John 13:1-7, 31b-35 I would offer two images today. Both have to do with feet. The first is this: I bought new shoes not long ago. It is typical for me to go through a pair of athletic shoes every six months or so, but I thought I could push it out a little further …
Category: Lectionary
“The Successful Completion of the Mission…”
Luke 22:14-23:56 “The successful completion of the mission was never seriously in doubt.” His grown children were quoting their dad as we sat and planned his memorial service. Apparently this was his signature line, one they heard so often that when they spoke of him they also spoke this in unison. Without a doubt, as they …
On Costly Nard and Cheap Hand Lotion
John 12:1-8 The image is still fixed in my mind. My dad was sick. We were deep into the long, hot summer after his first surgery and his recovery was, to put it simply, not going well. Several of us were home to visit. Daddy sat up in his recliner — his legs stretched out, swollen …
The Stories We Find Ourselves In
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 There is such a story in the family I grew up in. We heard it over and over again at the dinner table as children and somehow we never tired of it. Even though we knew the ending, every time it was told again we would be pulled into the drama of …
One More Year
Luke 13:1-9 It will be six years this spring — and I’m still waiting for my lilac bush to bloom. Here is how it went: Sixteen years ago in the spring after my dad died, my friend, Midge, asked me to dig up a corner of the lilac bush which had bloomed in my folks’ …
Why a Chicken?
Luke 13:31-35 It’s an odd story, this one, and but a moment in time. Many of us have far more poignant stories than this one… this is just the one that comes to mind this morning. I was in college and was traveling with my mother, returning from a visit to a friend. We had …
Our Citizenship in Heaven
Philippians 3:17-4:1 It was one of those moments that always stays with you. I was 17 years old. It was early in the morning — I was on a field trip with a handful of other seniors from a high school history class. We were traveling west on Route 20 through northern Illinois just west …
Through Wilderness Times: Someone to Come Home To
Luke 4:1-13 I officiated at a funeral last Saturday. I was not acquainted with the one who had died, except later through the family’s stories, but they were in need of a pastor, and as I have said in this space before, when asked I always do my best to step in. I confess I was tired …
Ashes and Dust and Broken Hearts
Psalm 51 It’s an old story, this one, since the young man in question turned eighteen not long ago. And yet, I remember it like it was yesterday the Saturday morning when I broke my nephew’s heart. I am telling you the truth when I say that I had a three-year-old standing at my feet …
“And They Kept Silent…”
Luke 9:28-36 I was officiating at a funeral a while back. I was working then with a funeral home I don’t work with all that often, and somehow this was the first occasion we had shared together in the funeral of a veteran. Following the service, we traveled in caravan to the cemetery. The prayers and words …