Faith in Progress

Easter 5, Year C April 28, 2013 John 13:31-35 “A new commandment I give to you,” says Jesus to his friends.   “That you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." Sometimes it’s easy to love.   When you are newly dating, or newly married and you haven’t yet figured out all those things about that other person that make you crazy.    When a friend needs you and it fits into your schedule to help.   When your kids are at their sweetest, or maybe sleeping.   When strangers are far off and inoffensive.   But somehow I don’t think that’s what Jesus is talking about.   Since he’s telling us to love as he’s loved, I’m guessing it means something a lot harder and more complicated.   Loving people that are nothing like us.   Loving people that we passionately disagree with.   Loving people who have done atrocious things.   Loving people who are destitute, unclean, diseased, friendless.  ...

Easter 3, Year C April 14, 2013   I read an article recently about something called Status Quo Bias.*   Status Quo Bias is defined as “an inappropriate (irrational) preference for an option because it preserves the status quo.”   In other words, people tend to prefer things to stay relatively the same, even if the alternative is something objectively better/more interesting/more beneficial to society.   The article talked about the effect this bias has on everything from how we choose insurance plans to how we invest our money to how we elect public officials.   I’m betting this bias also affects where we choose to live, where we go to church, the jobs we are in, who we choose to marry, how we raise our children, whether or how we pray.   In fact, the researchers who wrote the article argued that Status Quo Bias is responsible for most opposition to human advancement.             I didn’t k...

Easter 2013 Luke 24:1-12               When I was about to graduate from seminary and started looking for a job, I interviewed with a rector who asked me whether I believed in the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead.   Whether I believed that Jesus’ actual body came alive again and that same body ascended into heaven a while later.   And this might sound odd coming from a priest, but to tell you the truth, I actually hadn’t thought much about it.   I don’t have any problem with the Easter story of the empty tomb.   I know they are stumbling blocks for many people, but for me Jesus’ miracles in general aren’t hard to believe.   And so I answered something like, “Um…, I guess so,” which I’m sure was not the rousing proclamation of faith the rector was looking for.   I suspect my name was scratched off the list of candidates pretty quickly.   And I crossed that church off my list of ...

Lent 5, Year C March 17, 2013 John 12:1-8 I’ve been dabbling this Lent.   I got to Ash Wednesday and still didn’t have much of an idea of what I wanted to give up or take on for Lent.   I think this indecision was due partly to a lack of organization, partly to a fear that I wouldn’t be able to live up to whatever I came up with, and partly to a realization that my plans for Lent often don’t end up feeling as meaningful as I’d hoped.   And so for me, this Lent has been an interesting mish-mash inspired by a few things I’ve been reading.   I’ve been keeping up with the Bible Challenge readings and also subscribing to a couple Lenten e-mail series – one from the Episcopal Public Policy Network about violence in society and one from Credo (a group related to the Episcopal Church’s pension fund) about feasting and fasting.   But my favorite one is a short daily video sent each day from the brothers at the Society of St. John the Evangelist about prayer. ...

March 3, 2013 3 Lent, Year C Luke 13:1-9   I wanted to preach about Moses and the burning bush this morning.   It’s one of my favorite stories.   The willingness of Moses to turn away from his path, the discovery of God who is present in the most unlikely places.   But it seemed that it wasn’t meant to be.   I couldn’t get past my discomfort with the Gospel reading for this morning, so knew that was where I needed to wrestle.               In Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus addressing the question of theodicy.   You may not know that word, but if you’ve ever had something awful happen to you or someone you love, you’ve probably been deep in its vortex.   When you wondered how a God who is supposedly good and loving could let something like this happen.   Or when you wondered why a God who is supposedly all-powerful couldn’t stop something like this from happening.     Or ...

February 10, 2013 Last Epiphany, Year C Luke 9:28-36   About fifteen years ago I had some time before starting a new job and headed off to Israel.   I had a backpack with a few changes of clothes, a guide book, my Bible, a journal, James Michener’s The Source , and really not much of an agenda or travel plan.   I began in Jerusalem and was entranced the moment I saw the ancient stone walls surrounding the Old City.   I loved walking through the cobblestone streets, watching people leaving written prayers in the crevices in the Western Wall, buying falafel from carts in the squares, smelling the different spices, and meeting so many different kinds of people.   Living in America where everything is so new, it was surreal to be surrounded by pieces of such ancient history.   I kept imagining what it might have looked like in Jesus’ time.   Wondering if maybe I was walking in some of the places where he walked.   It made the whole experie...

January 27, 2013 3 Epiphany, Year C Luke 4             My family couldn’t quite get ourselves to the Mall for the inauguration -- a little too cold, kids not quite at the right age to make it through.   And so we had front row seats, sitting on our comfortable couch, still in our pajamas, munching popcorn.   But I felt like we were doing our civic duty, still part of the momentous occasion, even watching from afar.   I love the pomp and circumstance of inaugurations.   Seeing the capital covered in flags and the Supreme Court justices in their black robes, hearing the patriotic hymns and the booming 21 gun salute.   No matter what we might think about any particular president, as Lamar Alexander pointed out, the peaceful transfer of power is proof that our country’s ideals are still in place.   And the inaugural address is by its nature a historical and powerful moment.   It is a president...