I am taking an overdue break after a most unusual year in ministry and so I offer these thoughts on ‘the Word become flesh’ from several years ago. I have to say, I got a little misty remembering our traditional gatherings in the barn on Christmas Eve for this year the pandemic kept us from …
Just Another Day… Christmas This Year
Luke 2:1-20 I have shared this story of this particular Christmas Eve before in many times and places. For some reason, though, I am carrying it especially close this time around. Indeed, I have held this memory for so many seasons now that the edges of it are becoming blurry. Even so, there are pieces …
Here Am I
Luke 1:26-38 I am struck by this today — by the number of times we hear of God calling people to extraordinary things and of how many of them answer with the simplicity of Mary saying “Here am I” or “Here I am.” And I find myself wondering at how their stories paralleled hers and …
Binding Up the Broken Hearted: Just Keep Breathing
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 I spoke with her a few days back. She gave me permission to share our conversation with all of you. She had texted me, you see, including a photograph of her exhausted face. She asked then simply for prayers. And so I asked if she had a minute to talk. She said …
Turning Around…
Mark 1:1-8 It is a risky thing, and limiting, I know, to look for parallels between us and the natural world, for I expect the human mind and heart and soul tend to be a whole lot more complex than what can be observed outside my kitchen window. And yet, every time this happens, it …
End Times, Advent and Hope…
Mark 13:24-37 I remember it like it was yesterday, that summer’s day more than fifty years ago. They were rare and precious days, time spent with favorite cousins who lived at a distance. Only now it is not that which stays with me, but a sense of foreboding terror building in my 7 year old …
Upside Down Glory
Matthew 25:31-46 I imagine you might hear this as I do today, hearing about Jesus coming into his ‘glory,’ knowing which of Jesus’ hands I hope I will end up on. Oh yes, I have heard these words for decades by now and with that hearing comes the undeniable understanding of who and what I …
Wasted Gifts and God’s Grace
Matthew 25:14-30 Fear is what kept those talents buried in the ground, of course it is. The third one doesn’t name it that directly, but it is what drove him to simply tuck it all away in a safe place. And I get that, I really do. Because the risk is powerfully great. One could …
Oil In Our Lamps…
Matthew 25:1-13 It was the late winter in 1979. I was a senior in high school and competing at the state tournament in forensics. Extemporaneous speaking was my event. I grew up in a small town some 80 miles west of Chicago. We had a great speech program, mind you, with wonderful coaches. Those in …
All Saints Day 2020: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn…
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes…” Revelation 7:9-17 “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are…” 1 John 3:1-3 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted…” Matthew 5:1-12 Ray Steinbis died this week. Only …