September 27, 2020

A44: The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A (2020)

Brian Blount

Remember the old light bulb joke? Brian Blount, recently retired President and Professor of New Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, VA, remembers the first time he heard it. It was 1977. His brother, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, asked Brian, “How many Richmonders does it take to change a light bulb? Four! One to change the bulb and three to talk about how good the old bulb was.” In this week’s Gospel lesson, Matthew 21:23-32, Jesus is “changing light bulbs,” and not everybody is happy about it.

Manuscript available: click HERE