I’ve thought a lot more about time since becoming a parent. There’s never enough time or there’s always too much time and not enough something else. Time has felt swift and short, and time has felt so long, especially right before bedtime. The years that sort of blended together don’t blend as well now. There … read
Well, by now, most of the poinsettias have found a new home, and presents have been unwrapped and the Christmas feasts are either gone or finding new life as leftovers. The radio has stopped the Christmas music, and I for one will be happy not to happen upon “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” … read
Thank you all so much for being here this evening, for leaving a cozy home, for arriving with a full stomach and the sleepiness that follows a big meal and a glass of wine, making your way through one of our dark and rainy Portland nights, to come to church, of all places, on Christmas … read
Do you believe in the oppressed going free? That is essentially the question Jesus presents when he first reads that passage we just read. Jesus is an adult just starting out his ministry, and at the temple, he reads a portion of our text from the Hebrew Scriptures. “The spirit of the Lord GOD is … read
Many years ago a friend of mine gave me a T-shirt that read “Jesus is coming. Look busy.” We are about to enter the strange world of Matthew 25, in which Jesus tells three different stories about the end times. The first is today’s parable; next week Lindsey will preach on the parable of the … read
In Japanese culture there is a term called mono no aware, which might be translated “the bittersweet transience of life.” It captures the idea that things are more meaningful, more beautiful because they will not last forever. The Japanese person might point to the trees adorned with cherry blossoms and acknowledge their fleeting beauty, more … read