August 2, 2026       Pentecost 10/Lectionary 18       Matthew 14:13-21

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Once again, it’s important to read the verses that precede the assigned Gospel text to understand the flow and context of the passage. Matthew 13 concludes with Jesus returning to Nazareth, preaching in the synagogue, and being derided by his hometown people. He states, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their own country and in their own house.” These words indicate that Jesus was pained by how his own people failed to receive his message. This leads directly into Chapter 14 where we discover the horrific story of John the Baptizers’ beheading. These two events are the reason that in v. 13 Jesus “withdraws in a boat to a deserted place.” He’s hurting. His own people rejected him and one of his closest relatives/friends, someone who may very well have been a confidant if not a mentor to Jesus was brutally murdered. He’s in pain. To be clear, out on the water is not “the deserted place.” He’s taking the boat to cross the sea (probably the Sea of Galilee as Nazareth is in Galilee) to some place where he can retreat and be alone. But when the crowds hear that he’s crossing in a boat, they follow by walking around the sea on foot. When Jesus gets to the other side, there are huge crowds of people wanting a piece of him. So much for his “retreat.”

Jesus, still reeling from recent occurrences, sees the crowd and feels deeply for them (splangchnitzomai – the feeling of being punched in the gut) and takes action to cure and heal the sick, as he always does when this very dramatic verb is used. When evening comes, the disciples come to Jesus and ask him to dismiss the crowds. I’m sure that the disciples are tired and want to be left alone. However, when we understand the context of this passage, we realize just how insensitive the disciples are being both to the crowds AND toward Jesus. Not once did one of them ask if he is ok. Not once did one of them offer to serve him, care for him, help him in any way. Wow! The disciples are only focused on themselves and missing out on the true nature of the reign of Heaven, their interconnectedness with God, one another, and the creation. Jesus responds by attempting to draw the disciples back into the reign of Heaven thinking by saying, “You give them something to eat.” In other words, Jesus says, “These are your brothers and sisters. They aren’t brothers. They’re hurting. They’re frightened. They’re hungry. What are you going to do about that? Do you just want to rest while these precious children of God go on in pain?” And Jesus is justified in saying this for he sought out to rest, to go on retreat, but the crowds followed him in their distress and instead of dismissing them, he’s been loving them, healing them, serving them all day.

The disciples argue with Jesus making the point that there are so many people (five thousand men plus women and children; possibly 15,000 to 20,000 people; it would fill a sports arena in most cities), and they have so little food, five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus orders the disciples to give him the food. Jesus invites the crowd to sit, blesses and breaks the loaves (clearly a foreshadowing to the Last Supper and the institution of Holy Communion), then gives the food to the disciples to distribute it to the crowds. All ate and had their fill and there were twelve baskets of leftovers. A miracle of epic proportions. This event reflects the proclamation of the Eschatological Feast of Isaiah 25:6-10a,

 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
   of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
   the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
   the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
   for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
   Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
   This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
   let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain. 

The feeding of the multitude points to the birth or inauguration of a new age governed by love, oneness, service, hospitality, joy, hope, and peace. All are gathered, all are fed, tears are wiped from every face, death is swallowed up. It’s critically important that we see this event happening in the midst of the horrors of John’s beheading and the suffering of the people. This eschatological event doesn’t “end” history but breaks into the midst of history, into the very midst of the world’s struggles, into the divisions, isolations, violence, and deaths. The disciples failed to see the reign of Heaven in their midst just as we often fail to see the reign of Heaven because of the horrors and trials of life in our world today. Jesus could see it, he was participating in it, he was it!

Many have explained the “miracle” of the feeding of the multitudes by saying that everyone in the crowd had food and once they saw Jesus’ sharing, they all decided to share also. That’s an acceptable explanation as long as it is told within the vision of the eschatological feast in which all are gathered and fed. The vision is not simply that all will be fed, the vision is that all will be gathered and intimately connected to God, one another, and creation. THAT is what communion is all about. It’s not simply about eating, it’s about being a part of one another in which all that is mine is yours and all that is yours is mine for we are ONE! The challenge for us is can we see ourselves as part of God and as part of one another? Can we see our enemy as our brother or sister? Can we see the interconnectedness of humanity amid a world divided by violence, war, and death? Can we understand that until all are finally gathered, we cannot rest, we cannot stop, we cannot give up? God needs us to see the reign of Heaven, participate in the reign of Heaven, and BE the reign of Heaven for the sake of the world!!!

Key preaching points:

The feeding of the multitude is one of only a few stories that occur in all four gospels (Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, and the crucifixion/resurrection are the others) which means that this story contained particular significance for the first century church. This Gospel passage is intentionally connected to the eschatological feast of Isaiah 25. The Hebrew scripture passage assigned for the weekend is Isaiah 55:1-5 which is a food narrative contained within Third Isaiah and was written shortly following the Jews’ release from Babylonian captivity (ca. 500 BCE). It was intended to deliver hope to a people facing a long journey of recovering and recapturing their God-identity and purpose. However, Isaiah 25 is part of Fourth Isaiah which some scholars (see Herman Waetjen) contend was written pseudonymously within about 300 years prior to Jesus as part of an underground movement called “millenarism” in which oppressed people believed that God was disturbed with the state of the world and would soon bring about an end to the old moral order in order to birth a new moral order. In the new, all hierarchy, division, isolation, dominance of human over human would be destroyed. These same scholars teach that it’s very likely that John the Baptizer and Jesus were raised in this tradition (perhaps in a desert community) and that Jesus became identified as the “coming Messiah” (anointed one) through whom this new age would dawn. Paul was the one who popularized this notion throughout Asia Minor by focusing on Jesus’ death as the end of the old and his resurrection as the birth of the new. The Gospel writers followed suit and grounded the Jesus narrative within the prophetic voice of the Hebrew scriptures, particularly the later writings within the Hebrew texts that were millenarist in nature.

In preaching this text, it’s critically important for the preacher to cast God’s vision for the world based in Isaiah 25 so that the hearers don’t receive the story of the feeding of the multitude as implying that God exists to meet our needs. One can achieve this by setting the stage for what was happening around the feeding of the multitude, i.e. Jesus’ rejection in his hometown and the beheading of John the Baptizer. The world is messed up. Chaos appears to reign supreme. People are afraid and in pain. Then this story happens. It’s an oasis of hope within a sea of turmoil (this would be a foreshadowing for next week’s text when Jesus walks on water). When Jesus blesses and breaks the bread, he is pointing to a new reality, a new way of life in which all are gathered, fed, and live in intimate relationship with God and one another. That’s what we celebrate every time we receive Holy Communion. And the reason we have communion each time we gather is so that by participating in the story of our oneness with God and one another we might be empowered to go and live that message in our homes, workplaces, schools, neighborhood, and beyond. In the meal we see the reign of Heaven, we participate in the reign of Heaven, we ARE the reign of Heaven!

Chapter 14 is exactly halfway through Matthew’s Gospel pointing us to the end of the story when Jesus will ultimately be rejected, betrayed, denied, beaten, and nailed to a cross. On the third day he will be raised and he will commission his disciples (those who partway through the story could not see the reign of Heaven around them) to go and be the reign of Heaven for the sake of the world. There are times when we are blind to God’s reign in, through, and around us. That’s ok. God’s not done with us yet. However, we need each other. We need to be surrounded by those who see it so that they can continually point it out to us, hold and embrace us with love, and continually call us forward to be the children of God we are created to be. The disciples didn’t get it, but they will. Many in our world don’t get it, but they will. For the reign of Heaven is for all people (refer to Isaiah 25 which uses the word “all” 5 times) because without just one, none is complete, including God! We are part of each other, what is mine is yours and what is yours is mine. Jesus sets the example for what it means to live out of such oneness. It’s our turn to be the reign of Heaven in this world today so that we and all people might experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

August 9, 2026                        Pentecost 11/Lectionary 19                           Matthew 14:22-33

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

To comprehend the flow, rhythm, and significance of this week’s Gospel text, it’s again critically important that we read the previous passages leading into today (see commentary for August 2). Jesus is exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually, still reeling from being rejected in his hometown and learning of the death of John the Baptizer. He had intended on finding time for retreat, but the crowds had followed him and he spent all day healing and curing the sick before feeding the multitude (a juxtaposition of the eschatological feast in the midst of the turmoil and struggles of society). After he feeds the crowds late in the day, he sends the disciples back across the lake (this is the Sea of Galilee also called the Lake of Gennesaret or the Sea of Tiberias). Jesus remains behind to have some time alone to pray, reflect, contemplate, and rest. He is a human being. He needs this time, as do we all, to refocus on true-identity and purpose. He is grieving. The temptation in a state of fatigue is to become overwhelmed with the stresses and pressures of life and thus lose focus. He, nor we, can ever let that happen. We all need time to recharge and renew so that we can be the children of God that we are created to be.

After Jesus completes his prayer and reflection, he then begins his journey across the lake by walking on the water. At the same time, his disciples had been battling the wind and waves all night long, fighting to get their boat to the shoreline. It’s important that we reference back to the Creation narrative of Genesis 1, In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God* swept over the face of the waters. The Hebrew for “formless void”, tohu wabohu, literally means “chaos and desolation” or “waste and emptiness.” Scholars believe that Genesis 1 was written while the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon between 586-528 BCE, a time when the people had experienced a true sense of chaos and desolation. Water, therefore, throughout the Hebrew scriptures represents “chaos and desolation.” Recall the water narratives, e.g. the flood, the parting of the Red Sea, the barrier of the Jordan River separating the people from the promised land. Our Gospel text this week represents more of the same conceptualization. Remember that the disciples have not been able to see, participate in, or become the reign of Heaven because they remain focused on the turmoil of the world. When we remember that Jesus stands as the lone participant in God’s reign to this point in Matthew’s Gospel, we then are able to interpret this passage through such a hermeneutical lens. 

I believe it’s fair to identify the disciples’ circumstances in the story, battered and beaten by the waves, as a direct reference to life within our world today or in any period of history. Life is hard. The powers and principalities work against humanity by creating systems and structures of hierarchy, winners and losers, domination, violence, abuse, fear, and death. The disciples’ predicament is the same for all of us, especially for the poor and disenfranchised of the world. We must be careful not to shame the disciples in this story for we can all relate to what it feels like to be beaten and battered by the world. Jesus, on the other hand, is the eschatological figure who has come to reveal a new reality, a new age to be governed by love and to generate oneness with God and all people. When Jesus approaches the boat, the disciples’ response is to think that they are seeing a ghost (phantasma). This correlates to how the world views the new humanity, a foreign reality that few if any have experienced, a foreign reality that threatens the status quo and wants to destroy the hierarchies, divisions, and misuses of power in the world. Our first response to the call of death and resurrection is often one of fear and confusion. Why would we drop our masks and walls? Why would we put down our guard and make ourselves vulnerable? Remember the cry of the people in the wilderness toward Moses: “Have you brought us out into the desert to die?” When we encounter Jesus and the call to new life, we can’t yet see what the future holds, and we become frightened and want to turn away from the very thing that can give us life.

Jesus quickly responds to the disciples by saying, “I AM” (ego eimi). For some reason again, the translators of the NRSV have Jesus saying, “It is I.” That’s not what he says. He literally says, “Take heart. I AM! Do not fear.” He self-identifies using God’s name and proclaims that there is nothing to fear. It’s a radical statement that can only be understood in the context of what it means to be a child of God called to live within the reign of Heaven. Upon hearing Jesus’ voice and message, Peter boldly asks Jesus “to call” him “to come toward him” on the water. “To come toward Jesus” carries loads of connotation. We are called “to come toward Jesus” in our journey of becoming like him. We are called “to come toward Jesus” in our journey of living into our true-identities as children of God and as participants in God’s reign.

