Restoring All Things The story of the restoration of Peter is a subtle, profound reflection on the gracious nature of Christ – the disciple who denies Jesus is restored in love. This is, of course, the very nature of the whole of Christ’s ministry. Christ’s restoration of Peter is our own story and Christ’s imperative to Peter is ours as…
Graves, Gardeners and What God Will Do It is THE high holy day of the Christian liturgical year. And we’ll celebrate the resurrection of Christ together with joyful music and celebration. Like Mary Magdalene, who is not expecting to meet Jesus in the garden tomb, we’ll be invited to meet Christ in unexpected ways. Before and between the services we’ll…
Not Like We Imagine As we begin Holy Week, we join the procession as Jesus enters Jerusalem. We know this story well – the crowds of children singing and praising God, the palm branches waving, the celebration of the coming triumph of Christ. But, as with many stories of Scripture, this one may not have been like we imagine. And…
Double Vision Scripture is filled with images of triumph and joy as well as images of heartache and lament. The world and humanity are portrayed sometimes as beautiful and holy, and other times they are portrayed as awful and nearly hopeless. Which of these ways of seeing is true? Perhaps our faith calls us to a kind of double vision…
POV The parable of the forgiving father (usually called the ‘Prodigal Son’) is a lesson in God’s gracious forgiveness and reconciliation. We know that story – the son who runs away and slinks back home, destitute, and the father who runs to greet him an restore him to the family. But the story ends with another character – the brother…
Could & Should The prophet Isaiah reminds the people of Israel what can and will be – that God is moving to bring the fullness of life to the people. Jesus uses a strange illustration about a fig tree to remind his disciples of God’s sustaining grace. And in the midst of trials and tribulations, we are reminded that it…
Jerusalem, Jerusalem & Us To whom do we belong? What holds our allegiance? Jesus laments over Jerusalem, and yearns for the day when we let go of our fight against love and the prophets of God. We, too, lament the rage and spite that fills our world, and too often fills our own hearts. But there is hope – our…
Turning It Around As we begin this season of Lent, we hear the story of Jesus’ temptation, and in that story we might hear the story of our own temptations. Unlike Jesus, we often are swayed and give in – not to turn stones to bread, or lead the kingdoms of the world, or leap off the Temple spire, but…
Who You Truly Are The strange story of Jesus’ transfiguration might best be understood as a revelation – Jesus is not transformed into something new, but is revealed in the fullness of his divinity. The revelation of Jesus’ nature also points us to an understanding of what spiritual growth is – a revelation of who we truly are. Read Luke…
To Love, to Resist Jesus tells us to love our enemies. But does that mean to sit passively as they do harm to us and our neighbors? Or is Jesus inviting us to see a new way of living with our opponents? How are Christians called to confront the wrongs of this world with love? Read Luke 6:27-38 and Genesis 45:3-11,…
Hooray! (Oh…uh oh.) Hooray! (Oh… uh oh.) We love the blessings of God! And we love the stories of God raising up the outcast, and casting down the haughty. But what happens when we’re on the wrong side of the upside down Kingdom? What happens when Jesus speaks woe to us instead of blessings? Is there mercy for the villains…
Here We Are, Lord When we think of ‘call stories’ we might think of individuals called by God to a particular purpose – the prophets of the Hebrews, people called to a religious vocation, or maybe a story of personal salvation. And indeed, there is an abundance of these stories. But we often miss the fact that every individual call…