God’s call to obedience courses through these two chapters of sermons from Zechariah. Disobedience on the part of our ancestors made them vulnerable to foreign attacks and the destruction of Jerusalem and their sacred Temple.

Just as the salvation of the one leper who returned is better than all ten healed of leprosy, so fasting and worship may be external only, never going to the heart of total obedience—that surrender which has us walk in God’s ways with our hands in God’s.

Notice what happens. Just as the ten lepers of yesterday, ten persons from every foreign nation will let go of their unfaithful ways and cling to the sleeve of a believer. Your obedience and fidelity to the Lord can prompt others to let go of the “trapeze” of their vain works and cling to the Lord by grasping the sleeve of your faith.

Zechariah 7—8

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the season of Kingdomtide we read Habakkuk to Malachi.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: May one touching me find You. 8:23

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

The distance that God’s people kept from lepers was as great as that between Jews and Samaritans. However, for a person to be both—that is to be an outcast, indeed. Ten lepers in misery, while keeping their distance, somehow know that Jesus is not going to pull away. They cry out for divine mercy.

The ten are healed, but nine soon forget, failing to return to give God glory and praise. We know nothing about them, but the silence invites us to wonder: did the healing last without the total trapeze-like abandon to the One who could do more than have them look good from the outside?

Surrender all outer and inner needs to Jesus. Grasp the hand of God in Jesus, as the healer and the healed become one.

Luke 17:11–19

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: I return to thank you, Lord. v. 18

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year C, we generally read from the Gospel of St. Luke.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

From the very depths of Jesus, comes the cry “Woe!” We heard it in last Sunday’s Gospel referring to those who are a scandal to God’s little ones. Here it refers to Judas. The word is used 106 times in the Bible—virtually the same word in Hebrew, Greek, and English, for the word itself is the sound of the soul groaning in grief. It also carries a call of warning, recalling the “Woes” in Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain” which offers a counterpoint to the Beatitudes (Luke 6:24–26).

Today we begin six Fridays of reading the Passion of Jesus. Contemplate the mysteries of the Lord’s suffering in the context of the rest of the week’s readings as this year of grace begins to end. Be with Jesus and the disciples. Place your life into the bread and cup of communion. The sacrament of Christ’s blood is the stream of grace flowing from his side.

Luke 22:24–46

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Your words will not pass away. v. 33

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the season of Kingdomtide this year we read Luke 19:28 to 24:53.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.