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 …
Category: Lectionary
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 …
On Magi and Journeys
Matthew 2:1-12 It is difficult to read this piece of the Christmas story and not picture three youngsters wearing Sunday School Pageant finery and sporting ill fitting crowns, making their way down the center aisle while the congregation sings, “We Three Kings.” And yet, my imagination is taking me in a different direction this year as …
A Christmas Message
John 1:1-14 This past week I headed out on some communion calls… taking the gifts of God to those who can’t be part of our celebrations with us in worship in these next hours. First I knelt with Hazel in the hallway outside the dining room at the nursing home which has been her residence these …
Stolen Baby Jesus
Luke 2:1-20 I grew up with a manger scene, of course… the very same one that still adorns my mother’s living room each Advent/Christmas season. My dad made ours out of plywood when we were children. There is a round hole in the back at the top of the wall where a Christmas bulb fits through: …
Hopes and Fears
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) “The Hopes and Fears of All the Years Are Met in Thee Tonight…” …. Phillip Brooks, 1867 …
A Winnowing Fork in Jesus’ Hand: Good News for Today
Luke 3:7-18 When I was in college I had a summer job working at Del Monte in my home town. Pea Pack would start mid-June and run deep into July. It was good work, although I have to say I was especially grateful to be assigned a job which was at least a little bit …