[RCL] Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21 Obituaries are about the life, not the death. The death is the occasion, but it’s usually reported in just one sentence, maybe with a detail—a disease, a condition, a struggle, an accident – and an age. We appraise: so young; a long life; so sudden;…

[RCL]: Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21 Doesn’t Jesus make you feel a bit uncomfortable, sometimes? And other times, he’s maybe even more than that, even a bit annoying! Today, for example, he tells us to be on guard against all kinds of greed, that our life does not consist in the…

Right now in the world there is lots of tension on the issues of income and wealth inequality. I am not an economist or social scientist so I will not get into these complicated aspects. However, This Sunday’s scriptures do offer us some reflection from a Christian perspective. Jesus has taught us the two great…

“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.” What thoughts does this quote from today’s gospel reading bring up for you? Did you think, “Awesome! We need to talk more about greed”? Or was it more like, “Oh, no. Here it comes: stewardship season and another Sermon on the Amount”? The topic…

There is a popular saying for church signs, “Too Blessed to Be Depressed.” It’s a nice idea, isn’t it? Think about being so blessed by God and knowing it, that you can’t possibly be depressed. That is a wonderful thought. Unfortunately, it’s not scriptural. Very seldom does theology do well condensed to bumper-sticker length. And…

Jesus had just said, “When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say.” Then suddenly, out of the blue, someone in the crowd shouted to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with…

This very night your life is being demanded of you. (Luke 12:20) A perceptive parishioner once posed this question: “What would you do differently,” she asked her Bible study group, “if you knew you were going to live forever?” Although she posed the question in a light-hearted moment, her query went to the heart of…

There is a delightful book called Tales From a Magic Monastery, by Theophane the Monk, (Crossroad, New York, 1981), that you might enjoy reading some day. It’s a collection of stories set in a very special monastery “off over there somewhere” — a place where the truth is always acted out. This is what happened to…

In our Gospel today, Jesus says to us, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Recently, I heard the story of a older woman who, over the course of her life, had accumulated a large number of quilts. She had about 25 quilts, most of which had been handed down to her…