Dear Partner in Preaching, What’s the difference between a fable and a parable? I think answering this question is crucial if we are to preach this passage. You see, a fable is primarily didactic, a clever story meant to offer some insight into and instruction about life – think Aesop’s Fables for a moment. A parable, on the other hand, is intended to be disruptive, to interrupt what you thought you knew and not just teach you something but actually to confront you with a surprising and often unwanted truth. Fables are handy when you want to give kids some good advice or teach them some moral or practical lesson. Who doesn’t remember...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Why is Jesus getting so much flack? I mean, we’re into just the third chapter in Mark and already he’s got the crowds wondering about him, his family afraid for him (and maybe of him!), and the religious leaders against him. And all he’s done so far is announce the coming kingdom of God, call some disciples, cast out a demon or two, and heal a bunch of sick people. Of course, one of those disciples was a tax collector, he cast out the demon and did much of his healing work on the Sabbath, and he wasn’t put off in the least when approached by a leper. Which means that his vision of the coming kingdom of God...

Three-in-One Plus One   Dear Partner in Preaching, Imagine with me for a moment, the delight you would experience in discovering that you had a long lost uncle or aunt who had made you the heir to their estate. Can you see it? You’d wake up one morning and discover that they had left you riches beyond count, that your major financial worries were over, and that you really didn’t have to worry all that much about the future. If that scenario happened, how would you feel? What would you do? Or, more to the point, what would you do differently? And here I don’t mean what would you run out and buy – though I suspect that most of us...

Dear Partner in Preaching, I’ve written three or four introductions to this letter now, and none seems quite adequate, so I’ll just come out and say it: I think we’ve misnamed the Holy Spirit. The word Jesus uses in John’s Gospel, as you know, is Paraclete, which we sometimes translate as “Advocate” and often translate as “Comforter.” It’s this second name in particular I’m calling into question, as I just don’t think it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to make us feel better. Yes, I know, it’s not that simple. The Holy Spirit as Comforter eases our distress, encourages us, and comes to us in times of trouble to remind us...

Dear Partner in Preaching, As if often the case, context is everything in biblical interpretation. And the context of this passage – Thursday evening, the eve of Jesus’ crucifixion and departure from his disciples – matters because it helps set the scene for Jesus’ words of promise to his disciples tucked into a prayer he offers to his heavenly Father. There are three parts to this prayer and promise, each of which holds, I believe, import for our hearers today. 1) The world can be a difficult place. This perhaps doesn’t seem like much of a promise, or at least good news. But it’s the truth, and given how many voices in our...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Serious question: Did Jefferson miss the boat? Thomas Jefferson, that is. And I should admit right up front that I am a huge Jefferson fan. But as much as I like the poetic cadence of the Declaration of Independence’s inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” I’ve always wondered if Jefferson unintentionally set us on the wrong direction from the start. (And – just to be clear – this isn’t the usual Christian comparison between happiness and joy, with the inevitable triumph of lasting joy over fleeting happiness. Maybe there’s something to that comparison, but I think...