John 6:51-58 One could say it was a children’s sermon gone wrong. A few Sundays ago as we were talking about Jesus feeding the 5000 we did an ‘experiment.’ I had the end of a loaf of sourdough bread left from baking on Friday and we decided to pass this piece of bread among those gathered for worship …
John 6:35, 41-51 In the avalanche of news about yet another mass shooting in our country — this one in a Sikh Temple south of Milwaukee — I find my mind and heart automatically travel back. For you see, it happened here in my community not that long ago. A heavily armed gunman entered a …
John 6:35, 41-51 I have been baking bread for as long as I can remember. It was a regular occurrence at the home I grew up in: the aroma of fresh baked bread. It was, I’m told, an even more regular happening in the home my mother grew up in back in the time when bread …
John 6:24-35 I heard this said a while back and it has stayed with me: When serving a meal, the host with the fewest material resources will ask if her guests have had enough to eat… That those who call themselves “middle class” will wonder about how the meal tasted… And that those on the high …
John 6:1-21 Several years ago I served on a bishop’s staff. It was early on the Friday morning of the first Synod Assembly he would preside over. For such gatherings one always wants things to go smoothly, but never more than the first one. The evening before we had been out to dinner with staff …
Ephesians 2:11-22 This is an old story, but it’s one I return to over and over again. I was new in a call and still a relatively new pastor. The congregation where I was pastor had been through a tough conflict before I arrived, but I was young enough and naive enough so that I …
Mark 6:14-29 There are no two ways about it. The story before us now is one that always turns my stomach. Not that I’ve ever been a huge fan of John the Baptist although it is likely I might have felt differently about him had I actually encountered him in his prime. Then perhaps his choice …
Mark 6: 1-13 “Jesus ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.” (Mark 6:8-9) I’m what you might call a ‘defensive packer.’ I pack for ‘what ifs’ — hoping to be prepared …
Mark 5:21-43 It was the Thursday before Father’s day when I stood in a hospital waiting room with a family. We were waiting to hear from their daughter’s surgeon. The child is 13 years old. The surgeon arrived and delivered the much welcome news that he believed the cancer was contained. There appeared to be …
Luke 1: 57-80 I received word this week that Sister Teresa Ann had died. We had not been in touch these last several years. Still, she was an important influence in my life at a difficult time. In fact, in a much more gentle manner, she served as my ‘John the Baptist,’ clearing the way …