Matthew 5:13-20 When I was a graduate student in Texas, I attended a Lutheran campus ministry. We had services every Sunday morning, just like most churches. We followed the lectionary, we heard a sermon, and we celebrated the sacraments. Our pastor, whom we called PJ, had a certain way he liked to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. He would invite us all up to the front, to stand in a circle around the altar. And the first thing he would do was take a little dish of salt. He would go around the circle to each one of us, take a pinch of salt and put it on our tongues, saying, “remember your baptism.” Remember your baptism. I was always a little bit mystified by this ritual. I wasn’t entirely certain I understood what salt had to do with my baptism. But I liked it. A little bit of salt tastes […]
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Saved by Grace
Luke 18:9-14 I am in the habit of beginning my prayers with thanksgiving, you might have noticed this if you have prayed with me. Offering thanks to God for whatever is at the top of my mind in the moment. I have noticed this about myself, wondered about it a little, but haven’t seriously thought that it was a problem of any kind. I mean, what could be wrong with saying thank you? Nothing at all, I thought, until I really dug into this little parable. The Pharisee at prayer begins with thanks. “I thank you, God, that I am not like other people…the thieves, the rogues, the adulterers, or this tax collector right here beside me. Thank you, God, for making me better.” There it is. Our thankfulness can actually be kind of smug, as we count all the ways our lives are great…enviable. We risk the humble-brag – […]
Continue readingStories that Teach, Week 3: Doing the Work
Matthew 21:23-32 What do you think? I have a personal affinity for this parable of the man with two sons. When I hear it, this is what I think: I have two daughters. When I would say to the first daughter, “Do this,” she would say, “No.” But then she would do it. When I would say to the second daughter, “I think you should do this,” she would say, “Yes.” But then she would not do it. Which of the two did the will of her mother? This is the parable as I have lived it. And so all the action in the parable evokes real feelings for me – remembrances of how I felt in that same situation. And even if you haven’t lived this parable as I have, it is probably not too hard for you to relate to it, somehow. I identify with the father, […]
Continue readingNot to Lose Heart
Luke 18:1-8 Let me tell you a parable. There was a man who had two daughters – one was Tenacious and the other was Gracious. When Tenacious wanted something she went to her father to ask for it. He would say, “give her what she wants so she will get out of here. When Gracious wanted something she would go to her father, also. However, the father was not so quick to grant her wishes, because he enjoyed her conversation so much he would prolong it.[1] Think on that for a while. Parables are hard, and Jesus used parables an awful lot. I think it might have been because there was a lot of competition for the people’s attention. There were other teachers around, not least of all, the Pharisees. There were other freelance prophets and wannabe messiahs wandering around looking for an audience. You know, if one man’s message […]
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