Just, Kind, Humble Micah 6: 1-8 How do you know what you want? When I was in the 7th and 8th grades I wanted a purse. I had a purse but I wanted another one. I wanted the one that all the cool girls in…
Echoing Vision Isaiah 9: 1-4 It was only a month ago that we heard these same promises. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2a). It was Christmas Eve, the fall semester and all its darkness blissfully behind, finally resting…
What Did You Go Into the Wilderness to See? Matthew 11: 2-11 John’s been such a wild, lone, blown-by-the-Spirit type of desert guy that it’s odd to hear him ask this question: Are you the one we’ve been waiting for? Are you the one I’ve…
Yes Luke 1: 26-56 At the Wesley Foundation, we talk a lot about call stories. Time and again, we notice that when God picks someone out to call forward into the next part of life, into the promise of God, into more life than they…
Wake Up…And Bar the Door? Matthew 24: 36-44 I heard the strangest story about a thief this week. Driving in to work last Monday, just as I was about to turn in behind the Cottage, National Public Radio was playing one of its 30 second…
What Kind of King? Luke 23: 33-43 The engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton this week notwithstanding, we don’t really think much about kings. Here in individualistic, democracy-loving America, kings mostly sound old-fashioned and quaint. Back in the old countries or the olden days,…
Trying to See Who Jesus Is Luke 19: 1-10 I said last week that Jesus wasn’t too terribly concerned with being “nice.” When he was traveling from town to town, healing people, preaching, confounding religious authorities and laypeople alike, what do you think people were…
On Not Being Nice Luke 6: 20-31 Jesus does not comply with our need for “nice.” One of my favorite stories is Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man (Luke 18: 18-25). Remember him? He has all the money he needs and has studied the…
Not Me Luke 18: 9-14 When I was in seminary and dating a Catholic, I spent some time at his church in downtown Atlanta. There was a lot I liked about the congregation and the liturgy. For a United Methodist not raised in particularly “high…
Pestering God Luke 18: 1-8 I’m not sure if it was like this when you were growing up. When I was growing up my dad engaged in the then nightly ritual of dads everywhere – reading the paper. He would come home, take off his…
