Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe requested dioceses and churches hold a service of lament on Holy Monday. This is the reflection on John 12:1-11 which I wrote for that service: John 12:1-11 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped t

I didn't have a sermon for Palm/Passion Sunday. We read Matthew's account of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11) and the story of Jesus' passion and death from Matthew 26:14 -27:66. It's a solemn and heavy story. What more could I say. After the readings, we had a moment of silence to reflect on all that we heard. Then I offered the following poem. The contrast of going from shouts of "Hosanna" to shouts of "Crucify" captivated me all week. As I pondered and wrestl

Luke 23:39–43 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in [ k ] your kingdom.” 43 He replie

John 11:1-45 Once again, this is a very long reading and is included at the end of the sermon. Sermon There are times when you know it’s hopeless. It’s beyond hopeless. Hope is deader than dead. Thomas facing one of those times · · Jesus and gang are ‘across the Jordan’ because the Judean leaders tried to stone him – they barely escaped. · · The disciples are in no hurry to go back to Judea – certain death awaits Jesus there – and probably f

John 13:1–9, 33–35 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already decided [ a ] that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from supper, took off

The gospel reading is John 9:1-45. As it is lenghty, I have included at the end of this post. There’s seeing and then there’s seeing       ‘The man born blind” or the blind man or the formerly blind man, etc. is a lot to have to say over and over in a sermon.  His traditional name is Celidonius. That’s still a mouthful, so I’m going to call him Kel.     The disciples saw   · A sinner -   · Sickness as punishment  · So

A Quick 10-point Summary of Romans 13 I want to end by sharing an excellent 10-point summary of Romans 13:1-7 that you can keep as a “quick reference” on hand, which was created by New Testament scholar Michael J. Gorman: 1. Various aspects of the meaning of Romans 13:1-7 are debated, but its main original intent was to say to the Roman Christians, “Pay your taxes” (Romans 13:7). The text is not a call to blind obedience to all authorities and laws. 2. Whatever Romans 1

Are You Speaking to Me? Another way people misuse Romans 13 is to make a distinction between commands given to individuals and to civil authorities. Part of the confusion is that English does not distinguish between the singular and plural second person (those pesky pronouns!). It’s so easy to read “you” singular, where it really says “you all.” Take Leviticus 19:33-34. In English it reads: “ When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the

Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely When the Israelites first entered the Promised land, they had no king. God was their king. Priests administered justice, judges were raised when the people were besieged by outsiders. But the people were not satisfied. In fact, they were afraid. They wanted security from invasion. They wanted a king, like the other nations. They got their king, but not without this warning: “ Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to t

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval, for it is God’s agent for your good. But if y