Luke 18:9-14 This parable is one that lives rent-free in my head and I’ve never really been sure why. It is not one of the more well-known or well-loved, not often depicted in art or remembered in hymns. But in reading a blog post by the dean of Berkley Divinity School at Yale, I thinkContinue reading “Jesus is always on the other side”
Category Archives: sermon
It’s a Beautiful Day to Yell at God.
Luke 18:1-8 A friend of mine recently shared an image with me of an abstract scene in which three figures are shaking their fists at the sky and shouting expletives toward the sun. The caption read “It’s a Beautiful Day to Yell at God.” Among other phrases, one figure cries out “Face us you coward!”Continue reading “It’s a Beautiful Day to Yell at God.”
Faith at the Margins
Mark 12:38-44 As a person who walks around wearing long robes and prays long prayers in public on a regular basis, I find myself thinking often of this teaching of Jesus. I do like my long robes most of the time, and I appreciate being greeted with respect, and I do think I have oneContinue reading “Faith at the Margins”
What Comes Out
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Amid a spike in Covid and other illnesses as end-of-summer travel bugs collide with back-to-school germs, its hard not to be on the side of the Pharisees when they ask why Jesus’s disciples are eating with unwashed hands. So I want to be very clear- Jesus is not condemning hand hygiene.Continue reading “What Comes Out”
An Unarmed God
Genesis 9:8-17 It has always fascinated me that the story of Noah and the Ark is such a fixture in children’s toys and books and Sunday School lessons. There are at least four Noah’s Ark ornaments on our tree every year from Ben’s childhood, and I have served in multiple churches with the scenes ofContinue reading “An Unarmed God”
The Good News
Luke 2:(1-7) 8-20 The theologian Frederick Buechner wrote that the Gospel is bad news before it is good news, and I wonder if the Holy Family would say amen to that. The good news of Jesus probably felt like bad news at first. The young woman is unmarried, and I doubt many people believed herContinue reading “The Good News”
Worth the Cost
Luke 14:25-33 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” It’s not the only time Jesus says something like this in the Gospels, but it is maybe the most direct. I once led a Bible Study withContinue reading “Worth the Cost”
Practicing Freedom & Rest
Luke 13:10-17 In our Bible Study this past Wednesday, we reflected on the fact that our mainstream Christian culture has become far removed from anything resembling the practice of Sabbath. Some of you reflected that you’ve seen the shift in your own lifetime, recalling a time not too long ago that stores were closed onContinue reading “Practicing Freedom & Rest”
Surrounded by Hope
Hebrews 11:29-12:2 A dear friend and colleague of mine often recounts the story of a beloved parish elder, a matriarch that has been a part of his congregation for her entire long life. They were speaking about the vastness of the church they both love, a large downtown parish that could comfortably hold our entireContinue reading “Surrounded by Hope”
Mother A Writes 