Luke 23:33-43 Last week I sat at the bedside of a woman who has struggled with her health for some time. It was her third hospitalization in a couple of months and that afternoon she was especially uncomfortable. Our conversation had waned when one of the cleaning staff quietly walked in. She greeted Anna by …
Tag: Luke
Falling Temples
Luke 21:5-19 I would be less than truthful if I said I knew precisely what to make of the Gospel lesson before us now. On the one hand, I do know at least a little bit of what it means when ‘temples fall.’ Anyone who has experienced the world changing around us has experienced the …
The Sadducees’ Question
Luke 20:27-38 I am guilty of this, I know I am. I preach funerals and I paint pictures imagining heaven as a place that is some kind of extension of all that we have held dear here in this life. I would guess this is because my imagination is earth-bound. This is all I know. …
Blessed Are…
Luke 6:20-31 I know something of blessings and blessedness and after the last year I know some things I didn’t know before. Or at least I am more deeply aware of some things I never thought about enough before. Because you see last September we began a Year of Blessings at the congregation I now …
Who is the Persistent Widow?
Luke 18:1-8As for me, my dealings with judges have been limited. It is only twice that I have been required to sit in the witness stand or to stand before a judge and offer my experience or perspective on the matter before the court. Several other times I have found myself sitting in the gallery …
Between Samaria and Galilee
Luke 17:11-19 That land between Samaria and Galilee is where we find Jesus today. I can’t count the number of times I have preached the story of the healing of the lepers and always I have gone to the experience of the lepers — wondering at the one who was given eyes of faith and …
On Faith, Mulberry Trees, and Forgiveness
Luke 17:5-10 It’s no small thing, it seems to me, to be able to uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea: particularly in the way that Jesus describes today — with no effort at all. I know this, for while there is no mulberry tree in my back yard there are these …
The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 16:19-31 I’d rather hear Jesus’ words today as ones not especially meant for you and for me. And yes, it would be easier to say that you and I, at first glance, are neither the rich man in the story before us now nor are we Lazarus. To be sure, on the economic scale …
What Are We to Make of the Dishonest Manager?
Luke 16:1-13 It is a difficult parable before us now. If you’ve read it, of course you already know that. Indeed, as I kept returning to Jesus’ words over these last several days, I have found myself thinking perhaps this is a sermon illustration gone awry. Preachers, you know what I mean. I can’t count the …
Lost and Found
Luke 15:1-10 These are familiar images before us now: the shepherd and his sheep, the woman and her coin. In both examples we are reminded of the persistent love of the seeker. As I sit with them again I am reminded of a story from early in my childhood. We were on a week-end camping …