There was a battle raging in the wilderness, but now it has come to the city. And not just any city, but Jerusalem: yeru-shalayim, the City of Peace. If you can remember back to the first Sunday in Lent, all the way back to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, then you might recall […]
I have heard it said that once you leave home you can never go back. Apparently, my adult children didn’t get the memo! I believe this adage is partly true. You can never go back home without things being different. The act of separating out often triggers clarity as to what issues we own and […]
In looking at the Gospel it begged the question. How smart was Jesus? How intuitive was he? Did the divine in Him know the thoughts and intentions of others? How smart was he? I mean he had the basic education any carpenter would receive. He did not attend a university as many of us have—was […]
There is a battle raging in the wilderness. The temptation of Jesus in our Gospel reading this morning is not merely an assessment of Jesus’ self-control or his spiritual discipline; it is, in fact, the beginning of a war for the allegiance of humankind. The battle raging in the wilderness is between two kingdoms: the […]
Focus: In Christ, we find a new identity, our true identity. We must be ready to see with Christian eyes and love with Christian hearts. We must be ready to participate in what Jesus Christ is doing in the world—to live out the Christian drama. This may require us to let go of, and even […]
Imagine this scene if you will. You are on a city bus, its hot, you’re tired and you’ve had a tough day. A young man across the aisle is slumped in his seat, not paying attention to his two young children arguing loudly and running up and down the aisles. What is your first reaction? […]
All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well. I was reminded of these words from Julian of Norwich when I read the Gospel. Julian is a Christian Mystic and theologian. She wrote Revelations of Divine Love after falling ill in 1373 at age 30, and having […]
From now on you will be catching people. Now, I was very excited to preach when I first saw our readings for this week: the calling of Jesus’ first disciples, the call of the prophet Isaiah, and Paul’s summary of the Gospel message to the Corinthians! I thought, “Here it is! This is my chance […]
Writing a sermon seems pretty easy. Modern American life is so violent, so brutal, so inhuman—as anyone who has watched the news, driven on the beltway, or dealt with automated customer service can tell you. Simply keeping it together is a daily task, and an act of kindness can appear as a kind of revolution. […]
Good morning. When a layperson is invited to preach, I think the congregation expects two things: announce the big idea up front, and get to the point quickly. So, first, the big idea. As 1st Corinthians states, and as you can read throughout the New Testament, a big idea is that we have, each of […]