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A Journey Through Holy Week
The true heart of the story is not only what God wants. But how we struggle to want what God wants. Then and now.
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Mocking Jesus
Jesus gets mocked. A lot. I’ve always known that people mock Jesus in each telling of the Passion. But I am struck by how the gospel we call Luke uses the mocking of Jesus as a recurring theme. [bctt tweet=”The mockery is an active participant, a character in the story.” username=”revdrewdowns” nofollow=”yes”] For Luke, the…
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Are we even alive?
a homily for Proper 27C Text: Luke 20:27-38 What are they talking about? This gospel isn’t what we take it for. The people that put together the Revised Common Lectionary have us jumping into Holy Week here. Last week’s story about Zacchaeus, the wee little man who climbed a sycamore tree is the first half of…
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They Came Closer
I love and hate the good parables. The really good ones. The ones that have so many ways in. The ones that give you so many things to say. Like the one from Sunday. I still dwell on them for days afterward. I have trouble moving on. Maybe I haven’t been preaching long enough to…
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Out of love
a homily for Proper 17C Text: Luke 14:1,7-14 The rude one We have all had the common experience of the cell phone conversation at the checkout. We are patiently waiting in line for our turn, while the person in front of us is yacking away about somebody named Tiffany and how her daughter…
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Along the Road: The Good Samaritan, Trayvon Martin, and what it means to be a neighbor
a homily for Proper 10C Text: Luke 10:25-37 Unwrapping the Layers We call this the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A traveler is beaten, left for dead, passed by on the road to Jerusalem, and finally helped by this stranger. It is a story so familiar, so recognizable, that any number of us could tell…
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Walking Out (Eating Scripture)
This week’s Eating Scripture was derailed by my birthday and a funeral. Hopefully your appetite is insatiable! This week, we get the second half of the Jesus preaching in the synagogue story. The first half was all sunshine and butterflies and the second is all violence and horror.There are some incredible pieces to chew on…
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Every Hill Made Low (Eating Scripture)
Eating Luke 3:1-6 Back in the recesses of my mind I recall a lyric: Second verse same as the first! A little bit louder and a little bit worse! We ended Year B talking apocalyptic and we begin the new year, Year C, by…talking apocalyptic. Personally, I love it. We just aren’t that used to…