The Gospel lesson on Sunday looked at the opening verses of the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew. I talked about the revolutionary way Jesus was trying to teach the marginalized how to prevent becoming victims. I had two great quotes to support this idea. Several people asked for copies, so I thought I’d share one today and the other tomorrow. In considering this passage my preaching professor Fred Craddock noted: God’s favor is granted to those society regards as... Read more

It is amusing how rightwing pundits and politicians frequently refer to the “founding fathers.” Two things amuse me about that. First, they act as if there were no “founding mothers.” Cokie Roberts recently wrote a children’s book by that title, in the hope that young people might grow up free of that illusion. (I wonder how different America might be if our founding mothers had held a bit more sway!) The other thing I find amusing about the conservatives’ deification... Read more

In his book The Underground Church, my colleague in the United Church of Christ, Robin Meyers writes: The cruelest of American myths is that everyone has exactly the same opportunity to succeed. In the Underground Church we know that the truth can set us free, but only if we speak it and then live it. Not only does the marketplace not solve all the problems of life, but it also creates some of the worst ones. If the church is... Read more

My friend the late Peter Gomes used to love to describe a famous New Yorker cartoon that showed two upper class parishioners leaving church and shaking the preacher’s hand. In the caption, the wife, in her fur and jewels, says to her well-heeled husband, “It can’t be easy for him not to offend us.” As someone who is trying to renew a congregation, I completely understand the instinct to water down some of Jesus’ more confrontational teachings. We have done... Read more

The Gospel lesson for Sunday is the Beatitudes. These are some of the favorite verses for many people. When people say that, I silently think, “Well, then you haven’t really understood what Jesus was saying.” Perhaps the message is clearer in Luke 6 where, instead of just saying “Blessed are the …,” Jesus adds some pretty significant “woes”: But woe unto you that are rich for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full for ye shall... Read more

Some days it just doesn’t pay to read the paper or the Internet. Almost every day I read something that shocks me about how inhumane humans have become when it comes to wealth and money. Today I read: In 2005, the FDA granted approval for a promising new cancer-fighting drug called Nexavar. Bayer took it to market shortly thereafter, and it is currently an approved treatment for late-stage kidney and liver cancer. That is, so long as you live in... Read more

Roger Bannister was an Olympic athlete at a time when track and field experts were convinced that no runner could break the four-minute-mile barrier. Ostensibly, scientists told us that human beings simply can’t run that fast, for that length of time. “Experts” conducted all sorts of studies to prove beyond a doubt that it was impossible to run a four-minute mile … but then young Roger came along. Roger wasn’t so sure about that. Instead of believing that it was... Read more

Every person, just like every church, needs hope and a vision for the future. What are one or two things that you hope to see in the days, weeks, and months ahead? Read more

After spending five days with the wonderful people of the United Church of Canada, it will be good to spend tonight in my own bed. I was so honored to be invited to participate with them and to lead a day-long workshop at the end of the conference. There were many things that struck me about this time, and there is much that I will ponder in the days and weeks to come. As a Southerner and an American, I... Read more

You cannot teach what you have not learned, and you cannot lead where you have not been. Read more