Matthew 16:13-20 I stood at the bedside a few days ago as one of our beloved was lowered into a body bag. He had died an hour or more before and so quickly his face, his limbs, showed the obvious signs that whatever had held ‘life’ even moments before, even with staggered breathing, was no …
Tag: Pentecost 13A
Bearing Our Crosses and Bearing Witness to One Another…
Matthew 16:21-28 I’m afraid that I come to this today with more questions than answers. Indeed, it seems I have been grappling with these particular words of Jesus my whole life long — or at least since the first time I sat down with a Greek New Testament and word by word, phrase by phrase, …
Taking Up My Cross … Hearing This Invitation Like it is the First Time
Matthew 16:21-28 I surely cannot count the number of times I have preached on the words of Jesus words before us now — both as we hear them in Matthew and also in Mark’s Gospel. Given that this is so, why is it that now it is as though I am hearing them for the …
“Go and Point Out the Fault When the Two of You are Alone….”
Matthew 18:15-20 I think I probably have these words memorized — I’ve taught them so many times in various congregational contexts. What Jesus offers here is an antidote to most any problem in most any congregation, work-place, family, neighborhood. And while certainly not a ‘quick fix,’ it all boils to talking to one another instead …