John 17

Casting lots to determine how to fill an apostolic vacancy? Really?

To build stronger communities, we need to get in the habit of recognizing what undergirds our relationships. We can't afford to take it for granted.

For Jesus, unity among his disciples is an instrument of the evangel itself. Presbyterians have a great evangelical opportunity to show a fractured world that it is possible for people to disagree and yet remain in fellowship.

History is written by the winners, and Judas didn't win.

How do you say goodbye? It depends, I suppose, on the relationship—what it has grown to and what it will become. For Jesus, preparing to leave the close society of his disciples seems to have been a long process. Almost from the beginning he gently, or sometimes in exasperation, explained that the course his life was following would lead to profound changes in their lives. So he began saying goodbye early.

I kept losing track of what I was going to say next. Yet it may have been my best sermon.