Blog - LiftUpYourHearts

After the First Step

Easter 4B

How do any of us ever get up and walk? “Through our own power or piety?” Peter asked rhetorically of people who had just witnessed a healing at the Jerusalem temple. Of course not. The lame man walked because of God’s grace alone. That was their lesson. But have we learned it for ourselves? Likely we didn’t get … Read the rest

Miracles & Signs

March 31, 2025: Isaiah 65:17-25 Psalm 30:1-6, 11-13 John 4:43-54

Water into wine, death into life: what extraordinary transformations! In John’s Gospel, these miracles are called signs. And I think that’s actually more descriptive language to describe what Jesus was up to. Miracles were called “signs” because they were intended to point beyond themselves, revealing Jesus as the bearer of God’s … Read the rest

Obedience Unto Discipleship

March 27, 2025: Jeremiah 7:23–28 Psalm 95:6–11 Luke 11:14–23

We are a stubborn people, are we not? That was God’s verdict conveyed through Jeremiah, and God was not wrong. This being Lent, let me be the first to confess my own stubbornness. There are days when I wake up and make decisions that affect other people without asking for God’s … Read the rest

Law & Grace

March 26, 2025: Deuteronomy 4:1–2,5–9 Psalm 78:1–6 Matthew 5:17–19

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets,” said Jesus to the first-century equivalent of huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Rather like the European immigrants who passed by the Statue of Liberty on their way to Ellis Island, the Jewish people of Israel longed for … Read the rest

Amend, Amend, Amen

Lent 3C

“Why should it be wasting the soil?” asked the man with the unfruitful fig tree. I’m guessing he put himself in charge of DOGE, the Department of Gardening Efficiency. “If it’s not bearing fruit that I can see right now, cut that thing right down.”

The irony of this parable is that God is generally not that interested … Read the rest

Saint of Slavery & Freedom

Luke 6:27-38

In case you haven’t noticed, today is St. Patrick’s Day. Perhaps some of you are planning to go out for a not-very-Lenten Guinness later, or some cabbage and corned beef, or perhaps some are wearing green. Often your celebrants would be wearing green vestments: it’s the most common liturgical color in the church year, symbolizing growth. But today … Read the rest

Future In Breaking

Epiphany 5C

Fish. So very many fish that the very nets were breaking! Who doesn’t love those images of God the multiplier of every good thing? Loaves and fishes and water into wine and most especially the people that Peter was called to catch. Nets and boats full of fish, tables full of food and mountains and beaches and plains … Read the rest

Guest Preacher: Canon Anthony Guillén

Preached at St. Thomas Parish, DuPont Circle: Martin Luther King Sunday

Today we celebrate the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr whom I have admired all my life. As a young boy I saw him on TV as he led marches and spoke to the world – advocating for a society based on justice, equal … Read the rest

The Miracle Between Us

Proper 25B

I’m both the daughter and the mother of physicists, so—even though I was never much of a scientist myself—I am fascinated with the intersection of scientific ideas and theology. I think that I share this interest with your priest, who has been kind enough to allow me to preach from her pulpit twice. Thank you, Mother Neli! Let … Read the rest

Pray. As You Can.

Proper 24B

When my two sons were young and we’d travel anywhere by car, they’d race to the driver’s side door calling “shotgun” at the top of their lungs. Honestly, I’m not really sure what the value of sitting in that front seat was. Because actually when they got a little older—and especially when their friends were in the car—nobody … Read the rest

¡Profetas!

Proper 21B

“Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them,” lamented Moses, some 15 centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ.

“¡Ojalá el Señor le diera su espíritu a todo su pueblo, y todos fueran profetas!” se lamentó Moisés, unos 15 siglos antes del nacimiento de Jesucristo.

Today, I am surrounded by prophets. … Read the rest