In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
A demon-possessed Samaritan. That’s what the religious types of Jesus’ day thought of Him. A half-breed heretic who had a devil. When you get over the harshness and crudeness of what they were saying, you can…
From palms to passion, shouts of Hosanna! to cries for crucifixion. Say what you will. Palm Sunday /Passion Sunday is a very complex day.
It is the beginning of Holy Week. Christians do not have obligatory pilgrimages. OT Israelites had to pack the kids and head off to Jerusalem three…
In music there is a thing called a “grace note.” A grace note is a short little skip of a note attached to the front part of the main note as an embellishment that isn’t part of the melody or harmony. That’s what we have in this morning’s parable from the Gospel according…
The Pharisees were grumbling, as the religious are want to do, over the outrageousness of God’s grace. The charge against Jesus: “This man receives sinners and He eats with them.” That charge is the best news you and I could hear. Jesus receives sinners and He eats with them. There’s…
Repentance is the common thread that runs through all three readings on this 3rd Sunday in the season of Lent. That’s appropriate. Lent is a season that focuses on repentance. It forces us to take a good hard look in the mirror of the Law, to acknowledge the death our sins deserve.…
Religion and Politics. Those are the two forbidden topics. Guaranteed to start an argument. You can talk about most anything else. Britney’s hairdo, Anna Nicole's burial, the stock market, the weather, NASCAR. Just not religion and politics. And when you bring the two together, it’s like mixing nitro and…
We go from the mountain to the wilderness. From Jesus’ Transfiguration on a mountain to His Temptation in the wilderness. These are the hard edges of Lent - the dry dusty ground, the barren wasteland, sharp rocks,scorpions, snakes. Jesus, still dripping wet from His Baptism by the hand of John in the…
In a book, good beginnings make for good endings. The Bible begins with a very good “in the beginning,” when God created the heavens and the earth. The Bible ends at the end, when the heavens and the earth come to their appointed end. What has a beginning must also have an…
God always has His Israel, His priestly people. Jesus is the certainty of that.
John first heard before He saw. That’s how it is with God’s mysteries - you must hear them before you see them. He heard heard a number: 144,000. And he heard the roll call: …
Marriage has its roots in the dirt of creation. It isn't some kind of lofty ideal, a religious concept, some romantic illusion. Marriage is grounded in the dust of our origin, our being male and female made in the image of God. Marriage is about sex and food and drink and house…