized at the expense of the other?Significant Cautions* The Christ hymn has been used to tell women, enslaved people, and the poor to accept their subjugation as an imitation of Christ's humility. This is a horrifying misuse. Christ's self-emptying was voluntary and toward the mission of God. It is not a template for anyone else's forced humiliation.* “Regard others as better than yourselves” has been used to reinforce unhealthy self-abasement. The point is other-orientation, not the erasure of self-worth.Matthew 21:23–32The Gospel — By What Authority; the Two SonsSummaryJesus is in the temple, teaching, after his triumphal entry. The chief priests and elders come and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answers with a question of his own: “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” They cannot answer — if they say heaven, he will ask why they did not believe John; if they say human, the crowd will turn on them. They say, “We do not know.” Jesus says, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Then the parable. A man had two sons. He asked the first to go work in the vineyard; the son said, “I will not,” but later changed his mind and went. He asked the second; the son said, “I go, sir,” but did not go. Which one did the will of his father? The first, they answer. Jesus concludes: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but they did. And even seeing this, you did not change your minds.Key Ideas for Preaching* Jesus's question about John is not a rhetorical trick — it is a genuine diagnostic. If you cannot make an honest judgment about John, you cannot make an honest judgment about me. What might your sermon do with a Jesus who tests the honesty of the question before he answers it?* The parable exposes a specific failure — the failure of the yes that does not become an action. The second son says the right thing but does not do it. This is not aimed at hypocrites in the classical sense; it is aimed at everyone whose intentions have quietly outrun their actions. Where in your congregation are people whose faith has been more said than done?* The tax collectors and prostitutes go ahead not because they were morally superior but because they believed John and changed their minds. Change of mind — metanoia — is the door. Where in your congregation has “unchanged conviction” been imagined as more faithful than “changed mind”?* “You did not change your minds and believe him.” That closing line names something specific: it is possible to see the truth working in others and still not change. The evidence is there, and the will is not. What might your sermon do with the possibility that the deepest failure in this passage is not saying no but seeing yes elsewhere and still refusing?Significant Cautions* The parable can be preached as if the “no-then-yes” son is a moral hero. He is not; he is simply the one who actually did the work. Preachers should honor the parable's realism rather than heroizing anyone.* “Tax collectors and prostitutes going into the kingdom ahead of you” has been used to shame religious people in ways that create a new self-righteousness. Watch for the irony — the new self-congratulation of “we are more like the tax collectors than the priests” is exactly what the parable is critiquing.* Do not use the parable to bless procrastination (“I said no but I did it eventually, so I'm the good son”). The parable is diagnostic, not permission.Thematic ConnectionsThe Gospel is the natural center — a confrontation about authority followed by a parable about what actual obedience looks like.On Track One, the Israelites at Massah and Meribah pair with the Gospel in a specific way. The question they ask — “Is the Lord among us or not?” — is being asked in the temple too, by different questioners with different stakes. The Israelites ask honestly; the priests ask to trap. And the God who answers the Israelites with water is the same God whose Son is now being questioned by those he has come to save.On Track Two, Ezekiel's insistence that change is possible pairs directly with the Gospel's parable. The first son changes his mind. So do the tax collectors and prostitutes who believed John. Ezekiel and Jesus are naming the same thing: turning is possible, and the God who receives the turned is the God who has always been longing for return. “Turn, then, and live.”Philippians 2 sits inside the day as the pattern for what changed minds actually produce. The Christ who emptied himself is the model for a community whose transformed minds show up in transformed lives. It is not just belief; it is the mind of Christ becoming the shape of a community.For preachers continuing a series: last week the parable of the vineyard exposed our envy of grace on others. This week the parable of the two sons exposes the yes that does not become an action. The Matthew arc keeps testing the distance between the words we speak and the lives we live. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Pastor Dan Bodin  ~  17th Sunday after Pentecost   Old Testament:  Isaiah 55:6-9 Epistle:  Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30 Gospel:  Matthew 20:1-16 The post September 20, 2026 ~ “Joyfully Suffering” ~ Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30 appeared first on Beautiful Savior Fargo.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

