Lent is Love
“Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dust forgive the sins of all those who are penitent…” These have to be some of my favorite words. Not just in the prayer book, but in general. Those words are the heart of my ministry: reminding people that there is nothing that can bring them outside the love of God and that Jesus is able and willing to forgive all sin.
Read more...The Common Life of God's Friends — Luke 14:1; 7-14
This week’s Gospel lesson finds us at a fancy Sunday dinner party with Jesus. In the verses omitted from our reading, Jesus meets a sick man on his way to dinner. In an interaction all too common in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus heals the man only to find himself again debating whether that was an appropriate thing to do on the sabbath or not.
Sitting down at dinner, the drama of healing a man on the sabbath is fresh on Jesus’ mind. Jesus, naturally, says what’s on his mind, which apparently causes some folk to reconsider whether it’s a good idea to be seen dinning with this bizarre prophet from Galilee. As Jesus sits reclining in his seat, he sees folk jockeying for the newly empty seats trying to improve their seating position at the dinner.
Read more...God's Time: Lewis Bell's Funeral
Unexpected death is difficult to process. This time last week, Lewis was responding to a picture of my daughter’s birthday with an animated gif of Cinderella. Now, I stand here. I know I am not alone in this room. We share in the suddenness of it all.
In the grand scheme of the world nothing has changed. And yet, in our little corner of things much has changed. For Charlotte, Vickie, Bettie and those closest to Lewis, everything has changed.
Read more...The Bread of Life II (John 6:35, 41-51)
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Last week we talked about Jesus being the bread of life. Jesus was trying to show those around him that they were working for the favor of others. The hole they felt — the sense of not belonging — could only be permanently filled by God’s love, the bread of life. This week, Jesus continues to explain to us what it means for him to be the bread of life. Like Jesus, I think we need to clarify and establish a few things before we can get into the meat of this.
Read more...The Bread of Life (John 6:24-35)
Let us pray, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
On Sunday my priest preached a sermon from Ephesians 4 and something from that sermon has sat with me all week. I’d like to share it with you in the context of today’s gospel reading from St. John.
Ephesians 4 is all about unity in the Body of Christ. “There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…” St. Paul here is describing the perfect community of the Kingdom of God we are all called to live into in our baptism.
Read more...Beloved Sons Through Jesus Christ
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
It is easy sometimes to forget who — or even whose — we are. The messaging we get from those around us in society and sometimes even our families and friends is a constant stream of not being enough. We’re never cool enough, rich enough, attractive enough, smart enough, good enough, worth enough — the list goes on and on. It would seem we never have enough to merit attention.
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