God, history and community … but what an outfit! Words that could describe John the Baptist as he strides into the opening scene of the Gospel of Mark. He stands there before us with his tumbleweed hairdo, draped in camel-hair skins, popping honey-dipped locusts into his mouth, and howling like...
Listen Up! Michael Dowling was 14 years old when he got caught in a Minnesota blizzard in the winter of 1880. He toppled from the back of a lumber wagon during the storm, stumbled through the snow for hours, and finally sought refuge for the night in a haystack. Come...
An Unhappy Ending If you like happy endings, then I suggest that you skip over today’s Gospel lesson. If you prefer the parables that end with grace, then file this one under “Awaiting Further Light”. Go back and read again the Parable of the Eleventh Hour worker, where God acts...
Yours is the Kingdom of Heaven Those of us who serve as clergy know that one of the consequences of being who we are is that many people treat us differently from the way they treat other people. For instance, many people will apologize after, or before, using their usual...
The True Meaning of Freedom Today’s Gospel is a familiar one. “The truth will set you free’ “is a quote that is used repeatedly. Yet, if you ask 3 people what it means, you might well get three different answers. What is more, those three people might not even know...
The Welcome Table After serving as a missionary for forty years in Africa, Henry C. Morrison became sick and had to return to America. As the great ocean liner docked in New York Harbor there was a great crowd gathered to welcome home another passenger on that boat. Morrison watched as President...
The Killer Instinct Of all the creatures in creation the shark is near the top of the list when it comes to the killer instinct. And that creates anxiety – even in little children. It might seem a little far-fetched to begin this homily, on our Lord’s Parable of the...
Justice or Mercy? It’s not fair! That’s the usual response of children as they begin to face some of the realities of the world. It is also a usual response to our reading of the Gospel text for this morning! It’s not fair! Little Billy shows up five minutes before...
Love’s Final Words Today we have a sequel to last week’s text from Matthew. And this week we hear about forgiveness. So, let me emphasize that the word “forgiveness” means to send off, to hurl away, to let go, or to leave behind, whatever it is that keeps us bound....
This Is God’s Well! Our Gospel text for this morning is one of the most difficult in all of Matthew’s Gospel. It speaks to us of things we would rather not hear – and of things we would rather not do. It speaks to us about relationships and about...