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When I think about what is the greatest challenge we Christians face today, it is not the coarseness of mass media, or the infringement of our First Amendment rights, or even Sunday morning soccer games. No, the greatest threat we face in our life with God is not any of these usual suspects; rather it’s our refusal to wrestle with God’s Word.

Jesus asks his disciples, if a slave should be rewarded for just doing what they are told to do. No, of course not. Just so, Jesus says, when believers have done what is expected of us, what God commanded, no matter how difficult or how impactful, we should say, “We are worthless slaves. We have only done what we ought to have done.” You can’t find a more explicitly demeaning and denigrating statement of humanity’s state than that.

If you ever study the parables, one of the things you quickly appreciate is how timeless they are, how no matter whether you are living in the 1st century or the 9th or the 21st, they still resonate. The characters and the situations depicted in the stories are ones we can all relate to. It’s natural, then, that in telling the stories today, we might imagine names for the characters, to make them even more relatable. So, in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, say, maybe we’ll ca

Here, Jesus tells the story of a lazy, dishonest manager who gets called on the carpet by his boss for wasting the company’s money. He’s told he has till tomorrow morning to get the books in order to give a full account of his management. Realizing he’s in hot water, the manager gets an idea. He goes to some of his boss’s clients and offers to mark down what they owe. When they ask why, the manager winks at them and says, "Don't ask, but just remember I did you a favor once."

Two years ago, the residents of New York City were surprised to see a new statue adorning the appellate courthouse. Next to statues of famous lawgivers like Moses, Alfred the Great, and Emperor Justinian stood an eight-foot tall, golden figure of a woman. Only this woman was like no woman you’ve ever seen. She had long braids that were curled up to look like rams’ horns and, in the place of arms and feet, she bore a bundle of tentacles. While not exactly menacing, the figure

Transcendence may be dismissed, but the transcendentals—the good, true, and beautiful—continue to exist and to attract us. Few people can honestly say they have no interest at all in these transcendent realities. So, here we have an opportunity to engage with non-believers, to connect their yearning for the good, the true, and the beautiful to God who is goodness, truth and beauty himself.

If there was ever a gospel reading that invited a polite yawn, today’s lesson from Luke might be it. In this passage, Jesus comes across like some sort of 1st-century Miss Manners as he divvies out advice about where to sit when you’re a guest and whom to invite when you are hosting your own dinner.

Among the most popular tales of the Celtic monks of Ireland is the story of St. Brendan. St. Brendan was an Irish monk living in the 6th century. According to legend, he and fourteen monks set sail from Ireland in a small ship known as a coracle or  curragh , in search of the legendary "Island of the Blessed." The details of his fantastic journey, recorded in the 9th-century tale, the  Navagatio , or "The Voyage of St. Brendan," survive in nearly 120 manuscripts and was immen

Proper 16C: Luke 13.10-17 “Now, don’t go getting any ideas.” That’s the message the synagogue leader has for everyone gathered who’d just witnessed the healing of the crippled women. “Not here, not today, not for the rest of you. It’s not right. It’s not proper. It’s the Sabbath. You’ve got six other days to be healed. The Sabbath is off limits. Come back tomorrow.”   Can you imagine seeing someone who’s disabled, who’s been disabled for years, getting healed, cured of their

In our Gospel reading this Sunday, Jesus announces his desire to set the world on fire, to ignite a movement that would spread and ultimately enflame the whole world. Set against the backdrop of Jesus' ardent ambition, Garth Brooks' hit song from the 90s challenges those who wish to "stand outside the fire."  In the emotional and inspirational music video, a high school student with Down syndrome named Brandon decides to not participate in the institution's Special Olympics b

"I have come to set fire to the earth, fire! Oh, I can’t wait to see it all up in flames! Do you think I've come to bring peace? No! Peace is boring! Strife, division! I've come to split up families, divide homes, turn father against son, mother against daughter. Fire! Fire!” Luke has, believe it or not, softened Jesus’ words, for in Matthew’s version Jesus sounds downright violent: "I came not to bring peace, but a sword." A sword!  

