The Lord is “robed in majesty,” yes, and high and lifted up, but the scripture he has given us: it is given through our own mouths, and portrays our own plight, is right down here on the ground with us, in the mud and the blood and the gore.
Category Archives: Faith and life
Roe v. Wade and everything else
Praying the Lord’s Prayer again in the context of current events.
SKANDAL! A Sermon on Mark 9:42–50
For American Christians today, Mark 9:42–50 conveys a stern warning from Jesus about confusing Christianity with nationalism and destroying the credibility of the gospel in other ways.
Reading Matthew: Make disciples
Beginnings and endings of books can help us grasp and remember what the books mean. Recently I finished reading through Exodus and left some thoughts on what that book means in light of its ending. I have also just finished reading through the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew begins with a genealogy that grounds the meaningContinue reading “Reading Matthew: Make disciples”
Reading Exodus: Holiness means obedience
When you’re reading a text, some parts carry more weight than others. Even if every word matters, some words shape how you understand other words. If we’re reading well, and trusting the text, we could say that every word affects how you understand every other word. But in practice some words—some parts of the text—affectContinue reading “Reading Exodus: Holiness means obedience”
What to do with suffering
How I make sense of the pain I saw in the hospital last week.
Grief and gratitude
My mother died Thursday evening. For me she is an icon of the fruit of the Spirit.
The real choice
The most basic choice you make is not between left and right, liberal and conservative. Something else is more basic.
Claiming innocence (Psalm 69)
Really, Psalmist? Again? More tears, more moaning, more self-pity? More in number than the hairs of your head? So you have counted them? Either the hairs or the enemies? Good lord, if you had a violin in addition to that harp somebody in your own house would have to shoot you. Are you sure aboutContinue reading “Claiming innocence (Psalm 69)”
All day long (Romans 10:21)
“ALL DAY LONG I HAVE HELD OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.” —Romans 10:21, citing Isaiah 65:2 How to feel about the recalcitrant? (Here is just another lesson in the long course in imitatio Dei that is the Christian life.) They just don’t get it. Are they incapable of understanding? Do theyContinue reading “All day long (Romans 10:21)”
Verba Sparsa 