Grafted
Epiphany is the season uniquely applicable to us who are Gentiles, the grafted-on branches to the tree of salvation, those who do well to marvel at the magnitude of the grace of God Christ that includes us. This is not common in our religiously pluralist setting, especially in our part of the world where the common assumption is that we're not grafted on at all--we're mainstream.
Sunday, January 23, 2011: Matthew 4:12-23, Isaiah 1:9-4
There are places where Epiphany light shines through people who do the best of things in the worst of times.
Forgiveness in worship
I am among those called to lead people in confessing sin and announcing God's forgiveness in the Sunday liturgy, an essential action never altogether free from the threat of routinized going-through-the-motions. This action is anything but routine, however, when it occurs in the setting I described in my lectionary column for the Century on this week's Gospel lesson.
Sunday, January 16, 2011: John 1:29-42, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Isaiah 49:1-7
He saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)...
Faithful Dalits: Christians and caste
Eighty percent of the Lutherans in India are women, and 80 percent are Dalits--the caste at the lowest rung of the social ladder.
Liturgical evangelism: The Finnish experiment
"The trouble with the church in Finland,” a Finnish Lutheran pastor told me, “is that everybody loves it and nobody goes there.” Some 85 percent of the 5.2 million Finns are disengaged from the chu...