Luke 24:1-12 It is my favorite Easter story, this one. For even though it didn’t happen on Easter it is a story of such defiant hope borne of righteous anger it surely had its roots in Easter, even if it didn’t happen then. No rather, this took place May the spring after we buried my …
Three Crosses
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Within 24 hours this last week-end I encountered three very different crosses. The first was brought to my attention in a phone call from our custodian. I was working at my desk on Saturday morning when he called to tell me that the church had been tagged with graffiti the night before. He told …
Never Again Just Covering Up the Marks of Death…
Luke 24:1-12 I hadn’t expected it when I drove out to our local funeral home that Saturday afternoon. I had just officiated at the memorial service of a man. They were not showing his body, in fact he was soon to be cremated, and so close family stayed around after the service so as to …
On Foot-Washing
John 13:1-7, 31b-35 I would offer two images today. Both have to do with feet. The first is this: I bought new shoes not long ago. It is typical for me to go through a pair of athletic shoes every six months or so, but I thought I could push it out a little further …
“The Successful Completion of the Mission…”
Luke 22:14-23:56 “The successful completion of the mission was never seriously in doubt.” His grown children were quoting their dad as we sat and planned his memorial service. Apparently this was his signature line, one they heard so often that when they spoke of him they also spoke this in unison. Without a doubt, as they …
On Costly Nard and Cheap Hand Lotion
John 12:1-8 The image is still fixed in my mind. My dad was sick. We were deep into the long, hot summer after his first surgery and his recovery was, to put it simply, not going well. Several of us were home to visit. Daddy sat up in his recliner — his legs stretched out, swollen …
The Stories We Find Ourselves In
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 There is such a story in the family I grew up in. We heard it over and over again at the dinner table as children and somehow we never tired of it. Even though we knew the ending, every time it was told again we would be pulled into the drama of …
One More Year
Luke 13:1-9 It will be six years this spring — and I’m still waiting for my lilac bush to bloom. Here is how it went: Sixteen years ago in the spring after my dad died, my friend, Midge, asked me to dig up a corner of the lilac bush which had bloomed in my folks’ …
Why a Chicken?
Luke 13:31-35 It’s an odd story, this one, and but a moment in time. Many of us have far more poignant stories than this one… this is just the one that comes to mind this morning. I was in college and was traveling with my mother, returning from a visit to a friend. We had …
Our Citizenship in Heaven
Philippians 3:17-4:1 It was one of those moments that always stays with you. I was 17 years old. It was early in the morning — I was on a field trip with a handful of other seniors from a high school history class. We were traveling west on Route 20 through northern Illinois just west …