John 2:1-11 It was the words which introduce John’s telling of this story which captured my imagination this week. For it is so that you and I who have lived in these stories for a while know that they have been uttered again and again… “On the third day…” Indeed, it seems that every prediction …
Tag: John
A King Like No Other… Revisited and Revised
To my Companions in Dancing with the Word: I am to be taking some much needed vacation over the next couple of weeks, which will give me the sabbath time to rest and to reflect without needing to put ‘thoughts on paper” in this weekly reflection. In my absence, I wanted to share with you …
These Precious Gifts of All Saints Day
Isaiah 25:6-9 Revelation 21:1-6a John 11:32-44 And oh, it is so that I am needing All Saints Day this year. It has long been a favorite for me, yes, but the losses are running deep and hard this time around and I can hardly wait to stand still in the gifts of the day. Indeed, …
Ever ‘Reforming’: But Still Sharing the Gifts of God!
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Romans 3:19-28 John 8:31-36 This is so. I was 17 years old when the Lutheran church body I called home adopted a new hymnal: The Lutheran Book of Worship. I loved it. The liturgies were updated and lively, at least compared to what I had known before. More than this, though, I was …
Bread and Wine, Flesh and Blood
John 6:51-58 It is an old story, this one, but one I still find myself standing still in from time to time. It came to mind in a particular way in these last days as I considered the down to earth grittiness of Jesus’ words for us this week. “Those who eat my flesh and …
The Bread of Life in Ordinary Bread
John 6:35, 41-51 It is a theme where I often pause, this one, where Jesus takes something we know so well we barely pause to take note of it, and imbues it with meaning far beyond that which was first intended. Surely not by the one who first discovered the rising power of yeast. Nor …
The Food that Endures…
John 6:24-35 I know that too much of the time I am among those who ‘work for the food that perishes’ rather than that which ‘endures for eternal life.’ I worry about things that in the end, do not matter. I check my bank account and my retirement account more often than I ought. I …
Multiplying Loaves and Fishes — and the Space in Our Hearts
John 6:1-21 It is so that we hear stories like the one in John’s Gospel today and it is easy to believe miracles like this don’t happen any more. I am here to tell you that they do, though. That there are times even now when unexpectedly the meager gifts we have are divided in …
It’s No Wonder Nicodemus Wondered… Revisited
Below you will find a re-working of a post which was published on this site in 2012. I have had an unusually full week with multiple hospital calls and a couple of funerals and I simply haven’t had the time and space to dwell deeply in the lessons for Holy Trinity. In addition, I fly …
Last Words…
John 17:6-19 I sat with my head bowed over my phone the other day as I attempted to take in words that were not surprising, but which I still somehow was not expecting. A colleague and friend of 30 years was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer less than two months ago. His children had just …