In today’s passage from Exodus, God tells Moses that an angel, or messenger, will accompany the Israelites on their journey. To twenty-first Century Christians familiar with the Holy Spirit, this sounds like the ultimate comfort. To the Israelites, it sounded like abandonment. They did not yet understand their God as one who could transcend time and space, and they were not interested in a long-distance relationship.
Read MoreI have the dubious honor of welcoming you to what is quite possibly the worst parable in the Bible, the king’s ominous wedding banquet. It’s the story of a disastrous party, hosted by a murderous king who rages, and attended by a poor guy who gets tied up and thrown out into the street. Really great material for a sermon, said no preacher ever. But I promise we can find some light shining in the story, and it might be just what we need these days.
Read MoreI recently found myself on TheKnot.com’s list of the greatest love songs of all time. Like many such lists, its contents are easily contended, but I was surprised to find that even with my limited knowledge of pop, there were plenty of tunes I could easily hum. First was Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” followed shortly after by “Time After Time” by Cindy Lauper. Celine Dion was the only artist with two songs in the top ten with her “The Power of Love” and “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme song to the movie Titanic. And of course songs by Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Whitney Houston all had their representation along with some more surprising picks further down the list by bands such as the Foo Fighters and Radiohead.
Read MoreSo here’s to a new week of watching electoral politics, catching up on the news of a troubled world, wearing masks, and zooming through more meetings. In all of our endeavors during this strange time, let’s be mindful of the earthly authorities that demand our allegiance and make more room for the authority of Christ in our lives.
Read MoreTrusting that God will solve all of our problems in mystical ways is not the kind of faith that God asks of us. God did not promise the Israelites that they would never have to think about food again. God simply took away the hunger they felt right then, allowing them to rest and enjoy their Sabbath. Thus, the critical mistake came not in caring about their future, but in letting that worry destroy their Sabbath.
Read MoreAs Jesus knew we would be, we are in need of today’s refresher on conflict resolution in the Kingdom. A reminder to focus on relationships, utilize unbiased perspectives, when in doubt, turn to your Church family, and remember that letting go can be an act of love.
Read MoreHow do we live now? It’s a question that comes each day, but in a time when our routines are unsettled and our habits out of sync, the burden of decision is even greater. We have to find an ethic, a guide to living that will help us move toward goodness and flourishing, even with all the evil in the world—the abductors and Pharaohs and automated systems of oppression. From Shiphra and Puah we can find some guidance. We need to live like subversives.
Read More2020 is rough, there’s no denying it. This year is testing our fortitude and our faith. It would be easy to get hooked by it all and table our spiritual growth until things get easier. But it is also very possible to be present to the challenge and to come out of this spiritually stronger and more compassionate.
Read MoreI have long been a fan of the church marquee, those roadside signs with messages offered to the passing cars. I don’t generally pay attention to the service times or the pastor’s name written large; what I look for is a good word, a funny saying, some pithy call to the Christian life.
Here are a few examples: “Honk if you love Jesus, text if you want to meet him.” Or “Adam and Eve, the first people to not read the Apple terms and conditions.” Or “This too shall pass, it might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.”
Read MoreWhether in a physical challenge, the throes of grief, or a global pandemic, when we cry out to God for a blessing, God gives us our name. We are Israel and we have been changed. We have struggled, and yet we persevere. We are a people coming into our true identity as God’s children through a painful struggle. This is who we are now.
Read MoreTruth be told, we kind of fancy ourselves the soil police, eager to categorize people into one of the four types listed in the story. Take, for example, someone who is wearing a mask over their mouth but below their nose. This offends those who are pro mask and those who are anti mask, and it gives us satisfaction to asses exactly which category Jesus would put them in in the parable. We want to read this parable as a parable of judgment, especially if we get to be the judge. But the parable is not about the four types of ground, or four types of people, not really anyway. It’s about the sower.
Read MoreWho knows, maybe Sam and St. Paul are arguing about the finer points in heaven as we speak, much to Sam’s delight. He certainly argued the finer points with all of us in this life, showing us in real time how the grace of God can take root and grow in one man’s life.
Read MoreThere is a message in the story of Abraham and Isaac that moved me this week, given the state of the world these days. Consider this: someone, either Abraham or Isaac, told the story of what happened on that mountain. Otherwise, we would not have the story. The trauma didn’t get buried, but told.
Read MoreRecently my niece, finishing up her freshman year of college, called my wife to ask her a series of questions. “How did you pay for college?” “Have you ever inherited money?” “Do you own your home?” “If so, why did you choose where you live?” The aim of the questions, created in a class about social justice, were obviously meant to address privilege. Yes, both my wife and I have inherited money. Not a lot, but enough to make a down payment on our house possible. Yes, both my wife and I didn’t have to pay for college. We started our working lives with little debt and that has made it easier to reap the benefits of education without being saddled with the burden of its cost. We started the game, as I recently heard it said, on third base, while so many others aren’t even in the parking lot.
Read MoreWe live in a time of rising anger and hatred, widespread suffering, and deepening division. Some of that comes from the stuff we’d rather not look at in our backpacks. Ditch the pack, Jesus says. Be vulnerable with one another, and do the work of the gospel together.
Read MoreSo happy birthday to all of you preachers. Be sure to dream big, envision faithfully, and prophesy well in a divided world. God’s vision needs your voices. The Spirit has been poured out on all flesh, so out you go. Happy Pentecost.
Read MoreI didn’t know about cancer until the bishop told me sometime last year. When I was meeting with her not long after, I asked her about it and she talked about it. I think it was at that meeting that I found out that Joyce was an Uber driver. I must have looked surprised because she started laughing and said that she enjoyed it. It gave her the opportunity to talk with people she wouldn’t have talked with otherwise. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Read MoreOver the past few weeks I’ve seen celebratory signs in yards, shoe polished windows on minivans, and more than a few teenagers in parks, garbed in flowing medieval dress, topped with flat tasseled hats, their families adoringly snapping pictures. The class of 2020 has graduated and what a strange graduation it has been--online ceremonies, remote speeches, diplomas in the mail. Many of us feel for these graduates, but I’m sure that despite the strangeness, the meaning of this time still holds hope. School is over and new independence, learning, and possibility lie ahead.
Read MoreIn this uncertain time, if and when we get lost, or worried, or overwhelmed, I think we ought to start where Joyce Hardy could always be found. Over the course of her remarkable ministry, she served others the way Jesus did the night he washed his friends’ feet. Her love was concrete, outward looking, and humble.
Read MoreNot long after the COVID19 pandemic began to spread across the United States and our lives suddenly became very strange, I heard about a new book on the climate crisis and decided it would be just the thing to read in this anxious time. Sometimes it helps to put a present pain in context and remember it is not the greatest challenge we’re facing.
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