The Invitation and the Imperative

Easter 3C

“Follow me.” Those are some rather stunning words to hear from Jesus. They’re also pretty familiar to us who go to church, so I want to invite you to listen to them anew, with the ears of your heart. And with the backstory in mind. “Follow me,” the resurrected one said.

Remember that, if you were Simon Peter, … Read the rest

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Here We Are

Epiphany 5C

“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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Repent: Change Your Mind

Epiphany 3A

My friends, repent. For the kingdom of heaven has come near. What a great invitation to our annual meeting!

That kingdom of heaven thing; it sounds like a good idea, no? But since it’s one of those many church-ey phrases that we don’t really use in everyday conversation, I found myself curious about what it might mean. Matthew … Read the rest

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