Verse 29 contains perhaps one of the most important and impactful sentences in all of Matthew’s Gospel as it relates to our humanity. Jesus simply says, “Come.” And “Peter got out of the boat.” Are you kidding me? Peter is a fisherman, someone who lives on the water (hear in this the connotation of human beings living within a world of chaos and desolation). It makes no good sense to “get out of the boat.” It makes no good sense to let down one’s guard to the chaos and desolation of life. We all know intuitively that we will surely die if we let down our guard just as surely as a fisherman knows that he will sink, drown, and be swallowed by the deep if he gets out of the boat. Yet, Peter does it! He actually does it! And when he does, he doesn’t sink. For a moment, Peter is living as a child of God, participating in the reign of God. His eyes aren’t fixed on the chaos and desolation, his eyes are fixed on Jesus, the enfleshment of the true-identity of humanity. For a moment, Peter discovers his true-self and walks on the water. The chaos and desolation do not have dominion over him. He is freed to be the child of God, the new human being that he was created to be. But then, the wind and waves overtake him. He notices the wind (anemos) and loses his focus. But again, we must remember that in the Creation narrative of Genesis 1, the wind (ruach) of God blew across the face of the waters to begin the creation. All of God’s creative forces begin with wind and turbulence. Recall the Pentecost experience in Acts 2 when “a violent wind” ripped through the upper room. God doesn’t create out of peace and harmony; God creates out of “wind.” Unfortunately, the wind of God often frightens us and causes us to give up on the hope of God’s creative forces and we “sink” back into yearning for the status quo, even though the status quo means death.

 When Peter begins to sink, he cries out to Jesus to “save” him (sodzo), which means to heal, save, make well, and be whole. Jesus reaches down and lifts Peter up saying, “Little faith, why did you doubt.” The Greek word here is in fact “doubt” (edistasan) and not “unbelief” as was used with Thomas in John 20. It’s critically important that we recognize that Peter is not “distrusting” (apistis) Jesus or the resurrection as Thomas did. Peter is “doubting” the new reality of being a child of God called to participate in the reign of God. Peter is doubting HIMSELF and his true-identity! When they get in the boat, the wind suddenly ceases as though to indicate that God’s creative energies had stopped for the moment. Those in the boat worshipped Jesus. This is one of two occurrences in Matthew’s Gospel where we see the disciples worship Jesus. The other is in Matthew 28:17 following the resurrection where the terms “worship” and “doubt” both occur together again. The disciples proclaim the message heard at Jesus’ baptism and again at the foot of the cross uttered by the Centurian (Matthew 27:54), “Truly, you are God’s son!” We must be careful not to make this proclamation solely about Jesus, as though he is the only child of God. We too are children of God, called to participate in the reign of Heaven, yet we often doubt our true-identity and rob ourselves from being our true-selves. Jesus stands as the exemplar for all humanity, calling all people to live in intimate relationship with God, one another and creation, and to see, participate in, and be the reign of Heaven in the world.

Key preaching points:

Many worshippers will be familiar with the story of Jesus walking on water; however, few will be aware of the significance or meaning of the text. People often view this story as an indication that Jesus is “superhuman,” someone that we can never be like or even strive to be like. The pronouncement that he is “the son of God” often comes across to people that he is the only one and that we pale in comparison. We must help people to recognize that they too are children of God, created to participate in God’s reign of Heaven on earth. We must help them to see the stark contrast between the “chaos and desolation” of the world’s culture of hierarchy, dominance, violence, and death over and against God’s vision of oneness for all people. The reign of Heaven is the intimate relationship between God, humanity, and creation. We have this within all of us. It is our true-identity. We don’t have to seek it. We have it! We are it! We simply need to die to the world’s ways and be rebirthed through baptismal waters (again don’t miss the “water” connection here) to be the children of God that we are created to be.

God creates out of chaos. Very often we want a relationship with God to make things easy, smooth, without pain. However, when we experience the trials and adversities of life, it is then that we need to pick up our heads and “take heart” for God is about to create new life in and through us. We must withstand the temptation of allowing fear to cause us to cower and “sink” back into yearning for safety behind our self-constructed masks and walls. Death and resurrection is scary and hard. Think about childbirth. It’s messy, bloody, and there’s lots of screaming. However, it’s the only way to deliver new life. We must trust that God is with us. We must trust our true-identities as children of God. We must trust that new life is bursting forth in and through us so that we can be active participants in God’s reign of Heaven on earth.

The culmination of every Gospel story is the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Just as Jesus trusted God and his identity as son of God which led him to the cross and eventually to the empty tomb, we too must follow him in the same journey to new life. The doubting disciples eventually were rebirthed as new human beings who then laid down their lives in love for God and all humanity by bringing the message of God’s reign into the world. We are called to be new human beings at home, work, school, neighborhood, and beyond. Just as God used Jesus and the disciples, God will also use us to breathe hope and real life into the chaos and desolation of our world. God needs us to “take heart” and get out of the boat. The deep will not swallow us. Death will not have the last word. Life and love will win so that all may experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

August 16, 2026                         Pentecost 12/Lectionary 20                         Matthew 15:10-28

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Our Gospel text this week leapfrogs a passage about the Pharisees becoming annoyed that Jesus’ disciples do not wash their hands before they eat. This is not to be confused with the sort of washing we do prior to a meal but with the ritualistic washing prescribed by the law. Jesus turns the tables on the Pharisees pointing out that they too break the law by creating self-justifying arguments. He then in v. 10 turns to the crowds to explain his point saying that “it’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a human being, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” At this point his disciples inform him that the Pharisees had been “scandalized” by what he said to them. He responds by saying that “every plant that has not been planted by my Father of Heaven will be uprooted.” Jesus’ statement is another differentiation between that which is of God’s reign and that which is not. With the birth of the new humanity, all will be drawn into oneness with God, all people, and creation. Whatever is not from God will not last: hierarchy, division, violence, and even death. Keep in mind that Matthew was written ca. 85 CE, fifteen years after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple when the Pharisaic movement had disappeared. The first century readers would immediately recognize the truth of Jesus’ point and be aware of the expanding Jesus movement of the new humanity.

Jesus also tells the disciples to leave the Pharisees alone as they are like “the blind leading the blind” and will eventually fall into a pit. Do not confuse the “pit” reference to be a metaphor for hell. Jesus is simply stating a logical point that because the Pharisees can’t see the reign of Heaven in or around them, they will lead others in the wrong directions. Once again, the disciples can’t grasp Jesus’ point and thus he breaks it down for them. He explains the anatomical reality of eating and digesting food which leads to defecation. It’s natural and normal and certainly not a sin. However, what comes out of the mouth, i.e. our words, stem from the human heart and these are what defile a human being: evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These things destroy humanity’s relationship with God, one another, and creation; not eating with unwashed hands.

Key preaching points:

This passage begs the question regarding the purpose and use of the law. Paul engages this topic in Galatians 3 by saying that God did not intend to give the law because God had established an eternal covenant through Abraham which from God’s perspective was enough for defining the relationship between God and humanity. Jesus, then, the offspring of Abraham extends the covenant to all creation. From Paul’s perspective, the law was given to humanity by angels who wanted to help humanity understand the essence of the covenant. However, humanity turned the law into the focus and goal, still missing the mark on living in a covenantal relationship with God, one another, and creation. The Pharisees continue to operate out of a misguided mindset that cannot achieve the justice that God desires for the creation. Jesus came to transform the human heart so that all human beings can be unleashed to live out of their true-identities as children of God and to participate in the reign of Heaven on earth.

We live in a world where human beings continue to be judged as good or bad, winners or losers based on their positions or status in life. Those of the middle or upper classes judge the lower classes to be lazy, uneducated, or misguided. Dominant cultures judge others to be inferior, labeling their cultures as primitive or second-rate. Men still exercise dominion over women. Powerful nations use and abuse weaker ones. Our divided humanity rates and ranks one another in a manner that destroys life. Jesus understands that until the human heart can be transformed to see every person as a brother or sister that the world will continue to spiral into the pit, draining life from all.

Jesus himself was labeled by the power structures of his day to be anathema, garbage, a throw-away person. He was wrongfully accused, arrested, convicted, and executed for crimes he didn’t commit. He was labeled to be something he was not and his words and admonitions ignored. But three days after his death God raised Jesus from the dead as the ultimate validation of his identity as a child of God and messenger sent to inaugurate a new humanity. Through our baptisms into his death and resurrection, we have been called out of the world’s destructive ways and empowered to live as the children of God that we are in order to create a new way of life built in love and oneness for all humanity. We must be bold in our identity and calling so that we can see, participate in, and be the reign of Heaven in our world today. God is counting on us embracing our true-identities and showing others how to do the same so that we and all people may experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

August 23, 2026                         Pentecost 13/Lectionary 21                        Matthew 16:13-20

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Once again, we bounce forward past several passages to land on this week’s Gospel text. Be sure to read all that separates last week’s text from this week so that you are aware of the flow and context leading into this week’s passage. Jesus and the disciples had traveled north of Galilee to the city of Caesarea Philippi, a Roman city that contained a shrine to the god Pan, god of the wild. King Philip, son of Herod the Great, named the city Caesarea in honor of Caesar Augustus and placed his name second in homage to himself. It is in this location that Jesus gets “real” with his disciples asking them, “Who do people say that the Son of the Human Being is?” The disciples answer saying, “John the Baptizer, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” The implication is that people believe that Jesus is a great person from history who has returned to bring an important message to the Jews. Jesus turns the question and asks, “But who do YOU say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ/Messiah, son of the Living God or God of Life!” Peter is correct with his answer but later will demonstrate that he does not fully understand all that he is saying. Jesus is indeed the Christ/Messiah, the anointed one who was sent to bring an end to the old moral order of the world and inaugurate a new moral order for all of humanity. Jesus is indeed the “son of the God of Life” as are we all.

Jesus is delighted to hear Peter’s response and calls him blessed, pointing out that what Peter knows was not revealed to him by the flesh and blood of the broken world but has come to him through experience with the God of Heaven. Jesus then goes on to say, “You are Peter (petros which means “rock”) and on this “rock” (petra – a feminine term as is ekklesia) I will build my church (ekklesia). What is not clear is whether Jesus is calling Peter “the rock” on which Jesus will build his church or Peter’s statement is “the rock.” The Roman Church has taken the position that Peter is the rock. Many Protestants have held that it’s the proclamation that Jesus is the Christ/Messiah that is “the rock.” In either case, Jesus is the “anointed one” who has come to birth a new humanity in love.

The next line regarding the church is a highly significant theological point regarding the church and the concept of Hades/Hell. Jesus says, “The gates of Hades will not prevail against the church.” It’s important that we understand that Jesus is NOT saying that Hades will attack the church, afterall, gates are not instruments of attack but defense. Jesus is saying that the church is to storm Hades to bring release to the captives. This makes no sense from the perspective that Hades/Hell is a place people are sent for punishment after they die, for what authority does the church have after death? None! This can only make sense if we understand Hades/Hell to be a condition where people find themselves today, in this world, chained by the powers and principalities of the world, robbing them of their true-selves and identity as children of God. The church is called to break into whatever holds human beings back from being the children of God that we are created to be. And Jesus assures us that the church will win, love will win, life will win.

Jesus then declares that the church will possess “the keys of the reign of Heaven” and whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. First, we must notice the intimate connection between earth and heaven. They aren’t separate realms or places, they are together. Second, we are to bind human beings with God and creation so that once we do, all will dwell in the reign of heaven together. We are to loose/unleash any and all who are being held back from their true-identity as children of God so that once we do, all will dwell in the reign of heaven together.

Jesus strictly orders his disciples not to disclose to anyone that he is the Christ/Messiah because they will not comprehend what it means and will project onto him a false identity and purpose. Only after his resurrection will people be ready to discover the true identity and mission of Jesus. Afterall, Peter himself in the very next passage will demonstrate his misguided understanding for how the Christ/Messiah is to bring about an end to the old and a birth of the new.