More often than not, in everyday usage, “faith” is thought of as being the opposite of reason. Faith is how we believe in something that has no objective basis, “for which there is no proof,” as the dictionary has it. But from that perspective, one could “have faith” that Pluto is made of bleu cheese, or that the city of Richmond will grind to a halt tomorrow on account of a freak snowstorm. One might argue that faith in God is of a different sort than those outlandish  examp

“Teach us to pray,” the disciples ask in this morning’s Gospel. Jesus usually teaches his disciples without their asking to be taught. But with prayer here, it’s different. In this case, the disciples know that they don’t know how to pray, at least they don’t know how to pray like Jesus, so they ask him for instruction.  

In light of the feast day of John the Baptist’s birth (June 24) and our Gospel lesson of his beheading this Sunday, London’s National Gallery has provided a great way to immerse yourself in his story—through art! The museum has produced a ten-video series called  Saint John the Baptist: From Birth to Beheading , in which Professor Ben Quash, director of the Centre for Arts and the Sacred at King’s College, joins Dr. Jennifer Sliwka, curator of art and religion at the National

LECTURE: “The Problems and Possibilities of Visual Theology:The Ascension as a Case Study”  by Jonathan A. Anderson With Ascension Day coming up on May 29 (today!), it’s timely to share this talk given by Jonathan Anderson from a few years ago at Duke Divinity School, where he worked as a postdoctoral associate of theology and the visual arts from 2020 to 2023. Anderson explores a handful of images depicting the Ascension of Christ, a particularly challenging subject because

In our effort to learn about and appreciate the world-wide embrace of Christianity, here are three artworks by Christians on the other side of the world--one contemporary Indian painting and two recordings of Arabic hymns from our brother and sister in the Middle East. Jyoti Sahi (Indian, 1944-), He Who Steps Over-The Tandavan , 1975 In He Who Steps Over—The Tandavan , Sahi draws on Hindu iconography to give us a dancing Christ whose movement over death supplies the primal rh

Frank Wesley (Indian, 1923-2002), As it Began to Dawn LISTEN: “The Women Prepare the Spices (Song of Songs 8)” by Katy Wehr, a setting of Song of Songs 8:6–7, 13–14, on And All the Marys (2018) O set me as a seal upon thy heart O set me as a seal upon thine arm For love is strong, strong as death, my love And jealousy is cruel as the grave Its flashes are the living flame of a blazing fire That cannot be drowned out in a flood All earthly gold in exchange for love Would be ut

Antonello da Messina (Italian, ca. 1430–1479),  Christ Crucified , 1475 This painting is striking for its strong verticality, which, by elevating Jesus so far above the ground, gives it a certain solitariness. Antonello composed the picture with a low viewpoint so that we, like John the apostle on the right, also have to look up to view the crucified Christ.  LISTEN :  “Staff”  by Josh Compton, on  Awake, Awake  by A Ship at Sea (2012)   As they looked upon the staff That Mos

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902) is largely remembered for his scenes and portraits of the upper-middle class, but, during the 1880s he had a religious awakening and produced a number of works inspired by the New Testament. In 1885, he had what he referred to as an “epiphany” and “revelation” that lead him on a pilgrimage to cathedrals in France and to create a series of 35 scenes from the life of Christ.   During this religious decade, Tissot did multiple versions of the Pro

On Ash Wednesday, we traditionally read a portion of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew's Gospel that includes Jesus' teaching on alms-giving, prayer and fasting. In the lesson, Jesus encouraged his followers to engage in all three, but he also cautioned them not to do so with the motive of being seen by others. The BibleProject has recently published a short animated video that helps to explain this teaching for adults and children alike. BibleProject is a nonprofit in Por