In Jesus' day love wasn't just about a feeling it was about a commitment, and so when Jesus says, "Love your neighbor" he is talking about more than being nice. He is asking us to embrace a definition of neighbor that is a lot bigger than just those who live on our right and on our left, and a bigger definition of love which should lead us to belong to one another. … [Read more...]
What Is God’s? What Is Yours?
Many centuries ago there was a warlike tribe in Europe that had no contact with Christianity. Eventually Christian missionaries reached this tribe and many became converts. The story goes that when these people were baptized in a river or lake the missionaries noticed that they would hold one arm above the water, even as the rest of their body was submerged. The missionaries thought this was odd! Later, however, they learned the reason: When these new Christians went to battle against the … [Read more...]
Some Thoughts For While You Wait
The early Christians though Jesus was going to come back in their lifetime, but the weekly worship service is just one indication that they were wrong. So what do we do while we sit around and wait? … [Read more...]
Harvest Season
One of the great gifts of our Lutheran tradition is the assurance that we’re never alone. Across our nation and across the globe on this day Lutherans gather to hear the same readings. Today hundreds of thousands of people are hearing readings from Isaiah, Philippians and Matthew. And not just Lutherans! Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, United Church of Christ—all these Christians, too, are literally on the same page. There’s a downside to the discipline of following the church’s … [Read more...]
Beyond 9/11
Today, as we know, is the tenth anniversary of 9/11. What a blessing that this anniversary falls on a Sunday! The anniversary of this national tragedy raises questions of faith. One of those questions is, After painful or traumatic experiences, how do we move forward? The bedrock of our faith points to an answer found in today’s gospel: forgiveness. Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? Peter asks Jesus, As many as seven times?" 22Jesus said to … [Read more...]
What Love Looks Like
I almost asked our reader to skip today’s first reading. People are just going to sleep through this, I thought. But as Paul writes in today’s second reading, Now is the time to wake from sleep! And it’s true! If the Passover story just sounds like some weird, ancient set of rules and regulations, I invite you to “wake from sleep” and find yourself in the story. What does love look like? That was the question the scriptures invited us to ponder last week and we ask it again this week. What … [Read more...]
Distractions to Love
My wife and I just got back from Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada. My wife and I are “national parks junkies.” Whether here in the U.S., Canada or anywhere else in the world, we love celebrating the natural beauty of God’s creation. The Canadian national parks, like the American ones, are a place where awe is the most common response to the mystery and majesty of God’s creation. In today’s story Moses is on a mountain. It’s not hard to imagine him gaping at what he sees. But unlike … [Read more...]
Annoying People
All of us have had the experience of being annoyed by other people. But, have you ever had days when it seems like no matter which way you turn, everyone is annoying? Jesus was having one of those days. In the verses leading up to today’s reading he was in a tussle with the Pharisees. No one was more annoying to Jesus than people who paid too much attention to rules, and the Pharisees were all about following the letter of the Law. He called them hypocrites, and in today’s reading he calls … [Read more...]
Get Out of the Boat
The Blue Angels are back in town this weekend. Even after all these years it still seems odd to me that they’re part of the U.S. Navy. When I think Navy I don’t think aircraft; I think “ship”! The word “Navy” itself means “ship.” We use the word to describe our worship space. This is called the “nave”—it, too, means “ship.” Strange, isn’t it? And yet, boats are an important part of our Christian story. A boat is at the center of today’s story. What was Peter thinking? He was a fisherman. … [Read more...]
God is Here
After the rains of this past week the plants in our yard are happy. All kinds of new life is popping out of the soil. But, as Jesus teaches in his parable, it’s not always easy to know which are good plants and which are weeds. Let them grow together, he says, and at harvest time you can take out the weeds. Last week’s gospel reading also was about seeds in the field. Through the story of the sower and the seed we find that the world is not always as simple as good soil and bad soil, good … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- …
- 7
- Next Page »