Here we are, in Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.A., in 2008. Where do we miss the Lord because his very presence, or way of acting, is relegated to a “category error” that doesn’t fit our ways of seeing? Where do we miss the Lord, because we dismiss the testimony of others who bear witness to his presence in ways unfamiliar to us?   more »

Can we come out of our tombs and create more Bethanys with each other, where there is a respite from all the death and fear, where we love Jesus and try to figure out what he talking about?   more »

Peter’s story has always been the story of the church. The resurrection makes little difference if it remains this really strange ending to the story about Jesus that we really don’t know what to do with. Jesus crossed that odd threshold from death to life, but if it doesn’t lead us to cross other thresholds ourselves, Jesus becomes a one hit wonder, and there is no revolution.   more »

He mounts no stallion and wears no armor. He carries no sword nor club. Neither does he arm his male disciples, who become so afraid to be associated with him as the week wears on that they eventually flee in fear.   more »

That revolutionary message of Jesus was that we are so incredibly loved by God that we can love each other in spite of all our differences, in spite of all that awful stuff we keep below the waterline, or cover up with our fig leaves. I think kids have a hard time believing that because they don’t see all that many adults who really believe it.   more »

Barreling straight through generational prejudices was Jesus’ way. On this hot day, his basic need for a cup of water leads to surprising encounters with surprising consequences. He treats the woman as a person with legitimate ideas, thoughts, and perspectives.   more »

But that is the challenge for the church. Are we that willing to be intentional about being the church, or what we often call these days a community of faith? Are we willing to offer ourselves as living sacrifices not only to God, but to each other, to help each other be more intentionally Christian? Are we willing to bring our gifts, our insights, our curiosity, our questions, our answers, to each other, and build a community together that helps us all become more intentionally Christian?   more »

Jesus didn’t go into the wilderness to contemplate Herod’s spiritual condition, or to repent the sins of Caesar or confess the moral flaws of the Roman Empire. Jesus went into the wilderness to examine the real Jesus – the good and the bad in Himself – and to bring that out on the table for the life that lay ahead.   more »

But none of us would be here today if we weren’t in the process of hearing God speak to us through this same Jesus who walked up the mountain with his disciples to retreat and this same Christ before whom we are often astounded and undone. None of us would be here today if something within us wasn’t compelling us to listen to him. Instead, we would be reading our Sunday paper, or sleeping in, or catching up on our weekday work.   more »

Nowhere is there a mention of what it was like for Jesus to be thrown out of his hometown, how that was for his family—were they reviled? Did they disagree with his preaching that day in the synagogue? Did they wish he would “tone it down” for his own sake? Once John was arrested, did they ask themselves, “Can’t Jesus learn something from John’s experience about what happens when you say too much?”   more »

Their response was maybe the Baptizer was saying God offered Jesus to us not as a sacrificial victim but as a gift showing us a new way of living. Jesus, they said, might not be the one that sin was supposed to be piled on, but the one who showed us how to get out from under the pile of sin.   more »

Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration--Part 1   more »

Part 2 of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration   more »

PArt 3 of the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration   more »

Who is more vulnerable than illegal immigrants? What bruised reed is easier to crush than that one? Yet so many of these presidential candidates, who are vying for the title of most Christian Presidential candidate ever, are not only willing to crush this bruised reed but they want to yank it out of the soil, stomp on it, burn it, and make sure they have television crews recording every minute so they can make a commercial out of it.   more »

Jesus believed, though, that you couldn’t get to a new ends without a new means. That’s why his concerns weren’t judgment and destruction, but healing and compassion. The best way to deal with empire was not to play its own game of violence and destruction, but to challenge it with love and sacrifice, words not really in John’s vocabulary.   more »

While baptism is a very individual act, it is also a very communal act. Baptism is a public witness, a confession shared with other pilgrims and seekers of the Way. We are baptized into community–this is the context for our confession that ‘Jesus is Lord.’ We work out our salvation with others working out theirs, finding hope, strength, comfort, and challenge within the body of Christ.   more »

Did you know, for example, that the word ‘taken’ in this verse could also be translated ‘swept away?’ If this verse were translated this way, “two men working in the field–one swept away, the other left behind, two women grinding mill–one swept away, the other left behind,” suddenly being left behind is a good thing.   more »