Key preaching points:

Who do people say that I am? Who do people in our world today think Jesus is? There are countless answers to this question. Some think that he is simply a legend, a story of a mighty person who never existed. Some think that Jesus was a great man who did great things. Some think that Jesus is equivalent to Santa Claus, we just ask him for what we want and he’ll get it for us. Others think that Jesus was a prophet (Muslim understanding). Others would say that Jesus is judge who will separate the sheep and the goats. Others, based on their experiences with some Christians, would say that Jesus is cruel and divisive, sending some to heaven and others to hell. But who do YOU say that Jesus is? We say that Jesus is the Christ/Messiah, the very idea in the mind of God for humanity and the creation who came to put an end to the old moral order of hierarchy, division, fear, death in order to birth a new moral order built on love and oneness. When we see Jesus as the latter, then we recognize that we are to be as he is, children of God who see, participate in, and live as the reign of Heaven on earth.

The church is not intended to be a doorway to God or a gatekeeper defining who is in and who is out. The church exists to be the authentic Jesus community, the new humanity that models for the world what it means to live as children of God and actively works to unleash people to live into their true-identities. It’s not that the church has a mission, it’s that God’s mission has a church. The church is not a religion, but a way of life built out of intimate relationship with God, one another, and the creation. This way of life is best expressed through the core values of Abiding Hope: authentic worship, intentional relationships, sacrificial service, and radical generosity. It doesn’t matter what people believe for beliefs change. Don’t you believe differently today than you did when you were a child or a teen or in middle age? What matters is that we practice the way of life of Jesus and invite others into it. When we live this way, we are Jesus’ church bringing new life to all.

Jesus will soon explain to the disciples that he is to go to Jerusalem, be rejected by the chief priests and elders, turned over to the authorities, be crucified, and die. But on the third day, he will be raised. They could not grasp that the path of death and resurrection is the only way to new life. Surely there’s an easier way. But there isn’t. We are all called to die to all the things that mask or cover our true-selves, the things that get in the way of us living as children of God so that we can be the people God created us to be. This path is difficult because it means letting go of all that we use to control life: our wealth, our power, our status, our desires, etc. Dying to these things is painful. However, we must trust that God holds us and walks with us so that we can be free to surrender to the new life God has set before us. And when we surrender to God, we, like Peter, get to see, participate in, and be the reign of Heaven on earth. This is the only pathway for us and all people to experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

August 30, 2026               Pentecost 14/Lectionary 22                         Matthew 16:21-28

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Chapter 16 begins with a clash between Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees who come to “test” Jesus. He then travels with the disciples to Caesarea Philippi at which time he asks the disciples if they understand his identity. When Peter proclaims, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus congratulates Peter and tells him that “on this Rock I will build my church.” This brings us into this week’s passage which demonstrates that while Peter recognized that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the anointed one, who has come to inaugurate the new age, Peter does not yet understand what Jesus’ call and mission fully entails.

In verse 21 we learn that Jesus is instructing his disciples on why he, as the Messiah, must be killed at the hands of the religious elite in Jerusalem. We don’t know the details of this instruction but can assume that he is explaining that his death represents humanity’s rejection of God’s design for the oneness of all people living in covenantal relationship with God and one another, and that his resurrection will inaugurate the New Humanity. Verse 22 indicates that Peter, and probably the others, were either unable to hear the depth of Jesus’ instruction because they fixated on the suffering and death, or else he wanted to explore other less challenging and painful options. This is indicative of our human tendency to want to pursue the path of least resistance. We want to believe that we can become who God needs us to be through gradual and continual personal and collective growth. God doesn’t operate like this. The only path to wholeness is through the stripping of everything away from us so that we can discover our true-selves. Until all is stripped away, we live out of a false identity behind masks and veils. Peter and the disciples cannot yet grasp this and won’t fully get it until after Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus responds emphatically against Peter in verse 23 to the point of calling him “Satan!” To be clear, Peter is not Satan. Peter’s rebuke of Jesus is satanic in that it becomes a means to distract and derail Jesus away from his true-identity as God’s Son and his mission to inaugurate the New Humanity. He refers to Peter’s admonition as a “stumbling-block”, something that strives to pull Jesus away from the Divine vision back into the world’s vision. The Greek word skandalon/skandalon, which is translated here as “stumbling-block” is literally a snare for a trap. How easy it is for us to lose sight of God’s vision for humanity because it involves suffering and pain, and instead want to choose an easier way. There is no “easier way.” Death and resurrection is the only pathway into new life.

Jesus makes this point abundantly clear in verses 24-26. This is an occasion where the New Revised Standard Version translation misses the mark. In its attempt to be inclusive by using gender neutral language, the NRSV changes the pronoun in verse 24 from singular to plural. The passage actually reads: “If one wants to come behind me, let the one deny self, take up one’s cross and follow me.” It’s critically important that we recognize the singular nature for what Jesus is saying. Each of us individually must decide if we are willing to embark on the very painful and difficult path of having all things stripped away from us (recall all the previous passages where Jesus talks about having the chaff or the weeds cast into the fire) so that the only thing that exists is our true-selves. Taking up the cross means that we willingly become vulnerable and lay down our wealth, success, material goods, pride, and fears so that God can raise us up to be children of God. Jesus unpacks this even further in verse 25 saying that when we seek to preserve our lives by trying to cover ourselves with things that we think will protect us, we forfeit real life. “Life” here is psyche (yuce) which means “soul,” or the true essence of being human. Recall Genesis 2:7 that when God breathed (enephusesen) into the face of the human he became a “living soul.” “Soul” represents our true-self, our God created identity. Jesus is pleading with us to be willing to die to our false selves, to allow all to be stripped away so that we can truly live as children of God. The point that Jesus makes in verse 26 is a good one, “What good is it to accumulate everything from the world but then get to the end of your life and realize that you’ve never truly lived?”

We have been conditioned to read verses 27-28 as a warning of retribution because we have created doctrine and dogma based in fear that if we don’t believe rightly or do the right things then we will be eternally punished. However, when we read these verses within the flow of the previous verses, we gain a totally different perspective. Jesus is calling his followers to lay down all things of the world so that we might live into our true-selves as children of God. When we experience such a transformation, Jesus is promising that there is much “reward” in doing so. God isn’t interested in retribution but in the in-breaking of God’s Reign throughout the world. Jesus is also making it clear that the reign of God experience does not occur after we die, but here, now, in this realm of existence. God is passionate for all humanity to experience real life each and every day and the pathway into this real life is death and resurrection.

 Key Preaching Points:

It’s common for preachers to spend time talking about how Peter (and the other disciples) continually miss the mark in Matthew’s Gospel. Yes, this is indeed a theme throughout Matthew. However, we must be careful not to vilify Peter and the others as though they were stupid, stubborn, or distracted. That’s not why they missed the mark. They, like all other human beings, were products of their culture. The only world that they could envision was a world of hierarchy and domination. They believed that the only way to create a “just” world was for a “just” person to take over as the leader. What they didn’t understand is that such a reversal of the order, where the poor and powerless get catapulted to the front of the line while the rich and powerful get relegated to the back, is simply the same system reconstructed and that it would result in the same level of injustice. They could not grasp what Jesus was telling them until they could see it following his resurrection. Jesus’ vision of a New Humanity where all live as one in relationship with God, all humanity, and the creation was entirely alien and foreign to anything that they had ever experienced.

We too stand as products of our culture. Even though we all say an emphatic “YES!” to Jesus’ vision of oneness where the poor, the hungry, the abused, the disenfranchised get a seat at the table, we still want to maintain our positions of privilege within the world. High achieving white people cry out when they are passed over for admission into a college or for promotion within the company in order to admit or promote persons of color. We move into suburbs where we can enjoy countless amenities and raise our kids in excellent schools and in so doing isolate ourselves from persons of other skin tones, ethnicities, cultures, and religions. We yearn for our children to get high levels of education, achieve high paying jobs so that they can maintain a high status within society and have “whatever they want.” Oh, and we want Jesus’ vision too! We can’t have both. Until we are willing to strip ourselves bare, let go of material pursuits, continue fighting to be at the top of the heap at the expense of others, we have not yet taken up our cross to follow Jesus. Through the lens of our culture, the vision to give up our positions of privilege for the sake of others, to use all our gifts and abilities in lives of service and generosity seems foolish and even insane. We engage in the “what if” game: What if our families become poor, who will take care of us? What if we encounter pain and struggle, how will we get through it? What if we can’t provide for all our needs, what then? We forget that it’s only through the path of suffering and vulnerability where all our masks and superficial lives fall away that we can be freed to live truly as children of God and experience real life.

Even though Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan,” he never gave up on Peter. Jesus trusted the journey. He had compassion for why Peter and the others could not see the truth, and he believed that the Spirit would ultimately get them where they needed to go. Jesus maintained laser focus on his identity as God’s Son and his mission to bring an end to the old and inaugurate the new. He would not allow anything to distract or dissuade him from God’s vision of oneness for all. Even though we continually miss the mark, God never gives up on us either. God recognizes that we are in process, that we are in the midst of our journeys. God meets us with compassion and grace accepting us where we are. But God loves us too much to leave us where we are. God continually calls us to die to our false, masked selves so that God can recreate us daily into living fully out of our true-identities as children of God. The death and resurrection of Jesus is not simply a once and for all event in the course of history, it is the journey for every human being to become children of God living as the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

September 6, 2026              Pentecost 15/Lectionary 23                             Matthew 18:15-20

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

We leapfrogged over Matthew 17 because it contains the story of the Transfiguration (which we encounter the weekend before Lent begins), we skip some redundant stories, and we bypass an obscure story of Jesus telling Peter to go fishing for a fish with a coin in its mouth to pay taxes. The entirety of Matthew 18 begins with the disciples asking Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the reign of Heaven?” It’s important that as we read the rest of chapter 18 that we remember this question as the impetus for what follows. This question spurs forth the ongoing dialogue of the entire chapter. In answering the question, Jesus calls the disciples to become “humble” like a child. This comment is not a reference per se to the innocence of children, but to the reality that children own nothing and have no place in the hierarchy of society. It’s also a reference to the “beginner’s mind” found in children. Children tend to be trusting and curious, often finding awe, wonder, and beauty in the simplest aspects of life. Children haven’t yet learned to analyze and over-think everything. They take life as it occurs. Jesus then warns against causing “little ones” who believe in him to stumble. He doesn’t define what “stumbling” means but given the context of the rest of the chapter, it can be connoted that he’s referring to causing “little ones” to acquiesce into the unjust, divisive, and hierarchical realities of the world instead of toward the reign of Heaven where all are one. Jesus then makes the very graphic point that anything in our lives that cause us to “stumble” must be removed so that we can remain fully focused, living within the reign of Heaven. Finally, Jesus then makes the emphatic point that not one “little one” is to be “lost” and that God will do whatever it takes to include all! This sets the stage for this week’s Gospel text.

Once again in the NRSV’s desire to practice inclusive language, the English translation of v. 15 veers away from the actual content of the Greek. The Greek does not say, “If another member of the church sins against you.” It says, “If your sibling sins.” First of all, Jesus isn’t restricting his teaching merely to sins “against us” but to “sin” in general. Remember that hamartia (‘amartia) means to “miss the mark” in living out of our true-identity as children of God and participating within God’s reign of Heaven on earth. We are called to aid and assist all people into seeing and recognizing that we are created to live in intimate relationship with God, all humanity, and the creation. The phrase “member of the church” minimizes the reach that Jesus intends in this passage. We must remember that “the church” stands as the community of the New Humanity that is charged with the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18) for all people. We are to see everyone as a “sibling”. While it’s true that others may not see themselves as members of God’s family, we are called to reach out in all that we are and do until all live fully as children of God within the reign of Heaven.

Step one in the ministry of reconciliation is to talk with people one to one, to share our stories with them and listen to theirs, to find ways to accompany one another through the highs and lows of life, pointing all to the reign of Heaven as we live out of our true-identities as children of God. If you are unable to do this on your own, enlist one or two others to accompany you to engage in the conversation and the relationship building with the other person. The point of having the two or three “witnesses” (martyr) as it says in v. 16 is NOT to gain evidence “against” the other person, but to be “witnesses” of the reign of Heaven to support the good news that “you” have been sharing with the other person. This is not a passage about disciplining the “sinner,” it’s a passage about showing them the reign of God so that you can gain or regain a sibling!!! If the other person still can’t hear the good news, then you bring it to the church so that the other person can receive the same love and care of a “Gentile or tax collector.” Remember, Jesus didn’t scold Gentiles and tax collectors, he loved them, ate with them, welcomed them, and cast for them God’s vision for the reign of Heaven which includes all!

In v. 19 Jesus reveals that God gives us the power to bind and loose. We are called to “bind” human beings together in love and to “loose” all that gets in the way of our true-selves, true-identities as God’s children (refer back to the beginning of chapter 18). This is the true definition of “greatness,” to love all, welcome all, include all, serve all. Our role is not to scold and discipline people because of sin, our role is to love people enough to “disciple” them into the reign of Heaven. Verse 19 takes this power-privilege even further to say that if two new human beings living fully within the reign of Heaven “voice together” (the NRSV says “agree”) anything on earth, our Father in Heaven will do it for us. Again, the assumption is that when we are living in intimate relationship with God and serving God’s mission of life for all, God accompanies us in our endeavors and will do whatever it takes to advance the mission. This is NOT a statement that turns God into Santa Claus granting our self-focused requests. We must understand Jesus’ words through the lens of God’s reign in the world. Finally, in v. 20 Jesus assures that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there in the middle of them. To gather in “the name of Jesus” is to participate in the mission of the Christ, the Messiah, the one who originated within the Father and was sent into the world to inaugurate the New Humanity where all are called into God’s reign. God permits us and even NEEDS us to participate in drawing all into the journey of discovering our true-selves and living in intimate relationship with God, one another, and the creation. It is only through this journey of death to the old and resurrection into the new humanity, the ministry of reconciliation, that all may experience real life.

Key Preaching Points:

The ELCA model constitution uses Matthew 18 as the means and method by which to deal with congregational conflict. In doing so, Matthew 18 has been transformed into a legal or judicatory process to discipline congregation members. This is a travesty. Nowhere within the four Gospels does Jesus ever convene a tribunal to hear a case against another person or to sit as judge in offering a verdict. Such an interpretation of Matthew 18 not only falls far short of the true meaning and intent of this chapter, it also introduces worldly principles into the church that threaten, divide, and injure. The moment the church focuses on self-protection or self-preservation, we forfeit the power that God has afforded us to be instruments of love and reconciliation within the world. Sadly, throughout the millennia, the church has censured, excommunicated, and even killed people for causing conflict or not adhering to doctrine. At no time can we ever say that this is “of Jesus” or representative of “the Christ” who gave his life to inaugurate a new humanity built on love and acceptance for all. Yes, as new human beings we bear the responsibility to be very clear in differentiating that which is of the world versus that which is of the reign of Heaven, but we are never to lose sight of the totality of God’s mission to gather, include, and embrace all people.

It’s important when preaching this text that we spend time focusing on “binding” and “loosing.” What is it in our own lives that needs to be “released” so that we can be unleashed to be children of God. All of us have fears, resentments, pride, selfish ambitions that are deeply tied to the world’s pressures for success, hierarchy, materialism, and individualism. We only need to take an open and honest assessment of our community to recognize just what these pressures do to human lives. Husbands and wives don’t see eye to eye and hence engage in battles against one another to the point of seeing the other as the enemy. Our children are in crisis, feeling inadequate and unworthy because they haven’t achieved or accomplished enough in comparison to others. Neighbors don’t know one another and even participate in slander and gossip against one another. We see coworkers as opponents because they threaten our opportunities for personal success. Before we can be bound together in love, we must be willing to loose whatever it is that masks our true-selves or impedes our journey as children of God. We don’t begin by pointing out the “sins” of others, but by recognizing the countless ways that we miss the mark within our own lives. Only when we engage in the process of being stripped bare and becoming truly vulnerable will we be positioned to accompany others into the reign of Heaven.

While on the cross, Jesus continued to welcome and include those around him. He reached out to the men who had hammered the nails into his hands and feet by calling God’s forgiveness upon them. He reached out to the men dying beside him announcing that today they would be with him in paradise. Even the Centurion, the Roman leader at the foot of cross who had witnessed Jesus’ love in the face of death proclaimed that surely Jesus must be the Son of God. When we love and serve and live generously when all things have been stripped away from us, we have amazing power, God’s power, to point and draw others toward God’s reign. As St. Paul wrote, “For whenever I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Corinthians 12:10). At no point do we see this more clearly than in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s important that we recognize that Jesus’ resurrection is not simply a happy ending to a tragic story, but the human journey to fullness of life, the journey of discovering and unleashing our true-selves so that we and all people may experience real life! Through the baptismal waters we have been put to death and raised anew, claimed and called to be ministers of reconciliation for the sake of the world!!!

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

September 13, 2026                   Pentecost 16/Lectionary 24                         Matthew 18:21-35

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Before reading this week’s commentary, be sure that you have read the previous week’s (see Sept. 6) as the background material regarding chapter 18 continues to be relevant for how we engage and interpret this week’s passage. Understanding the previous parts of chapter 18 are critical for us to gain a clear understanding for why Peter asks Jesus his question and Jesus’ response.

In v. 21, Peter asks, “How many times should I forgive my brother’s sins against me; until seven?” Jesus responds in v. 22, “I don’t say until seven but seventy-seven!” I imagine that when Jesus gave this response, he had a smile on his face. Jesus had just spent considerable time helping the disciples to understand that their role is not to judge or reject people but to find ways of winning people for God’s reign of Heaven in the world. Peter, being somewhat practical, asks a limiting question. Of course, there are no limits to God’s love or the expansion of God’s reign. It’s to include all people no matter what it takes. So, when Jesus throws out the absurd number of seventy-seven, Peter and the other disciples must have had a tense personal moment as they thought to themselves, “How in the world do we do this?” The humorous point of Jesus’ response is that no human being will ever be able to keep track of sins counting to seventy-seven. You might be able to keep track up to seven, but seventy-seven, forget it! No sense keeping track. No sense counting. We’re all in this for the long haul until the reign of God and God’s mission to be one with all humanity is fulfilled.

Jesus then uses the Parable of the Talents to make his point. A talent is one year’s wage while a denarius is one day’s wage. Jesus makes a comparison between a slave who owed ten thousand talents to his king and a fellow slave who owed one hundred denarii to his friend. There was no human alive at the time of Jesus who possessed ten thousand talents. Kings did not possess this amount of exorbitant wealth. The king forgives the poor slave’s ridiculous debt while the slave refuses to forgive the very small debt of his friend. The king becomes furious when he hears of the slave’s refusal to forgive and thus hands the unforgiving slave over to be tortured until he can repay his debt, a feat that could never ever be accomplished. The critical point that Jesus is making is that the only way that God’s reign can ever be realized on earth is through love and forgiveness. There is no other way. There is no way for any of us to repay God for the damage and destruction we have caused by remaining focused on the world’s ways. And yet, God does not dismiss us, reject us, or punish us. God continues to shower love and grace upon us in the hope that we will be transformed to live out of our true-identities as children of God. When we refuse to forgive others, not only are we reintroducing division, hatred, fear, and isolation into the world, we are denying the reign of Heaven the opportunity to break forth on earth. We aren’t simply harming the person we refuse to forgive; we are harming ourselves and becoming enemies of God’s mission of oneness with all people.

Key Preaching Points:

Forgiveness is perhaps the most difficult aspect of our lives as children of God. People harm others in horrible and sometimes unspeakable ways. There are people sitting in our pews who have been victimized by family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, clergy, the church, the list is infinite. Society has conditioned people to think that forgiveness means forgetting, overlooking, or condoning what has happened to them. The adage, “Forgive and forget,” is not biblical. How is a woman to forget that she was violently raped? How is a child to forget the abuse at the hands of their parent or another trusted adult? How is a person to forget the murder of their loved one? Are we to condone such events as though they are insignificant and don’t matter? Of course not! The preacher of this text is tasked with helping people to differentiate between forgetting or condoning the wrongs against them and instead becoming vessels for the Holy Spirit working toward healing and reconciliation with all. At the same time, the preacher of this passage must always be aware that our words have power. We never want a person living within an abusive relationship to hear or get the impression that God wants them to remain in the abuse. That is not God’s will. To say otherwise is purely evil and sick. The way that the abused loves the abuser is to get out of the relationship, work to heal, and then to become free and empowered to love and forgive. This is very heavy stuff for which the preacher needs to be on their best game.

Forgiveness is a proleptic concept. Within God’s reign, all will be forgiven, therefore we forgive today as though God’s future vision for all is our present reality. As we draw nearer to God, we find that forgiveness is not a choice, it is a necessity, much like eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. Our soul must forgive, cannot stand not to forgive, and is moved by God’s love into forgiveness. As we are drawn closer to God, we find ourselves wanting healing and wellness for the perpetrator as we become able to see that person as interconnected with God and interconnected with ourselves. We also recognize that those who wound have been wounded. Richard Rohr says that those who do not transform their wounds are destined to transmit them. Such a perspective is not a cognitive exercise but a spiritual one. We can’t reason people into forgiving others; we can’t simply appeal to some higher good because the mental and emotional strain of making sense of the injury is often too extreme. Jesus could forgive easily and often because it was as natural and normal for him as walking and talking. He could see that the evil, damage, and destruction created by humans stemmed from the depth of their woundedness. When we operate out of a sense of oneness with God, humanity, and creation, forgiveness becomes an exercise in compassion that is simply another aspect of our lived journey.

The church has taught throughout the millennia either purposely or inadvertently that Jesus is above all of us and we can never attain his depth of spirituality or strength. This is not the case. Jesus is indeed the exemplar human and models for us what it means to be fully human. He was sent not to shame us or drive us into guilt but to call us up and out to live into our full potential. We have the capacity to bear the heart of Jesus. We have the capacity, like Jesus, to be pure conduits of God’s love. The only thing blocking this flow of love is our false-selves, the masks and veils that we use to cover ourselves in the vain hope of gaining protection. But the truth is that we don’t need the masks and veils. We have the capacity to gaze at and address the wounds within ourselves as a pathway of accompanying others toward the healing of their wounds. We grow in compassion which leads us to the place of true forgiveness. We live with a constant awareness that we and all people exist within God’s own being and nothing can destroy the life that God has created within us. Jesus’ death and resurrection call us forward in our journeys to become fully vulnerable and allow God’s love to flow into and through us. When we get out of our own way, then and only then are we freed to experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

September 20, 2026                      Pentecost 17/Lectionary 25                         Matthew 20:1-16 

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

We once again jump over chapter 19 to arrive at this week’s Gospel text. In chapter 19 Jesus is tested by the Pharisees regarding the lawfulness of divorce. They were attempting to get him to take sides on the issue in the hope that he would alienate a portion of his followers. This “test” blows up in the Pharisees face as Jesus points once again toward God’s vision for the oneness of all humanity. He blesses children, addresses the rich young man seeking guidance to gain eternal life, and discusses just how difficult it is for those who are wealthy to become vulnerable enough to participate within the reign of Heaven. Chapter 19 concludes with Jesus saying, “The first will be last, and the last will be first.” This is not a reversing of society’s hierarchical structures but a leveling of the playing field where all can truly live as one with God and one another.

