Mark 1:21-28 Very often when we listen to a story like the one before us now, we find ourselves wondering who we would have been within it had we been there. At least that’s what I find myself doing today as I imagine the events relayed in Mark’s Gospel: Would I be among the crowd — …
Category: Lectionary
Gone Fishing
Mark 1:14-20 Or not… I know I’m not alone in this, but to tell you the truth, this has long struck me as a metaphor which breaks down pretty quickly. On the one hand, Jesus’ invitation to Simon and Andrew, James and John is simply brilliant. Without skipping a beat, he ties into the world …
God Calling in the Night
1 Samuel 3:1-20 “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” (1 Samuel 3:1) It was years ago now. I was still living in Rock Island and found myself traveling a great deal — so much so that it was …
The Father’s Voice
Mark 1:4-11 I came across my dad’s old compass a few weeks back. It was in a plastic bag nestled in a trunk which holds pretty much all the stuff of his that we have held on to. The trunk has been in a closet at my mother’s home and it was only as we were emptying …
No Plastic Jesus Here: The Word Became Flesh
John 1:1-18 We had our “Christmas in the Barn” again this year. The weather was a little warmer and so the crowd was a little bigger and there were a number of children present with us — ranging in age from 18 months to maybe seven years. I called them to the front after I …
What Christmas Eve is For
Luke 2:1-20 As we approach another Christmas Eve, I find myself remembering now one of the first Christmases I served as a pastor. I was still young, of course, and I confess I found myself not quite settled into the role or even into my life as an adult. To be honest, I was struggling …
“Do Not Be Afraid!”
Luke 1:26-38 These powerful words are spoken by angels more than once in the first chapters of Luke. First to Zechariah, who, when he saw the angel standing at the right side of the altar of incense, was, in fact, terrified and was overwhelmed by fear (Luke 1:12). And later when an angel appeared to the shepherds …
John the Baptist: Pointing to Jesus
John 1:6-8, 19-28 I am not an artist, nor do I have a great deal of understanding of art. Indeed, I was a young adult before great art even began to capture my imagination. I was in college and my sister, Martha, and I had ventured into the Art Institute of Chicago for the Monet …
Where Righteousness is at Home…
2 Peter 3:8-15a “But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home…” 2nd Peter 3:13 I simply love the imagery offered to us in this week’s lesson from Second Peter. In these words we are encouraged in this long wait that is ours. More than …
Watching and Waiting
Mark 13:24-37 It is late November. Every year at this time it is a challenge to get the leaves raked and bagged or pushed to the curb before the city’s December 1st deadline for removing them. One year I simply waited too long and was left with a dozen bags of leaves still sitting at …