Entangled States

This weekend as we observe Juneteenth as a federal holiday for the first time in American history, and celebrate the month long observance of Pride, we have a Gospel reading about the storms on the Sea of Galilee.  Tertullian first noted that these storms arose as the disciples were crossing to Gentile lands, under the control of the Roman Empire. He remarked that the Church in those days experienced conflict and persecution as it sought […]

One of the basic teachings of Christianity is that it is Jesus who saves us from the consequences of our misbehavior, from our sins. We can not, and do not save ourselves. That’s both deeply freeing and very hard to internalize. Even though I know it I still act as if I don’t really believe it – and believe that if I just work hard enough, I can manage my salvation. There’s a similar thing […]

This Sunday’s Gospel begins with people trying to understand how Jesus is able to cast out the spiritual powers that have rebelled against God. People try to understand what is happening in earthly terms, in light of their experience in a created order that has gone sideways from God’s original plan. And when they do that, they fundamentally miss the point of what is happening. The key to understanding this parable (as Jesus describes it) […]

Jesus came into the world proclaiming God’s love and not God’s condemnation of the world. We humans are exceedingly good at condemning ourselves and each other – particularly the people we know, or at least think we know. But God’s not human. And our ways our not God’s ways. This Sunday, rather than preach on the ancient doctrine of the Trinity as the revealed truth of God’s nature, I’m taking a different tack. As we […]

A year ago we had dreamed of reopening congregations in Rhode Island on the Feast of Pentecost. But it was not to be. But this year, in 2021, on this Feast Day, the Governor has removed our restrictions on gathering so carefully and deliberately, the day has come. It will be a while before things seem more like they did prior to the beginning of the pandemic. But the Spirit of God has brought us […]

What I find fascinating in this week’s reading from Acts is the way they decided to chose the next Apostle, and the faith that they displayed in so doing. First, they began to prepare for the future. (Twelve was an important number, but it stopped being the defining number. Apostles were killed, or died. New Apostles emerged or were elected. The Way of Love began to spread.) They believed that they had a future. They […]

This week, a familiar Gospel reading is paired with the US observance of Mother’s Day. It’s a brilliant match, one that I wished happened more often as the secular occasion helps to illustrate more deeply the message that Jesus gives to his disciples the night of his betrayal and arrest. Mother’s Day has a complicated history here in the US and I suppose that is paralleled by the complicated emotions that Mother’s Day brings up […]

Jesus describes himself as the True Vine in this week’s Gospel reading. And he says that if we abide in him, then we can ask whatever we want and we will receive it. And yet, for most of us (all of us?) that doesn’t seem to be happening. Perhaps what we need to focus on is not our fear that somehow we are failing God and will be cut off. Perhaps what we need to […]

Some Sundays of the liturgical year have names that relate to the lessons that are (or were) traditionally read that week. This Sunday which is just such an occasion, is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. We hear Jesus describe himself as the Good Shepherd of the flock that he has come to call into being. While there are many traditional ways of understanding this particular image, there might well be meaning that would resonate with […]

Both Luke’s and John’s Gospels include accounts of the resurrected Jesus appearing in the Upper Room to his disciples and showing them the wounds that his transformed body still carries. The wounds on the transformed person signify many things. Among others, they show us that this is the same person who suffered and died. And, they show us that this body is a new creation, which exists in a different way than the old body […]