This is a passage I’ve always loved, but today it seems I’ve always missed a crucial detail. I’ve always thought of this primarily as a passage about prayer. And it is: the whole story Jesus tells is about two people praying, only one of whom gets it right. Plus the fellow who did get it […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, Trinity Sunday, John 16:12-15
The Gospel for Trinity Sunday (always the first Sunday after Pentecost) in year C continues our seemingly random sampling of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse” in John 13-17. For Trinity the selection is John 16:12-15, but as I’ve noted, just about any part of these chapters could serve well on the topic of the Trinity. Briefing the […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year B, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mark 12:28-34
This week I am amazed to have reached Thursday night without posting for you my “Monday Meditation.” Well, I’ve never had a week quite like this. Saturday morning, at a synagogue maybe a mile from my home in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, a man armed with an assault rifle and several handguns came in and […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year B, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, John 6:56-69
Since Jesus was God in the flesh, he must have been able to see into the future — right? But can we reasonably think that in this week’s lectionary Gospel he was gazing forward into 21st century American Christianity and trying to tweak every branch of the Church simultaneously? I know: That’s a bit absurd. […]
Letters to a Young Pastor: The Children’s Sermon — Is it Gospel?
Dear ______: Thanks for asking me to clarify. I said something about how children’s sermons often reveal a preacher’s real theology, for good or for ill. I suspect it is because pastors do not think of the children’s sermon as a sermon. They think of it more as a conversation. If they have a warm, […]
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