O God, Creator and Ground of All Being, We come together because we need you, We need each other, And we need to hear your Word.  And if we hear it here, may we be so possessed by it  That we become servants of it out in your world. We pray this in Christ who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.   It is told that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on a cross between two other crosses, on each of which hung a convicted thief. One of the thieves joined in the chorus of an unruly cro

There are weeks when the lectionary readings feel uncomfortably close to home—like a “ripped from the headlines” TV episode. When Jesus talks about the destruction of the temple, the collapse of kingdoms, wars and uprisings, earthquakes, families divided, people betrayed—it can feel painfully familiar. There’s war and unrest. Political tension and distrust. People struggling to buy groceries or navigate a healthcare system that so often feels impossible. Families stretched to

When I dropped Mac off for daycare on Friday, Halloween, I have never met a room of more joyful 3- and 4-year-old boys in my life. This was because on this day, the boys weren’t just boys, but instead they were the Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, Batman, and a Ninja Turtle. The amazement with which they all took each other in—recognizing their favorite characters in the faces and on the bodies of some of their best buddies—was  so  joy-filled, so wonder-filled. The way the

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. This is how Luke introduces today’s story. Not, “to the Pharisees,” not “to the crowd,” not “to the disciples.” To “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.” Jesus has been moving back and forth in this part of Luke’s Gospel—sometimes speaking to the disciples, sometimes to the Pharisees, sometimes to the crowds. This time, the audience is inte