Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. Micah 6:1-2 Micah opens not in […]

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea. . . (Matthew 4:12) In the present moment in which we find ourselves, I think this easily overlooked opening verse of our Gospel reading for this morning is remarkable for what […]

On this Second Sunday after the Epiphany, the lectionary drops us into the Gospel of John with a phrase that is easy to miss: “the next day.” The next day after what? Well, the next day after John has been questioned by the religious authorities, interrogated, really, about who he is and what he’s doing […]