Fear and Its Friends: A Poem for Lent 1
A Pastoral Prayer for Advent 4C Love – based on Luke 1:39-55 (the Magnificat)
This is a pastoral prayer based on the Magnificat for Advent 4C.
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On Vipers and Joy: A Sermon for Advent 3 on Luke 3:7-18
Advent 3 is the perfect time to repent of our addiction to Empire.
Peace is Possible: A Prophetic Sermon on Baruch 5:1-9 for Advent 2
Putting on garments of beauty and God’s glory doesn’t come naturally.
Birthpangs or False Labor: A Prophetic Sermon on Mark 13:1-8
If we watch the news, it’s easy to conclude that we are on the brink of a biblical apocalypse. There is war and always rumors of more. Then there are fires, floods, earthquakes, famine, and more. Add in pandemic and those who look to the Bible to predict the way of things will tell us … Read More
We are (or could be) the New Jerusalem: A Sermon for All Saints on Revelation 21:1-6a
? What if this passage is meant to be descriptive – what could happen – rather than prescriptive – what God will do? What if it is our responsibility to be the New Jerusalem and make room for God to live among us?
We are Bartimaeus When We Need to Be Jesus: Prophetic Sermon on Mark 10:46-52
What if we, who make up the Bodymind of Christ, start identifying with Jesus in these stories. Instead of waiting for magical healing or magical insights, what if we sought to be the healers – less literally and more actually.
Changing the Question and Rembering the Whirlwind: Reflections on Mark 10:35-45 and Job 38:1-7
We’re still asking the same wrong question that James and John asked Jesus so many years ago. We pray with the idea that we want God to do “whatever we ask.”
A Bitter Complaint: Reflections on Mark 10:17-31
Job had a “bitter complaint.” He very keenly felt God’s absence. Job wanted to experience God’s presence in the midst of his trials and did not. He longed to be comforted knowing that God had heard his prayers and paid heed to his situation. Yet, Job did not experience God in front of him or … Read More
More than Divorce, More than Children – a Revolution (Mark 10:2-16)
Gospel is all about getting the disciples to repent and get busy bringing the realm of God into the here and now. This confused the disciples repeatedly, just as much as it confuses modern disciples. We can grasp the idea of repentance, though we don’t like to do it or admit that we need to. So we can repent. But how do we bring the realm of God into existence? Well, that’s easy, too. Simplicity, openness, and equity.
Whoever is Not Against Us is For Us (Mark 9:38-50)
“Whoever is not against us, is for us.” Jesus’ simple, countercultural statement is the key to liberation and unity. If we stop fighting with each other about who has the “right” way to be Christian and unite to demand equity and justice for all those whom the Empire devalues, we could truly change the world. Jesus didn’t care that people outside of his disciples were healing in his name. It was a good thing. Love was brought into the world. If people are bringing Divine Love into the world, bringing healing, hope, justice, why should we care what their religious affiliation is? If lives are saved, then it is good work.