John 3:14-21 Now I know all the arguments for not equating darkness with ‘evil.’ I agree with them and I have carried my deep awareness with me as I write today. It’s just that these words from John speak of light and darkness, which I also understand as lightness and heaviness today. So forgive me …
Tag: John
Cleaning Out The Temple: Making Way For God To Do a New Thing
I Corinthians 1:18-25 John 2:13-22 This is surely one of those weeks when the lessons not only compliment one another, they deepen and expand our understanding of their meaning. For in the one we hear Jesus saying there is a new, another way, which will find its truest form in his death and resurrection. And …
Called by Name For This Time…
I Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) John 1: 43-51 I was driving home from some time away this week-end. If you have ever headed north on Highway 65 through Alabama, perhaps you have seen it, too. It’s a billboard shouting the threat: “Go to church or the devil will get you!” The words are in bold black …
No Plastic Jesus Here: The Word Became Flesh
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 …
All Together in One Place…
Acts 2:1-21 John 20:19-23 “When the day of Pentecost had come, the apostles were all together in one place…” (Acts 2:1) “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ …
Glimpses of Jesus’ Intent for Us Even Now…
John 17:1-11 “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one…” (John 17:11) I have had glimpses of Jesus’ hoped for unity among us in these last days. They have been fleeting and therefore, …
No Longer Orphaned: I Am Coming to You…
John 14:15-21 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” Orphaned. Or otherwise understood as ‘desolate’ or ‘abandoned.’ And while Jesus’ promise today is no doubt true, these days sometimes it feels like I’m still waiting. And oh, our sense of ‘abandonment’ happened suddenly this time, didn’t it? Not that we haven’t …
On Troubled Hearts and Jesus ‘the Way’
John 14:1-12 I will not lie. I find Jesus’ words at the start of today’s Gospel more than a little annoying. What I mean to say is, how can one’s heart not be troubled in these very troubling times? For yes, my heart is troubled to hear yet again in this last day that another …
The Empty Tomb, Mayor Lightfoot, Thomas, and Me…
John 20:19-31 The city of Chicago, as you may know, has been a hot spot in the fight against Covid-19. As a result, for weeks Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been urging residents to heed the stay-at-home directive of our governor so as to slow the spread of this virus which is taking the lives of …
Bridging What Divides…
John 4: 5-42 I have been living in the light of this week’s remarkable story of Jesus and the woman of Samaria and this is how it has come alive for me. Indeed, it is such a rich story before us now that you and I can quickly find any number of entry points. I, …