Divine Things
I have mentioned before how I grew up with a pack of semi feral free range boys. Looking back I see we had this pattern of building things and then blowing them up. I still live with that. When I can get to the beach I like to build tall spiring sand castles with multiple […]
The Heart of the Matter
(Inspired, in part, by Aretha Franklin and John McCain, two of the great Reminders) My poor grandmother. I was the oldest of the next generation. The two of us. We didn’t know what to do with each other. Who knows how many times she blessed my heart. “Bless your heart.” Then there was that other […]
Outrageous
What do you think of when you think about communion? What picture comes to mind? How is communion with God experienced? The last supper of Jesus with the disciples being told to remember as the cross rapidly approaches? The altar rail here at Grace? The table of fellowship? What comes to mind? Comfort, hope, strength, […]
Sent
The new job. The first day at the new job. You have no idea what to do. They said, “On the job training.” They weren’t kidding. They should have just said, “Figure it out as you go.” Pretend to be competent until it becomes true. Until then keep up appearances. Set up to fail. Sink […]
The Voyage to One Another
Proper 7b 2018; 24 June Mark 4:35-41 THE VOYAGE TO ONE ANOTHER The distance between us is impossible to cross. That is how life shipwrecks us. That is where relationships sink. That is the forecast of history. That is the foul weather that inundates our country. The land of distance and the home the divided. […]
Plunder
God is a thief. God is stealing the world back. That is the Gospel. Jesus is binding the strongman and plundering his house. Jesus is binding Satan and setting the captives free. Jesus is stronger than the strongman, stronger than what binds the victims. There is no line in the sand. No chip on the […]
Gas on the Fire
I grew up with a band of semi-feral boys with minimal adult supervision. We had a great time. It was like Where the Wild Things Are meets the Lost Boys. It was like heaven. We had this reckless freedom. Somehow we survived with minimal scarring, broken bones and fire damage. We would play with fire. […]
Finding Jesus
Where do we find Jesus? The Wise Men had it easy. They only had to travel a great distance, follow a star and avoid the evil clutches of King Herod. Now the disciples didn’t have to find Jesus, Jesus found them. Then Jesus found them again, leaving the tomb to search them out. They couldn’t […]
Keep Awake
Have you ever met a true entrepreneur? I’ve only met a few. They are always up to something, always extending and overextending, juggling liquid and solid assets. You are never really sure if they are really wealthy or so broke, so in debt, that they seem to defy the laws of physics. They start up, […]
Rapture
In my dreams I can fly. I usually start out flapping my arms, just skimming the ground and then I catch the wind and swoop up through the trees and then I usually get tangled in the power lines… It’s my favorite dream, especially when I avoid the entanglement part and make it up, up […]
The Mountaintop
I love stories that end happily ever after. The hero rides off into the sunset. Where everything gets resolved, the questions answered, the mystery solved, what was broke gets fixed, there is resolution. But I also love the story of Moses, and his story is none of those things. It does not have a conventional […]
Show Me Your Glory
I must have been about thirteen years old when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out. There is that great scene towards the end where the bad guys open up the lost Ark of the Covenant. Indiana Jones and his companion close their eyes. Out flies the beautiful Angel of the Lord which turns into […]
Your People
YOUR PEOPLE Moses and God. God and Moses. They argued. A lot. Like an old married couple. They argue about us, their children. To whom do we belong? “Look what your people are doing!” they each said pointing at each other. Your people! No, your people! We revel before the idol, the golden calf, forged […]
Words I Won’t Be Preaching
When the world falls apart what do we do? What are the words that need to be heard? What can be said to make things better? What can be spoken to bring holiness to desecration? The liturgy that brings restoration of things profaned? This is a sermon I won’t be preaching, the Bishop has his […]
Where’s the Water?
Have you ever noticed that the Bible has this thing about water? The Spirit brooded over the waters at the creation. The flood of Noah. The Nile turned to blood. The parting of the Red Sea. The crossing of the Jordan River. Jonah being cast into the sea. Jesus baptism in the Jordan. Jesus’ command […]
You’re Hired!
You know those old cars. Not the antique ones that are all prettied up, but the old ones that you can hear coming. They have their own particular rattle and rumble that you learn to recognize. Here comes that old pick up with a faded pizza sign stuck on the roof, rattle, rattle, rumble, rumble. […]
Into the Sea
Credit cards. They can be tricky. You know how those credit limits just keep going up. Ran mine way up, lost track of it. I ran it up to oh..about…5 or 6 billion dollars. Needless to say I couldn’t pay it, the credit collection agencies got kind of bloodthirsty, then there was this big surprise, […]
Holy Ground
We all know someone like him. Who has everything. Who is gifted. Who has all the advantages. Everything is going for him. A bright future full of promise but who despite it all throws it away. Moses. Moses was a murderer. A life of privilege and miraculous rescue, yet he committed murder. It was an […]
From the Snare
I once rode a bus across the Rift Valley of East Africa. Though, I didn’t get to see much. The bus was literally packed three layers high with occupants. We road from Nairobi to Lake Victoria. By the time we arrived I was in pretty bad shape. It only took about six hours, but it […]
Under the Table
Family gatherings. What do we do with them? I have a large extended family. Most have stuck nearby. No need for reunions. We have several gatherings every year. It is always a chaotic stampede of the old and young, people dropping in and out. One of my favorites was when we had a surprise wedding […]
Living the Dream
This is the story of a family. More specifically it is the story of a family with dark secrets that destroy it. Surprisingly it is also the story of bringing good out of bad. It is a story that shows us something about God and the way of God in a world full of dark […]