It is always important and necessary that we be aware of the scriptural context into which our designated passage is placed. This week’s Parable of the Landowner flows out of Jesus’ conversation with the disciples describing God’s reign of Heaven on earth and the leveling of the playing field. The landowner sets out to find workers for his vineyard. The usual wage for a day of labor is one denarius. Some work in the vineyard throughout the entire day, sunup to sundown (6:00 am to 6:00 pm). Others enter the vineyard at 9:00 am, others at noon, others at 3:00 pm, and still others at 5:00 pm who only worked one hour. At the end of the day, the workers lined up in front of the landowner to receive their payment in descending order of when they arrived to work. When those who had worked the full day saw that those who had come late were receiving a full denarius, the wage for working a full day, they got excited thinking that they would receive more than the agreed upon daily wage. However, when they received their denarius, they were furious, feeling cheated by the landowner. The landowner’s response vv. 13-15 is powerful, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go; I choose to give to this the last (to eschato) the same as I give to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with mine? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” Another interesting point is that the Greek word “eschaton” is used to refer to the last. This word also represents the final outcome of God’s vision in drawing all humanity into oneness.

Jesus again summarizes his point from the end of chapter 19 as he concludes the parable, “So, the last (hoi eschatoi) will be first and the first last.” Notice in the parable that all received the same measure of payment from the landowner. This affirms the notion that Jesus is not advocating for a reversal of the hierarchical structures of the world where the poor suddenly become rich and the rich poor; the powerful become weak and the weak powerful. Jesus is describing God’s reign of Heaven in which all are one, all are children of God, and all are blessed. At the same time, Jesus expects his followers to treat all human beings with the same love, grace, forgiveness, and compassion. Some within the church out of a passion for the displaced, impoverished, and abused develop a disdain for the powerful or wealthy of our world. While we can validate such disdain from a worldly point of view wanting the least to gain their share, we cannot condone such disdain for anyone within and through the perspective of God’s reign. All are to be loved, all have a place at the table, all are to be welcomed and included within the reign of Heaven. No question that it’s difficult for the wealthy and powerful to be stripped of their veils, we must never create a theological outlook that includes the poor while excluding the rich. The disenfranchised are to be pitied due to the great societal weight which robs them of their true-identities as children of God. The wealthy are to be pitied due to the great weight of the veils that mask their true-identities as children of God. The Gospel message that God is near is for and needed by all…and all means ALL!

Key Preaching Points:

Our parents and teachers have taught us to work hard so that we can achieve what we want in life. The blue-collar work ethic tells us to work hard and we will reap the benefits. Many apply these same principles toward spiritual matters trusting that if we put in the work for God, God will reward us. This is the definition of the “prosperity Gospel” upon which many televangelists and mega-church preachers have made a career. This is an incredibly dangerous mindset that prostitutes the Gospel message that God is near to all of us and seeks to draw all into oneness. The prosperity Gospel sets people up for two damaging perspectives: 1) those who are prosperous find favor with God while those who are not prosperous must be doing something wrong; and 2) when we find ourselves in times or periods of great pain and suffering, it must be an indication that we have failed God in some way for God to abandon us. Neither is true. Such meritocratic and transactional thinking necessarily creates a spirit of judgment, elitism, hierarchy, division, and isolation. We are called to a higher perspective of love and grace for all. God makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and unjust. God knows no bounds for bestowing blessing, love, and grace. The inequities that exist in the world are not a result of God, but a symptom of humanity’s brokenness and sin. When the church abandons God’s vision for oneness, we forfeit the essence of our soul and perpetuate the world’s abuses.

Do we really want to receive what we deserve? Would we truly like for God to pay us justly for our behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs? It’s truly threatening to trust in a God of pure love, a God who lavishes generosity on all people because it factors out of the equation all the things that we’ve worked so hard to achieve: our wealth, our success, our educations, our possessions. Why do we cling so strongly to the things that mask and hide our true-selves? Why do we want to be known for our accomplishments instead of being truly known simply as children of God? We have swallowed the world’s lies hook, line, and sinker that if we work hard, we can provide a comfortable, easy life for ourselves and those we love. It’s simply not true. Life is hard. We all make mistakes. Life involves suffering and pain. We all die. This is the human predicament and no matter how hard we work, none of us can change these realities. The truth is all the painful experiences of life are blessings, opportunities for us to allow the veils to fall away so that we can discover our true-selves and be fully known. The miracle is that when all things fall away, we find ourselves firmly held within God and only then do we experience real life.

If faithfulness to God produces prosperity, then Jesus should have been the most prosperous human ever to live. Instead, the exemplar human endured rejection, punishment, humiliation, suffering, and death on a cross. Jesus never allowed these trials to cause him to abandon his trust in the Father. When he cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, he was quoting David in Psalm 22 and speaking for all of humanity. The truth is…WE have forsaken God. We have abandoned God’s design for humanity to live in oneness with God and one another. We have created hierarchical systems and structures that rob us of our true-identities and purpose. When we live in oneness, we face the trials of life together. When we live in oneness, we recognize that the suffering of life is not punishment but opportunity to create deeper ties and connections with one another. When we live in oneness, we are free to be fully vulnerable and allow ourselves to dwell in deep relationships that cannot be broken. The cross represents dying to all things that separate and divide us, and the resurrection stands as the inauguration of the new humanity who lives in intimate and intentional relationship with God, humanity, and the creation. As the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world we strive to create a community of oneness so that all may experience real life! 

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

September 27, 2026                   Pentecost 18/Lectionary 26                        Matthew 21:23-32

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Following the Parable of the Landowner in chapter 20, Jesus instructs the disciples that they are now heading to Jerusalem where he will be handed over to the authorities, crucified and raised. Immediately following this passage, the mother of the sons of Zebedee (James and John) approaches Jesus to ask that her sons might sit at his right and left within his reign. Jesus politely tells her that she does not know what she is asking. The other disciples get angry when they discover what the mother of James and John had requested. They obviously still do not comprehend the essence of God’s reign. Jesus points out clearly that the “son of the human being did not come to be served, but to serve.” Chapter 20 concludes with Jesus being moved with compassion (splangchnitzomai) as he opens the eyes of two blind beggars.

Chapter 21 begins with Sunday, the final week of Jesus’ life, and his triumphal entry into Jerusalem where he enters the temple and chases out the money changers. He cured many people in the temple before leaving Jerusalem to go to Bethany for the night. The next day, Monday morning, he returned to Jerusalem. On the way he was hungry and as he approached a fig tree which had no figs, he cursed it and it withered at once. When the disciples inquire about what had just happened, Jesus replied, “Whatever you ask for with trust, you will receive.” This brings us to this week’s Gospel text.

Upon entering the temple in v. 23, the chief priests and elders approach Jesus and challenge him by asking, “By what authority are you doing these things and who has given you this authority?” Jesus responds to them with a question, “Was John’s baptizing out of heaven or out of humanity?” Jesus knows that he’s trapped them in a dilemma. If they say, “Out of heaven,” then he’ll call them hypocrites for not following John; if they say, “Out of humanity,” then they will anger the crowds who trusted John. So they respond, “We don’t know.” Jesus then replies, “Then neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Jesus then uses a parable to address the chief priests and elders. A man has two sons. He asks the two sons to go work in the vineyard. The first son says, “No,” but then later changes his mind and goes. The second son says, “I will go,” but doesn’t go. Which son did the will of the father?” The temple leaders replied, “the first.” Jesus then gives a very profound admonition to the temple leaders, “John came to you in the way of justice, but you did not trust him. The tax collectors and prostitutes trusted him. After you saw, you did not have remorse (change your minds) and trust him.”

Key Preaching Points:

If Jesus could not convince his disciples about the nature of God’s reign of Heaven on earth, what hope did he expect to have with the temple leaders? He knew going to Jerusalem that there was nothing that he could say or do that could convert them to becoming participants in God’s reign. He had announced several times to his disciples before going to Jerusalem that he would be arrested, crucified, and be raised. Jesus is fully aware of the conflict building between God’s vision for the reign of Heaven and the temple leaders’ need to maintain power and control through their unjust hierarchical systems. Yet he does not back down. Jesus continues to embody the reign of Heaven in his speech and behavior, proclaiming the good news of God’s presence and demonstrating the true authority that he possesses as the son of God. Jesus’ passion is fueled by his unfailing trust in his Father to bring an end to the old and inaugurate the new humanity. This will finally be fulfilled in his death and resurrection.

The question of “authority” is an important one. It’s imperative that we differentiate between “power” and “authority.” Power is the ability to “do” which can sometimes be misdirected and be exerted “over” another person, while “authority” is granted through a relationship built on trust. God has authority because God always does what God says God will do. Jesus has authority because he remains faithful to his identity and calling as the Messiah, the one who is anointed to inaugurate the new humanity. The church only has authority when we remain faithful to our call to live contrary to the lies, abuses, and power structures of the world. When the church adopts the world’s principles for power (e.g. Robert’s Rules of Order, excommunication, religious tribunals), we forfeit our God-given authority and perpetuate the division and violence of the world. The church is called to be the community of the new humanity whose way of life is defined by love, service, and generosity. When the world attacks or we feel threatened, we must return to our deep trust in God and remain faithful to our identity and calling.

Jesus’ story of the man and his two sons rings true for all of us. Through the baptismal waters we were put to death, claimed as children of God, and called to be the heart, hands and feet of Jesus in the world. However, each of us at times has shied away from our identity and calling. There have been times when it has felt too risky to speak up, to step out to serve someone in need, or to generously pour out our resources for God’s mission. We often think of ourselves first (our needs, our desires, our safety) instead of boldly trusting the One who called us. Would any of us say that it was foolish for Jesus to go to Jerusalem? Should he have listened to Peter and stayed in Galilee so that he wouldn’t be killed? Or perhaps we rationalize that Jesus was better than we are, stronger, more faithful and so he could do things that we can never do. It’s never too late for us to “change our minds” and live according to our identity and calling, to love and to serve those to whom we are sent. God is counting on us as new human beings to be instruments of hope, healing, peace, compassion toward all people with no exceptions. At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples, “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you to the end of the age.” This is our calling. This is what God needs from us. May God grant us the trust and courage we need to live as the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world so that all may experience real life!

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

October 4, 2026                      Pentecost 19/Lectionary 27                     Matthew 21:33-46

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

It’s Monday on the final week of Jesus’ life and he is still addressing the temple leaders after they had asked him “by what authority he is doing these things.” Our passage begins with the Parable of the Tenants. When we read this parable we quickly surmise that Jesus is referring to the ways that the prophets were rejected throughout the history of the Hebrew people culminating in the temple leaders’ rejection of Jesus as the Son of God.

The passage starts immediately with Jesus saying, “Listen to another parable.” Notice that Jesus uses parables, stories to describe God’s reign in the world vis a vis precisely defining the reign of God. This practice is more experiential than rational. Within the post-enlightenment culture in which we find ourselves, often we seek scientific fact rather than experiential truth. Parables draw us into a truth that can only be actualized through real-life experience. Jesus isn’t teaching “concepts” about God, but describing the essence or being of God in relationship with the creation. In these parables, Jesus is seeking to draw people into an awareness of how human culture/society has divorced itself from God’s vision. The Christ, who is the source of all life, strives to lead us back to life in alignment with God’s dream which is conducive to the perpetuation of life into the ages.

The key point of this parable is that the tenants of the vineyard began to believe that they were the owners and could use the vineyard any way they desired. Their “delusion” became so extreme that the tenants killed the landowner’s messengers and finally killed the landowner’s son so they could keep the “inheritance” for themselves. After delivering the parable, Jesus asked the chief priests and elders in the Temple, “Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” The Temple leaders said, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” We need to recognize that while many of us would agree with such a response, that would be the human solution and not the God solution. Certainly within a human court system, such a verdict and sentence would be prescribed. But such action would not align with God’s justice of seeking reconciliation, healing, restoration, and oneness with all.

