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On the First Day: Thursday of Holy Week
They break bread. They eat. They drink. Then they leave for the Mount of Olives. And here Jesus declares: “You will all become deserters” Just like that. Deserters all. Peter’s protests mimic our own. Peter is always our stand-in. Surely I won’t desert Jesus, we say. Surely I would keep awake.
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Not Alone: Maundy Thursday and the Building of Intimacy
a Sermon for Maundy Thursday Text: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 The Cup This year, it was helpful for me to remember that we have developed a different way of marking days from Jesus’s time and place. Then, the day began at dusk. So this, Jesus’s final day, has begun. He gathers His friends for dinner, for…
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You Are the Servant Leader
“You’re the pastor” This is the gentle reminder many clergy receive: as if we’ve forgotten. It usually happens when we’ve invited our people into sharing leadership of a ministry. We say “you can do this” and they say “but you’re the pastor”. And for those of us that wear the dog collar, we get reminded…
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A Parting Gift
a Sermon for Easter 6C Text: John 14:23-29 Jesus the Rambler In the gospel we call John, Jesus is a rambler. Again this week we are in the farewell discourse that runs through chapters 13-16. It is Thursday of Holy Week and Jesus is giving the final teachings. And He seems to have slipped into…
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Uncovering Love
a Sermon for Easter 5C Text: John 13:31-35 Love Each Other. Too Obvious? Sometimes we have a selection from scripture that is too obvious. We understand where Jesus is going and what He’s getting at. Today is one of those days. Jesus gives a new commandment, something he pretty much never does outside of this,…
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Love is Love Except When It Isn’t
In Sunday’s sermon, I preached about Jesus’s third appearance in the Gospel we call John. There were several pieces that fascinated me about the text. Saturday, I focused on the fantastic image of Peter, sitting naked in a boat, dressing, and jumping into the water. The other is the interaction between Jesus and Peter about…
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Learning to Love
a Sermon for Maundy Thursday Text: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Memory Making. Before breaking bread with His disciples for the final time, Jesus washed their feet. Then he told them to wash one another’s feet. Many of us focus this night on the dinner they share—particularly the breaking of bread at the beinning and the sharing…
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Jesus’s Last Teaching
a Sermon for Maundy Thursday Text: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 There are many interesting parts of the story we tell of Maundy Thursday, but much of it we actually save for tomorrow, Good Friday. Our tradition focuses on two important acts: The Passover Meal The Footwashing The Passover. We heard in our Hebrew reading from Exodus…