March 6, 2022 Luke 4:1-13   It’s the first Sunday of the season of Lent, that penitential and reflective time that’s meant to prepare us for a transformational Easter.  It’s a time launched by the lectionary each year with stories of the wilderness.  And, today is no different. We begin with day one of Moses […]

Feb. 27, 2022 Luke 9:28-43   Here’s some fun news for you.  It’s from a 2021 Barna Research survey.  In just 12 months the number of clergy who are “seriously considering leaving full time ministry” has risen by 9%.  And, the number of mainline clergy who are thinking of leaving is 51%.[1]  That’s the majority […]

Feb. 13, 2022 Jeremiah 17:5-10 Luke 6:17-26   A friend and colleague of mine returned from her Lilly Grant sabbatical a few months ago and just last week we were able to do some catching up.  I asked her, “After all the thought and intention that went into the design of your sabbatical, and after […]

Jan. 16, 2022 1 Cor. 12:1-11 John 2:1-11   Over the years people have told me that they have a hard time understanding the bible.  And, this is especially true when reading the letters of Paul.  Maybe it’s a bit easier these days with all of the various translations that are intended to put the […]

Dec. 5, 2021 Philippians 1:3-11 Luke 3:1-6   There’s an author I like who was recently interviewed in The Christian Century magazine.  The question concerned this author’s particular distaste for scholarly attempts to assemble a systematic theology of Paul from the various letters attributed to him in the bible.  The problem in doing that, he […]

November 21, 2021 Rev. 1:4b-8 John 18:33-38a   The Sunday before the first Sunday of the new liturgical year is always “Christ the King” Sunday.  So, that’s what today is, and it strikes me as kind of funny that despite the name of this particular “feast,” Jesus actually never says that he’s a king.  He […]

Oct. 31, 2021 Ruth 1:1-18 Mark 12:28-34   All throughout the pandemic, as many of you know, my parents joined us for our Zoom services.  Often they appeared before some exotic backdrop from their collection of travel photos – mom’s image appearing sometimes and then disappearing high among the palm branches, the way Zoom sometimes […]

Oct. 3, 2021 Psalm 26 Mark 10:13-16   I had a friend in seminary who was appalled at the idea that a person might live a whole life outside the bounds of faithfulness and at the last minute receive the grace of salvation.  It may have been Karl Barth that she was objecting to.  “Here […]

I sometimes listen to the Lutherans from Luther Seminary discuss the lectionary passages in their podcast called, “Sermon Brainwave.”  This week they were unanimous in saying that there’s simply no rescuing Jesus from calling this Syrophoenician woman a dog.  You can’t save him!  You can’t say it’s a translation issue, or he didn’t really mean […]

August 29, 2021 Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15   I had one of those strange weeks where the same theme kept manifesting in a number of forms.  It began last Sunday when I shared with you how challenged I often feel when submitting to the notion of a Christian life.  It’s not the […]