Daily Liturgy and Scripture

What is it like to hear the Shepherd's voice? It's interesting that Jesus doesn't say, "They will know I'm real because they will understand everything I say," or, "they will be mine because I will convince them." Knowing someone's voice is without regard to what they say, it's a familiarity with what they sound like. How do we do that? By listening often.

In the face of the miraculous, there were still those who insisted on finding fault. Jesus had given a man his life back, but the religious leaders insisted on controlling the situation. Why couldn't they just celebrate with the man? Of course, this miracle was unheard of. Hopefully, we will be willing to have our eyes open to see the things that really matter, and not be caught up over our own bi...

Today, we celebrate the Confession of St. Peter in the church calendar. The most fascinating part of this passage in Matthew to me is that Jesus asked his disciples if they knew who he was, and Peter got it right, and Jesus said, "Great. Now don't tell anyone." Even in the life of Christ, things happened in God's time and not according to a human definition of success and progress. Hopefully, we h...

Jesus didn't just appear out of thin air, dispensing good advice and miracles like a spontaneous Middle-Eastern Confucius. There was purpose in his coming. He had always been in fellowship with the Father, and he continued that fellowship throughout his time among us. To see Jesus and hear Jesus was to see and hear the Father.

One of the best-loved stories from Jesus life: his treatment of a woman caught in adultery. It is paired with Abram and Sarai deciding to take the whole, "I will give you many descendants" thing into their own hands, and are those stories so different? In one, religious leaders get egg on their face because they find themselves on the wrong side of religion, using it to humiliate a powerless woman...

Two events of immense significance are taking place in today's scripture. God is making the covenant with Abraham that will culminate in the coming of Jesus, and Jesus is declaring openly and loudly what he offers a Savior. It's not the beginning and end of the story, but it's kind of the beginning and middle. What God started with Abraham, he completed in Jesus.

You sometimes have to wonder who was really on Jesus' side. Followers left when he wouldn't do the right tricks, religious leaders plotted his death, and his own family thought he was nuts. And in the midst of this, he has a ragtag group of fishermen and other rabble who somehow stay with him. Maybe it was their simple understanding that made the difference, or maybe the simple truth is that the c...

Today, Jesus finishes his explanation of what his sacrifice means, still trying to help those who had eaten the physical bread he provided to understand that he was the Bread of Life. It wasn't easy. Maybe some thought he was being too morbid, or maybe they weren't sticking around if there wasn't a free meal. Either way, many people deserted Jesus. His disciples got it, though. Where else could th...

When working with children, it's sometimes difficult to help them understand which thing is more valuable from a few options. Jesus faces the same thing. He has just performed a miracle, and yet the crowd tells him he still needs to do more tricks if he wants them to believe in him. They have missed the point. It wasn't that Jesus could do miracles, it was that the miracles point back to the most...

It's amazing what Jesus can multiply from so little. When we show up and give him our small contribution, he can make so much more of it than we ever dreamed of. When Jesus multiplies things, the result is a greater Kingdom and  a stronger community who have learned a deeper dependence on his providence.

Think you've been misunderstood? Try being the Son of God, becoming the Son of Man, and walking among men! How do you explain that? Jesus lived with being misunderstood, but he also became an empathetic judge in his becoming a man. Because he became one of us, he knows completely what the life of humans looks like. That should be a great comfort when we hear that he is our judge.

Can you imagine being healed by Jesus, only to be immediately criticized by the very people who should have been celebrating your wholeness? Religious leaders were so wrapped up in the rules that they missed the real miracle in their midst. Hopefully, our spiritual eyes will be more closely attuned.

On this week of Epiphany, we're still reading of outsiders who came to know Jesus. A Samaritan woman would have been one of the last people a Jewish rabbi would have thought to make a disciple, and yet this Samaritan woman becomes one of the first evangelists. And then a politician? Not much is known of this government official, they could have been Gentile or Jewish. Whatever they were, they were...

Jesus was often very secretive about his messianic identity, but to this outsider, he was very clear. How odd that he didn't do something like set up a shop in the temple court with a sign that said, "Messiah, ask me anything," but rather chose to be among the people showing the signs of his direct communion with the Father. Such should be our approach. While we certainly aren't claiming to be God...

Today is Epiphany! If you're not Jewish, today is the day you get to celebrate the birth of a Jewish messiah who came to redeem us all. (Jewish folks can celebrate too... but today we remember we're included!) And certainly our Savior came to be the Savior of all, to show what God looks like to all who have eyes to see.

Watching how Jesus and John handle "competition" between their disciples is inspiring. Especially in the case of John, he is willing to actively become the lesser teacher so that Jesus can increase his discipleship. This is pretty incredible. If we loved our brothers and sisters across churches and denominations the same way, the landscape of churches would be very different than it is today.

How do you deal with feelings of rejection? Cain's example is certainly one to avoid. When God called his offering inadequate, he didn't go and learn how to make better offerings. He killed the one who God had accepted. When Jesus comes, we see him once again offering God's blessing, but only on God's terms. To try and approach God any other way, in our own way, is the approach of Cain. Hopefully,...

Today, we see God dealing with corruption. The corruption of the Garden of Eden, his first temple; the corruption of the temple in Jerusalem as John captures Jesus driving out commerce in the place of the Holy. Why such a big deal? Why can't Jesus calm down, God just forgive and forget? Because the place of the Holy should be different, it should be set apart. We should not be casual in our approa...

Revelation is one of God's greatest gifts. I don't mean the book, although that book is indeed full of revelation. I mean his act of revealing things. In Genesis, he unveils his prize creation, man. Then he gives man the task of ordering creation, being an active part of what God is doing. God is unveiling new things and man is part of it. But when Jesus comes, he is the thing to be unveiled. To J...

On the day which marks the beginning of our new year, we also remember where we all begin. In Christ, present with the Father and the Spirit, we find creation and new life. In this first day of the new year, I hope you are able to find yourself re-created by him in even your common daily tasks.

Today we finish a year, the book of Luke, and Song of Songs. It's kind of hard to digest all that at once. To me, the highlight of today's sections is Jesus seeming to enjoy the surprises he's bringing people. As he seems to playfully talk to the Emmaus-bound journeyers, as he appears in the room when they recount their story, he seems to really be bringing his disciples some pretty memorable stuf...

Christ is risen! Being present at that first resurrection morning must have been really confusing. Before we get too angry with Jesus' friends, it's useful to put ourselves in his shoes. If you have never seen anyone rise from the dead, how easy would it be to believe?

Much can be seen about a person's life by their death. As Jesus is led to the cross, it's intriguing the story characters that Luke includes. Certainly, there must have been a crowd. From all the accounts that must have been told of that day, Luke includes that of two women who Jesus expresses pity toward (probably concerning the destruction of Jerusalem to come a few decades later), and the help...

It's interesting that at his trial, Jesus is content to let the testimony of those conducting the inquest serve as the evidence of his lordship. If ever there was a time to sermonize, this was it. The religious leaders had him where they wanted him, and they used all their influence to sway the Roman leadership to go their way. Surely he could see where this was going. But he didn't argue, nor did...

Whatever hardships we suffer, Jesus has suffered with us. Not just the ridicule and physical abuse of today's passage from Luke, by by his presence with us in our daily lives. He is a suffering Savior because he does abandon, us, he remains at our side through every struggle.