Luke 23:1-49 It has long been our practice to share the Passion on Palm Sunday. Some years we have read the ‘long version’ with a narrator reading the bulk of the story and individuals stepping to microphones to share the words of Pilate, Herod, the two criminals who hung beside Jesus, the centurion who speaks …
Mary, Judas, Jesus, The Poor, and Me…
John 12:1-8 I have spent these last days returning to the images before us in this beautiful Gospel story again and again. As you can read below, I am still sorting out their meaning for me. I hope that my reflections might somehow be blessing to you as you do so as well. For this …
A Man Had Two Sons…How Will the Story End?
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 I went and joined our 4th and 5th graders at camp yesterday morning. My role was easy compared to those who went along to chaperone. I just showed up on a Saturday morning to take a hike with them and to cheer them on. It felt good to be out in the …
Knee Deep In Manure and Grateful That God Is Not Done Yet
Luke 13:1-9 “At that time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Jesus asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will …
Counting Stars, Standing Firm in the Lord, Gathered Under the Wings of Jesus
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13:31-35 A few days back, I sat down with a woman who is an avowed atheist. She shared where she was on the spectrum of faith without apology. I found that I respected and liked her immediately for her forthrightness. Indeed, I am confident this was not the first …
Ashes Under our Fingernails — On Our Foreheads and On Our Hearts
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart…” (Joel 2:12) “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return…” I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the Sunday of Memorial Day week-end a dozen years ago. A good friend had died in March …
In the Wilderness: Claiming What Matters Most
Luke 4:1-13 Now this is so. Either as preacher or as one in the pew, I have paused in the story of Jesus in the wilderness on the first Sunday in Lent my for as long as I can remember. This is also so. For all the times I have spent in wonder at this …
The Transfiguration: Back Here on Level Ground
Luke 9:28-43a You can’t blame Peter, not really. Who wouldn’t want to try to hold on to the wonder, the joy, the hope that he and James and John must have experienced on that mountaintop that day? To be bathed in all that light? To have all the pieces come together in that vision of …
Joseph and His Brothers: The Challenge and Gift of Forgiveness
Genesis 45:3-11, 15 I have always, always loved the story of Joseph and his brothers. I am not sure when this first came to be so, but I do remember this. I was in the 3rd or 4th grade when I was walking with a friend home from school. Now, I grew up in a …
“Blessed” Are the Poor…
Luke 6:17-26 This is a shallow example, I know, but it is where I am beginning as I stand still in Jesus’ preaching now. I spent ninety minutes a few days back in the dentist’s chair. I am being fitted for a crown, you see. I have had other crowns before. Normally the whole process …