Christ the King Sunday encourages us to go into Christmas with our eyes and hearts a bit more open to the implications of the story, implications that go far beyond a manger and shepherds in Bethlehem, to soldiers and a bloody execution ground on a hill outside of Jerusalem. It wasn’t some weird turn of events that caused the baby to grow up and die on a cross. The way he lived set him on that course, and it’s a way he has called us to follow.   more »

Our principle task in Spiritual Direction right now is what I one day nicknamed “the Drano process”–unclogging places of the heart that need healing and clearness so that I can more authentically follow the Living One to whom I have committed my life.   more »

But, they were able to cross all those gulfs between them, and acknowledge each other as sister and brother in Jesus Christ. The call to follow Jesus was a call to a changed life. They got past whether they liked each other or not, and loved each other.   more »

The prayer for mercy is a prayer of awareness and conscience. The toll collector’s confession is not about self-hatred, the “Oh, what a worm am I!” approach to God. It is about humility, about grabbing hold of grace, because it takes grace to cover all our sins.   more »

So we persist. We believe in the God Jesus believed in. We believe the creation, the world God made, was made for the good of all people and all things. But Genesis 1 and 2 quickly give way to Genesis 3, where the sin and death and injustice enter the world. From Genesis 4 on, the rest of the story is about the possibility of redemption, of the creation becoming again what God intended. That’s what the widow in the story wants.   more »

It’s kind of hard to think about Paul as a flaming radical but, at times, he was. Here is a guy who, like most of his Jewish counterparts, thought the only good gentile was a dead gentile, and gentiles thought the same about Jews. But Paul was glad to acknowledge the people who he had formerly regarded at the lowest of the low life as his brothers and sisters in Christ. That was the effect of ‘the grace that is in our Lord Jesus Christ,’ as he put it.   more »

As we celebrate World Communion Sunday, my heart is full of others doing the same. I am flooded with images of the Scattered Church—of people like Beth Peachey in Guatemala, Karla Yoder in Zambia, Susan Frances in Iraq, Liz Hamilton in Turkmenistan, or David Reese at Chicago Theological Seminary. My heart is full of images of the Gathered Church—people in nursing homes or at home battling serious health problems; people that float in and out of the church as well as those who plant themselves firmly in this soil.   more »

This story asks us how willing we are to believe in God’s future even when the present looks so desolate. The Prophet in The Revelation says hold on, even if it’s by your finger tips. Jeremiah says buy some property. The Apostle Paul asks what in all of creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus says “I am with you to the end of the age.” The future is coming and Jesus is there.   more »

You’ve got two dramatically different ways of looking at God going on here. One is about the God who keeps looking for us when we are lost, and throws a party when we are found. The second is the God who couldn’t care less.   more »

He doesn’t stop with the family, though. Jesus tells the crowd that each must carry his or her own cross. What? Only criminals carried their own crosses! Was Jesus asking the crowd to identify with such unlikely company, or was he warning them that following him could lead to lots of trouble?   more »

Can you imagine what would happen if everyone just ate at whatever table they wanted in the school cafeteria? That’s the vision Jesus has for us, chaos in the lunchroom   more »

And we too can rejoice. Because this story isn’t just about a healing. And it isn’t simply about reclaiming the real meaning of the sabbath, although recognizing and attending to human need is a very important part of sabbath to Jesus. No, this story is about the radical way Jesus interacted with one of the most marginalized people of his day – a woman – and the freedom implied by his actions.   more »

He said the key for the future of this world is for us to ‘stop obsessing about our differences.’   more »

When those first spirit filled followers hit the streets of Jerusalem they were looking to build a new community, a new way of living with each other in this world that would bear witness to the Jesus who was alive again. You can only build the new community of Jesus Christ with other people. Community building is a group activity.   more »

I am still amazed that some of the most Biblically literate people have no idea what the Kingdom of God is. It was the most important thing Jesus talked about. Beginning, middle, and end, the ministry of Jesus was all about the Kingdom of God. But since most Christians in this country have never even heard of the concept, the best most can do is say it must have something to do with heaven.   more »

These are notes from the fourth and final session of the 1 Thessalonians Bible Study held at Peace Commjunity Church on May 17, 2007   more »

This is the third session of the ! Thessalonians Bilbe Study which was held at Peace Community Church on May 16, 2007   more »

God invites Job to rediscover the Holy One’s presence and grace—not by beating his fists on the doors of heaven, not by looking up to some divine throne in the skies, but by looking out to Creation itself, and there, rediscovering the Creator. The mystics and contemplatives through the ages have had it right.   more »

