Ancient Anglican

In his alienation and guilt, the prodigal is no longer capable of seeing his father as he really is. Instead of a parent abounding in love and care, he has substi­tuted an overseer of exacting justice.

Only once we realize that all of our thoughts, all of our theologies, all of our world view, and even our very existence is vanity and futile and pointless and meaningless can we begin to walk with Jesus.

This is my favorite book of the Old Testament, and next to the writings of John, my favorite book in all of Scripture.  Within Ecclesiastes, we are given insight into one person’s struggle to make sense of reality. 

We must see the Sinful Women as representative of us all. Luke lays out for us two paths – the path of the well-known and very righteous Simon the Pharisee or the unknown sinful woman. And it is the latter path we must take if we are to follow Jesus.

But the woman has eyes that can see. And Jesus calls her out, forgives her sin, and gives her the peace that passes all understanding. In calling out her beauty, Jesus perfects her humanity.

It is easy to read the story of Jezebel and see everything that is wrong, ugly, and distorted in her life. The challenge for us, however, is to call out the divine beauty (no matter how hidden or disfigured) that exists within her.

Jezebel is a very complicated person. She is evil. On the other hand, she is simply a strong-willed political operative of her time. And when death comes, she meets it defiantly and dressed to the nines.

The story of Rahab, therefore, isn’t simply the story of a person who may have lived long ago, but is the very present story of the Church. As we read about Rahab tonight, think about how Rahab’s story is our story.

In Scripture, Rahab goes from being a Canaanite common prostitute to being one of the greatest examples of faith and the direct ancestor of Jesus. Her story of faith and redemption may be the greatest told in all of Scripture.

My, my, my, Delilah / Why, why, why, Delilah / I could see, that girl was no good for me / But I was lost like a slave that no man could free.

The story of Samson and Delilah is one of the great romantic tragedies in Scripture. . . . As pointed out by Mrs. Higgs, Delilah is a complex character with many unknowns.

This outcast Samaritan woman we meet at the well becomes the first apostle. After this encounter, John tells us that she left her water jar and went back to the village to proclaim Jesus, and “many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.”