You have stood where the widow stood and thought what she thought. The diagnosis, the phone call, the casket: God has remembered, and this is the bill. You are half right. Death is the wages of sin, and you have earned it. But you have read the sentence wrong. God's man came to her house not to collect but to lie down on the dead and give him breath. God's Son came to yours the same way, unasked, and laid His living body on your death at the font. He did not wait for your words. You had none; the dead do not pray. He does exceedingly abundantly above all you ask or think, and He has already done it: Christ dwells in your heart through faith. He is your table companion, and He did not come empty-handed. So when the outer man fails, and it will, the last word over your grave will not be your sin remembered but His voice: I say to you, arise.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

The Gospel is one of the most disorienting parables Jesus ever told. A landowner keeps going out throughout the day, hiring workers even at the eleventh hour, and pays everyone the same. The all-day workers grumble. The landowner responds with what may be the sharpest question in any of the parables.Track One brings us the manna in the wilderness — daily bread, given as needed, no more, no less. Track Two brings us Jonah's anger at God's mercy toward Nineveh, and the book's astonishing final image: God's concern for a great city and also its animals. The Epistle gives us Paul from prison, torn between longing for Christ and remaining for the sake of the churches — with the famous line, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”For preachers continuing a series: last week's parable of the unforgiving servant exposed what we do when we forget the scale of mercy we have been shown. This week's parable of the vineyard workers exposes what we do when we cannot bear that mercy being shown to others. The Matthew arc keeps turning the mirror slowly.Photo by Tim Mossholder on UnsplashThe ReadingsExodus 16:2–15First Reading (Track One) — Manna in the WildernessSummaryThe Israelites, only weeks out of Egypt, complain against Moses and Aaron. They would rather have died in Egypt where they had food than starve in the wilderness. Moses hears the complaint as ultimately directed at God, not at him. God tells Moses that bread will rain from heaven — each family gathering just what they need for the day. That evening, quails cover the camp; in the morning, a fine flaky substance appears on the ground. The people look at it and ask, “What is it?” Moses tells them: it is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.Key Ideas for Preaching* The people's complaint is honest. They are hungry and afraid. It is easy to preach against them for lacking faith, but that misses what the text is doing. God does not scold them; God feeds them. Where in your congregation have people been shamed for honest complaint when what they needed was bread?* The manna comes daily. Not weekly. Not monthly. Daily. And no one can hoard it — later verses tell us it spoiled when they tried. What might it look like to preach a faith that is fed each day, not stockpiled?* The people's first response to the bread is “what is it?” They do not recognize it. God's provision does not always come in a form we would have anticipated. Where in your congregation might people be missing manna because they were expecting something else?Significant Cautions* Do not preach the manna in a way that shames people who are food insecure. The text is about God's provision to people who genuinely did not have bread, not a metaphor for what to do when a delivery is late.* “Daily bread” is a phrase Jesus takes up in the Lord's Prayer. That connection is worth noting, but the manna story stands on its own.Psalm 105:1–6, 37–45The Psalm (Track One) — God's Provision in the WildernessSummaryA section of the great remembering psalm, now focused on the exodus and wilderness. God brought Israel out with silver and gold. God spread a cloud for covering, gave quails and bread from heaven, opened the rock so water gushed out. God brought the people into the promised land. The closing is a single hallelujah.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm remembers not just the dramatic deliverance but the daily provision — quails, bread, water from a rock. God's care for the people included every meal. What might your sermon do with a picture of God's faithfulness that includes the ordinary?* The psalm's mode is remembering. The Israelites are being asked to keep the story alive across generations. Where in your congregation is the practice of shared remembering going quiet, and how might this psalm invite its recovery?Significant Cautions* The psalm's cheerful retrospect flattens a lot of pain in the wilderness generation's experience. Do not preach the calm summary as if it were the whole truth of what those people lived.Jonah 3:10–4:11First Reading (Track Two) — Jonah's Anger at God's MercySummaryGod sees that Nineveh has turned from its evil ways, and God does not destroy the city. Jonah is furious. He prays a bitter prayer: this is exactly why I fled to Tarshish in the first place — I knew you were a gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. Jonah asks God to take his life. God asks, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah goes outside the city and sulks. God provides a bush for shade, which Jonah loves. Then a worm attacks the bush; it dies; Jonah is again ready to die. God asks: is it right for you to be angry about the bush? And the book ends with God's question, unanswered: you are concerned about a bush; should I not be concerned about a great city with more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left — and also many animals?Key Ideas for Preaching* Jonah's honesty is remarkable. He does not pretend his anger is righteous. He says plainly: I ran away because I knew you would show mercy, and I did not want you to. Where in your congregation has anger at God's generosity been hiding, unspoken, behind more acceptable feelings?