Pentecost 24 A: What You See Is What You Get

Matthew 25:14-30 Dear Partner in Preaching, What prompts the terror of the third servant? I mean, he’s not just nervous, or even afraid, but rather terrified. And so not only doesn’t he go out and trade to increase the considerable amount with which he has been entrusted – approximately a million dollars – but he doesn’t even put it in the bank for interest (as the property owner observes), but buries it in the ground (lest the banks fail?). What’s curious to me is that I’ve often read this parable without even questioning the servant’s assessment of his boss. When he says, “I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where...

Pentecost 9 C: An Invitation to More

Luke 10:38-42 Dear Partner in Preaching, I have been, as I expect you have as well, heart sick over the events of the last week. Two more black men – Alton Sterling and Philando Castile – shot and killed by police in Baton Rouge and St. Paul. The brutal slaughter of police in Dallas. These feel like troubled days indeed, and I very much want our preaching to offer relevant and realistic words of hope. At the same time, I will confess to having a hard time relating the story of Mary and Martha to these events. I think I’ve found a way in, but am still working on it, so I’ll share my thoughts thus far below and will be grateful for you...

A Limited Palette Mar14

A Limited Palette

I want to say up front that I love my life. That is, I feel tremendously grateful for the work I’ve been given to do, for the people surrounding me, for the family and friends who are regularly such a blessing. I give thanks for all of this everyday. And yet… And yet there are moments...

Luke 12:49-53

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one...

I Have a Dream…...

You have heard this speech before. Or at least parts of it, memorable portions here, particularly inspirational sections there. But even if you’ve listed to the whole of what became known as the “I Have a Dream Speech” by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., you owe it to yourself to...