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 …
Putting Myself in Simon’s Shoes and Getting Out of the Boat
Luke 5:1-11 It’s not about the fish, of course. It is about Simon’s willingness to follow Jesus’ direction, even though he surely knew a whole lot more about catching fish than Jesus did. It is about the abundance. It is about the response of those who pulled those breaking nets fish aboard their boats. Mostly, …
God’s Call: Jeremiah, Jesus, and You…
Jeremiah 1:4-10 Luke 4:21-30 Truth be told, I did a few rounds with Jesus in the synagogue with his former neighbors in Nazareth before I flipped the page and decided to start at the beginning with Jeremiah. Oh, in the end we dowind up in pretty much the same place, but even so, it was …
Release to the Captives
Luke 4:14-21 On Wednesday afternoon, I sat in the waiting room at our county jail. My appointment was for 3 pm. I had pulled into the 1 hour visitor parking space out front, made my way up the elevator to the 2nd floor and alerted them to my presence by pushing the intercom button to …
On the Third Day…
John 2:1-11 It was the words which introduce John’s telling of this story which captured my imagination this week. For it is so that you and I who have lived in these stories for a while know that they have been uttered again and again… “On the third day…” Indeed, it seems that every prediction …
God’s Claim, God’s Protection…
Isaiah 43:1-7 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 The powerful words of the prophet, Isaiah, spoken so long ago to a people in exile, are ones I have carried close to my heart for more than half my life. At least in part, I expect this is so because of how they first came to me. (To read …
The Story Continues: On Dreams and Celebrated Births and Following Hope Where It Leads
Matthew 2:1-12 This is how the story of what happened 24 years ago was told to me. It was the early morning that my nephew Andrew was born. My mother, his soon to be grandmother, had a dream which awakened her with a start. In her dream she found herself back teaching 3rd grade when …
Making Room: Experiencing God’s Wonders
Luke 2:1-20 I would offer now a story of ‘making room’ — one where God is working God’s wonders again and again. And again. A few years back, Dean, a long faithful member of our congregation who was then in his late 90’s, gave us his house. He no longer had need of it as …
Mary and Hannah and a Woman in the County Jail
Luke 1:39-55 I find myself wondering at Mary now… wondering how it is that she came to be so articulate, so poetic, so very wise at such a young age. While there is much we cannot know about this young woman who was chosen for a life she could not have imagined, from what we …