Today, rather than give you my reflections, I offer only the scripture reading from the Common English Bible: John 13:1-17 13 Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully. 2 Jesus... Continue Reading →
John 12:20-36 Should I give up and walk away? Or should I stay? This was essentially Jesus' question as he pondered what he should pray for. Should he ask for all the hardship he was about to endure to be taken away from him, or should he ask for God's help in making it happen?... Continue Reading →
John 12:1-11 "You will always have the poor with you..." How many times have I heard this line used as justification for accepting the prevalence of poverty and homelessness. When we cherry pick this (or any line from our sacred texts) we can justify a lot of terrible things. We can always find that one... Continue Reading →
Leviticus 23:1-8 God has always called us into sacred times and structured the rhythms of our lives in such a way that we should be constantly reminded of God's presence. Jesus modeled this with his life by regularly taking time away from the crowds and the pressures of his public ministry to retreat to quiet... Continue Reading →
Luke 18:31-34 I often resonate with the disciples in their most obtuse moments, because I'm usually in that place myself. In today's reading, Jesus didn't mince his words. He laid out the reality of what he was facing in the very near future: humiliation, trials, betrayal, torture, beatings, crucifixion... he was blunt. But the disciples... Continue Reading →
Hebrews 10:19-25 Mrs. Cline, my elementary school Sunday School teacher, once told us a story about how priests would enter the Holy of Holies deep in the center of the Temple. Only one could enter, she told us, and he must be perfect and purified. There was a specific ritual which must be carried out... Continue Reading →
Revelation 19:9-10 When I began seminary, one of my professors said that we should be a "prophetic people" and that one of our goals should be to "preach prophetically" with every sermon. I won't lie to you, that terrified me. Maybe it's because I was born and raised in Appalachia. When people speak of prophets... Continue Reading →
Luke 3:18-21 It's funny how a great slogan will stand the test of time. Long before I was born, even before my parents were born, Brylcreem wrote a snappy jingle for their men's hair care products featuring the line, "A little dab will do ya." To this day, people are still spitting out that lyric,... Continue Reading →
1 Chronicles 21:1-17 and 1 John 2:1-6 Three children stood before their mother, a broken bead necklace dangling from her hand. The necklace wasn't expensive by any means, but it represented an immeasurable wealth of sentimental value. The two little girls were infatuated with the bead jewelry their mother had purchased as a teenager from... Continue Reading →
Several conversations lately have left me staggering to make sense out of how we assign blame to people who are suffering. The first came as we were discussing the plight of minimum wage workers and the current debate about raising the federal minimum wage. In the midst of the conversation the subject of the woman... Continue Reading →
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