* Jonah's theology is not wrong — his summary of God's character (gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love) is exactly right. What has gone wrong is that he does not want that God to be that God toward these people. What does it look like to preach a Jonah-shaped hypocrisy — the theology we affirm about God we do not want extended to certain neighbors?* God's argument at the end is unforgettable. You cared about a bush you did not plant. I care about a city with a hundred and twenty thousand people. And also many animals. That final phrase is a stunning small note. God's concern is bigger than the human world. Where in your congregation has God's concern been imagined as narrower than the text describes?* The book of Jonah ends on God's question, unanswered. The reader is left to answer it themselves. What might your sermon do with the fact that Jonah is silent at the end, and we are asked to speak in his place?Significant Cautions* The book of Jonah is often preached as a story about a big fish. Do not spend the sermon on the fish. The fish is a subplot; the point is God's mercy toward people Jonah wanted destroyed.* Do not use Jonah as a stand-in for Judaism (a common Christian misreading). Jonah is a specific prophet with a specific problem, and the book is Israel's own honest self-critique. Handle carefully.Psalm 145:1–8The Psalm (Track Two) — Gracious and MercifulSummaryA psalm of praise. Every day I will bless you. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. One generation shall laud your works to another. The psalmist meditates on God's greatness and steadfast love. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.Key Ideas for Preaching* “One generation shall laud your works to another” — the psalm assumes praise is handed down. Where in your congregation is the passing-down going quiet, and how might your sermon speak to grandparents, parents, and young adults about it?* The psalm's picture of God — gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love — is the same picture Jonah quotes bitterly. The psalmist praises what Jonah resented. What does it look like to preach the difference between celebrating God's mercy and hating that God's mercy extends to others?Significant Cautions* “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised” has been used as an empty affirmation. Handle the language so that it lands as specific, not generic.Philippians 1:21–30The Epistle — To Live Is Christ; Live Worthy of the GospelSummaryPaul writes from prison, torn between two things he wants. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If he continues in the body, he will keep laboring fruitfully for the churches. If he dies, he will be with Christ, which is far better. He is hard pressed between the two, but thinks it more necessary for him to remain, for their sake. So he expects to stay — for their progress and joy in faith. Meanwhile, he asks them to live in a manner worthy of the gospel: standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind, not intimidated by opponents. And he names something surprising: they have been granted the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him.Key Ideas for Preaching* Paul's ambivalence is remarkable. He is not pretending to want death for spiritual show, nor pretending he does not want to be with Christ. He holds both honestly. What might your sermon do with a picture of Christian maturity that includes real desire for what comes next without contempt for what is now?* “In a manner worthy of the gospel” is not a call to moral perfection. Paul's specifics are relational — standing side by side, striving with one mind, not intimidated. Where in your congregation has “worthy of the gospel” been reduced to personal morality when Paul was describing communal courage?* “The privilege of suffering for him” is easy to skip past. Paul is describing suffering not as punishment but as proof that we belong to Christ. This is dangerous language when misused. But rightly heard, it names something real about what discipleship costs. Where has your congregation been surprised by suffering it did not expect its faith to cost?Significant Cautions* “To live is Christ, to die is gain” has been quoted in ways that shame grieving people for their grief. Paul is not saying we should not mourn death. He is naming his own particular readiness in a particular moment.