Truth-tellers are uncomfortable folk to be around. We proudly show Uncle John and Aunt Pat our church building. We do so with a certain amount of trepidation and particularly because they claim some sort of superior knowledge about church architecture. To make matters worse the rector bumps into us as we are going into the…

Who first said, “Show me the money?” No, not Cuba Gooding, Jr, but in today’s Gospel, it is Jesus who says, “Show me the money … used for the tax!” (RSV) The Gospel is not about the separation of church and state. Such a thing never would have occurred to anyone in first century Israel….

A man flips lazily through the television channels and stops for a few minutes to look at a religious program. He then turns the set off, gets up, and walks into the hall where he encounters his wife. “Will you,” he asks her, “be ready when the Bridegroom comes?” “Yes,” she responds quickly, “I have…

Among the most powerful forces we experience in life are expectations. Some expectations come from other people. Parents, spouses, peers, bosses, friends, children, neighbors, customers, and plenty of others all have their expectations of us. They expect certain things regarding our speech, our behavior, our character. Often, the most influential expectations are the ones that…

A grandmother tells about growing up the oldest of four children. “My mother was always very fair,” she said. “She didn’t play favorites. We always knew that we could count on her to be fair. But my father — well, that was another story. The truth is, I grew up secure in the knowledge that…

Some of you might have seen the film Signs this summer. Behind the scary, horror movie surface of its narrative is the very human story of a priest whose wife has recently been killed in a car accident. As a result, the priest finds he is losing his faith in God. He has taken off…

Paul’s twelfth chapter in the letter to the church in Rome and the sixteenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, both seek to open to us the mysteries of a life lived with God. Herein lies the heart of the good news. Characteristically, it is good news that sounds like bad news before we find a way…