Next Sunday we will begin Advent, in which we’ll once again recall Christ’s birth and anticipate the fruit of his faithfulness in awaiting his return to judge and reconcile us to him. But today, we celebrate the end of the Christian year. We are not simply recognizing another year gone by; in fact, I’d say that it’s essential to stop right here, to think of this day - this Sunday where we celebrate the reign of Christ - as God’s sabbath; that is, the completion or fulfillment

“By your endurance you will gain your souls,” we hear right at the end of our Gospel reading this morning. Endurance in what you might ask? In faith of course. Persisting in a core set of beliefs that utterly transforms the world, handed on to us as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:1-3: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the

One of my favorite things about the Sadducees we encounter so often in the Gospels, is just how much we see them as, ‘the bad guys,’ in the story, when, on closer examination, it turns out that we are just like them.  Remember the story of David and Bathsheba. Remember the story Nathan, one of God’s prophets, tells David? The story is about a rich man who stole a poor man's single, beloved lamb to give to a guest, instead of using one of his own many animals. When David heard

Some of you know my story of coming to faith, others do not. Like many folks who come to faith later in life - not pressed to do so by parents - I was extremely zealous both in my seeking to know God and in my proclamation of who God was to other people. And with that passion came something else. An unconscious desire for order, certainty, perfect knowledge, perfect performance. I started trying to categorize everything, just as I’d done as a young child. This is what familie

In our parable from Luke this morning, we hear Jesus describe the plight of a woman who goes to a judge - a judge who has no respect for her, or anyone else, and who does not fear God - and nonetheless asks him to grant her justice. Jesus tells us that for a while, the judge initially refuses to grant her request, but eventually, because of her persistence, he grants her justice so she doesn’t wear him out by continuously coming to him. Jesus certainly doesn’t condone the jud

In our gospel lesson from Luke this morning we have the story of Jesus healing 10 lepers. Leprosy is a serious skin disease involving a slow developing infection by bacteria that leads to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. Today if it’s treated early, antibiotics can stop the disease progression, prevent complications, and make the patient non-infectious. Interestingly, 95% of people cannot actually catch leprosy and it isn’t easily spread. But in Jesus’

As I have watched snippets of news and the ensuing public responses flood across various media feeds - about Russia and the Ukraine,...

I’ll never forget the first time I sat down with someone living on the streets. I was in my undergrad down in North Carolina. I’d just...

Today we celebrate the most central mark of Christianity: the Cross of Jesus Christ. Yes, the Resurrection is critical, as is Jesus’s...

We have quite the selection of readings this morning: first God says through Jeremiah that he is like a potter and we are like clay. When...