Every year on the feast of the Transfiguration, I feel torn in two. The Transfiguration is one of my favorite holidays in the Church year. When Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain and right before their eyes is transfigured into the shining figure of the Resurrected and Victorious One, with Moses and … Continue reading Transfiguration 2020
Reading: Exodus 19.10-20.21 Reflection: In Jewish tradition, the fiftieth day after Passover, that is Pentecost (called Shavuot in Hebrew), is the day when the law was given from the mouth of God to the hand of Moses on Mount Sinai. Since the decisive revelation of God to Jews is the Torah, God's teaching at Sinai, … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, May 31, 2020
Reading: Deuteronomy 16:9-12 Reflection: Tomorrow is the Day of Pentecost, which in Greek means fiftieth day. But what does that mean? In the reading above, the Israelites are commanded to count fifty days from Passover and then hold a festival. I love the way it's written: "Rejoice before the Lord your God—you and your sons and … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, May 30, 2020
Reading: Mark 1.1-8 Reflection: I was struck by the words, "The beginning of the good news..." Every Gospel in the canon, like everything, has a beginning and an end but it occurred to me that even though the book of the gospel has an end the good news does not. The good news (Greek evangelion … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, May 29, 2020
Reading: 1 Corinthians 15 Reflection: I don't argue the bodily resurrection of Jesus. It's kind of in vogue right now (and for the church that means the last 40 to 200 years) to argue about whether the 5'5", 125 lbs, brown-eyed, black-haired, brown-skinned malcontent rabbi from Nazareth woke up one Sunday morning wondering how he got in … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, May 28, 2020
Reading: Matthew 28.16-20 Reflection: There is no doubt about it. These are difficult days for the Church in general, and for specifically for congregations. Even when there is no pandemic on, we feel like the disciples locked in the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit to free us from the siege outside. With this … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, May 27, 2020
Reading: Numbers 11:24-30 Reflection: I love this reading from Numbers. The book as a whole gets a bad reputation for being boring, and to be sure, there are some less than compelling parts, but that is true of every book ever written. In this reading, Moses takes the elders of Israel out of the camp … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, May 26, 2020
Reading: Jeremiah 31.15–17, Matthew 2.13–18 Reflection: Today is Memorial Day, I won't lie to you, while in the midst of remembering the stories of my grandfather in Germany during WWII and fighting in Korea during the "police action," I will be imbuing Memorial Day with new meaning. This week we will surpass 100,000 confirmed deaths … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, May 25, 2020
Reading: John 17:1-11 Reflection: I think our modern world has done us a disservice by taking two things away from us: mythology and the Spirit. The loss of both of these is due in large part to the Enlightenment and the reaction of faithful, but scared, Christians to the Enlightenment. First, mythology has been taken … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, 7th Sunday of Easter 2020
Reading: Luke 24:36-53 Reflection: "You are my witnesses." Now in my mid-thirties, I spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a witness to the resurrection. We, in the 21st Century, are at an historical disadvantage. We are living in "post-" times: post-modern, post-enlightenment, post-Christian, and sadly, post-fact. When we look … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come, May 23, 2020
