In a lonely place, both the disciples and a crowd with many great needs gather to be with Jesus. They are more alike than they realize—all sheep in need of a shepherd. Jesus feeds both groups with a miraculous meal of bread and fish, with belonging, with compassion, with purpose. Daily bread begins with satisfying […]
Worst party ever. Our gospel story tells the story of John the Baptist speaking truth to power and paying the ultimate price. We are called to courageously break toxic cycles of violence and destruction and choose to live as citizens of the kingdom of God. It won’t be easy, that’s for sure, but following the […]
Healing is a word we throw around a lot in the church, but what does it really mean? Jesus heals a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years and brings a girl back to life in today’s gospel reading. In both cases he restores them to the healing power of their community, and reminds […]
The mustard seed becomes a great shrub that shelters the birds, recalling ancient images of the tree of life. We’d expect a cedar or a sequoia, but Jesus finds the power of God better imaged in a tiny, no-account seed. It’s not the way we expect divine activity to look. Yet the tree of life […]
What’s gotten into you? Jesus returns to his hometown and brings the drama, as a crowd demands healing, exorcisms, and explanations. Even his own family worries that he might be out of his mind. When people don’t understand you, Jesus says, remember the world needs to be shaken up. The Holy Spirit is what’s gotten […]
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, […]