Uncomfortable as it often is, naming the elephant in the room can be a risk both faithful and fruitful. I thus climb out on the limb of preaching to bring you a Word about Tuesday’s election – a voter’s guide, if you will. Please know that I share from the heart of a pastor notContinue reading “A Voter’s Guide”
Category Archives: Sermons
Hang in There, Parents
So apparently, being a parent is hazardous to your health. A few weeks ago, the U.S. surgeon general declared the ailing mental health of parents be an urgent public health issue. “Being a dad is the toughest and most rewarding job I’ve ever had,” Dr. Vivek Murthy wrote in his health advisory to the nation.Continue reading “Hang in There, Parents”
An Oily Beard
During his 1860 run for the White House, then-candidate Abraham Lincoln received a letter from an 11-year-old girl that some believe helped get him elected president. As the tale is told, the girl urged Mr. Lincoln to grow a beard because she surmised that whiskers would hide the drab homeliness of his face and improveContinue reading “An Oily Beard”
He Said What?
In the lead-up to this morning’s Scripture lesson, the Gospel of John records Jesus likening himself to bread and telling people to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The Lord’s graphic language is turning some people off. Anything that smacks of cannibalism tends to do that. We’ll shortly learn that some of the Lord’sContinue reading “He Said What?”
There Was a Wedding …
There was a wedding, in Cana of Galilee. Jesus and his chums were on the guest list. Being average men, I tend to think that – under their breath, in low, grumbly tones – the apostles were muttering in complaint, “Oh great! We have to go to a wedding.” Let’s be honest guys, few ofContinue reading “There Was a Wedding …”
Good Kids
The anguished conversations all begin with an eerily similar lament from a heartbroken parent: “Tyler (or Natalie) used to be such a good kid. I just don’t know what went wrong.” It’s a new era for parents and their young adult children. The baton-pass from one generation to the next is taking longer than itContinue reading “Good Kids”
Enough Already
Words matter, so you need to say it, believe it, and receive it: You are enough. YOU are enough. You ARE enough. You are ENOUGH. If you’re at all like me, you’ve experienced moments, times – or maybe even whole seasons – when you felt as though you weren’t enough. So, just in case youContinue reading “Enough Already”
Asked and Answered
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.You alone, O Lord, are holy.Come and fill our hearts with your peace.Alleluia! Amen! I daily struggle to understand these times of tumult in which we now live. Twenty-eight years ago, I’d have never believed – on that sunny June afternoon of my wedding – that our childrenContinue reading “Asked and Answered”
(he/she/they)
Of the Trinity’s three persons, I sometimes feel most sorry for the Holy Spirit. Because, no thanks to human curiosity and thick-headedness, the Spirit always seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. It’s as if humanity harbors an insatiable desire to identify and personify the Spirit, yet none of those cravings ever seems toContinue reading “(he/she/they)”
The Ark Experience
“Look at the ravens!” That was last Sunday’s Gospel challenge to reflection. “Look at the birds! Look at the ravens!” ordered nonother than Jesus. “They neither sow nor reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn. And yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds.” No doubt, for those withContinue reading “The Ark Experience”