-
·
Between Proper 20 + 21 (Year B)
Preparing for this week’s gospel, we need to look back at what the lectionary skipped over last week—disciples’ inability and confusion.
-
·
Stumble
It’s about other people There’s a challenging phrase Jesus uses in the gospel of Mark: stumbling block. He tells his followers not to be a stumbling block: the block positioned at someone’s feet that trips them. That causes them to stumble and fall. While it is easy to think Jesus doesn’t want us to get…
-
·
Stumbling Block
We are all pretty obsessed with sin. Whether or not we believe that’s true, we are. Sin inspires us. It inspires us to believe remarkable things about GOD and nature and all of creation. For some that it is all depraved and drenched in showers of evil. For some, it is to see creation through…
-
·
Afraid to Ask
Afraid to Ask (Day 29 of A Simple Lent) | Monday I grew up in the rise of standardized testing to creative and artsy parents who read a lot. It means I can be either a model student or a pain in the butt, depending on your teaching style. A good student too busy trying…
-
·
The Beloved
Before diving into the Transfiguration, we have to back up just a little. The Transfiguration is part 2. First, we have to discuss part 1. The Beloved (Day 27 of A Simple Lent) | Friday The second half of chapter 8 is the most important part of the gospel we call Mark. It is the great…
-
·
Church
When I speak about “church” I speak about all the faithful Christians in the world trapped in the mind-numbing semantics of their denominational pigsties AND those constellations of congregations who refuse to be part of anything bigger or play denominational politics or play nicely with others AND those free agents running around all by themselves…
-
·
Embody faith
We must read this in the context of Jesus teaching about the children. About the poor, the disadvantaged, the disempowered, those stripped of full humanity and equality in the world. The physical, living faith of following Jesus Proper 21B | Mark 9:38-50 Following Jesus The big theme of the last two weeks continues: identity. Jesus’s…
-
·
Learning Love
It seems that they don’t want the world that Jesus is offering: the upside down economy of GOD’s divine fellowship of faith. They want to rule. Following Jesus into a different understanding of love Proper 20B | Mark 9:30-37 Returning to the Passion We remember from last week that Jesus and the disciples had gone…