Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4-13 Matthew 3:1-12 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:4-13) I’ve had reason to think some about ‘hope’ in these last couple of days: both the kind we live …
Telling Time…
Matthew 24:36-44 Romans 13:11-14 Some years ago now I accompanied a group of soon to be high school freshmen to Confirmation Camp at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Years before we had learned the hard way the necessity of reserving their personal cell phone usage for free time once a day. Otherwise they would …
Post-Election 2016: For the Sake of All For Whom Jesus Died…
Luke 23:33-43 I was a political science major in college. My reason for choosing that path is a longer story in itself, but, at least in part, what it all came down to was this: I was (and continue to be) fascinated with how people translate belief into action. I cannot today remember how it …
This Long Wait…
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19 It had been a long time. I have been a fan of the Chicago Cubs my whole life — and it had been almost twice that time since the city of Chicago had cause to celebrate as it did this last week. It was sometime in the last few years …
Blessed Are You Who Are Poor…
Luke 6:20-31 It had been a busy morning. I had been out of the office far too much in the last few weeks and so it is that I found myself with the phone pressed to my ear making belated birthday calls. For an hour and a half. I was about an hour and fifteen …
Written On Our Hearts
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Last week-end I traveled with my mother, a couple of my sisters, our aunt, a cousin and some distant cousins to the family cemetery in west-central Wisconsin. It’s a small cemetery with a gravel road off County H leading up a hill to it. When you go to leave you are driving down …
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector: What’s Underneath
Luke 18:9-14 We’ve had some road construction done on our street over these last couple of weeks. As of this writing, they had taken the pavement down to the original bricks and put down the first layer of pavement. The had replaced much of the curbing at the intersections — including the cuts in the …
From Jacob to Israel: What’s in a Name?
Genesis 32:22-31 Names often have meaning, of course. I think for instance, of my hometown. At one point in its history it was called “Hangman’s Town” — referring to a more than unfortunate incident which took place downtown early in its existence. Later, community leaders renamed it to “Rochelle” — almost on a whim. Legend …
The Tenth Leper and How God is Already at Work in the World
Luke 17:11-19 I find myself thinking of the ‘faith of the outsider’ this week as we pause in the familiar story of Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers now. For while are surely called to focus on the powerful gift of Jesus’ healing as demonstrated in this story, what stands out is the grateful response …
“We Have Only Done What We Ought to Have Done”
Luke 17:5-10 I was all of five years old when I became suddenly ill. My mother called the doctor who said to get me to the emergency room. My dad came home from work to get me there. I can still recall the sensation of him scooping me up in his arms and carrying me …