We come to prepare the way: The way for Christ. We come to hear the good news: the hope of Christ. We come longing for divine hope to enter our hearts, to enter our world. We come to cry out together in the wilderness: “Oh, kingdom of heaven come near.” We come to be part…
The post below is excerpted from a longer sermon on 2 Kings 7. I know our primary reading is about Elisha, but first I want to share these words from 1 Peter. I want you to not only hear them, but to know them and to hold them and to carry them with you back…
Sunday morning at the beginning of worship, I lit our peace lamp and then I lit four white candles: for Paris, Beirut, Aleppo, and Baghdad. I almost skipped the candle-lighting altogether because I couldn’t figure out how many candles to light. Beirut and Paris, of course. Those were horrific terrorist attacks among people who don’t…
The following reflection is excerpted from my sermon on 2 Kings 4:8-37. In today’s scripture reading, Elisha is referred to as a “man of God” eight times—that’s twice as often as he is referred to by name. I will admit that I’m not quite as convinced as the Shunammite woman that Elisha is…
I wrote this call to worship to accompany our gathering hymn for the month, “Open my Ears, Open my Eyes” (for you Mennonites, that’s Sing the Story #5.) We are still in our Elijah/Elisha sermon series. Whispering God, the noise of the world is loud. Open our ears to your still, small, voice. God of…
[This reflection is excerpted from an earlier sermon.] 1 Samuel 1:4-18 We have before us in the text this morning a very odd scene. There is a woman, probably in her thirties. She comes to the shrine at Shiloh—the most holy of Jewish worship sites in these pre-temple days; the place where the sacred Ark…
I attended my denominational region’s annual conference last weekend. (Don’t be jealous.) And it was remarkable in many ways. On Friday night, we had worship during one of the World Series games, and I only saw one person with an earbud–listening to the game while singing hymns. Even more notably, delegates voted to institute a…
Mark 12:38-44 Let me summarize the common message drawn from the story of the widow’s mite: “Friends, this poor widow gave everything she had to the temple treasury, so pull out your checkbooks and give a lot of money to this church.” But let’s not go there. Let’s back up and consider the context. First…
The Lectionary readings for All Saints Day and All Souls day include lovely words and images of God’s care for us and the Divine promise of eternal life: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” “God will swallow up death forever.” “Death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will be…
In the darkest valley, at the banquet table; in the hard work of life, at the moments of ease; in our day-to-day reality, at times set aside– like this time, now– for worship, for listening, for paying attention; with every step we take: goodness and mercy follow us; our cups overflow.
Spacious Faith 