Jesus then draws the leaders’ attention to Psalm 118:22-23, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes. Jesus then says that the reign of God “will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” The leaders’ were very aware at this moment that Jesus was speaking about them and they wanted to kill him on the spot but they were afraid of his followers.

Key preaching points:

Again, it’s critically important that we do not interpret this text to mean that “some are in while others are out” of God’s reign. The focus is on allowing the Spirit to guide us in generating fruit for God’s reign. It’s not that the Christ would “expel” the religious leaders from God’s reign, it’s that he is proclaiming to them that they are not living according to or advancing God’s reign of oneness throughout the world. Jesus is telling them, and us, that the Spirit seeks to draw all of us into alignment with God’s vision. If we reject the Spirit (like the tenants in the vineyard), then the Spirit will find others who will accept the call to live in oneness with all because there is much work to be done. Make no mistake, the vision is for oneness with ALL and God will not rest until all are one!!! And that includes those who currently miss the mark. We cannot use this passage to condemn or dehumanize those who are not living according to God’s reign. It’s our responsibility as children of God to love everyone, even when they attack us. We must recognize that we and the creation are in a perpetual process of transformation where sometimes we get it and sometimes we don’t.

By telling this parable, Jesus named that he knew that the religious leaders would eventually have him killed. Notice (according to the parable) that killing the Son does not give the tenants ultimate control of the vineyard. It still belongs to the owner. The killing of Christ will not transfer ownership of the creation from God to humanity. All things belong to God now and forever. We, as children of God, are blessed to enjoy the fruits of the creation but must not delude ourselves into believing that we own it. All that we are and all that we have belongs to God. Therefore, just as Jesus gave his life in obedience to the Father, we are called to share and give all that we have toward God’s mission of life in the world. When God raised Jesus from the dead, God declared once and for all that God would never abandon nor forsake humanity or the creation. We now have a choice, a decision. Do we live as evil tenants and act as though we are in control of our lives? Or, do we live as Christ, filled with the Spirit living generously and serving God’s mission in all that we are and do?

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

October 11, 2026                                  Pentecost 20/Lectionary 28                                 Matthew 22:1-14

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

This week’s text flows out of the preceding weeks with Jesus in the Temple during the last week of his life engaging in an exchange with the chief priests and elders. Again, he tells a parable (see last week’s commentary for a brief description regarding “parables”). In this parable, a king gave a wedding banquet for his son but many of the invited guests refused to attend for a variety of reasons. Some even mistreated and killed the slaves of the king who were sent to bring in the invited guests. In response, the king sent his troops “to kill those murderers and destroy their city.” (Please resist the urge to make the story descriptive of what God would do in a similar situation. We know that when humanity killed God’s son, God did NOT send in armies of angels to wipe out “the murderers.” Jesus tells parables to help people to see how we live apart from God’s vision, create chaos, and how humanity deals with division. This is all necessary in the process of helping people to differentiate between God’s ways and the world’s ways.)

The king then sends his slaves out into the streets to gather people for the wedding banquet, anyone who is willing to come, “both good and bad.” This is a radical statement recognizing that our place in the banquet is not dependent on us but on the grace of God. We simply say “yes” to attending. We don’t deserve it, earn it, or bring ourselves to it. God invites us and we get to accept or decline. That, I believe, is the point of verses 11-14 where, still within the parable, the king interacts with the guests and sees that there is a man not wearing the wedding robe. Remember that people were being pulled in directly from the streets. Surely, no one had a wedding robe. So when they arrived at the banquet, the king would have been providing wedding robes for everyone. Apparently, this one man must have said, “No thanks. I’m fine the way I am.” Returning to the concept of God’s grace, any time we claim that we are self-made, self-accomplished, self-sustained, self-worthy we deny our identity and purpose as children of God. Our value does not come from anything that we do or produce. Our value is inherently from God. In that regard, verse 13 reads as particularly harsh: Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Please do not interpret this to be a passage referencing eternal damnation in hell. That would be a grossly errant eisegesis of this text. The point is that when we choose to live as though we are in power or control, we find ourselves experiencing the paralysis of darkness, fear, and anxiety. But when we accept God’s grace and invitation to the banquet, only then do we experience true freedom and liberation.

Verse 14 has also been used inappropriately to imply that some go to heaven and others go to hell. Again, that is a grossly errant eisegesis of this text. A literal translation from the Greek is, For many are called, but few selected. The Greek word for “chosen or selected” is eklektos which derives from eklegomai (to speak out of or differentiate from). The point is that the Word of God, the grace of God is broadcast into the world. God seeks to draw all into intimate relationship with God, creation, and humanity. However, not all hear the call. Not all heed the call. The “few” who hear and respond don’t receive individual accolades (reward in heaven) but greater responsibility to serve God’s mission of oneness here and now.

Key preaching points:

This passage has been wrongly interpreted to be primarily about eternal salvation or condemnation. This misunderstanding must be addressed by reminding the worshippers that Jesus is concerned with what happens here within God’s reign on earth. Hence, we must turn off the “old tapes” about reward and punishment so that we can hear the true call of Jesus to participate in God’s reign of oneness with all. The Spirit calls us to “the banquet” where we dine not only with those we know and love but with all who are part of God’s family. It’s appropriate to draw upon other meal narratives within scripture, especially Isaiah 25:1-9 (the Eschatological Feast) and Psalm 23 which are other assigned texts for this weekend.

The Spirit calls us away from our very myopic, selfish viewpoints of what is truly important in life. We fall into the malaise of thinking that life is about our routines or schedules or bank accounts or jobs or personal success. We fail to remember that life is about living in alignment with our true identity and purpose as children of God. We are called to make God’s mission the top priority for our lives. That doesn’t mean that we are to neglect ourselves or our families. Quite the contrary. We are to align our lives and our family’s lives in accordance to who God says we are and needs us to be. When we put ourselves or other things ahead of God, we find ourselves in the “outer darkness.” It’s not that God puts us there, it’s that our misaligned lives create a crisis in the same way that an eagle refusing to fly would be in crisis. God provides all that we need and we are called to put God’s blessings to use in generating more blessings for others. Jesus understood that his gifts weren’t simply to remain in him but were intended to be shared with the world. Jesus gave all, including his life on the cross, because he lived with a constant awareness that he existed to serve God’s mission of life for all. God raised Jesus from the dead to reveal once and for all that God will never stop generating new life. It’s now our turn in the course of history to participate in the perpetuation of life through generously sharing what God has given us so that all may experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

October 18, 2026                          Pentecost 21/Lectionary 29                        Matthew 22:15-22

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Again we remain within the flow of Jesus’ encounter at the Temple with the religious leaders during the last week of Jesus’ life. After the chief priests and elders were unsuccessful in trapping Jesus, the Pharisees take their shot. They sent some of their disciples along with the Herodians (people serving under King Herod) to ask a question that would potentially alienate Jesus from some of his followers based on how he answered.

The question is certainly slick and one that would require great wisdom to answer well. It’s a good thing Jesus was the one fielding such a potentially divisive query. Even the way that the question is posed immediately comes across as patronizing and disingenuous. Read these words with a bit of a sickening sweet sing-song tone: Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Now that’s an attempt to appeal to Jesus’ pride and ego if ever there was one. But Jesus is no fool and has had loads of experience with such people and so he’s prepared for the slippery question they’re about to ask.

They continue: Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? There it is. That’s the trap. By “lawful,” they mean according to the laws of Moses as prescribed in the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures. They are not referring to the laws of Rome. In fact, there were often debates around what the Jews were to do when the laws of Moses clashed with the laws of Rome. If they disobey Rome, there will be dire consequences. However, disobeying God would result in even greater retribution. It’s truly being between a rock and a hard place. Furthermore, there were some who felt that giving money to Rome was against the laws of Moses because it kept Israel enslaved to the Roman Empire. While others felt strongly that they needed to obey Rome so that the empire didn’t come and destroy Jerusalem.

So Jesus, quite astutely, asked someone to show him a Roman coin and they brought him a denarius, a small coin worth about one day’s wage. Jesus asked, “Whose head is this, and whose title? They responded, “The emperor’s.” Then Jesus said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” What a brilliant response! The religious leaders never saw that one coming. That group of inquisitors were so shocked that they simply went away without a reply.

Key preaching points:

Jesus’ answer to the question implies far more than information regarding the coin. When he says, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,” we know immediately that Jesus is speaking of the things that have the emperor’s image and title on them, like the denarius. But then Jesus adds, “Give to God the things that are God’s,” which begs the question, “What is it that has God’s image and title on it?” Every Jewish leader in the Temple is very aware that the creation narrative of Genesis 1 states, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God they were created.” Jesus didn’t need to unpack this with the religious leaders for they all would have realized immediately that he was suggesting that they and all human beings were to present ourselves fully to God, which is a much more significant issue than the paying of taxes.

If we want to see what it looks like to present ourselves fully to God, we are to look to Jesus. Often we focus primarily on the cross and resurrection but throughout Jesus’ life he was offering himself to God. When he faced adversity and struggle, he didn’t cower thinking only of himself. He stood tall and continued to proclaim truth. When even his own disciples misunderstood him and tried to derail his mission, he stood tall and continued to proclaim truth. Even when the leaders were attempting to trap him in the Temple, he stood tall and continued to proclaim truth. Jesus recognized that his life was not his own, that he existed to serve God’s mission in the world. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus sets for us an exemplar for our lives. No, we probably won’t die on a cross. However, standing tall for God’s mission of inclusion, healing, reconciliation will draw us into times and places where we may be attacked, ridiculed, or ostracized. In those moments, do we choose safety or truth? We scare ourselves when we think with mindsets of scarcity that there isn’t or won’t be enough for us which causes us to become stingy and selfish. When we recognize that through the waters of baptism God’s name is affixed upon us and that we bear God’s image in our very being, we are empowered to live as generously as Jesus, pouring out our lives as an offering to God. The Spirit fills us with the courage and confidence we need to truly trust God and live as the children of God that we are created to be.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

October 25, 2026                               Reformation                             John 8:31-36

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

The legend is that on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany to protest the misguided theology of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the abuse of “indulgences” against the poor. It’s important that we understand that while the tool of Luther’s protest was theology, the focus of his protest was justice. Luther was greatly angered as he watched the very poor stand in long lines to buy, what he called, “useless pieces of paper” with their children’s bread money. The church was teaching that persons could purchase forgiveness from the heavenly storehouse of the good deeds of the saints. Luther pointed out that there was nothing in scripture to support such a theology or practice and he called for a transformation.

The teachings of the church stemmed from the doctrine of the 4th and 5th Centuries that essentially stated that human beings are flawed from conception (Augustine’s Doctrine of Original Sin) which alienates us from God and thus we are in need of some form of cleansing (justification) in order to dwell with God. The horrors of the Early and Late Middle Ages including wars, famine, plagues, etc. cemented the notion that God was indeed angered at humanity and thus bestowed perpetual agony upon human beings. By the time of Luther, humans were willing to do anything to gain God’s forgiveness and get on God’s good side, even if it meant buying “useless pieces of paper.”

Unfortunately, although Luther could see the injustices perpetrated by the Church, he could not see the fundamental problems created by the Doctrine of Original Sin. Luther was an Augustinian monk who was leashed to Augustinian theology. Luther’s reforming merely shifted the formula of justification away from works toward faith. In other words, humans don’t receive forgiveness from God by what we do, but by trusting in the death and resurrection of Christ as the ultimate atoning sacrifice. From this thinking derived the misguided “substitutionary atonement theory” which holds that humans are fundamentally flawed and in need of healing in order to dwell with God. According to such thinking, when we “believe in” Jesus, our sins are imputed onto him and his righteousness is imputed onto us and we get to live in heaven after we die.

