I was watching Bill Maher this week in tiny increments between paper writing as I nibbled on a sandwich. One of his guests was Jimmy Kimmel, who I, if I may speak openly, do not care for too much. Normally, Bill’s guests are asked questions about pressing issues of the day, but Kimmel was asked about television industry decisions and …
Jubilee: Sabbath for the Land
Vote on Ordination Jubilee Sallie McFague is one of my personal saints. She’s a theological scholar who manages to jump out of every box people put around her, and is a strong voice for ecological and gender justice. She writes in ways compelling both to theological academics and to justice-minded church-goers alike; her work is on the ground and relevant …
The Promised Land
The Week’s Events Jubilee Ordination Candidate Forum About a month ago, a few of us went to hear Kathryn Tanner speak on the ways that finance intersects with our Christian commitments. This was not your average stewardship discussion. While I disagreed with some of her premises, the questions she was asking were fascinating. It just so happens that they intertwine …
Images of Jubilee
Growing up in a fundamentalistish church, I learned to read Scripture in a particular way. It was understood as a monolithic text with a cohesive narrative arc, one story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. This story conveyed information and our task was to receive it. In particular, this story was the story of God’s action in the …
New Life
One of the quirks of doing ministry within the liturgical calendar is that we often have to think about things out of order, so that they might be presented in order. That is, in the middle of Advent, I really should be planning Lent, in a time of hopeful expectation, planning the mournful journey to the tomb. The liturgical calendar …
Celebration and Mourning (Plus: Holy Week, Easter, and a Vote
Holy Week Easter Vote on Pastoral Resident This Sunday, Palm Sunday, is the beginning of Holy Week. The liturgical year began with Advent and the birth of Jesus. One would think that its culmination would be in the death of Jesus after a full year. However, our tradition places that event in the middle of the year signifying that death …
Tears and Laughter
One of the traditional purposes of the church is to proclaim the word of God. Judging by current trends, maybe that’s harder than one would think. My preaching professor told us a story of a young minister who found out ten minutes before a service that he would be filling in to preach. He had never preached before and certainly …
Lost in Death, Found in Life (Plus: Notes on Ordination)
This week’s passage might be the most well-known parable in the Bible. Since it is so well-known, we also know exactly what it means. We are the terrible son, God is the forgiving father, and the bitter brother is, I don’t know, Robert Jeffress? As we discussed last week, the beauty of a parable is that it opens more questions …
Ripped from the Headlines
The lectionary passage this week, Luke 13:1-9, begins with two cryptic news headlines. The first, an apparent murder of Galileans worshiping in the Jerusalem Temple by Roman occupiers. The second, a tragic accident that claimed the lives of eighteen people. The question, then, is a question that we have run into a lot in Luke. Perhaps that is because it …
The Mountain Top and the Ever After
We have two stories from Luke this week: the Transfiguration and Jesus’ Lament for Jerusalem. The Catholic Lectionary in the Second Sunday of Lent always has the story of the Transfiguration. This year is Luke’s year, so we get 9:29-36. Jesus takes Peter and James and John to a mountain top to pray. The disciples just had a lot of …