I read this text on Sunday afternoon right after I walked through the nearly renovated fellowship building next door.  “All will be thrown down.”  It echoed through my head as I walked up the stairs to my study and looked at all the photographs of the pastors hanging on the wall outside my office.  How … Continue reading All Will Be Thrown Down

Faced with a crowd of 5,000 hungry people, Jesus asks, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”  The Gospel of John says this whole thing was a test to see what his disciples would do. Philip answers:  “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a … Continue reading What Do You Have?

At the heart of the human condition lies a nagging discontent.  Adam and Eve have everything they need, an abundant paradise filled with all sorts of exotic fruits and foods—until the serpent arrives and inflames that part of us that drives our discontent.  Poet Charles Harper Webb says it like this:  The serpent didn’t hiss … Continue reading Look at This!

Do you have a love song? One that you hum under your breath? One that fills you with memories when you hear it on the radio? One that takes you back to prom or makes you cringe? I have news for you: you’re not the only one. People have been singing about love for thousands … Continue reading What’s Your Watershed?

We are carrying so much in this congregation at this moment in history.  So much that I consider it a risk to say much of anything this morning at a time when we may be better off making space for listening.  I felt this acutely coming out of worship last week.  And then I turned … Continue reading Back to Basics

Michele: I feel particularly heavy this morning as I stand up here about to offer my second sermon in the midst of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings and the committee recommendation that took place this week. I feel responsible to say something as one of your pastors. I feel responsible to say something to you as a … Continue reading To Come Home

I’m conflicted when I hear Paul comparing you and me – our lives – to clay jars – “unadorned clay pots” – as one scholar calls it.  “Cheap jars.”  This is certainly not the assurance that I’ve been giving to my children.  We tell them how valuable they are, how precious are their lives, how … Continue reading Treasure in Brokenness

Last week I pointed out the difficulty of all this love-speak in the Bible when “love” has come to be known in our culture mainly with feelings and passion. The difficulty begins with translation from the Greek – the language of the New Testament to the English.  In the earliest English translations, the Greek word … Continue reading Love Actually

Give me a choice between two things I can argue the good in both sides. Everything from pacifism vs. just war, to pizza vs. Chinese. This means that like most formally educated people I am destined to live a life of “what if” dissatisfaction. What if we had chosen to attend this seminary instead of … Continue reading Walking Through the Door