Sunday Stretch: Vol. 16

Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...

Happy second Sunday of 2023!

It’s funny, I only took one week off for New Year’s Day from writing this Sunday Stretch newsletter, but it definitely feels like a longer time away. What is it about that week between Christmas and New Year’s where time seems to stop or drift in an unexplainable way?

Maybe my week especially felt that way. I unfortunately got sick the day after Christmas, which was probably complicated by an emotional December as I’ve been preparing to leave my pastoral call on Jan. 15. Saying goodbye has been hard but also really special in honoring the time we spent together. We also had some health issues in the congregation, and the death of a 99-year-old woman, who I’d visited in the care home for the past three years. We held her funeral service last Friday, complete with music played on a concertina, and it was a special moment — almost timeless — with past, present and future all converging at once.

Then, two days later, it was Sunday again and New Year’s Day. My sinuses have been improving, and I’m kind of ready to get back into routines this week - but as I write this Sunday Stretch, it’s only Monday, Jan. 2, and my kids are still home from school, and a winter storm is brewing. Maybe by the time we read this together on Jan. 8, everything will feel a bit more routine.

Still - I’ve been grateful for the slowness and unexplainable rhythm of time as 2022 ended and 2023 began. It feels fitting that today we’ll be reading the texts about Jesus’ baptism. John the Baptizer told Jesus he didn’t think Jesus needed to be baptized; indeed, John wanted Jesus to baptize him! But in submitting himself to be baptized, God reminds us of God’s great love for us, and that the point of baptism is our union with God, and with God’s unearned, gracious love for us.

Happy New Year!

Bible Stories

Here are some weekly readings (from the Revised Common Lectionary), and some reflection thoughts/questions: