Transfiguration Thoughts

In the verses preceding Mark’s Transfiguration passage, Jesus has just articulated what is arguably his most disturbing, difficult teaching of all: that he must suffer, die, and rise again – and that anyone who wishes to follow him must “deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”.  The Transfiguration’s light, then, acts as a kind of reassurance for Peter, John, and James (and for the rest of us!).  It’s as if Mark is saying: We’re now making the turn toward Golgotha, and that means descending into the valley of the shadow of death.  But fear not! Keep this astonishing, mysterious mountaintop story in mind as we go. Carry it like a torch, for it can help show the way – not least because it gives us a glimpse of where all this is headed…

Year of Mark

This year of the Lectionary is the Year of Mark and most of the Gospel lessons in this season come from this Gospel. I want to share an outline of Mark with you so that you can refer to it from time to time during the coming year. The Gospel of Mark is arranged in an outline of three sections, and in each section there is a seeing miracle.

Who Do You Bring to Church with You?

In the Gospel for this coming Sunday we go to church with Jesus. “Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught..”
Besides the usual group who assembled, with the scribes who were their teachers, there was also an unexpected guest who joined them for worship. “Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.” Today we would say that the man was afflicted with a mental illness.

God Is At Home

I have an “ecclesiastical daughter,” Gretchen, who is currently serving as a chaplain in a palliative care program in the state of Washington. I served as her mentor when she did her initial ministry field work in my parish more than 30 years ago. I am delighted she found her way into chaplaincy and we share this ministry experience.

Dr. King’s Epiphany

During this week we will again celebrate the life and ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is especially relevant that we celebrate this modern-day prophet during the season of Epiphany. In his book, “Stride Toward Freedon,” Dr. King describes a key Epiphany of his life.

Epiphany of Our Lord

In Matthew 2 we are given the story of three seekers on a spiritual journey. Outside our doors we are confronted with societal spiritual hunger as intense as it has ever been. They “bend the knee” here and there. In the mission field outside our door the American ethos is not secular, but personal. People are seeking answers to the anxiety of our time. Successful churches understand the holes in people’s lives and fill them. The American magi are pragmatic, personal. There is no natural fit between the complexities of Lutheran theology and popular American thought. How do we translate these complexities and chisel out space for justification by grace, high Christology, law\gospel tension? We are a church somewhere between an immigrant clan and the American experience.

And I Still Believe

This Christmas season blog neither reflects upon our Lord’s Nativity nor ponders the mysteries of the Incarnation. However, I hope it will cause a smile, and perhaps, bring to mind a long-forgotten memory of a Christmas past.

Lift Up Thine eyes

On Christmas Eve in the Year of our Lord 2023 we are not at peace. War and death rage on in Gaza, Ukraine, with ongoing conflict in Burma, Sudan, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Hate crimes and acts of bigotry mar our public life. Our imminent election season divides us and scares us. Our welcome of our migrant new neighbors is touched by resentment and fear. We In our country, in our world, in our lives, we are not at peace on this Christmas Eve of 2023.

If Anyone Saves a Life. . .

Like so many of you I have been distressed and heartbroken by the continued suffering in wars and conflict across the globe. I am always thinking about Ukraine, especially since some of our members look to relatives suffering there. And in this holy Advent season our hearts go toward the Holy Land and the ongoing conflict and suffering there: from a horrific terror attack, to remaining hostages, to civilian deaths in Gaza. Previously I had shared some reflections from a journal I kept in a visit to the Holy Land. Today, with Advent hope and waiting on the coming of the Prince of Peace I share verses from Jewish and Muslim scriptures and a final entry in that journal.

Have the Conversation

FROM THE PASTOR Have the Conversation The punchline of the story about my paternal grandmother I told a few weeks ago was “If I die, how will I get in touch with you?” The point is – why wait? There’s no better time than the present for a conversation. Especially a conversation with those you…