Romans 5:1-5 This familiar passage runs contrary to the way the world thinks, doesn’t it? What I mean to say is this. We tend to think of ‘suffering’ (or ‘tribulation,’ as another translation has it) as somehow the opposite of being ‘blessed.’ For who among us has not thought, spoken, prayed or overheard another speaking …
“When Peace Like a River…”
John 14:23-29 I have it tucked away somewhere, a newsletter article written by a colleague and friend some nearly thirty years ago. Although I cannot lay my hands on it now, no matter, for the gist and the import of it has never left me. George was undergoing treatment for cancer. The words he wrote …
The End of the Story…
Revelation 21:1-6 I suppose it is not surprising that I am accustomed to mostly hearing these words at funerals, as often as not in my own voice: sometimes strong, sometimes faltering. For surely this is a powerful and no doubt, timely, word on such days when we do so very much need to hear the …
Hearing the Shepherd’s Voice
John 10:22-30 I am considering now all the clamoring voices which too much overwhelm, claiming attention and yes, allegiance in ways they do not deserve, in ways and times and places which are certainly not life giving. Those voices which in too many ways, too many times, too often, drown out the Voice which calls …
Resurrection Remembered
Luke 24:1-12 I cannot help but think of how the awful events of those last few days must have erased so much from their memory as they walked to the tomb that early morning. Even that which they had believed they could not possibly forget. For while, no doubt, these women had encountered death countless …
Stirred Up Even Now: Luke’s Passion
Luke 22:14-23:56 “He stirs the people up by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.” — The Chief Priests and the Scribes (Luke 23:5) There is stirring up and there is stirring up, of course. It jumped out at me though, this time through, this vivid description of the …
This Sweet Aroma: Kneeling at the Feet of Jesus
John 12:1-8 We enter into this room today, made familiar, somehow, by those who are there. For we know these people by now… both those who are named and whose words and actions draw us closer in and those who stay in the background, watching and listening, as you and I do now. We know …
Through the Eyes of the Younger Brother…
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 I was in the self-checkout at the grocery store the other day when I overheard an animated conversation between two of the workers there: a young man and an older woman. I have no details as my ears tuned in late to their exchange, but what I overheard was this. He was …
But Unless You Repent…
Luke 13:1-9 I was driving to work a few days back, listening to the news for the short minutes between home and the church. Much of the news is about Ukraine these days, of course, and the report being shared was no different. In this instance, one (among millions and millions) whose world has been …
Mining the Metaphor: Jesus as a Mother Hen
Luke 13:31-35 It’s such an everyday metaphor Jesus offers now. And yet, while most of us know what a chicken is, the vast, vast majority of us (myself included) have little actual firsthand knowledge of chickens. So it was that early in the week I thought to reach out to a friend who began raising …