Here are notes from the second session of the 1Thessalonians Bible Study held at PCC on May 2, 2007   more »

All these years later. All these books. All these sermons. All these hot debates and we are still where those folk in Thessalonica were. We are trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus when you’re living in the empire.   more »

I just don’t think the “how” of creation is the point of Genesis 1, or Genesis 2–the second creation story. The first three chapters of Genesis set up the major themes of the Bible: relationship, exile, and redemption. They help us understand the “what” and “wherefore” of the story of our lives. That is infinitely more valuable to me than exactly how old the earth or the cosmos may be.   more »

Here are notes from the first session of the First Thessalonians Bible Study held at Peace Community Church.   more »

But that’s one of the mysteries of the resurrection. You never know where this life in Jesus Christ is going to lead you. It’s mystery all. But if that mystery is leading us toward life, then we are headed in the right direction.   more »

That’s why Jesus didn’t get hung up by nationality, race, gender, economic status, religious practice, or lack thereof. All those walls, Jesus showed us, wall us off from each other. They are walls erected to keep compassion at bay. But Jesus busted down the walls, he was always rolling away stones of death.   more »

And suddenly, a cold chill passed through me and I was afraid. Afraid for him. For us. For me. Because I knew the fervor of this crowd could just as easily turn against Jesus as for him. These people didn’t want justice; they wanted to be right.   more »

Mary was simply trying to find a way to respond to Jesus and what he meant in her life. She was grateful to this man who had shown her a path to God she had never seen before, and the man who had raised her brother from the dead. And she didn’t care what anybody in the room thought about what she was doing.   more »

Think about a God who rummages through all the piles, sweeps up the dust and dog hair in all the corners, goes though the trash, looks under all the cushions for one coin. Maybe that’s a God who knows something about how a coin or two can determine if a family is going to make it a while longer or not.   more »

When those evangelists were going out and calling others to be followers of Jesus, it wasn’t just so things could be better for his followers. It wasn’t lets wash them off and get them cleaned-up for heaven. They were looking for people who wanted to build a church, that would look Herod in the eye, and say, “Come after us. But until you get us, we are going to to bring healing and life to this world, just like our Savior Jesus did.”   more »

Somehow, the survival of the human race seems to me to be a reasonable academic subject   more »

Where we do start, I believe, is realizing that what Jesus is saying here isn’t some kind of advanced section on the SAT (Spirituality Aptitude Test). He’s not suggesting loving your enemies, blessing those who curse you, turning the other cheek, is a spiritual goal that only a few can hope to attain. Rather, he’s telling us it’s the only way things are going to get better for us and for this world and we need to start doing it yesterday.   more »

The thing about the gospel is that if you preach it without doing anything, it’s just crazy talk. Idle foolishness. In order to preach the gospel, I have to live the gospel.   more »

You don’t have to read too much of the story to realize the disciples just didn’t get Jesus. They couldn’t figure out most of what he was about, and the parts they could figure out, they didn’t like. His message was too radical, too inclusive, too contrary to their understanding of proper religion. They argued with Jesus. They contradicted him. Their lack of faith has become legend. They deserted him when he needed them most. But from the time they threw down their nets, left their tax collection booths behind, found Jesus along the way and followed him, to that hillside where the Risen Jesus commissioned them, they were disciples.   more »

The final lesson of his story is self-evident. It is a lesson that Jesus and Martin Luther King, Jr., taught us so well—that violence only begets more violence (John 18:36, Luke 23:49-51). The cycle of blame and retribution spins farther and farther out of control, descending into deeper and deeper darkness. It is in that darkness that the story of Samson ends.   more »

When Jesus said he came to set the oppressed free, there surely is a call there for his followers to challenge torture, harassment, prejudice, sexism, homophobia, violations of civil and human rights. But what are the more private oppressions we experience, the things that hold us down, that keep us imprisoned? Jesus is interested in all these things and interested in all kinds of freedom.   more »

Fundamental to King’s life and faith was to meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus. The stands King took against social injustice, his willingness to love his own enemies, were the fruit of his faith   more »

I am struck, though, at the end of my Christmas celebration with the same feeling I had at its beginning back on that first Sunday of Advent. It’s such a simple story. The Christmas story is the story that God is with us, and it’s the story that light has come into this world and the darkness can not overcome it.   more »

