Mark 12

So many stewardship sermons use the woman of Mark 12—lamentably—as an example of the kind of generosity to which we all should aspire.

The scribe’s question to Jesus is not merely an academic exercise.

What preacher does not like to gnaw a theological bone?

Remembering the (anonymous) way of the cross

Being religious is not about following rules. It's more like dancing.

Here's to all the people who give their last coin.

It's easy to love Mr. C. It's not as easy to love Mrs. M., and it’s stone-cold not easy to love that guy down the street.

I read this week’s lectionary passages last summer in the Urubamba Valley in my native Peru, and in my native Spanish: “Pero Cristo ya vino, y ahora el es el Sumo sacerdote . . .” At first I resisted the Hebrews passage, as I prefer Jesus’ concrete teachings to more abstract theological concepts. So, while leading a tour group across the Andes, I turned to Mark: “And man must love God with all his heart and with all his mind and with all his strength; and he must love his neighbor as he loves himself.”

I remember seeing Helena, a widow, unfolding a $20 bill to put in the offering plate. I knew that her family was selling its possessions to pay the ransom for her only son, imprisoned by guerrillas.