1 Timothy 4 During this season of Lent, on this Ember Friday, we continue the theme of Ember Days and especially that of Lent. “What should I give up for Lent?” That’s the question we often hear. This can become a mere formality, as with any part of the spiritual life, and it can even become flippant. When I lived on Long Island, surrounded by Irish and Italian Roman Catholics (and a few Jews), we token Protestants heard about... Read more
John 10:1-30 – Part I I’m trying something a little different today. Since I found so much to say about Jesus the Good Shepherd and us as the good sheep, and since the lectionary divides John 10 into several readings, I’m going to write an extended meditation on John 10 over the next 3 lessons, beginning today and concluding on Monday and Tuesday of next week (Lent 2). Sometimes the simplest stories are also the most profound ones. Exhibit A:... Read more
2 Corinthians 4 Today is an Ember Day, Ember Days being days in which we are to focus on fasting and prayer. On this Ember Wednesday, we contemplate our weakness and God’s strength, a truth brought home every time we fast or suffer any kind of deprivation. In this way, Ember Days and 2 Corinthians 4 should be seen as means of coming closer to God by recognizing our own weakness and the necessity of depending on the Lord for... Read more
John 9:24-41 I love the sighted man in John 9: he’s one of my favorite characters in all of the Bible. He’s got guts, he’s got charm, and he knows how to poke disbelievers in Jesus Christ in the eye. He had the kind of irrepressible attitude that all of the rest of us blind men who were healed need to have. I call him the sighted man because that is who he is after he has experienced Jesus Christ:... Read more
John 9:1-23 “I AM!” Jesus, being God, says. I AM. I exist. I am the origin and source of all being. I am the Creator and Sustainer of all reality. I am before and after time and in time and outside of time. I am the definition of love and beauty and truth and good. I AM. When I AM speaks, things happen. When I AM first spoke, He spoke the world into existence, out of nothing. I AM said... Read more
Hidden in Paul’s argument is one of the secrets of the spiritual life. Read more
I am the moon, but You are the Son I only reflect your eminence: all of the light that flares forth from me is but a fraction of your prominence. Read more
There will be glory for God’s children, alright, but only for those who have first humbled themselves before the Giver of every good gift. Read more
Hebrews 12:1-17 Hebrews Chapter 12 is the crescendo of the majestic and glorious symphony of themes that the writer of Hebrews has been conducting. I wish the lectionary divided it up into smaller movements because there is so much to meditate on. Chapter 11 is the astounding Hall of Faith, an amphitheater filled with our heroes, those saints and martyrs who obeyed God in faith and have become our examples. But Chapter 12 takes them out of the arena itself... Read more
Mark 10:1-16 “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” These are very strong words that Jesus has spoken, and we must take them seriously. Knowing that God has created marriage and that He hates divorce, we should take Jesus’ words very seriously. I don’t intend to enter into an argument about the exceptions to what seems to be an absolute statement by Jesus... Read more
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