On the evening of Easter Day, the disciples are not radiant. They are not brave. They are not in the streets proclaiming good news. They are behind locked doors. That is where John wants us to find them: shut in, afraid, uncertain. The resurrection has already happened. Mary Magdalene has already said, “I have seen […]
In the past few years, I’ve found myself frequently turning to the books of Amy-Jill Levine, a New Testament scholar and orthodox Jewish woman. Perhaps because she doesn’t carry the baggage of 2000 years of Christian tradition on her shoulders, I find that her scholarship often gives me new eyes with which to see stories […]
In a nation and a world that is divided by so much right now I bet we could all agree that this little passage from Luke for this morning is really tough. So tough that most would choose to avoid it, but not the creators of our lectionary. They have made sure that we deal […]
Hello, let me introduce myself to you this morning. My name is Reuben. Your rector needed a little break this morning from preaching, so she asked if I would say a few words to you. I was born in the first century by your calendar. Probably around the same year your Jesus was born. When […]
Have you ever asked yourself why you come to church week in and week out? I once asked a group of adults this question and their answers were as varied as the people in the room. I wrote their answers down, and I still have the list: It is just something I have always done, […]