Advent 3B: John 1:6-8, 19-28 Dear Partner in Preaching, A few years ago, while speaking with some pastors in Canada about ministry in an increasingly post-Christian world, a young pastor shared a story that has stayed with me. A year or so earlier, his mother had asked him why he was the only one of her children who still went to church. In response, he asked her what she would tell her children – his siblings – if they asked her why she went to church. Why, in short, was her faith important to her? He reported that what followed was the most uncomfortable twenty minutes of conversation he’d ever had with his mother. Because, like many...

Dear Partner in Preaching, There’s waiting…and then there’s waiting. Do you know what I mean? Some waiting is, well, just waiting, the pointless exercise we all have to endure from time to time. Like sitting in the doctor’s office, just waiting for your name to be called so you can get your flu shot. But other waiting seems to matter. Like waiting in the doctor’s office for the results of the biopsy to come back or waiting to see the ultrasound of your coming baby. I suspect you know what I mean. Some waiting feels empty and pointless, while other waiting is weighty, significant, and really matters. Too often, I think, the kind of...

Dear Partner in Preaching, There are times when I wish Mark would just make up his mind! Okay, so maybe I should back up a bit and explain. The brief apocalyptic sections of Mark, and later of Matthew and Luke who clearly follow him, have always been something of a puzzle to me because they are so out of character with the rest of the Gospel. I assume that these traditions were so prevalent in the early church that Mark simply couldn’t ignore them. Note, however, that I use the plural – apocalyptic traditions – because it seems there were at least two. Some, perhaps including the Apostle Paul, expected Jesus’ return very soon. We...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Do you like surprises? I’ll be honest, I’m a little conflicted about them. Actually not all that conflicted, as I really like surprising others – with an unexpected visit or gift, for instance – but I really don’t like being surprised myself. A bit hypocritical, perhaps, but there you go. I think it’s that I like being prepared, feeling more or less ready for what’s coming, and surprises undermine that kind of confidence. I ask this question because I think this passage turns on the matter of surprises. Notice that both those identified as sheep and those named goats are surprised by what Jesus says....

Thanks so much! I’ve very much enjoyed the ongoing discussion via the comments and thought I’d try to add to that conversation via another brief post. So…a few things that your comments have occasioned in me: Joy. One of the things that struck me upon reading this passage later and in light of some of our discussion was the repeated invitation, “Enter into the joy of your master.” It strikes me again that neither of the first two servants were afraid of the landowner like the third one was. They, in fact, were willing to go out and trade – that is, risk – the enormous wealth entrusted to them. (One talent represents about 15...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Well that was fun! Our sharing and conversation via last week’s letter and comments, that is. Let’s do the same this week, and continue building a community of partners in preaching. As to this week… Over the years I’ve learned a lot from marketing guru Seth Godin. And one of the things I’ve learned seems particularly apt in light of this week’s parable. Godin argues in his little book All Marketers Are Liars that it’s not just marketers who lie, but all of us do. What he means is simply that we regularly tell ourselves things that we at least suspect, and sometime know for sure, are not true, and...