Entangled States

The Transfiguration reminds us: the voices worth listening to are often the ones being dismissed. Throughout Scripture, God's people repeatedly misunderstand what God is doing. And in our own time? We see this same pattern. We divide over worship styles, over politics, over who's in and who's out, while the prophetic call to care for the vulnerable, to seek justice, to practice mercy gets drowned out by certainty and self-righteousness.

Jesus is saying something challenging: the community he's building doesn't operate on the logic of retaliation. It breaks cycles instead of perpetuating them.

Jesus describes a world where the poor are lifted up, the mourners are comforted, the peacemakers are honored, and those who suffer for righteousness are named as blessed. Micah describes a people shaped by justice, kindness, and humble faithfulness. Both texts point toward a way of life that runs directly against the grain of the principalities and powers of this world. The message of the Cross is that this way of life — this way […]

We are never really ready to respond when God appears in our life and calls us to action. And that doesn't seem to matter. What matters is trusting that God will supply what we lack as we respond in faith to what God expects.

At the end of the Gospel we hear on Christmas Eve, we are told that Mary pondered these things in her heart. She did not rush to explain them. She did not try to resolve all the questions. She held them—patiently, prayerfully—allowing their meaning to unfold over time. That may be the most faithful response available to us right now. Rather than rushing ahead to the next obligation, the next resolution, the next task, what […]

An excerpt from my sermon linked below: Christmas has a way of feeling as though it exists outside of time. The music, the ritual, the familiarity can give the impression that we are stepping into something eternal. And in a sense, we are. But at the heart of this celebration is not an idea or a feeling. It is an event. Something that happened on a particular night, in a particular place, to particular people. […]

The portion of the Gospel according to Matthew we read this day tells the story of Jesus’ birth in a way that is, at first glance, surprisingly restrained. There are no shepherds here, no angels filling the sky with song, no frantic journey to Bethlehem. Instead, Matthew gives us a quiet, almost domestic scene, focused not on Mary, but on Joseph. Joseph, we are told, is a righteous man. And his righteousness shows itself not […]