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Tag Archives: reconciliation
Unbegrudging Jesus
Then Jesus showed up. Just as the light was dawning, just as the sun was rising behind them, the shore becoming shadowy and obscured by the smoke of his charcoal fire, so that they could barely make him out, but there he was. … still providing for them, still tending to them and feeding them, his lambs. Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Ananias, conversion, Easter 3, Jesus, Paul, reconciliation, repentance, Saul, Simon Peter
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Forgiving and retaining
Forgiveness tells the truth; Jesus still carries the marks of the nails in his hands and his feet, and the soldiers and the scoffers cannot enter the space of peace while they are still carrying their hammers. Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged doubt, Easter 2, forgiveness, Jesus, John 20:19-31, reconciliation, Thomas
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The prodigal
It would be such a simple tale of family forgiveness, were it not for that wrinkle at the end, but that’s what makes it real. If there were no sin, there would be no need of salvation. If there were no rift, there would be no need for reconciliation. That’s why this story calls us to remember our charge as ambassadors for Christ, ministers and messengers of reconciliation, members of the beloved community of Christ that somehow brings together the sinner and the sinned against. Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged forgiveness, parable, prodigal son, reconciliation, repentance, Year C Lent 4
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Ash Wednesday: grace is not in vain
Lent is a good discipline for me. The soul-searching, the self-denial, the study of God’s grace is something that I need constantly if I am to recognize the enormity, the ridiculous span and spread of God’s mercy.
But constantly is hard to do. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10, Ash Wednesday, church calendar, confession, fast, grace, Lent, reconciliation
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The lamb, the sheep, and the good shepherd
Let me be uncomfortably clear: in the months and weeks following the deadly attacks on synagogues from Pittsburgh to Poway, California, reading John, putting into Jesus’ mouth the words, “you do not belong to my sheep,” cannot go unexamined or unchallenged. It is not enough to say, we don’t read much into that, nor mean anything by it; because if we do not, then others will make meaning of it, and we have seen where that can and does continue to lead; and it has not been to the vision of reconciliation and worship that John of Patmos proposed. Continue reading
Forgiving Jesus
The readings for the third Sunday in Lent include Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well, and Moses’ miraculous striking water from stone. In the old stories, this encounter beside a well would have ended in marriage. Jacob’s … Continue reading
Year C Advent 1: a new thing
I don’t know about you, but I am ready for this Advent. I am ready for God to do a new thing, which is what Advent is about: God breaking through our routines and rituals and riots and routs to … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged Advent C Year 1, Jeremiah 33:14-16, Laquan McDonald, reconciliation, Tamir Rice
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Year A Proper 21: a problem with authority
Based on today’s New Testament texts: Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 Let the same mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus. Here’s a little window into the mind of Jesus; the humble one, the slave, obedient unto death, even … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged authority, Christ Jesus, church, Matthew 21:23-32, Phillipians 2:1-13, race, racial profiling, reconciliation, religion
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Year A Advent 1
And so the season, the year, begins in the middle – in the middle of the story, in the middle of a field where two men are working, and there then was one; in the mill, where two women are … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged Advent, Christmas, family, Isaiah 2:1-5, Matthew 24:36-44, Matthew 5:23-24, Noah, Psalm 122, reconciliation, relationship, Romans 13:11-14
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Forgive and forget (1)
I do not think that forgetfulness is necessarily helpful to forgiveness. Of course, neither is holding a grudge; but forgiveness, as part of a loving and generous outlook on relationship, depends upon an honest assessment of where we are together; … Continue reading
Posted in story
Tagged abusive relationships, Countryman, forgetfulness, forgiveness, Hebrews 8:12, Jeremiah 31:34, reconciliation
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