* “The privilege of suffering” has been badly misused — again, to justify staying in situations of abuse and exploitation. Paul is talking about the cost of his own faithful witness, not endorsing anyone else's mistreatment.Matthew 20:1–16The Gospel — The Workers in the VineyardSummaryA landowner goes out early in the morning to hire day laborers for his vineyard. He agrees with them on a wage — a denarius, the usual day's pay — and sends them to work. He goes out again at nine, sees others idle in the marketplace, and hires them, promising to pay them what is right. Same at noon. Same at three. At five o'clock — one hour before the workday ends — he goes out again and finds still more people standing around. He hires them too. When evening comes, he tells his manager to pay everyone, beginning with the last hired. Each five o'clock worker receives a denarius. So do the three o'clock, noon, and nine o'clock workers. So do the workers who have been there since dawn. They grumble against the landowner: these last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. The landowner responds: friend, I have done you no wrong. You agreed to a denarius. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or is your eye evil because I am generous? So the last will be first, and the first will be last.Key Ideas for Preaching* The landowner keeps going back out. He does not stop hiring at nine or at noon or at three. He keeps going out to find people who are still standing idle. This is not a story about a landowner who accidentally overpays some latecomers. This is a story about a landowner who has been actively seeking workers all day. What does it mean for your congregation to hear that God is still going out, still seeking, still bringing people in — even at the eleventh hour?* The all-day workers' complaint is understandable. They worked longer; they should be paid more. Their argument is not stupid. It is what almost anyone would say. The parable is not shaming them for the logic; it is inviting them into a different kind of accounting. Where in your congregation has fairness-as-comparison quietly displaced generosity-as-gift?* The landowner's question — “is your eye evil because I am generous?” — is one of the sharpest in the parables. In the ancient world, “an evil eye” meant envy — the kind of envy that grows dark and pained when it sees someone else's good fortune. The workers' pain is not really that they were paid too little; the landowner has just proven they were paid what was promised. Their pain is that other people were paid what those people had not earned. What might your sermon do to help a congregation notice their own comparison patterns without shaming them?* “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” Read alongside the rest of the parable, this line is more of an invitation than a threat — a reframing of what it means to be first at all. God's economy is not a race with winners and losers. It is a vineyard with an unexpected wage. What would change in your congregation if that were actually believed?Significant Cautions* The parable is often preached as if the all-day workers are simply villains. They are not. They are people who have been treated with real fairness (they got what they agreed to) and are struggling with the disorienting sight of generosity toward others. Preach with compassion.* Do not press the parable into a political program about labor economics or wage policy. It is a parable about the kingdom of God, not a policy paper. This does not mean it has no political implications — it does — but do not reduce it to those.* “The last will be first” has been misused as revenge language against successful or established Christians. That is not the parable's tone. The landowner is not humiliating anyone; he is redefining what first and last mean.Thematic ConnectionsThe Gospel is the natural center — a parable about God's disorienting generosity and what it exposes in us.On Track One, the manna in the wilderness pairs with the Gospel in a specific way. Both texts are about God's daily provision — bread each morning, a denarius at the end of the day. Both refuse the logic of stockpiling. And both assume that God's generosity is not measured by our labor. The manna comes freely; the denarius comes freely.On Track Two, Jonah's anger at God's mercy pairs directly with the all-day workers' grumbling. Both stories name the same spiritual problem: it is one thing to celebrate God's generosity toward us, and another thing entirely to accept it being extended to people we did not think deserved it. Jonah names it in his prayer; the workers name it in their grumbling. The invitation of both texts is the same — to let God's generosity expand rather than contract our own hearts.Philippians 1 sits inside the day as a picture of what it looks like when Paul's own life is shaped by this kind of generosity. Paul is torn between two goods — being with Christ and remaining for the churches — and lets his life be shaped by what is best for others, not what is best for himself. That is what generosity of spirit produces.Psalm 145's picture of God — gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love — is the same picture Jonah quotes bitterly. Both readings hold up the mirror: what we praise about God, do we resent in God when it extends to those we did not choose?For preachers continuing a series: last week the parable of the unforgiving servant exposed what we do when we forget the scale of mercy we have been shown. This week the parable of the vineyard workers exposes what we do when we cannot bear that mercy being shown to others. The Matthew arc keeps turning the mirror slowly. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.