Jesus speaks to us about restoring broken relationships. That's actually not a bad description of what Church is about. We work on our relationship with God, both individually and as a community. We work on our relationships with each other, so that we can become the beloved community that Jesus began.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation (Gospel) for Proper 18a – 10-September-23”
Jesus stated the paradox, "those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." There's another one very like it: "We gain a lot from giving away."… Read the rest “Offering Meditation (Gospel) for Proper 17 – 3-September-23”
The people of Jesus' time had a lot of ideas about what the Messiah would be like. When Peter says to Jesus, "You are the Messiah, the Christ." he was saying that he was beginning to understand the way that Jesus was messiah.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 16a – 27-August-23”
The gospel passage for today shows that the grace and presence of God are not meant to be kept for some small group. While the Church has not fully understood or embraced that in its history, it does support the idea that the ministries of the Church are not for the Church alone.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 15a – 20-August-23”
There is an interesting sort of balance we need to find in our life of faith. On the one hand, we know, from stories like our scripture for today, that we are to trust God, even when we're in very difficult situations.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation and Prayer for Proper 14a – 13-August-23”
Can you imagine what it would cost to feed a crowd of 5000? ... even with just bread and fish sticks?
While we can count on God's abundance to provide beyond even our imagining, it's just not good stewardship to put the burden of providing for church programs on miracles.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 13a – 6-Aug-23”
What ultimately separates the wheat from the tares? It all comes down to what they produce. The tares grow at the expense of other plants and they produce nothing of value. The wheat, on the other hand, grows to produce life-giving food for the hungry.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 12a – 30-July-23”
In Jesus Parable in the scripture today, we hear about good seed and bad being sown into the same field. We experience this all the time in our lives: Our best impulses war with those that are harmful to ourselves and others.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 11a – 23-July-23”
Jesus told two very different parables, one about seed that is sown everywhere and another about stewards that are rewarded for careful investment. How do we reconcile the one that says that God's abundance should be broadcast all over the place and the other that says that we should be good and careful stewards?… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 10a – 12-July-20”