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A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing
https://bookstore.upperroom.org/Products/1921/a-family-like-mine.aspxWhom Shall I Fear: Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence
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Tag Archives: forgiveness
Absolute mercy
Josephs’ brothers were afraid that his mercy was not real, because they could not imagine being that merciful themselves. The servant was afraid that his king would change his mind and call in his debt after all, and his mistrust of mercy, and his failure to multiply it, made him do terrible things, and led to his own downfall, and perpetuated the systems of injustice that surrounded him. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged bail funds, debtors' prison, forgiveness, Genesis 50:15-21, Matthew 18:21-35, mercy, parables
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Sneaky Jesus
We cannot righteous our way to redemption. That’s where Jesus comes in. Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged forgiveness, judgement, redemption, second coming, terrorism, Year A Advent 1
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Sharkbait
If we give up on Nineveh, we run the risk that instead of becoming fishers of men, we become like Jonah, in need of a fishing vessel to rescue us from the deep water we get ourselves into when we turn our backs on the grace and mercy that God has for all that God has made. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged discipleship, fishers of men, forgiveness, God, Jonah, Nineveh, politics, repentance
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The first last word
Father, forgive them – not yet, Jesus. Give us time. We are in no hurry for new life. Give … Continue reading
Posted in meditation, poetry, prayer
Tagged father forgive them, forgiveness, Seven Last Words
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Year C Christmas 2: he was twelve
Some of you know that shortly before Christmas we suffered a minor break-in here at the church. I came into the office the day before Christmas Eve to find that someone had entered the building by force, and had left … Continue reading
Posted in current events, sermon, story
Tagged forgiveness, he was twelve, Jesus, juvenile
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Year B Proper 21: the hell with it
From this morning’s gospel: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged Amy-Jill Levine, eternal punishment, forgiveness, Gehenna, gospel, hell, Jesus, Mark 9:38-50, Richard Holloway
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Maundy Thursday 2015
When I came home, my foot was bleeding from a cut acquired through the wearing of open-toed sandals in a dirty and dangerous city. My mother came into the bathroom where I was going through the tortured motions you have to go through in order to get your own feet under running water and into clean bandages. Without hesitation, my mother took my feet out of my hands, washed them, anointed them with antibiotic ointment, and bandaged them for me. As she worked, she offered from her knees and from her heart her forgiveness, her acceptance, her love; and I found myself doing the same. Neither of us had changed our position, yet love and mercy won, and we were reconciled. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, sermon
Tagged discrimination, family, foot washing, forgiveness, Maundy Thursday
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Ashes and coaldust
Of all the symbols that we use in the Christian year, the ashes of Ash Wednesday might be at once the most unambiguous and the most strange. A wise colleague was recently heard to remark on the popularity of “ashes-to-go” … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged absolution, Ash Wednesday, ashes to go, childhood, Christmas, forgiveness, God, penitnence
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Year A Proper 19: forgiving
You remember the Joseph story: “Way way back many centuries ago, not long after the Bible began…” Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, and the father of the twelve tribes of Israel – in fact, it was Jacob who was … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged favouritism, forgiveness, Genesis 50:15-21, Jacob, Joseph, Matthew 18:21-35, parable
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Year A Advent 1: starting in the middle
In the middle of the story, in the middle of the day, when two women are in the middle of a studied silence over the millstone. They are not speaking. One of them is not speaking so hard, she disappears. … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon preparation
Tagged family, forgiveness, healing, left behind, Matthew 24:36-44, Noah, regret, relationships, resentment, the flood, Year A Advent 1
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over the water 