July 10, 2022

Reading Ephesians 4:31-32 (NRSV) "be kind to one another" One of my favorite Olympic stories is of the runner who helped a competitor cross the finish line after a fall. I love the kindness in that act. But I had no stake in the competition. How hard is it to be kind when winning means …

June 26, 2022

Reading Ephesians 2:11-22 (NRSV) "the hostility between us" Children interact within the confines of the car's backseat. Their different viewpoints can evolve into complaints, insults, tears, and physical confrontation. Parents in the front seat turn around and draw a line between them: "you kids behave back there!" And the car moves on. What happens when …

August 30, 2020

Reading Ephesians  2:11-22 (NRSV) "...one new humanity..." Us versus Them. Who do you call "us"?  What do you have that is not part of "them"? Sometimes, as in today's scripture, we resort to name-calling: Uncircumcised! Unhoused! Illegal! Non-white! Sometimes we draw the circle very small indeed: those in our household we can touch but we …

November 5, 2017

Reading Ephesians 4: 30-32 (NRSV) Paul instructs the church in Ephesus in the "don'ts" and "DOs" of behavior as Christians. Don't: grieve the Holy Spirit; or retain bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, slander, or malice. Do: be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God has forgiven you. Perhaps the "don't" and "do" instructions are related. It …

September 10, 2017

Reading Ephesians 4: 11-16 (NRSV) At my niece’s wedding, the father of the bride spoke of the unique gifts that each brings to the marriage. The bride brings determination and decisiveness; the groom brings understanding and support even when it means quitting a good job and moving halfway across the country to follow a dream! …

November 6, 2016

Reading Ephesians 1:11-23 (NRSV) My co-worker's mother died this week. She says she may not come back to work for a while. She and her family need some time. What an honor to be counted a friend with whom she shares her sorrow. Other people are mourning their own losses. Loss of a parent, a …

May 29, 2016

Reading Ephesians 4:5-6; 2 Peter 3:8 (NRSV) Today's reading reminds us that God is "above all and through all and in all," and that a thousand years are like one day to God. That means God doesn't get bigger and older the way we do. Even as adults, we function in this world like two …

May 8, 2016

Reading Ephesians 1:13-20; Isaiah 61:1-3 (NRSV) Today's readings tell us that the Holy Spirit comes to people who hear the word of truth and believe the gospel of God's saving love. The Spirit comes and sends us to do God's most important work: to bring good news to people who have only heard bad news, …

November 15, 2015

Reading Ephesians 2:8-10 (NRSV) What is the world coming to? A group calling itself the Islamic State claims responsibility for the deliberate acts of terrorism in Paris. We condemn the violence associated with this group. But in a recent talk I heard on Islam, I kept hearing the parallels with Christianity. We are diverse--with major …

November 1, 2015

Reading Ephesians 1:11-23 (NRSV) Today's reading tells us that God is powerful, that God put this power to work by raising Christ from the dead, and that, in Christ, we join the saints in a glorious inheritance. The reading says that God marks us with the seal of the Holy Spirit. What does that look …