Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 James 1:17-27 As a pastor raised in the Lutheran tradition, I long ago learned to be cautious of the letter of James. Perhaps too much so, it seems to me know. Especially as the urging in his letter so perfectly brings home what seems to be the intent of the episode …
Month: August 2018
Near to the Brokenhearted
Psalm 34:15-22 I have been pastoring a long time now. And while the world has changed a great deal in the last three decades with the result that many of the ways in which my work is accomplished has also changed, something I learned early on through the modeling of others has not changed. And …
Bread and Wine, Flesh and Blood
John 6:51-58 It is an old story, this one, but one I still find myself standing still in from time to time. It came to mind in a particular way in these last days as I considered the down to earth grittiness of Jesus’ words for us this week. “Those who eat my flesh and …
The Bread of Life in Ordinary Bread
John 6:35, 41-51 It is a theme where I often pause, this one, where Jesus takes something we know so well we barely pause to take note of it, and imbues it with meaning far beyond that which was first intended. Surely not by the one who first discovered the rising power of yeast. Nor …