Jeremiah 1:4-10 Luke 4:21-30 A long time ago when I was a very young pastor just starting out, an older woman pastor took me to lunch. I don’t remember where we went, what we ate, or even very much of the substance of our conversation that day. But I do remember this. Before we left …
Month: January 2013
Stepping Towards the Pain
1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a When I was in high school I played on the girls’ volleyball team. Not that I was all that good at it or even had any real passion for it. I wound up on the team because a friend asked me to try out with her. The uncomfortable irony was that …
Going Home Again…
Luke 4:14-21 I would not presume to lay my experience alongside that of Jesus. And yet, I do know what it feels like to try to ‘preach’ in one’s hometown. I can remember preaching in a congregation not far from where I grew up. Afterward a woman came up to me and asked me if I …
On Wine and Weddings
John 2:1-11 I was out to lunch with a friend the other day. It was noon on a Saturday and the restaurant was crowded. After we sat down I looked up to notice the group at the next table. There were four sitting there. The three women were knitting and the young man was looking on. …
Passing on the Faith
Isaiah 43:1-7Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 I sat in a meeting with our Confirmation Guides the other night. We were kicking around the truth that it’s harder to get young people to memorize than it used to be. (For that matter, memorization seems more difficult for all of us, reliant as we have become on electronic devices to store …