“Love one another, as I have loved you.” This is a very simple statement. Easy to understand. Easy to grasp. Jesus knows he will be leaving his followers soon. He knows that he will be arrested and killed within a few hours, and he is giving some final instructions to...

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. As this is Good Shepherd Sunday, I found myself thinking a bit more deeply about sheep than I normally do. Actually, normally I don’t think about sheep at all. Sheep are often described as being stupid, but that description...

I have a complicated relationship with the Gospel of John. The Jesus portrayed in this Gospel is my least favorite. He talks a lot, a whole lot. He goes on and on for pages and pages talking about himself, often repeating the same idea over and over again. And this...

I think it is safe to say that most Episcopalians, indeed most mainline Protestant Christians and Roman Catholics, are uncomfortable with the Book of Revelation, the last book in our Holy Scriptures. There are 22 chapters in the Book of Revelation with a total of 404 verses. Over the course...

Occasionally I am asked by someone who is not a Christian, “You don’t really believe in all that resurrection stuff do you?” I have learned not to just answer this question immediately, but instead to spend some time learning a little bit more about what the person is really asking...

Maundy Thursday. The evening when we are reminded of the “Great Mandate” the “Great Commandment,” the “New Commandment.” “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my...

The festival of Passover was a threat to the Roman authorities of Jesus’ day. After all, this was the week when the Jewish people remembered their liberation by God with feasting and with storytelling. It was the week when the Jewish people celebrated a God who led them out of...

I want to begin by taking a step back and putting our Gospel story for today, Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet with nard, into larger context. In the Gospel of John, we have seen Jesus call his disciples, begin his ministry by turning water into wine, clear the temple of...

I love Jesus’ parables. They are so simple and yet so complex. I especially love our parable for today, usually known as the parable of the prodigal son. No matter how often I read it or hear it read it has something new to say to me. At this point...

Most of the time I am very happy that we are a lectionary-based church. This means that the scripture we read on Sundays comes from a three-year schedule of assigned readings. I don’t pick the readings for a given Sunday. They are picked for us by the people who created...