Jesus' warning in the gospel reading for today is that it's not about who we know or who we associate with that opens up the Realm of God for us. We should also say that it's not about doing good things either, like contributing to the offering.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 23a – 15-October-23”
In the story for today, Jesus talks about people who selfishly try to keep the blessings and love of God to themselves. That's the one thing we can't afford to do as the church.
There are a lot of things going on in the church, but all of them have one thing in common: They're all ways that we demonstrate the love of God, freely given to all people.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 22a – 8-October-23”
As has been said, the problem with the Pharisees was not that they weren't trying to do good. It was that they were also limiting who was seen to be worthy of the good works they did and who was welcome in worship and the life of their faith community.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 21 – 1-October-23”
The economics of Jesus are very different from the economics we encounter in the world around us. In the Church, our economics have one foot in the Realm of God and the other in our world. We have to pay in order to keep the lights on and the water flowing but we also use our resources to help people see God's love in action and catch a glimpse of what our world could be if we all loved as God loves us.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 20a – 24-September-23”
The scripture for today is one of those that show us how the Church is supposed to be run differently than any of the other institutions we come into contact with. Our whole "business" is built around the concept of building community and as highlighted in the scripture, treating others with love and forgiveness.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Proper 19a – 17-September-23”
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”