“Home By Another Way”
Warned in a dream not to go back the way they came, they went home “by another way” (Matthew 2:12). To put it a different way, they were led on a detour … for their own good. I made a note to self this week: Self, the Bible teaches that sometimes God sends us on a detour for our own good.
“Christmas Eve: Sleep in Heavenly Peace”
And then it happened: the woman’s mother began to move her lips to form the words I was singing. No sound came out, just the whispered shape of the words on her lips: Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.
“Love Waits for Us”
I thought to myself, “What kind of sign is that?” The angels’ announcement is of the birth of a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And what is the sign that accompanies an event of such earth-shaking, world-changing, life-transforming magnitude? (Drum roll, please) … a baby in a layette in a feed trough. I ask you: is that kind of sign proportional to that kind of announcement?
“Joy Waits for Us"
What do you make of this? Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Mind you, he’s in a Roman jail cell. How can he be rejoicing? He lifts his head and hands and rejoices when he ought to be burying his head in his hands and sighing. How can that be? What that says to me is that joy – biblical joy – is apparently not dependent upon external circumstances, but upon an awareness of God’s presence in all circumstances.
“Hope Waits for Us”
Advent is supposed to begin in Exile. Advent doesn’t begin shopping for doorbuster specials on Black Friday or surfing the web for bargains on Cyber Monday or in the garage or attic rummaging for those boxes marked "Christmas." No, Advent rightly begins in Exile because by definition the word Advent means coming. Coming as in the coming of a Savior to people who are in exile. Coming as in “Coming for to carry me home!” Exile is the natural habitat of Advent.
“What’s He Going to Say?"
By what criteria will we be judged? “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the nations are gathered before him... he shall separate people one from another … by what criteria? When I was in school, I mostly paid attention to what the teacher was saying. But when the teacher said, “This is going to be on the test,” I was all ears. Well, the Bible says one day our lives are going to be graded – judged. So, when the Teacher, the Rabbi from Galilee, tells us what’s going to be on the Test, the criteria by which God will judge us, we’re all ears.
Three Words for Our World: Gratitude
When I was in elementary school, our teacher gave us a piece of paper and told us to write the letters T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G vertically down the left margin. Then, next to each letter we were to write something for which we were thankful that began with that letter. It was a neat little exercise in counting your blessings.
Three Words for our World: Generosity
Is it any wonder Jesus recognized extravagant generosity when he saw it? God, after all, is the gracious giver par excellence. The tagline of a commercial says “Nobody out-pizzas The Hut.” Well, nobody out-generouses God!
Three Words for our World: Gentleness
Is gentleness enough to go up against this world’s stockpile of violence? I know Paul tells us to “clothe ourselves with gentleness,” but frankly, wouldn’t a Kevlar vest be better? Or a suit of armor?
“Twas the Night before All Saints”
‘Twas the night before All Saints Day, when all through my house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even my spouse
Who had placed jack ‘o lanterns by our front door with care
In hopes trick-or-treaters soon would be there…
A poem for All Saints Day featuring Broadway’s children.
“Homecoming 523 B.C.E.”
I asked myself, Which book of the Bible would might give us some direction on what to do in liminal time; tell us where to go from here? I nominate the book of Ezra. Maybe we can learn from our forebears in faith, the people of Israel who, 2,500 years ago, had their own Homecoming in 523 BCE.
“Come Home to Ministry”
Each October, many Disciples of Christ churches designate a mid-month week in October as Week of the Ministry, an opportunity to uplift God’s call of all of us to ministry. Our baptisms serve as our ordination certificates. Our lifetime vocation as ministers of the gospel is to love and serve God and neighbor. Be assured we’re all called to ministry.
“You Might be a Disciple if…”
I thought of Jeff Foxworthy this week as I pondered the identifying characteristics of the church family into which Broadway was born 65 years ago. Just as children grow up with a resemblance to their parents, Broadway grew up with the distinguishing characteristics of our parent denomination. So, I thought I’d name the characteristics of Disciples of Christ in Jeff Foxworthy by saying: You might be a Disciple if… With gratitude to Dr. Robert Welsh
“Grumbling at Grace”
The first-hired laborers grumbled at that grace. No fair! Which suggests to me that if we think God pays by the hour, we’ll consign ourselves to living life with a perpetual peripheral stinkeye always looking for people who seem to be getting more than we think they deserve.
“The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant”
A guy is forgiven 7.84 billion by a king but then turns around and refuses to forgive – and punishes – someone who owed him a measly 14k. We and the fellow slaves in the parable are rightly “distressed.” That’s outrageous! How can someone forgiven so much, be so unforgiving? Jesus’ holy hyperbole has made its point.
The Parable of the Talents
Six years ago, I was reading this passage and as I was traipsing through, saying, “I know this one,” I got tripped up, slowed down and brought to a standstill. I got hung up on the way the man handing out the talents is characterized. This nasty Master is not the God we know in Jesus Christ!
The Parable of the Unjust Judge: Don’t Ever Lose Heart
Luke tells us Jesus told his disciples this parable about their need to pray always... and not to lose heart. Jesus knew what we all know: when you run up against people who have no regard for God and no respect for others, you can lose heart.
The Parable of the Sower & the Seed
Let me tell you something. You are living proof that gospel seed manages to take root and bear fruit in some of the darndest places. Yes, you. You’re not here by accident. A seed at some point somewhere thanks to somebody found its way into your ear canal and made its made way all the way in. The Sower’s seed was sown in you. And it took! ...
Click here to see the video of “The Parable of the Sower & the Seed”
I Love to Tell the Story
My turn now to tell how I came to faith and how my faith has matured over the years. When I was growing up, I had a choice on Sunday. I could go to church with Mom or stay at home and work around the house with Dad. Going to church with Mom was the lesser of two evils…