You can sense the end of the “church year” is in sight. You can tell that the celebration of “Christ the King” is right around the corner. Christ the King is coming… “A National Day of Thanksgiving” is looming and that means that “Advent” cannot be far behind. The lessons sound “a bit foreboding.” When […]

First there was the “Black lives matter” movement. Then, that was quickly followed with “Blue Lives matter” movement. And then ultimately it was realized and stated that “All lives matter.” Well, I have a new movement for you…all lives “lived before ours” – matter, as well. Lives lived “simultaneously” with that of our own – […]

You do realize that we are supposed to “like” the sinner. We are to side with the hated and the despised tax collector. Imagine, siding with the tax collector – I thought that was something only reluctantly done…and usually begrudgingly after an extremely difficult audit has occurred! The Pharisee by pointing out someone else – […]

Our gospel text is unique to Luke. Jesus is speaking to the 12 disciples, though throughout this entire section, the Pharisees are still within earshot. So, they are over-hearing his every teaching. And they are probably listening pretty intently to his every word. And again, probably they have more ulterior motives. Like entrapment! This is […]

I have always loved the story of the 10 lepers. I have appreciated it – since my childhood. Back-in-the-day, it was the Gospel text for Thanksgiving Day – usually every year (or so it seemed.) You always walked away, knowing “which leper” you wanted to be. (Which is kind of a crazy thought – in […]

When things are going well, it is all but taken for granted. It is not in the forefront of our minds. It almost seems to lie dormant until necessary. Seldom spoken of…often times ignored. It is a gift. It was free. It cost us nothing. Some people long for it, while others deny its very […]

The disciples make their plea directly to Jesus: “Increase our faith,” they say. There is always so much to do. There are seemingly so many problems. “Increase our faith.” Help us out here, please! There are so many challenges in our lives and in our world. There are so many needs. And of course, this […]

Jesus is at it again! I tell you – he changes everything! And usually with a simple story. Before us, we have a story of “contrasting characters.” As we have discussed before, Luke tells us more about money and wealth than any other Gospel writer. Jesus is exposing the problems that lie behind “the love […]

Jesus has been hanging out in Galilee (where he is most comfortable) and now we find him traveling toward Jerusalem. Crowds continue to gather and grow wherever he goes…because, well, he’s a pretty cool guy. He’s been healing folks along the way. Demons are cast out. He’s even trending on Twitter. Hash-tag #Oneawesomedude! He even […]

I have been reading articles on downsizing of late. It is something that has bothered me since Lent. It is something I am only recently taking seriously. We are savers. We are packrats. We are hoarders. We are collectors. We have our stuff. We put people who lived through the “great depression” to shame. I […]