Scripture
April 5, Easter 1A (Jeremiah 31:1–6; Matthew 28:1–10)
In six short verses, Jeremiah makes sermon illustrations of three different exile stories.
April 3, Good Friday (John 18:1–19:42)
Jesus is crucified while the world goes on as usual.
Empty-handed (Matthew 21:1-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66)
What is a preacher to do with Palm/Passion Sunday?
April 2, Maundy Thursday (Exodus 12:1–14; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; John 13:1-17, 31b–35)
Overcoming the reluctance to be served requires something that looks and feels a lot like faith.
Easter in a brutal world
How can we proclaim any sort of hope right now? We aren’t the first Christians to wrestle with this question.
Trauma at the tomb
I understand why Mark’s editors added to his ending. Still, I wish they hadn’t.
March 29, Palm Sunday A (Matthew 21:1–11)
We parade into our worship spaces singing “Hosanna,” only to realize we’ve been following Jesus’ hearse.
March 29, Passion Sunday A (Matthew 26:14–27:66)
Matthew’s Passion doesn’t show us Jesus’ reactions. We just see his pain and hear his silence.
Life after death (John 11:1-45)
When the bottom drops out of our world, I think most of us find ourselves preferring the old status quo.
For Mark, Easter begins in trembling
The bewilderment of the women at the tomb gives way to a hope that overturns power, shame, and death itself.
March 22, Lent 5A (Ezekiel 37:1–14; John 11:1–45)
Dry bones don’t resurrect themselves.
Seeing God’s works beyond reward and punishment (John 9:1-41)
We can’t reconcile the senseless mercy of Jesus with an insistence that life is fair.
Arbitrary president, trustworthy God
Our leaders have made it impossible to trust them. God is different.
March 15, Lent 4A (Psalm 23; John 9:1–41)
Psalm 23 isn’t just a song of comfort and consolation. It’s also about heroism and the world set to rights.
Come and see and live (John 4:5-42)
A spring of living water is not easily controlled.
March 8, Lent 3A (John 4:5–42)
Jesus’ opening approach to the woman at the well is one that confesses his own need.
Teaching and learning (John 3:1-17)
If Nicodemus wants to be a “teacher of Israel,” he needs to let go of his need to have all the answers—and he must be willing to learn.
March 1, Lent 2A (John 3:1–17)
Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night because all new life begins in the dark.
Jesus and the wilderness of trans identity
I am struck by how Christ’s desert experience relies on inner convictions resisting an external voice.
Marked with each other’s deaths (Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21)
We each have to face mortality alone—but also together.