Intersections

  Do any of us really know what God has done for us? We know that in our scripture tonight, Jesus is doing two things for us. He washes feet, and has commanded us to be loving to “one another”. We’ll explore each of these separately, but let’s jump into the first half, about the footwashing.  The narrator gives us what's happening in the most mixed up way in verse one. Before the festival of the passover... which should be an extremely happy event - if you remember, this is the celebration of the Israelites being released from Egyptian captivity, and escaped through the miracles of Moses. They were liberated out of bondage, and so the passover is celebrated, maybe even like our Independence Day! But in finishing that sentence, Jesus KNEW that his hour had come to depart from this world. This introduction almost seems like Charles Dickens had lifted it for his opening line of A Tale of Two Cities - it was the best of times, and it was the worst of times... everyone around...

  I know we just went through a bunch of scripture for you this morning. I know it could have been saved for later this week, as the events were unfolding, but I know that sometimes we just need to hear the whole story. It's important, because this is central to our faith. We need to know what happens before next Sunday and the resurrection.   Today, we started with Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. We hear this story every year, and I'm hoping I can put some fresh eyes into it.  This year, we listened to the Gospel of Luke - and there are some important differences in this one than the others. First, he doesn't actually talk about palm branches, not on the road, not in people's hands waving... a little strange for what we are used to. There are no Hosannas shouted from the crowd. The King, much like the one who was celebrated a few months ago at Christmas, is still that same Emmanuel - "God with us" - and a symbol of peace on Earth.  God needs ...

My neighbor Larry was not a good gift giver. Every time he gave his wife a gift for Christmas, her birthday, or their anniversary, she complained about what a sucky gift it was. She was starting to get angry. "Larry, the next time you give me a bad gift, I will light it on fire!" A week later was Larry's wife's birthday. She came down to see only one small box. She sighed and went to go get a lighter. She opened up the present. It was a candle. What is the best gift you've ever given or received?  Hard to believe Lent is coming to an end, right? We are in the fifth week of Lent, and next week is Palm Sunday! I mean - I know many of us are focused on Easter in two weeks, but the journey really is getting tough right now for Jesus.  In the scripture this morning, we are six days before Passover, where everyone would be gathering for the celebration. But in our context, this is just letting us know that it's getting closer to Jesus' crucifixion....

  Throughout our Lenten season, we are reflecting, and hopefully, some of that time is sorting out what God wants from us. Maybe how to incorporate spiritual activities back into our lives if we fell out of practice. Perhaps it’s how to better use the spiritual gifts that God has given us. We want our lives to matter. This is an entirely human trait and can be traced back through time.  Not only does Jesus call us to live out our faith, but he wants to see spiritual fruit from those actions. Just like natural fruit, it's something that happens when we blossom through the faith process. You need to be mature to create fruit. A newly planted tree isn't strong enough to go through the process. It needs to develop root structures, and branch out. There many not be fruit on every single branch either. There's all sorts of fruit, but people have named whole trees after the one fruit that it produces, like apple trees, lemon trees, etc. Thankfully enough, God did not create us to ...

     You may be able to see what the sermon might look like this morning. But, maybe,  in the excitement of the basketball tournament and our event later this morning, maybe we should have served chicken wings for everyone here to make sure to look underneath them. You may also be thinking let's hope I don't use foul language.  But seriously folks - I shouldn’t make light of Jesus’ words this morning. But, in thinking about how hens and foxes relate, there are many idioms and phrases that relate to this. Given that history, they seem to be pretty sworn enemies. Some of the ones I came across were: “madder than a wet hen” - that must be a Southern phrase, because it doesn’t seem to make much sense to me. Chickens really don’t mind the rain, it’s not like they’re scared of it either. Another phrase that I’ve actually heard was “as scarce as a hen’s tooth”… I can see that one. Chickens don’t have teeth, so it’s gotta be something super rare. The last one, which get...

Last week, we ended our last series with the glorification of the Transfiguration of Jesus. But then, the disciples and the Christ came down from the mountain and found the struggling in the valley and where the people are. There were bright lights, and costume changes, and although it didn't say - I bet there may have been a show-stopping song and dance that got lost in the translation over the millennia.  But this week, not only have we gone through the valley and the people who are in need of Jesus, but he followed the Spirit - which is always with him - to the wilderness. Now, you think of wilderness, what comes to mind? I imagine it's like the middle of South Dakota near the Badlands, where there is just a void of humanity. My sister used to live in Saltillo, Mexico, about five hours by car from the Texas border. We flew in through Monterrey, and then it was another two hour drive through the Mexican desert. It was interesting scenery - mainly because it didn't loo...

       You can practice sports - I know baseball is supposed to start their spring training sometime about now. Looking it up, they may be delaying it due to contract negotiations, but… another sign that spring is on its way. You can practice being positive, these days that can seem harder than it has in a long time. You can practice medicine, practice law, even some of you maybe think that I’m practicing… most weeks I feel like I’m doing ok, though. But it seems weird to have to practice piety, right? I mean - the grace we were given is enough… we don’t need to strive to look better that we are?  The practice that we are talking about with piety though, is to get us closer to holiness. That’s the thing about being pious, it’s getting closer to God, and more in the way God wants us to act. The word pious, to me, has a connotation problem. It has this air of religious superiority to it, doesn’t it? I mean - who doesn’t want to be PIOUS? Who doesn’t want to not ...

  I hope the brightness of the cover has perked up your spirits a bit. We are rolling into March here, and I can only expect spring to happen sooner than later every day. Now, since we are in the third month of the year, it makes me think of two things: Lent & basketball. That doesn’t sound like those have much in common, but I have been a fan of the NCAA tournament for as long as I can remember. One of my two favorite memories was watching the first weekend of basketball because it felt like it was EVERYWHERE, and ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN. My sister went to Valparaiso University, over on the other side of the state, and her first year in 1998, the Crusaders won their conference and were able to play in the tournament. They were a clear underdog, and no one expected them to win. As the game went on, Valpo kept pace with the other team, the University of Mississippi. But in the final seconds, as the clock was winding down, the team’s star Bryce Drew caught the ball and put up a sho...