That same extraordinary Jesus lived an ordinary life. He put up with everything humanity had to dish out—the good, the bad, the ugly, the indifferent, and the infuriating. And he loves us. Loves us! Honestly, really, tenderly, deeply, fully, magnificently loves us. Personally, powerfully, profoundly loves us.   more »

Every Christmas we live this contradiction of waiting for the One who has already come. We celebrate the birth of Jesus again and again, hoping and believing that it will finally take root. We wait for what has already come, because like those folk who found themselves in the wet arms of John, we know there is more. Christmas is about possibilities, but possibilities are disappointed as well as fulfilled.   more »

This, my friends, is incarnational theology. That is where the whole Advent journey points–to enfleshing the love of God in human form, to living the story of God’s redemptive love, to expressing God’s tender care for the dispossessed of the earth.   more »

Here, though, is my most serious complaint about all this end times stuff. It’s the wrong question. Instead of asking when Jesus is coming again, we need to ask why he came in the first place.   more »

So I believe it is fair to say that when we think about kings we are thinking about buffoons, irrelevant figureheads, or tyrants. It’s also true that when we acknowledge Jesus as King, we have to deny the reality of what we understand kings to be and imagine Jesus as the ideal king, even if we really believe there is no such thing as an ideal king. Some people would call that intellectual dishonesty.   more »

The writer of Mark tells us this story, I think, because he wants to warn us of the dangers facing the church. If we leave it in the hands of a few famous Apostles, or in our day, well known and well funded preachers, God will never be able to break through. But if we realize we all have something to bring to the church, that if we give our money and our commitments that the way for God can be cleared.   more »

A discussion of torture by the U. S. military would have been inconceivable as I was growing up during World War II. It was our enemies who we accused of torture. I remember the disgust that I felt upon hearing that Americans had been tortured. We were fighting to make sure that such cruel behavior would not be tolerated. Even 10 years ago, it would have been inconceivable that our leaders would be trying to convince the American people that torture was in the national interest.   more »

Jesus said ‘blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.’ Mercy is its own reward. As we think about All Saints Day, the Jesus followers I am thinking about were not people of great power, but mercy was abundant in their lives. They lived this life knowing that they needed God’s help and they became God’s helpers. They not only were able to see the world in a new way, but they brought a new way of seeing into our lives. Mercy worked its way in their lives.   more »

When the nations rage, we need to sing! We need to sing our conviction, sing our praise for the God of the Nations, sing our commitments! We need to sing our gratitude for sweet fellowship, daily food, and divine sustenance. Sing, church, sing! Sing from your hearts! Sing with your lives! Sing with your gifts! Sing with your service!   more »

There were homes a plenty in that new community. There would be more tables to sit around, more people to love and love him than he ever imagined. In this new community Jesus was offering the rich guy, he would have the opportunity to take care of others and others would take care of him. And besides all of that, they would get to build God’s new world together. You can’t buy that no matter how freaking rich you are.   more »

We hear the cry of Christians from Lebanon, Palestine, Jerusalem, and a host of other places urging the Church in the United States to engage in a theology of reconciliation and shalom. They implore us to stop exporting our particular brand of religion that mixes Christianity, Empire, and End Times Theology in a deadly cocktail affecting real lives both here and abroad.   more »

Who is doing the work of Jesus? If it’s not the church then we should be glad for whoever is.   more »

Faith can be as small as a mustard seed, quiet and hidden, buried in the earth of our hearts, ready to blossom into something unimaginable (Luke 17:5,6). Faith can be mustering the will to live when it is faltering in our hearts, throwing our exhausted prayers on God. Faith can be the raging voice in the wilderness, calling out for justice, asking why, then getting to the place where knowing “why” is no longer necessary (The Book of Job). Faith is never a one-shot deal–we have it or we don’t. Like hope, faith must be tended and nurtured throughout our lives.   more »

So bearing the cross is not about coping with the challenges that come along, it’s about creating challenges, about making ourselves vulnerable like Jesus made himself vulnerable.   more »

This is exactly what Jesus does. His healing ministry offers a taste of God’s goodness and a vision worth hoping for–a foretaste of the Kingdom, or coming reign of God. That reign is wide and deep. It calls us to question everything about our lives--our deepest motivations and primary loyalties, our prejudices and our monetary habits. It calls us to enter a new world–a world that pulsates with the heartbeat of God–a world where justice, compassion, and reconciliation are truly home. Jesus offers hope because he offers meaning. Hope reminds us again and again that our ultimate trust and value belong in God.   more »