“Do not be afraid… He is not here; for he has been raised.” This morning begins in darkness. Matthew tells us that “after the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.” They come carrying grief and shock. They come bearing the […]
Tonight we come to one of the holiest, tenderest, and most uncomfortable nights of the Christian year. Maundy Thursday brings us into an upper room, into a borrowed space, into the final intimate hours before betrayal, arrest, violence, and death. It is a night of bread and wine. A night of basin and towel. A […]
John’s ninth chapter begins with a man sitting by the roadside, a man born blind, and almost immediately the people around him begin talking about him rather than to him. The disciples ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” It is a cruel question disguised as a religious […]
There are some stories in the Bible that have not only been read but used—used against people. Used to warn the vulnerable that if they are not careful, the church will make an example of them. This story of the Samaritan woman at the well is one of those stories. For generations, Christians have been […]
The church I served in Connecticut had a youth program called Journey to Adulthood. It is a wonderful program that recognizes that young people are on a trip, an adventure, through adolescence that leads toward adulthood. It recognizes that their lives are not static. They are passing through important transitions and facing many changes as […]
Matthew tells us that immediately after Jesus’ baptism, immediately after the heavens open and the voice of God says, “This is my Son, the Beloved”, the Spirit leads him into the wilderness. Not away from God. Not into punishment. Not because he has failed. The Spirit leads him there. And that matters. Every one of […]
“You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world.” Not you should be. Not someday you will become. Jesus speaks in the indicative, a statement of reality, as plain as winter light off the Damariscotta River: you are. And because you are, because this is already true, Jesus pivots immediately […]
Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. Micah 6:1-2 Micah opens not in […]
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea. . . (Matthew 4:12) In the present moment in which we find ourselves, I think this easily overlooked opening verse of our Gospel reading for this morning is remarkable for what […]
On this Second Sunday after the Epiphany, the lectionary drops us into the Gospel of John with a phrase that is easy to miss: “the next day.” The next day after what? Well, the next day after John has been questioned by the religious authorities, interrogated, really, about who he is and what he’s doing […]