I’m not sure Thomas gets a particularly fair deal in history. For two millennia he has been, more or less, the poster child for doubt: Doubting Thomas – an archetype that has entered the mainstream psyche. All generations will call Mary blessed… and apparently all generations will call Thomas doubting… I’m thinking Thomas needs a better public relations plan…
…Second Sunday after Easter Read More »
At first reading this passage from John’s Gospel seems innocuous enough… Mary, Martha, and Lazarus all having a nice meal with Jesus in the week leading up to Passover. It has a sort of warm holiday feel to it, like when families get together before Christmas… But it is not a happy holiday tableau. Jesus is now under a death sentence and that sentence is about to be implemented.
…Sermon for the 5th Sunday in Lent Read More »
In the way that the Church keeps track of time, this is the second Sunday of Lent – Year C. And from today’s Gospel passage, it’s tempting to suspect that the very best material made it into Year A, while the pretty good stuff was placed in Year B, and here we are with the grade C material… At first glance this is not the most engaging section of Luke, nor does it seem to offer much for Lent. But what if we give a second glance…
…Second Sunday in Lent – Year C Read More »
Here we are at the end of the season after Epiphany, the conclusion of Ordinary Time for now, facing directly into Lent. So, we are given this story of Jesus with three disciples having a little mountain climbing expedition. And you have to wonder why…
…Last Sunday after Epiphany Read More »
There has been a popular religious refrain in recent years that ask us to consider the simple question: “what would Jesus do”? It’s been popular enough that bracelets and other types of jewelry can be found with WWJD printed on them… What Would Jesus Do?
…Sermon for Epiphany 7C Read More »
This morning’s reading from Luke gives us the other great collections of Beatitudes in the Bible. Matthew’s Beatitudes, like Matthew’s Lord’s Prayer are better known. But Luke gives us a different take on the Beatitudes that deserve to be out of Matthew’s shadow…
…6th Sunday after Epiphany Read More »
This morning’s Gospel reading starts in an unusual place… That would be in the middle of a thought… Luke tells us that Jesus reads from Isaiah and says – “… today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing…” But we don’t hear anything being read… I don’t know about you, but I’d be curious to know what is being fulfilled. So, let’s take a little trip back in time.
…Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany Read More »
The great minds behind our Lectionary have us on a wild ride: Advent, Christmas, Holy Name or Circumcision, that was two weeks ago… Then adolescent Jesus acting out in the Temple last week, though it was twelve years later in real time. In the midst of this the Wise Men, or Magi, or whatever, finally arrived on Epiphany and the twelve days of Christmas officially came to an end. And now we are at Jesus’ baptism – some twenty years have elapsed since Thursday… it’s like watching a movie with the fast forward button pressed…
…Baptism of Jesus – 1st Sunday after Epiphany Read More »
Well… Merry Christmas. The literal calendar may tell us that we still have a few days to go until Christmas… But we don’t need to be too literal… And part of the Volmoed tradition for these Thursday services is to anticipate a bit… So, let’s just go with the assumption that today is Liturgical Christmas. Christmas is set on a fairly arbitrary date anyway – so we can just arbitrarily move it to suit our needs.
…Christmas comes a little early… Read More »
Advent – that great period of waiting – is almost at an end. Our waiting is nearly finished. Which leaves just one big question: If Advent is a season that is all about waiting, then what, exactly, are we waiting for?
The short answer is we’re waiting for Christmas, the coming of Christ into our world. But that is an answer that carries its own supply of questions: Who, or what is the Christ, the marked one. And what did the coming of the marked one mean to those folks back then? And why are waiting for it now if it happened back then? Are we even waiting for the same thing as Mary and Joseph were waiting for? We are in some way like kids around a Christmas Tree wondering what could be in the beautifully wrapped packages. What surprise has God got in store for us?
I’d love to say that I will spend the next few minutes answering these questions, but in fact all I’m going to do is raise more questions…
…Last Sunday in Advent Read More »
