“But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?'” (Luke 10:29) When I first arrived at Washington National Cathedral twenty-five years ago, the Cathedral gave me three things. Two prayer books, one black, one red. And a Day Planner. The Day Planner was larger than the prayer book and that should have told me something. But the psychology behind Day Planners was revealing. For those of you not old enough to remember the horse and buggy... Read more
This last Sunday, I was fully prepared to preach from the lections for the day. Instead, I felt moved to offer the following message. A link to the recording appears below. The outline captures the heart of the sermon. The Christian faith is Good News in a broken world, It is not fake news that the world isn’t broken. God does not flood rivers and drown children. God in Christ is someone who wades in the water... Read more
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the... Read more
In the period between 381 and 384 AD, a woman named Egeria made a remarkable journey from Spain to the Holy Land in order to participate in the services of Easter. Even more remarkably, she wrote and published her diary, which stands today as the earliest and most complete description the early church’s liturgical celebration of Holy Week. Her pilgrimage provided the foundation for the services that we celebrate today. Unchanged in their significance from the earliest times, these services... Read more
Friends, today I continue my series on miracles. This fourth and final article focuses on the place of the miracles in our own experience. +++ It is one thing to talk about miracles. It is another to talk about their place in our experience. If someone asked me, “Have you seen miracles?” My first question would be, “What do you have in mind when you use the word?” As you will have gathered from the first three reflections, I don’t... Read more
Friends, today I continue my series on miracles. This third article focuses on the place of the miracles in the teaching of Jesus and, in particular, their relationship to his focus on the Kingdom of God. +++ Historically, the miracles of Jesus have been a deal-breaker. Thomas Jefferson famously created his own Gospel, cutting all of them out of his version. A German theologian by the name of Rudolf Bultmann “demythologized” the Gospels. In this country Harry Emerson Fosdick, who... Read more
Friends, today I continue my series on miracles. But before I venture into that subject, first I would like to briefly restate the point that I made last week in my reflection, “Miracles are not biblical”. As I said, I am aware that title could be provocative. It could be read as saying, “It isn’t biblical to believe that God is at work in the world.” But that was not my point. What is unbiblical is our modern definition of... Read more
This article begins a brief series on miracles. I realize that just the title will raise questions, and some readers will wonder, then what are all of those events that the Gospels describe. I will deal with that question in an article to come. Today, give me the space to explain today’s title. The focus of this reflection will be John’s Gospel, chapter one, verses one through five: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,... Read more
Few people have paid the price that Salman Rushdie has paid for his dedication to telling the truth. The implicit criticism of Islam imbedded in his book, Satanic Verses, earned him a fatwa calling for his assassination. And, after a prolonged period of good fortune, in August of 2023, he suffered a near fatal knife attack that cost him his sight in one eye. One has to take seriously that kind of sacrifice and the insights that follow from it.... Read more
Going all the way back to my childhood, one of my interests has been World War II. It was probably prompted by the fact that my father and my uncle were both in the Army Air Corps. And I have vivid memories of seeing the plexiglass hearts that my grandmother wore, which bore the insignia of the Air Corps. Of course, there are more than personal reasons for familiarizing ourselves with the choices that World War II generation faced. Hard... Read more
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