If ever there were an argument for the existence of the devil, today’s gospel is it. Notice that the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness, but his tempter was the devil. Not the Holy Spirit, who filled him. Not God, who called him beloved. But the adversary, which is perhaps a better translation of the Greek … Read the rest
Continue reading "Temptation & Tyranny" »
A priest friend of mine told me a story about visiting a crematorium and peering through the peephole that allowed him to see a human body in the process of becoming ash. The body was luminous, he said. The process seemed to generate more of a glow than a conflagration: my friend described it as something akin … Read the rest
Continue reading "Fire and Ash/Fuego y Cenizas" »
What our church calls “the season after the Epiphany” comes to a conclusion this Sunday, and next Sunday we’ll enter into the deeply reflective season of Lent. This morning’s readings, in the spirit of all things Epiphany—whose season is all about the revealing of Christ’s identity—include two stories of awe-inspiring mountain events. One is about Moses’ encounter with … Read the rest
Continue reading "Transfiguration & Today" »
I have a pastor friend who tells a story about leading a Bible study focused on what he called “the hard teachings of Jesus”. His group was discussing the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18, who came asking Jesus about how to inherit eternal life. As we pastors tend to do, he was trying to … Read the rest
Continue reading "Power & Practice" »
I can’t quite escape the irony of ascending this pulpit, when we’ve just heard about Jesus coming down from the mountain to teach. Luke’s version of the beatitudes parallel Matthew’s account of the sermon on the mount, but here his teaching is delivered on a plain. On the level ground, where you might say that the mountain and … Read the rest
Continue reading "Leveling on the Plain" »
“Here I am, send me.” I’ll confess that it’s a bit uncomfortable being the person in the pulpit hearing and also saying those particular words. I mean, here I really am! In this somewhat visible location. If God’s about to call on someone, there’s no back row for me to hide in. But—spoiler alert—there’s no back row for … Read the rest
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Between amazement at his gracious words and anger at his prophetic references… what the heck happened? I’m serious, this is one of the more confusing encounters between Jesus and his hearers. And in Luke’s account, it happens right at the beginning of his public ministry. Foreshadowing, perhaps, the confusion and rejection that were to characterize public reaction to … Read the rest
Continue reading "Choice to Love" »
Perhaps you’ve heard the popular saying that “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” This proverb is a slight corruption of a story from Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s tale, Alice in Wonderland. You may remember the conversation between a disoriented Alice and the mysterious Cheshire Cat. Alice asked: “Would you tell me, … Read the rest
Continue reading "Discerning the Way" »
I’m a California native, so I’ve known a lifetime of water scarcity. Which is not actually that different from the experience of Jesus’ followers living in the Galilean desert. And yet, there were six stone water jars, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Glory… God’s glory is like that!
We live in a grape-growing region, where what limited … Read the rest
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In the Roman Catholic tradition—although not in the Episcopal Church—the Gospel we just heard is proclaimed on the Sunday after Christmas Day, for what is called the “Feast of the Holy Family.” And why not honor this intrepid family? We’ve just heard of Mary and Joseph’s fateful journey to Bethlehem, and of Jesus’ heralded birth, so why not … Read the rest
Continue reading "Family & the Father's House" »