We are the Light of the World – Easter Vigil
Photo by Noah Silliman on unsplash.com I love this service. I love the excitement of bringing light into the dark church and the telling of stories and singing of songs gathered around the ritual flame. Tonight we remind ourselves that we are the people of God, as we recount our salvation history, renew our vows and then celebrate the first Eucharist of Easter, the foretaste of the heavenly banquet when we will all be gathered together and all will be…
Blessed are we…
Photo by Xavier Coiffic @unsplash.com Blessed are we who come in the name of the Lord! Blessed are we who have a King whose idea of a triumphant entry into His Kingdom is on the foal of a donkey. Blessed are we who have a King who allows Himself to be condemned for our sins. Blessed are we who have the Good News of the Light and Life of the Resurrection which the darkness of the cross could not subdue.…
Intimacy with Jesus
Photo by Isaac Taylor on Pexels.com John 12:1-8 This mornings’ gospel reading poses a false dichotomy – should we give money to the poor or give it to God? That’s like saying should I love my neighbor or God and the answer is Yes – both! There is actually no distinction between the two but my relationship with God as God and neighbor as human neighbor are quite different. But this reading raises many other questions which are more perplexing…
The Prodigal Son
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 This morning we come to that wonderful story which many of us learned in Sunday School and which has been so beautifully portrayed by numerous artists including Rembrandt – the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal is not a word I use very often so I looked it up and found that it means “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.” In the story, the younger son takes his inheritance in cash, goes away and…
How Does God Respond to our Sinfulness?
Photo by Lukas from Pexels Luke 13:1-9 Our Gospel story for this 3rd Sunday of Lent is a real cliff hanger. How does the story really end? Did the vinedresser have to cut the tree down For not bearing fruit? Did the tree get a year’s reprieve? More time? Another chance? What do you think? For me, today’s gospel story revolves around the question: How does God respond to our sinfulness? We can assume from our reading That somebody and maybe more than…
God always welcomes us
Luke 13:31-35 Today’s Gospel is a rather odd passage. Some commentators have suggested that it’s two separate sayings of Jesus put together to make one. I don’t know if that’s true, but it certainly comes at a time when the pressure is on Jesus. He is making his way toward Jerusalem when he’s told that Herod is out to get him. You will remember that after Herod the Great died, the country was divided between his sons. Herod Antipas ruled…
Shining like the sun
Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a] I don’t know about you, but that reading from 2 Corinthians makes me uneasy. It makes me uneasy because it sounds so anti-Semitic, and humans being humans, I imagine that the idea that Jewish hearts are hardened and their understanding veiled has been used against Jewish people through the centuries. Some commentators think that Paul was simply mistaken in his interpretation of Moses’ veil and as a result disappeared down a…
Turning the Other Cheek
Genesis 45:3-11, 15 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50 Luke 6:27-38 Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42 Many of you probably remember the day you got your first driver’s license-I know I do. I remember the feeling of being empowered to be independently behind the wheel without the need to have a licensed passenger in the vehicle with me, as was the case when I only possessed what they called in those days-a Learner’s Permit. Little did I know the learning was really just about to…
Blessed are the Poor
Photo by Alvin Decena from Pexels Luke 6:17-26 Just before this morning’s gospel opens, Jesus spent a night praying in the mountains alone, and then calling his disciples to him, specially designating 12 of them as apostles. Afterward, as we heard, “Jesus came down with the twelve apostles and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear…