The 80s rock song says, “everybody’s working for the weekend,” and it’s true: we have been taught to work for Sabbath, the right to take time off for ourselves. But in our gospel reading today, Jesus has something different to say about the Sabbath, and not everyone wants to hear it. God meant the Sabbath […]
Where is God? Out there, in here, neither or both? How do we relate to God—with awe and trembling, love and intimacy, neither or (somehow inexplicably) both? The doctrine of the Trinity (God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit) leads us to wrestle with these questions and be drawn and welcomed into a mystery we […]
How do birds fly together as one without bumping into each other? How do schools of fish swim as one to avoid predators? How does anything broken and fragmented come together again? On Pentecost, we hear stories of how the Holy Spirit gathers and puts together millions of dry bones and millions of individual believers […]
“Love languages” are everywhere today, and judging by today’s gospel reading, Jesus’ love language is prayer. He shares his love and his concern for the disciples in a long heartfelt and somewhat rambling prayer as they share their last meal together. Little do they know that when he ascends after resurrection, he is paving the […]
“Thank you for being a friend…” The Golden Girls had it right: friendship is everything. Jesus takes his disciples to another level by calling them not just students or servants, but friends. Friendship captures the love, the joy, and the deep mutuality of the relationship Jesus invites us to experience. And true friendship, true love, […]
New life cannot be stopped as the season of Easter continues. We hear about Jesus as the vine and us as the branches, called to bear fruit for the good of all. We hear about a gentleman who struggles to find his place in God’s house and hears words of grace and welcome. We hear […]
Jesus as the Good Shepherd. We’ve probably all seen the images of a well-groomed Jesus in an idyllic landscape, cuddling an impossibly clean and fluffy sheep. Guess what? That’s not what being a true shepherd, a good shepherd, is all about. It’s hard, smelly, gross and dirty work, which is exactly why it’s good news […]
Sharing a meal with Jesus and hearing the scriptures are the two main elements of our worship service every Sunday. Both happen in our gospel reading today. Jesus and his disciples share a breakfast of broiled fish while he explains to them the meaning of his suffering, death and resurrection. In fact, the gospel for […]
Hiding behind locked doors after the tomb was found empty, Jesus’ disciples wondered what to do next. They were at a dead end until the risen Jesus came and stood among them and breathed peace into them. Our world also hides away behind locked doors of fear, prejudice, anger and violence. Can Jesus breathe peace […]
Christ is risen! Jesus is alive, and God has swallowed up death forever. With Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, we may feel confused, afraid, terrified, unsure of what to make of the empty tomb and the promise of new life. But this is why we gather: to proclaim, witness, praise, and […]