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How to Love Change
The empty tomb is the great symbol of change. To proclaim the good news, we have to confront the truth. That we don’t hate change, we’re afraid of something else. Why we need the empty tomb The Great Vigil of Easter | Mark 16:1-8 “I hate change!” That’s what people tell me. Every day I…
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How doubt makes faith better
My autobiography is littered with the debris of doubt. It’s like doubt comes in uninvited and then leaves a trail of its presence, like unwashed sheets, stained coffee mugs, and the TV set to a channel I never watch. Everywhere there’s a piece of it, unescapable. I could also say My life is filled with…
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Inspired and Urgent
For some, the idea of an Easter morning footrace is the farthest thing from your mind. Lace up the running shoes and hit the pavement. And some no doubt felt themselves racing to arrive here or some other church this morning. Particularly if the kids are a bit slow-footed. But this morning’s story isn’t about…
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After the Night is Over
He is not here; for he has been raised. Usually a person isn’t so happy to truck themselves all that way to see somebody and find they aren’t there. The Great Vigil of Easter | Matthew 28:1-10 Those four words: “He is not here” are among our favorite words as Christians. Probably more than for…
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The Story of Easter
This is a big story. A story dealing with life and death and even the very idea of life itself. A story of escape and narrow victory. A story of perseverance and redemption. And in the end, we find new hope and new life. A story of a man who wasn’t just a man dying…
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Do This and Live
After working our way through the great symbols of Holy Week: the palms and the Triumphal Entry on Sunday; the shutting down of the Temple on Monday and Teaching there Tuesday; the anointing of Jesus and the betrayal plans of Judas on Wednesday; the Last Supper and the washing of feet on Thursday; the Cross…
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6 Ways We Made This Easter Special
Every church with whom I’ve ever celebrated has made a lovely to-do about Holy Week and Easter. They all are different, which is part of the joy and excitement for me to celebrate in a new congregation. I am always excited to see how we do things here. This year was my favorite by far. Let me tell…
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Jesus is risen! Now what?
As the candles are snuffed from our Easter liturgy and the only reminders of our celebration are the mountain of candy wrappers and plastic strips approximating grass, we go back to our lives as a return to normal, as if nothing is different. And the irony is lost on us all. We go about our…