What We Do for Love - Mon, 14 May 2012
Jesus says, “If you obey My commands, if you do the things I have taught you, you will remain in My love. Just as I have done the things My Father has taught Me.” So that’s it? Just get out there and imitate Jesus? Obey! Obey! Obey! No. We love one another, because that’s what Jesus has done. He has loved us, because that’s what the Father does. The Father loves His Son, who loves us, who love one another. It’s not an imitation of Jesus’ love. It is Jesus’ love. It’s God’s! It’s ours too. All together as one! You see, that’s what the thought-clichés and pious platitudes about love fail to grasp. We cannot love one another unless we remain in Jesus’ love. We cannot bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things unless we remain in the love of Him who has done all things in the laying down of His life and taking it up again.

Simple Botany - Sun, 06 May 2012
Because of a mother or father, because of a grandfather or grandmother, because of a godparent, and often because of all of them, we learned that in Holy Baptism we were made branches of the True Vine, Jesus Christ. They showed us by their lives what it means to be grafted into Him, and that His life flows in us. No...not everyone has that kind of Christian upbringing. Some have only gotten connected to Jesus as an adult. And yet, because of this background, these folks do have a vital sense of what it means to be connected to the True Vine, because they know the difference between before and after Jesus. But either way, as a child or adult, the simple botany of this matter is that getting connected to Jesus through Holy Baptism is God’s good and gracious will for every single person on this earth. There is only one True Vine, and He is Jesus Christ.

Hearing from the Flock - Sun, 29 Apr 2012
Martin Luther once declared, “Thank God a seven year old child knows what the Church is: sheep who hear the voice of their [Good] Shepherd.” “I know them,” this Shepherd says, “and they follow Me.” Yes, often times that means the green pastures and the still waters. But there are times...times when it is the valley of the shadow of death. Still He leads and we follow. He speaks and we listen. And even in the darkest valley we shall fear no evil...for He is with us. And we are a Flock, His Flock. And in this flock He says, “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own, and My own know Me.”

Not A Ghost - Sun, 22 Apr 2012
There is, perhaps, no stranger tenet of the Creed—to us folks today, as much as to the Greeks back in Paul’s day—than the resurrection of the body. The resurrection of this limited, lumpish thing that grows old, wears out, dies, and decays. But if it’s hard to see how the body could rise again—and that has been a puzzler since the first Easter—it may be even harder to see why we would want it to rise again! Why not take Plato’s view of the matter, that human beings at death simply slip this husk of flesh and are free? It’s certainly the driving, persuasive argument from the assisted suicide and euthanasia crowd. The Greek symbol for the psyche, the soul, was the butterfly. Butterflies don’t want their cocoons back—why should we?

In the Shadows – Thomas - Sun, 15 Apr 2012
Because we are not saved on the basis of our certainties. Nor are we lost on the basis of our doubts. A hundred years ago there were plenty of people on the Titanic who were certain that the ship would not sink. There were plenty of people, too, who doubted whether that was a wise thing to conclude. But those doubts didn’t sink the Titanic, nor did all the certainties added together keep it afloat. Despite both the certainties and the doubts, the great ship sank because it hit an iceberg! So the greater ship of the Church, captained by Jesus Christ, does not depend on the certainties of those onboard, nor is it affected by the doubts of those who don’t sail with Him. We are saved or lost on the basis of Jesus Christ alone...that He successfully steers His ship and keeps it afloat! Whether He is, in fact, who He claims to be. Whether He has done, in fact, what He claims to have done. It’s about Him!

Why Are You Weeping? - Sun, 08 Apr 2012
Someone you know is as grief-stricken as Mary Magdalene. Someone you know has had their life paralyzed by grief at the death of a loved one, or by the loss of something they valued as much as life itself. Someone you know has no clue as to what Jesus’ resurrection means, what it means that He calls each of us by name. Someone you know does not understand how anything can become new because of Easter. Someone you know...perhaps even you. Easter makes you an apostle. Whether by word or by deed we approach those who are weeping, literal tears or only figurative tears. And those weeping folks may react kindly to such mercy or more like Mary Magdalene erupting in her grief. But either way Easter now manifests itself in how you live, and in how you talk about this life, this world, and all the daily messes with which we must all contend.

3 Meditations for Good Friday - Sat, 07 Apr 2012
Good Friday John 18:1-19:42 I. Breaking the Silence  “In the beginning….God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light.’” And God called the light good. But now…there is darkness. Now…the earth will be shaken. At the Jordan River, in the beginning, when Jesus was baptized, the Father had declared, “You are My Son whom I love.” Now, at the end, there is silence. If God is light, then darkness must mean that God is not present. If God speaks to declare His love, then His silence must mean His rejection. He has turned ...

Over A Cup - Fri, 06 Apr 2012
Maundy Thursday Mark 14:12-26 It’s like living in that old game of “Telephone.” You know, the game where the first player whispers something to the next player, and on and on, until at the end what is reported is not at all like what was whispered by the first player. On the night of the Last Supper Jesus said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give you. Love one another.” Jesus said, “Love on another.” Somehow in the transmission we have heard “Be nice.” “Be nice to one another.” Indeed, “being ...

So It Begins - Sun, 01 Apr 2012
So it begins! The climax of the Lenten season is upon us. Jesus enters the gates of Jerusalem to the shouts of the people, to the songs of praise...only to hear those voices at week’s end turn first to accusation and then to jeers, as He goes to His death on a Roman cross. The climax of the whole Christian story is upon us. Little wonder that each of the evangelists—Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—slows down at this point in his Gospel. Each of them moves from the fast-paced, panoramic view of Jesus’ life and ministry, out of which they each capture significant moments along the way, to this almost slow-motion recounting of Holy Week, of Jesus’ final hours. Each step of this journey is significant. Each step deserves the care and the detail which the evangelists give it.

The Trials of Jesus – Power - Wed, 28 Mar 2012
6th Midweek in Lent  II Kings 19:8-19 & Luke 23:1-12 The Christian faith has such a checkered history in relation to the powers that be. We’ve been up…and we’ve been down. Christianity has rubbed shoulders comfortably with the power brokers—the political movers and shakers, the presidents and prime ministers, the kings and queens and Kaisers and Czars and Caesars through the centuries. And power certainly does have its advantages! From the Roman Emperor Constantine into the modern era, wherever Church and State have walked arm in arm and worked hand in hand, great good things ...