We feel powerless when life’s storms rage about us. Despite our best efforts, we cannot navigate those dangers without the hand of God to guide and free us. In the gospel, the man with demons was unable to help himself. His affliction had caused him to be chained and shackled by his community. Yet even…
The doctrine of the Trinity invites us to consider how a God constituted by relationship—the Father with the Son, the Son with the Spirit, the Spirit with the Father—draws us into that relationship with God and one another. Gradually or suddenly, through the work of the Spirit, we come to know our belonging to the…
“What does this mean?” the devout ask (Acts 2:12). For those gathered in that house, the event meant the birth of sudden, surprising, unmerited new life. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they burst from the house with a story to share about God’s wonders. But what does this event of Pentecost mean for us, today, many…
Today’s gospel reading is first and foremost a prayer. It is Jesus’ prayer, and we are given the privilege of listening in as he prays on behalf of his disciples and people of all times and places. Listeners are given a glimpse of Jesus’ mission for the world—that all may be drawn into the life…
When we encounter Jesus, we are changed and will never be the same. Jesus can be revealed in a blinding light on the road, in an abundance of fish, in breakfast on the beach. God uses all sorts of surprising things—bread, wine, water, words of forgiveness—to convert us. Like baptism, this conversion is both a…
The texts for today explore what it means to be a witness: the power of seeing and experiencing the resurrection firsthand. For those of us who weren’t there in person to witness Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, a question persists: How do we give witness? How have we experienced Easter firsthand? What do we need…
What is Easter anyway? Christians consider Easter to be the “first day.” From Easter comes the practice of worshiping on Sunday morning. It is the first day of the week. It is also the first day of new creation, sometimes called the “eighth day” of the week, for on it Christ restored the image of…
The movement of this day—from shouts of praise to words of denial and cries for crucifixion—mirrors the path of discipleship. The lives of Jesus’ followers hang in the balance between faithfulness and betrayal. For Peter, the act of denial is subtle and insidious. He claims not to know Jesus; he claims to have no place…
Critics of Christianity often point out that Christians are hypocrites. Christians publicly espouse a certain set of rules for living—including care for creation, serving God and neighbors in need, and loving our enemies—and, just as publicly, fail to live up to those rules every day and in every way. Pastor Tony Campolo often tells the…
The transfiguration is frustrating for disciples—past and present—who long for an unmediated experience of God. Jesus’ glory is revealed, and then, just as suddenly, a cloud descends and the vision fades. And even though Paul contrasts the Christian’s experience of God with Moses’s veiled experience of God, he notes that we see the glory of…