“Let’s get our priorities straight!” seems to be the message of this morning’s readings from Scripture. With the liturgical year coming to a close, the church turns its attention to the “End Times,” thus framing the Christian year with apocalyptic images. The challenge to Christians is how to incorporate the sense of urgency contained in…

“Whose wife will the woman be?” Isn’t that a great question? The Sadducees were the oldest and most conservative of the major religious groups of Jesus’ day. One of their big disagreements with the Pharisees and other groups was over the fairly new notion that there would be a personal resurrection after death. The Sadducees…

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a parable about an unjust judge and a poor widow woman. Like all parables, this story has more than one layer of meaning. It was intended, Luke tells us, to remind the disciples about the need for persistence in prayer and in their lives. An obvious interpretation when reading this…

Today, let’s talk about family albums, including the one all of us share. In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A prized possession for many families is their photo album. I am sure that many of us have photo albums, or collections of slides or videos, that are important to us. A…

“Increase our faith!” the disciples say to Jesus in this morning’s Gospel. Jesus replies with the parable of the mustard seed (Luke 17:6). A little faith can have a huge impact. These are encouraging words to people in small congregations, small religious communities around the world, because small numbers of faithful people can make a…

This is the time of the year when congregations begin to think about the annual stewardship Sunday, or, as one colleague calls it, “The Fall Begathon!” In most congregations, this season is dreaded by the leadership-but someone has to do it. If everything goes well, the budget is met by pledges and promises, and if…

It must have seemed like such a great idea. The Pharisees invite Jesus over for dinner thinking, no doubt, that they could humble him. That is surely what is meant by the words, “they were watching him.” You know, knock him down a few pegs, as they say. Expose him for the fraud he most…

Can you imagine what it’s like to experience an earthquake? I don’t mean a tremor that makes the china cabinet rattle — I mean an EARTHQUAKE that cracks streets, splits open houses, throws people to the floor, an earthquake where walls move, furniture slides, and you’re desperate to hang onto something solid. Can you imagine…

We human beings are stubborn. We may understand, or at least we may have heard, that we are God’s people and that our promise of salvation, of redemption, was purchased at great price. A price that was so great, God’s sacrifice of his only Son, it is hard for us to grasp what it might…