This thinking perpetuates the notion of an angry, punitive God who requires appeasing through a blood sacrifice. Much of western Christianity has operated out of this mindset for the past 500 years. We now recognize that scripture does not support such doctrinal thinking and are instead seeking to read and interpret scripture prior to the generation of the 4th and 5th Century doctrine. This new, or should I say, “original” hermeneutical lens is helping us to recognize and return to the focus of the early church which had nothing to do with helping individuals become cleansed so that they can go to heaven after they die, but instead aimed at creating a culture of vitality for all people through love in this world today and every day. God’s concern is not what happens to humans after we die but the perpetuation of life from generation to generation within the cosmos. That’s the true meaning of “eternal life” which is better translated as “life into the ages.”

While we can now recognize the flaws of Luther and the Reformation as it related to certain doctrine, we must also recognize that several relevant and important theological themes derived from the Reformation:

• • Priesthood of all believers
  • Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus
  • Worship in the vernacular through the “work of the people” (Liturgy)
  • Focus on Word and Sacrament
  • The marrying of clergy

 The formula of “justification by grace through faith apart from works” needs a bit of translation tweaking to truly be understood. This formula is based in Ephesians 2:8-9 which states, “For by grace you have been made whole through trust; and this is not out of you, the gift of God; not out of works, so no one may boast.” This passage has been used to demonize “works” because of Luther’s emphatic stance that we cannot “earn” God’s grace or forgiveness. It must come as gift. However, when we read Ephesians 2:10, we discover that works most definitely matter: “For this we have been made, created in Christ Jesus upon good works which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” You can see from the translation of Ephesians 2:8-10 that the author is not writing about human beings becoming “justified” by God so that we can go to heaven. On the contrary, the passage tells us that from the beginning when all things were created in Christ, God’s vision was that human beings would conduct “good works” that generate a culture of wholeness/oneness for the entire creation. The goal is NOT getting people to heaven after they die, but generating real life right now, right here for all people.

Although Ephesians 2 is not an assigned passage this weekend, breaking it down helps us to differentiate between “old school” Lutheran theology and the emerging theology that shapes our thinking today. As we examine this week’s Gospel text, we discover the emergence of three particular themes:

• • Remaining in the Logos (Word) of the Christ
  • Knowing the Truth
  • Being Made Free

 The Logos/The Cosmic Christ identified in John 1:1-18 is the original idea in the mind of God for the Creation. We could say, then, that the first Christ is the Creation. When humanity “missed the mark” and lost sight of our true-identity and purpose, the undefiled, uncorrupted, pure Logos became enfleshed in the person of Jesus. Jesus did not come to be a blood sacrifice to appease an angry God. Jesus came to return and restore humanity to our true-identity and purpose which is living as children of God to create and sustain a just culture for all. When we see Jesus, we see the Truth of what it means to be fully human, both in identity and in mission (purpose). When Jesus calls for us to “remain” in his Word, he’s calling for us to remain in the Truth of our identity as children of God and in our purpose to work to draw all things to God. When we live the Truth, we actualize our freedom to be fully human. Everything falls away that holds us back from being the people God created us to be. Sin (hamartia) means to “miss the mark” in our humanity. That fallacious thing or way of being to which we sacrifice the Truth of our humanity becomes our master and we its slave. For instance, when we medicate our fears with addictions we also mask our true selves, hiding our shadow-side and robbing the world from the blessing of the full human we are created to be. However, when we dwell in the Logos, we bask in the unconditional love and grace of God which in turn sets us free to be transparent and authentic about our whole selves thus unleashing us to use all of who we are through worship, relationships, service, and generosity for the sake of all. Jesus went to the cross, not to appease God, but to reveal once and for all that God will never quit on humanity or the creation. Love and life always win!

Key preaching points:

The point of our Reformation celebration is to embrace the ethos of perpetual theological discourse in pursuit of discovering what it means to live in relationship with God and humanity. Reformation is to be understood as a continual process as opposed to a singular event occurring 502 years ago. What makes one Lutheran is our constant passion for an evolving discovery of God and self, to dwell in the Logos/Christ, to live out of the Truth for what it means to be new human beings, and to utilize our freedom (Christian Liberty) by setting others free from whatever has them enslaved. We see this exact behavior in the person of Jesus who remained faithful to being the enfleshed Logos, stayed grounded in being the Son of God, and used his whole being in setting all of humanity free, even to the point of death on the cross. Through his resurrection from the dead, Jesus inaugurated the new humanity by breathing his Spirit into us and commissioning us to go and serve (“as the Father sent me so now I send you”). This way of life is what makes us Christian and Lutheran. We view both terms as verbs, not nouns, for we are never to become complacent in our faith but always reforming so as to grow closer all the time to our Logos identity and mission.

As this is an important week in our series Spirit, it’s important that we draw the focus of the worshipers back to living as generous servants amid the world’s chaos. It’s not enough that we “believe in God.” In fact, that’s actually not the point at all. The question is: Will we live as children of God pouring ourselves out for the sake of the world? Beliefs change. Ideas change. Perspectives change. What doesn’t change is that God is counting on us to be God’s delivery system of justice for the world. God is counting on us to love, serve, give until every human and all of creation is unleashed to experience real life. We are to call the worshipers into intentional contemplation that leads to action that aligns with God’s mission of life for the world so that all may experience real life in Jesus’ name.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

November 1, 2026                          All Saints                                       Matthew 5:1-12

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

The first event to be celebrated annually by the newly formed first century Jesus community was the Resurrection of our Lord, commonly known today as Easter. The second annual event recognized by the Jesus community was All Saints Day celebrated on November 1 of each year. Whereas Easter commemorated the inauguration of the new humanity through the crucified and risen Jesus, All Saints’ Day commemorates the promise that love and life transcend even death. All Saints’ Day celebrates the contributions that the followers of Jesus have contributed throughout their lives toward the transformation of human culture from the world’s reign into God’s reign. At the time of the inception of this holy day, Christians were being persecuted and martyred for their trust in God’s vision of oneness as revealed through Jesus. While the Romans tolerated lots of various religions within the empire, they required everyone to bow to the divinity of Caesar. Christians refused to do so because the hierarchical position of Caesar defies God’s vision that there is “no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female for we are all one in Christ Jesus.” The God of Jesus is not a God of the elite and powerful, as represented by Caesar, but a God which includes all and stands with the weak, the poor, the powerless, and the disenfranchised. By refusing to bow to Caesar, the early church was taking a stand for and with the weak and oppressed of the world, even to the point of bringing oppression onto themselves, a way of life consistent with the person of Jesus. All Saints’ Day announces that the oppression and violence perpetrated against Christ’s Church will not have the last word. Life and love will win!

This weekend’s text is the Beatitudes of Matthew’s Gospel which has been interpreted in countless ways throughout the millennia. Some have viewed these “blessings” as rewards for practicing certain virtues. Others see them as Jesus’ counter-cultural proclamation at the beginning of his ministry of a radical reversal toward those who have suffered at the hands of injustice. It is relevant for us to recognize that this passage begins Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus describes the reign of God in the midst of the world’s culture of division, violence, and death. Each blessing begins with “makarioi oi” which literally means “Blessed Ones”. Within the classical Greek culture this is a specific title that was reserved for the gods of Olympus who bore the privilege of dwelling above and beyond the fray of poverty, disease, persecution, and death. By using the title reserved for Olympus, Jesus flips the script to demonstrate the value of each and every human life. In fact, Jesus makes the point that in our weakness and adversity we have the opportunity to experience the fullness of our humanity because we need God and we need each other. The Beatitudes demonstrate God’s vision of oneness for all of humanity. In other words, or as St. Paul would say, in our weakness God is strong.

Mark Allan Powell provides a fresh insight into the flow of the Beatitudes by dividing them into two sub-groups: those who receive blessing because of “who they are”, and those who receive blessing because of “what they do.” Both groups are blessed because of the indwelling of God’s reign in the world. When people suffer, the Church is called to bring comfort, peace and mercy to those in need. In doing so, both the suffering and the caring receive blessing as they dwell together within God’s reign. Even when the world misunderstands and persecutes the Church’s mission of life for all, blessing still prevails as we are grounded in the certain hope that life and love win as assured through the persecuted, crucified, and risen Jesus.

Key preaching points:

One tradition for opening All Saints’ worship is to read the names of those who have died as both a celebration of their lives with us and a promise that nothing can destroy love and life. We must guard against making All Saints’ Day about going to heaven after we die. Jesus’ concern was not for what is commonly understood to be “eternal salvation” after death. His concern was for generating a culture here in this time and place that perpetuates life for all people into the ages. The All Saints’ sermon should be very similar to an Easter sermon in that it focuses on the death and resurrection of Jesus and the in-breaking of the reign of God through new human beings called to bring new life to all the world. It’s an opportunity to help people to grasp the missio dei of living in intimate relationship with God and with all people, to reach and serve the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the persecuted. As a wealthy, suburban, primarily white, highly educated, American congregation, we have much privilege to confess in order to live authentically in solidarity with our poor and disempowered siblings. Jesus is counting on us to teach the world how to live as children of God and to actualize our full humanity through oneness with God and all people.

The celebration of All Saints’ Day and the Beatitudes provide a great foundation to invite people to participate in God’s reign through the sharing of blessings. All that we are and all that we have belongs to God. God has entrusted us with blessings not so that we can keep them for ourselves but so they might flow freely through us toward the vision that all may experience real life. God is counting on us to participate in the flow of blessing by being radically generous with our time, our gifts, and our resources. This is a key component of equipping all to be the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world. 

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

November 8, 2026                        Pentecost 24/Lectionary 32                           Matthew 25:1-13

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

This week’s passage takes place on Tuesday of Holy Week, the final week of Jesus’ life. On Sunday, Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-17) after which he immediately drives the money changers out of the Temple. On Monday, Jesus engages in a long and combative dialogue with the Temple leaders (Matthew 21:18-26:16). This week’s parable is delivered to the disciples. After leaving the Temple, Jesus retreats to the Mount of Olives to pray when his disciples approach him to ask for clarification about things that he had been saying regarding the destruction of the Temple (Matthew 24:1-2). Jesus discusses the in-breaking of God’s reign with the disciples throughout the remainder of Matthew 24 and warns them that “no one knows the day or the hour, not the angels nor the Son, only the Father.” The relevant points that Jesus is making are that humanity doesn’t need to know everything about God’s plan. We, as new human beings, are simply called to participate actively in God’s mission of drawing all into full communion with God and one another. We must also stay alert and keep our eyes peeled for where we see God’s reign breaking into the world so that we can participate with God in this mission.

In order to solidify his points about the in-breaking of God’s reign and our need to be prepared to participate, Jesus tells the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids in which five are wise and bring more oil for their lamps because they have no idea when God’s reign will arrive fully while five are foolish and don’t bring extra oil. The Bridegroom (representing God’s reign) appears at midnight, the exact moment of the birth of a “new day”, and is announced through a shout, a proclamation. The role of the bridesmaids is to greet the Bridegroom and to light his path so that all may see and be aware of his arrival. However, the five foolish bridesmaids cannot fulfill their call because they have run out of oil. They ask the wise bridesmaids if they can borrow oil in order to light their lamps, but the wise bridesmaids decline to share because then there would not be enough oil for anyone to light the path of the Bridegroom. Someone must, even if it’s only five, provide the light for the Bridegroom and point to his arrival. The foolish bridesmaids are then forced to leave in order to find oil. When they return, they find that they’ve missed their opportunity to participate in the in-breaking of God’s reign. When they knock, they cry out, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” But the Bridegroom refuses saying, “I do not know you.”

