“Tell her then to help me.” How often have I said that? OK, maybe I’ve had the self-control not to say it out loud. After all, that would be what’s called triangulation. The example of which—in this case—being Martha asking Jesus to carry the uncomfortable message, rather than asking her sister for help directly. Indirect or triangular communication … Read the rest
Continue reading "You Can't Always Get What You Want" »
“Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” As a mother who has raised two sons, I am well versed in the primal human desire—especially among adolescent males—to incinerate things. But Jesus immediately rebuked James and John for suggesting that the inhospitable Samaritan village be destroyed, and the disciples continued … Read the rest
Continue reading "From Fire to Freedom" »
Are you a sheep, listening for the voice of Jesus, or not? Are you a mother, or the child of a mother? On this Sunday, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, has the shepherd been good to you? Or perhaps more specific to the day, was your mother good? If you are a parent, is your own parenting good … Read the rest
Continue reading "Parenting, Imperfect" »
“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
Continue reading "The Invitation and the Imperative" »
Over the past month, I have attended or officiated four funerals. The deceased were people of different genders and ages and ethnicities. Two were people who had lived long full lives and passed away peacefully. Two were people whose lives were tragically cut short. There were in some cases ashes at the funerals, in some cases bodies; … Read the rest
Continue reading "Death and Our Song" »
My older son Amos is kind of the peacemaker in the family. And if you know my smart-aleck younger son Aaron—which many of you do because he worked as your youth and family minister last year—you’d know why we need a peacemaker in the family! Amos is also a very good designer: he’s done a lot of the … Read the rest
Continue reading "You Do You" »
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
Continue reading "Here We Are" »