“Hey, what a sec!” we may be saying to ourselves. “What’s going on here? Isn’t Jesus supposed to be the Prince of Peace?” And if we’re thinking of dismissing this passage as something that the historical Jesus couldn’t possibly have said, we may be chagrined to learn that some contemporary New Testament scholars argue that the pointed sa
You and I need that encouragement, don’t we? It is so easy to lose heart, so tempting to think that our efforts to serve God, our efforts to heal and protect and bring forth life on this planet are for naught. We can feel that hopelessness not only in our personal lives, but in our collective life, too. It can…
Starting today, for six weeks our lectionary includes passages from Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia. Over these six weeks, we’ll have a chance to immerse ourselves in Galatians, to ponder the epistle almost in its entirety. I am delighted, because this letter includes one of my all-time favorite lines in the w
The other day I was having lunch with my friend Andrea Ayvazian, the pastor of the UCC church in Haydenville, and we got to talking about how curious it is that Luke says that the disciples responded to Jesus’ ascension “with great joy.” Joy? Why joy? The disciples had already said goodbye to Jesus once. They had watched him s
What a week it has been. We’ve been in shock. We’ve wept over the death of innocents. We’ve been forced to consider the softness of the human body, how vulnerable it is to being wounded and maimed. We’ve seen how swiftly a day of accomplishment and joy can be transformed into a scene of unbearable carnage and loss. We’ve wat
Yet somewhere in the dark, in this world in which it seems sometimes that no one cares we are lost there is no meaning anymore, no longer any ground for hope still, there is a house where someone is bending down to anoint another person’s feet. The gesture is an act of blessing, an anointing for burial,…
So when we hear Jesus say, “Unless you repent, you will perish,” many of us probably wince and pull back. We don’t want to be party to a religious faith that seems to promote self-righteousness, on the one hand, or abject fear, on the other. We don’t want to be like that imagined street preacher who has an angry, judging…
Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent, February 24, 2013. Delivered by the Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Grace St. Paul's Church, Tucson, Arizona. Listen to an audio recording. Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Now I don’t have a problem with being clear about the challenges of life, but isn’t it true that something in us hungers for more than a life filled with complaints and regret? Isn’t it true that we want more out of life - and to give more to life - than to find ourselves perpetually hemmed in by frustration…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth... No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close…
