Still Searching - Proper 5A (June 7, 2026)

Send us Fan MailComedians with Pastors Talking Bible is a Pittsburgh podcast where Lutheran pastors Bob Schaefer and Eric Damon sit down with stand-up comedians from the local scene to dig into the weekly lectionary gospel — no prep, no filter, and apparently no firm policy on cat buttholes.Comedians Trevor Austin (@trevoraustincomedy) and Ronnie Fleming (@ron_flem) are back in the Parlor, and we've barely sat down before we're deep into the etymology of manna (Hebrew for "what the…?"), the ergot theory of Old Testament psychedelics, and whether the Book of John was written by someone on something. Then we slow down long enough to read Matthew 9 — and somehow the conversation gets more unhinged from there.Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners when a synagogue leader interrupts to ask him to raise his dead daughter. On the way there, a woman who's been hemorrhaging for twelve years breaks every social rule to touch the hem of his cloak. Both get what they came for. Trevor notices something neither pastor had quite said out loud: nobody in this passage waited to be invited.That observation opens the door to a wide-ranging conversation about what the church is actually for — gatekeeping heaven or feeding the poor or building community or all three — and why, according to recent research, people might be quietly finding their way back. Tax collectors turn out to be the ancient equivalent of meter maids (the most desperate people willing to be hated for a living), the hemorrhaging woman is just as socially dead as the girl Jesus is walking toward, and infrasound from pipe organs may be doing more theological heavy lifting than anyone realized.Also: The Good Place, the 144,000 fire marshal cap on heaven, and Jesus as a DIY punk promoter who ignores it completely."Jesus is a DIY punk show that said screw the fire capacity, we're getting everybody in." — Pastor Eric DamonMatthew 9:9-26 (NRSVue)As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection station, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners."While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she was saying to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well." Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that moment. When Jesus came to the leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout all that district.Hosted by Pastor Eric Damon and Pastor Bob Schaefer.Join the community!Email us at [email protected] us at @cptbpod on most social media platforms.More at linktr.ee/cptbpodMusic: Trickster by Phat SoundsFree download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10864-tricksterLicensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseScripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.