Once upon a time there was a little boy riding in his parents’ car. He and his younger sister and brother, with their parents, were returning home from a family vacation. Along the way, they pulled off the interstate highway at a rest area for a bathroom stop. Everyone piled out of the car and walked to the restrooms inside. But when the little boy came out of the building and headed for the car...there was no car. In fact, there were no people! His family had left the rest area without … [Read more...]
A Blessed Mess
What do you think—as you heard the Christmas story read just now, did it sound like a Hallmark card? We might want it to be. The world of advertising has done a great job of managing our expectations, packaging this story as if it were neat and tidy: Christmas cards with cozy fireside scenes, families gathered in perfect harmony. But the Christmas story we just heard starts out not with cozy fireside scenes but with emperors and governors. People with names like Augustus and Quirinius. … [Read more...]
Mary’s Song
What better news could we hear than the Word of God that comes to us today! Mary was as young as thirteen, as old as fifteen, when she learned that she was to be the mother of Jesus. Her response was fear and confusion, so she ran as fast as she could to the only person who could possibly understand her situation: her cousin Elizabeth, who was also expecting a miraculous baby. And there, her fear and confusion give way to singing, which is our gospel reading for today. Mary wasn’t the … [Read more...]
What Then Shall We Do?
Imagine showing up at the baptismal font on the day of your baptism and hearing the pastor say, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Shouldn’t John have been grateful for the crowds? Hard enough in our day to get anyone in the doors to worship God! If you had crowds lining up at your church to be baptized wouldn’t you be elated? What is John thinking? What’s going on here? Bear fruits worthy of repentance, John says. Because, John knows that the crowds are … [Read more...]
Earthmovers
On Friday afternoon Minjing and I were driving home from Tukwila during rush hour. It was about 4:30. Traffic, as usual, was a mess. I tried I- 405. It was bad. I exited and tried Grady Way. It was bad, too. I tried cutting behind Fred Meyer on Rainier Ave. and that was bad. I was impatient and Minjing was getting impatient with my impatience. Well, anyone who drives through Renton knows what I’m talking about! Even if you don’t drive you probably know what I’m talking about. On top of rush … [Read more...]
What Are You Waiting For?
I’m not used to preaching at 2:30 in the morning but today is one of those days. Minjing and I returned from China yesterday afternoon so on the one hand our bodies and minds are here. On the other hand, China is sixteen hours ahead of us so our bodies and minds are sound asleep on the far side of the world. The truth is that this is really common for all of us. I don’t mean that we all experience jetlag. But I do mean that while on the one hand our bodies and minds are in the present, on the … [Read more...]
Christ the King
by Jim Schoeld … [Read more...]
Amazing Abundance
Another election season is mostly over; it seems right that one of our readings for this Sunday after Election Day is from 1 Kings! Our nation’s Presidential inauguration is still more than two months away. The Bible tells us in Luke, chapter 4, that at the beginning of his public ministry Jesus had an inaugural address, too. In that address he told the story about the widow of Zarephath—and it almost got him killed! The first time he went public with his gospel message people spoke well of … [Read more...]
Love Unbound
If you were here in the church parking lot on Halloween this past week you saw ghosts and goblins, princesses and Power Rangers, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, dinosaurs--all kinds of cute and scary creatures! Having just heard the reading from John, chapter 11, it may feel to you like Halloween all over again! One day Jesus shows up at his friend Lazarus’ house but it’s too late. Lazarus has died. At the tomb Jesus shouts, “Lazarus, come out!” And the way John tells it, The dead man … [Read more...]
Always Re-forming
The subject of marriage is a topic of conversation and is in the news a lot these days. As we move toward Election Day the subject comes up in our Sunday readings more than once. Three weeks ago our first reading was from the creation account in Genesis. It’s a story that’s been used as a kind of law that defines marriage as only one thing: a relationship between male and female: Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. But the deeper … [Read more...]
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