12th Sunday after Pentecost This week’s texts are forward looking in different, if overlapping ways, and so I attempted to a certain extent to consider them together. In Genesis, Abram laments that he and Sarai remain childless together; he is unhappy with his present situation, and names his discontent before God. God promises a different […]
Luke
The Compassion of Christ
1 Kings 17:17-24Psalm 146Galatians 1:11-24Luke 7:11-17 I’m guessing Jesus could hear the funeral procession long before he saw it.Nothing compares to the primal soundof a mother who’s on her way to bury her child—something no parent should ever have to do.And this, her only child.Not only that—her only family,having already buried her husband.She’s a widow.And […]
Behold the beauty
In the middle of the prison I visit, at the center of the compound, between the housing units, there’s a vast lawn with concrete walkways running through it. The prisoners are not allowed to spend time out there, not allowed to enjoy the grass, the sun, the open space, but they do walk those paths […]
This terrible vulnerability
On the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, the church typically hears scriptures and sermons about the Transfiguration, that occasion when Peter, James, and John go up on a mountain with Jesus and some rather strange events occur. However, the CHMF worship calendar—in either a mistaken or inspired move—scheduled the readings for today to be those for […]
like a dove
Four years ago I was in a bad car accident. My body hurt all the time, for months. Muscle spasms, throbbing pain everywhere. I couldn’t think of anything but the pain. I remember one Sunday, here at church, I asked for prayer, because I was overwhelmed, and after we all closed our eyes, and as […]
He grew
Advent builds with expectation—and after four weeks of Advent, four weeks of anticipation, four weeks of waiting, there’s a celebration, the celebration of the birth date of Jesus, the excitement of Christmas day. The incarnation is special. There’s so much there to capture our imagination, so much mystery and beauty there, when God becomes human, […]
The bread of tears
Fourth Sunday of Advent A verse from our Psalm for today, this fourth Sunday of Advent: “You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure” (Ps 80:5). Tears flow like a stream through the pages of our Scriptures, sometimes turning into a river in books like […]
Unconventional Homemaking
This is my first advent preaching and I really wanted to talk about Mary, about how beautiful she is and how she’s joyfully, but humbly carrying God. I was going to make a bunch of poetic comments about the waters of her womb and the waters Isaiah talks about. I wanted desperately to avoid the […]
For you I wait all day long
First Sunday of Advent There’s a book I’ve been reading lately, and I’ve decided that it’s basically an Advent book—a book about Advent, because it’s all about waiting. That’s actually the title: Waiting. It’s about some toys—these little creatures here on the windowsill—who do a lot of waiting. [Several excerpts from the book] “They saw […]
Touch me and see
A while ago I got a call, saying that someone in the jail downtown wanted to see me. I put on a tie, because I thought I should look like a professional, and I grabbed my bible, because I thought that’s what pastors brought along with them when they went to visit people in prison. […]