At first glance, it appears that this is another passage about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. We must resist such an interpretation which is birthed out of misdirected doctrine that is not faithful to the whole of Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus is speaking to the in-breaking of God’s reign here in this world and our call to participate in God’s reign, not to what might happen after we die. The reign of God is not a location and is not static. It’s fluid and momentous in nature, breaking into the darkness and chaos of the world through incidents of love, inclusion, and justice for all. As children of God, we must continually contemplate and discern where we see God showing up in, through, and around us so that we can decide to participate in God’s activity. Very often we seek to get God involved in our goals or activities. This is backwards. We’re called to be spiritually grounded through prayer, contemplation, and reflective conversations that lead us to actively dedicating our time, gifts, and resources to participate in what God is doing.

 Key preaching points:

 If we were to ask people, what do you pray for or about, the vast majority of people will respond that prayer is a way to ask God for things: healing, forgiveness, mercy, blessings. However, prayer is better suited toward listening to God, discerning what it is that God needs from us, not what we need from God. We must draw people into contemplative practices that lead to action:

1. 1. Being present to self and context
   2. Discerning where God is showing up to self and context
   3. Deciding to participate in God’s activity
   4. Surrendering all outcomes to God

 Very often we treat God as though God works for us. That’s backwards and upside down. As new human beings, children of God, we exist to serve God’s mission of life and love for the world. Yes, God’s reign emerges and breaks in as a God event or activity. The Spirit unleashed seeks to aid us in our journey of becoming our true-selves so that we can actively participate in God’s reign. Our role is to have eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts and minds to discern where and when God’s reign is emerging so that we can point to it, shine light on it, and participate in it through love and generosity.

When Jesus died, he brought an end to the old moral order of the world dominated by hierarchy, division, violence, fear, and death. In his resurrection, he inaugurated the new humanity and the new moral order governed by love, oneness, healing, hope, and life. The essence of God’s reign is full communion with God and all humanity, it is the restoration of the Creation and the call for humanity to live out of our true-identities as children of God. The reign of God can occur in any and all situations and always involves the death of the old and the birth of the new. As the church our role is to “shine light” on God’s reign by helping people to both comprehend and participate in what God is doing. We immerse people into worship, relationships, service, and generosity as the process by which to be put to death to the world’s lies and rebirthed as children of God. We must always be alert and awake to such opportunities so that we and all people might experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

November 15, 2026                                 Pentecost 25/Lectionary 33                                  Matthew 25:14-30

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Once again the context of this week’s parable deeply matters as Jesus continues describing for the disciples the role of new human beings within the reign of God. On the surface, the Parable of the Talents appears to be quite harsh, however, one cannot miss the sense of urgency that Jesus describes in utilizing the property of the Master in order to expand its reach. A man summons three slaves to whom he entrusts different amounts of his property. To the first he gives five talents (a talent is one year’s worth of wages), to the second he gives two, and to the third he gives one talent. He puts the slaves in charge of his property with the expectation that they will care for it in the same way that he does. The first two slaves get to work immediately and are able to double the value or reach of the property. However, the third slave becomes afraid that he might lose the one talent that he’d been given and so he buries it for safe keeping. When the Master returns and demands an accounting of his property, he is delighted by the goodness and trustworthiness of the first two slaves. But when he discovers that the third slave simply safeguarded his property, he was enraged. The Master could have buried the talents himself if he had simply wanted to preserve them. He wanted his property to continue to grow and evolve during his absence which is why he gave his slaves authority over it. Again, he expected them to deal with his property the way he would.

Upon discovering the success of the first two slaves, the Master invites them into “the joy of your Lord.” This phrase is not to be understood as a reference to going to heaven after we die. The “joy of the Lord” is the oneness, wholeness, and wellness of the Creation (which is the missio dei and the very definition of God’s reign). God rejoices when human beings live out of our true-identity as children of God by living in intimate relationship with God and one another. We also experience great joy when our lives align with our God-defined identity and purpose. God not only invites us to participate in the in-breaking of God’s reign within the world, God NEEDS human beings to love, serve, and live generously as the means by which God’s reign of justice for all is truly actualized.

The third slave is vilified NOT for squandering the Master’s property but for being afraid to even try to participate in multiplying it. Doing nothing is worse than trying something and failing. We aren’t created to sit on the sidelines and watch the world go by. We are created to be servants in God’s garden, tilling, watering, fertilizing, pruning, so that the Creator can bring forth the fruit of God’s reign which is life and love for all. This untrustworthy slave is cast into the “outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Again, this is not to be interpreted to mean that he is sent to hell for all eternity but a reference to the world’s culture that divides, destroys, violates, and kills. When we choose not to live out of our true-identities and participate in the in-breaking of God’s reign, we perpetuate the “sin-filled” world culture that devours the Creation, including ourselves. The final judgment in the parable isn’t inflicted upon the third slave, it is the necessary consequence for when human beings live out of false identities as prescribed by the world.

Key preaching points:

Preachers often choose to use this text to address issues related to the Care of Creation. Certainly this can be an aspect of the focus for this weekend, however, it’s important that we recognize and communicate that Jesus is talking about all aspects of participating within the in-breaking of God’s reign through executing God’s justice for all.

Human beings are leashed in countless ways to false identities that rob us of the “joy of the Lord” because we don’t live into the fullness of who God created us to be. Caring for the Creation is definitely a core component of what it means to be children of God, however, this involves far more than planting trees or recycling. True care for the Creation must be driven by a deep love for the Creator and for all the creatures which includes humanity. We don’t care for the earth, the water, the air for its own sake, we care for it because it is necessary and essential for the very existence of the creatures. When we plant trees or recycle, we are loving humanity today and tomorrow. At the same time, we also love humanity today and tomorrow by actively participating in generating a human culture of love and life for all, which is the reign of God. Such a culture begins through the practice of authentic worship, intentional relationships, sacrificial service, and radical generosity. Jesus is calling us to decisively commit to such a way of life so that all may experience real life within God’s reign.

In the life of Jesus we see a person who was given five talents and multiplied them into an infinite amount, but it cost him his life. Jesus, filled with the Spirit, consistently worked to unleash human beings from whatever it was that mis-defined them: sinner, victim, sickly, poor, abused, demoniac, foreigner, male/female, wealthy, powerful, elitist, hypocrite. He sought for each person to know themselves and one another simply as children of God and to be liberated to serve God and humanity in all things. But again, such an orientation and focus cost him his life as the powers-that-be did not take kindly to the notion of dying to their “false identities” in order to be “one” with all, especially the lowly. Those who enjoy the benefits of the world’s injustice are often reluctant to want to see things change. However, in the death of Jesus we see God’s heart to enter into oneness with all, even and especially the least (see next week’s text). Jesus takes onto himself the world-prescribed false-identities of sinner, victim, sickly, poor, abused, demoniac, foreigner and by dying, puts them to death so that in his resurrection the only thing that exists is Child of God! In the resurrection of Jesus, we experience the fullness of God’s reign in that all that divides and destroys has been overcome so that all that exists is love, light, and life. As the Jesus community and through the waters of baptism, we are liberated to live our true-identity as children of God at home, work, school, neighborhood, and across the globe to invite all into God’s reign to experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

November 22, 2026                         Reign of Christ                              Matthew 25:31-46

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

This weekend is commonly known as “The Reign of Christ”, formerly “Christ the King” weekend which was established in the 1920’s and 1930’s by Pope Pius XI in response to the rise of fascism in Europe. The intent was to draw focus back onto God’s vision for humanity as revealed through the person of Jesus. This weekend also is the final weekend of the church’s liturgical calendar and the last time that we will utilize Matthew’s Gospel in worship for the next two years (Matthew will be reintroduced the first week of Advent 2025).

Jesus’ Parable of the Sheep and Goats stands as his final teaching to the disciples prior to the celebration of the Passover and his arrest and execution. As this passage stands as a sort of “last will and testament” for Jesus, it carries extra significance and importance. Jesus is casting a strong vision for God’s reign in which his followers are expected to serve and care for “the least” of his siblings which begs the question: Who are the least of Jesus’ siblings? In order to answer this question we must consider the whole of Matthew’s Gospel and how we experience Jesus throughout the book. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus calls the disciples the “light of the world” and calls them even to love their enemies. Jesus continually breaks down barriers to feed everyone who is hungry, heal any who are sick, serve any who are in need. Even at the beginning of this passage it says that the Son of the Human Being will gather “all nations” before him. The final verses of Matthew 28:18-20 commission the disciples to make disciples of “all nations.” Therefore, we must conclude that Jesus considers all human beings to be his “siblings” as we all are children of God.

But what are we to make of the sheep and goats reference with some on his right who go into “life of the ages” (eternal life) while others on his left go into “punishment of the ages” (eternal punishment). First of all, as Jesus tells the parable he says, “What you did or didn’t do for ONE, you did or didn’t do for me.” In other words, when we serve one person we experience the fullness of God’s reign. However, when we do not serve one, when we miss one, when we overlook one, we perpetuate the world’s culture of division, violence, and death. The translation of zoen aionion as “eternal life” carries with it the connotation of what happens to us after we die. However, if we can think about the phrase as a “life of the ages,” we are able to recognize that this is to be experienced here and now because it perpetuates life, all life, from generation to generation, age to age. The same is true for kolasin aionion which is translated as “eternal punishment” instead of “punishment of the ages.” “Eternal punishment” carries the connotation of judgment after we die or being sent to hell, whereas “punishment of the ages” helps us to recognize that Jesus is talking about the perpetuation of the world’s culture of death, division, and destruction from generation to generation, age to age. If we want to participate in creating a world of life for the ages, then we need to care for the least.

 To further aid this conversation, the curse pronounced upon those on “the left” to be cast into the “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” requires us to do a close read within Matthew’s Gospel regarding the use of the word fire. The first place that we encounter the word “fire” (pyr) is in 3:10-12 when John the Baptizer is prophesying about the one who is coming who will baptize with “the Holy Spirit and fire.” There is also a reference to trees that do not bear fruit being cut down and thrown into the “fire” as well as “the coming one” separating the “wheat from the chaff” and casting the chaff into the “unquenchable fire.” These verses in Matthew 3 are a reference to Malachi 3 in which God purifies God’s people with a “refining fire” which is a good thing and not to be interpreted as a vindictive eternal damnation. We must apply this understanding of “fire” to our passage in Matthew 25 and understand that Jesus is not saying that people will be punished in hell for all eternity, but that God will continually work to refine humanity through the “unquenchable fire” in the hope that a day will come when not one person, not any of “the least” will be left on the outside looking in. God’s vision is for all to experience real life in God’s reign through Jesus and his human “family.”

Key preaching points: 

As has been typical throughout much of Matthew’s Gospel, the preacher needs to intentionally unpack the common connotations of this passage related to the notion of eternal judgment upon humans after we die. Such a thought will cross every worshipper’s mind and thus needs to be addressed. After informing folks that this is not the intent of the text, we can then dive deeply into Jesus’ call to the church to strive to include all within God’s reign, and particularly those that the world has deemed to be “the least.” There are so many examples for who might qualify as the least: the poor and hungry, teens who have been bullied, single parents, refugees, the elderly, the list is long. This “last will and testament” of Jesus is intended to keep us focused on what it means to be the Jesus community who, empowered by the Spirit, are called to participate toward the in-breaking of God’s reign at home, work, school, neighborhood, and everywhere!

In his betrayal, arrest, and execution, Jesus becomes the least and the one who needs to be served (see 25:44, “diakonia”). And thus, whenever we serve or care for anyone in need, we are in fact serving and caring for the Christ. In his resurrection, Jesus assures us that life and love will ultimately win and so we are called to live proleptically as though the future and final state of oneness is indeed our present reality. We love and serve others because all will be loved and served. We forgive others because all will be forgiven. We include others because all will be included. We treat others as though they are part of us because all will be one! To take this even a step further, we live as one because all IS one. Without even one person, neither we nor God is whole. God yearns for the creation to live in intimate communion with God and one another which is our true reality and thus the missio dei and the mission of the church are to draw all things back to God so that all may experience real life. This is most certainly true!

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill