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Category Archives: holy days
Pentecost – Prophesy!
It is not naïve to preach peace in the midst of war, nor disarmament in a country that has turned homes into arsenals and loaded them with danger. It is not naïve to advocate instead for mercy, for grace; it is the will of God that these dry bones should live, and be filled with the Spirit of God, the dream of the kingdom of God, the vision of resurrection. Continue reading
This world
When Jesus prays for his disciples, when Jesus prays for us, who will become his disciples generations later, when Jesus prays he casts the world as a dangerous place, even an ugly place in its tendency toward hate; and yet still, he sends his disciples into the world, just as Jesus himself was sent into the world, that all who know him and see God’s love in him might know the life that is eternal. That they may know the joy that God takes in the world, the joy that Jesus knew in this world, despite everything. Continue reading
Posted in current events, gun violence, holy days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Ascension, discipleship, gun violence, Jesus, ordination, prayer
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Easter 2024
We believe, without the benefit of angels or appearances, that he rose from the dead, that the Roman Empire, greatest superpower in history, could do their worst to kill him, but that they could not destroy him.
We believe that in the midst of trouble, in the midst of unrest and unease, in the midst of our lives, there is no grave that can hold God hostage. We believe that Jesus is risen, and hope has been unleashed. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Easter, hope, Jesus, Mark 16:1-8, Resurrection
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Good Friday: the rock
These were his disciples, his followers, his confidantes; he had told them that this would happen, and that it wouldn’t be the end. But they had seen him helpless on the wooden gibbet; they had seen him mocked and pierced; they could not leave him defenseless against the elements or the wild beasts, be they animal or human. They rolled a stone across the entrance to the tomb. Continue reading
Maundy Thursday: love
And in the next heartbeat he was on his feet, filling the bowl with water, stripping off his robe and rolling up his sleeves, because he knew that if he was to leave them knowing how to love, he needed to show them the depth, the humility, the profundity of his love for them. Continue reading
Palm Sunday 2024
If we are still looking for a military ruler, or a magician, or a mighty Messiah, we had better look elsewhere. What Jesus offers us is merely the humility, servitude, self-sacrifice, self-abandonment of an all-encompassing, death-defeating love: the creative, life-giving, all-absorbing love of God that will not let us go, nor let us down, nor leave us alone. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, sermon
Tagged Alan E. Lewis, Incarnation, Jesus, Lazarus, Palm Sunday, passion, theology
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And what of the colt?
It knew, as animals do, more than the crowd, felt beneath its hooves the blood of the branches, stones slickened with sap, the vibrations of voices hungry for release; heard the heartbeat of the man astride its back, how it … Continue reading
Lazarus campaigns against the death penalty
This is a #preparingforSundaywithpoetry prologue post. At last evening’s Bible study, we noticed the “Lazarus framework“ to John’s Palm Sunday story (if you’re using Mark, another poem from the pov of the colt is coming). No wonder, we said, authorities … Continue reading
Epiphany 2024
I have probably said this before, but the Gospel story of the visitation of the Magi to the manger of the Christ never mentions three kings, nor their names, nor their camels. It does not specify their country or countries … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, sermon
Tagged community, Epiphany, Galileo, Matthew 2:1-12, Revelation, three kings
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Forewarned
They left by another way to avoid the falling stars bombarding the night sky, minor apocalypses scoring their trails across the Red Sea. They dreamed of corridors between the waters knowing that God created dry land once. Cradled by sand dunes haunted by Herod’s gaudy and the Child’s humble glory they … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, poetry, preparing for Sunday with poetry, sermon preparation
Tagged Epiphany, Gaza, genocide, Herod, magi, red sea, Suez, war
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over the water 