The Christian story begins at the end, at the resurrection. It is by the light of the resurrection that we begin to see what’s really happening. Until then, we are shrouded in what T.S. Eliot calls “hints and guesses.” It’s only when we see through the eyes of the risen Christ that we begin to make sense of Jesus’ life and our own.

Between 1979 and 1981, twenty-nine young black people fell victim to a serial murderer in Atlanta, Georgia. I don’t know any of their names. I do have the name of JonBenét Ramsey indelibly sketched in my mind. Unlike the black children in Atlanta, JonBenét was a white American child of promise; thus, obsession with the drama surrounding her murder swept the nation in 1996. As news ratings soared, and reporters gained new levels of fame, those of us in ghettos across the nation pointed frustratingly to the contrast in the coverage of these two tragedies.

We trudge along this Lenten season towards the horror of the cross. Just two weeks away, Good Friday marks the day when the shadow of death will completely shroud us in darkness and despair. As the body of Lazarus lies entombed, wrapped in the grave clothes of death, we find ourselves also shrouded in darkness, wrapped in the grave
clothes of sin: fear reigning in our hearts.

The story begins with the disciples speculating theologically on who is to blame for a certain man being born blind; they are convinced God is punishing him. Jesus refuses this interpretation and heals the blind man…an act that “divides” the unstable community; he robs them of their scapegoat. Blinded by their own dim judgment, and in an effort to preserve the status quo, the community “drives out” the healed man from their midst.

Jesus follows the exile to the margins where the two of them establish the possibility of a new community, one founded upon mercy, not the blind guide of sacrifice. This is the “judgment” for which Jesus came into the world-the judgment of mercy.

This is what I thirst for-bold proclamation that Jesus’ interaction with those who are marginalized, including women, is on the front edge of God’s Kingdom work. Worshiping God in Spirit and in truth includes telling the whole truth about a God whose conversations begin in the margins. Jesus empowered a Samaritan Woman to do this “telling” of the Good News.

Geedy was just one word in the neighborhood’s descriptive lexicon for crack cocaine addicts. Sometimes called fiends, geezers, crack heads,…

After the brightly lit meeting on the mountain with Moses and Elijah, where Jesus is transfigured, he orders the disciples…

I use to think that the Sermon on the Mount was easy and beautiful. I use to think, “yeah Jesus,…

Denise stood nervously at the edge of the deep end of the Herman’s scandalous inground pool. I saw her out of the corner of my left eye, never imagining her plans.

This past Sunday morning I attended a unique worship service with some friends. It was called “Street Church;” all the…

We are told that the three most important words in real estate are: Location! Location! Location! I don’t think God…

One Sunday afternoon, I was driving through the neighborhood with a car full of local kids that were a part…

I ask people, especially young people, about their names. I fill up with joy when Maisha tells me her name…

We’ve had a week to digest the Nativity Feast. The magic of Christmas finds its way into even the most…

  Joy is the purest form of gratitude, and gratitude is the most genuine gift we can give to God….

We began this year’s Advent series by exploring The Waiting Rooms of Christmas. We waited in the Apocalypse and peace…

We began this year’s Advent series by exploring The Waiting Rooms of Christmas. We waited in the Apocalypse and peace…

This year, during Advent, the Gospel of Matthew invites us to sit in what we are calling The Waiting Rooms…

This year during Advent the Gospel of Matthew invites us to sit in, what we are calling, The Waiting Rooms…

  40“Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left…41Keep awake therefore, for…

“Build that wall! Build that wall” “Go back to where you came from.” “Pack your bags! Pack your bags!” On…

This week’s text is difficult. It is the reminder that peacemaking is not for the faint of heart. The text…

The Gospel not only empowers us to see, but to see from a particular vantage point-through the unconstrained eyes of…

This week’s Gospel text is a narrative some people grew up singing in Sunday School: “Zacchaeus was a wee, little…

Superhero movies are all the rage recently. I’m sure there are a variety of reasons why…such as an affinity for…

This is a familiar parable Jesus uses to teach us about the nature of prayer. The widow shows us what…

This week’s text is a difficult one. The disciples want Jesus to increase their faith, which is the very thing…

This week’s text is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lives a life of plenty,…

In my neighborhood, this would be called a hustle. I see it every day. This parable sounds like a contemporary…

Fifteen years ago this Sunday (9/11) something awful happened, and I do mean aw-full. Most of us were filled with…

Throughout the course of life we often engage Scripture through the lens of present circumstance. In my case, the engagement…

“First say, Peace to this house.”

In this week’s text Jesus turns toward Jerusalem where he will confront the brutal reality of sin head on. On…

The Gospel is alive and well, but there is an exodus from the Church in North America. My hunch is…

A collision at the city gate!! A crowd of death is leaving the city while a crowd of life is…

This week we celebrate the Trinity. Cynthia Bourgeault describes the Trinity as “love in motion.” Love in motion is the…

This week we celebrate Pentecost, which some call the birthday of the church. The Spirit is “poured out” on all…

My favorite scientific experiment is the one conducted by Mark Twain. He placed a cat and a dog in a…

As we approach the sixth Sunday of Easter, we are continually being challenged to see life by the light of…

The poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said, “That only which we have within, can we see without.” If we see hope,…

Have you recently been disappointed by someone, or have you been the source of their disappointment? In a week’s time,…

Christ is risen! This week we have tried to recover some of the shock of Holy Week and the truly…

In the Beginning, on the sixth day, on the very first Friday, God created humanity and called us “very good.”…

The result of these next four days ultimately becomes the hope of the world. But today, just today, I want…

Laying down cloaks was an act of homage for royalty. By riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey,…

We are approaching the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Things are heating up. This week Mary anoints Jesus with costly perfume….

We continue our trek this Lenten season toward the Cross and our journey this week takes us into a very…

“God hates me!” wailed Reba. Her outburst was a result of losing her husband of 40 years. Just days before…

Jerusalem was in trouble, and she didn’t even know it. Jesus’ prophetic words here in chapter 13 are dripping with…

Friend and mentor, Dave Hillis, president of Leadership Foundations, tells the story from his days as a camp counselor when…

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…. -Hebrews 1:3 When my daughter…

Last week we heard Jesus’ first sermon. This week’s lectionary text keeps us in the same passage, but it focuses…

Last week we witnessed Jesus’ first miracle (water becomes wine). It ends well. This week we hear Jesus’ first sermon….

It is no mistake that Jesus chooses the vessels of ceremonial cleansing to become the containers of liquid delight.

Kingdom not from here.

Whose sacrificial system is it?

A marginalized prophet gives all.

Beyond the spiritual flowchart.

Learning from a blind man how to see.

Three dimensions in a two-dimensional world.

Is there enough good for all of us?

Manning the gates against children.

The real threat that Jesus exposes in this text is the hidden envy brewing in the disciples’ hearts.

…of danger.

Too far for comfort.

A wink of the eye.

Undermining Jesus’s call to love.

We too are blind.

Table waiters to all creation.

Remembering the body of Christ for a hurting world.

Taken, blessed, broken, given, spoken.

Eucharistic abundance in the Meal from Below.

Risking vulnerability through boundaries.

A young seductress or victim?

Rebirth of mission.

Rattlesnakes, Chicago, fear, and faith.

That pesky mustard seed.

A new frame for the family portrait.

Tragedy in the Street Psalms community.

The other Great Commission.

…because you already are…

Making eye contact with Jesus.

When it comes to life’s deepest mysteries, experience trumps explanation every time!

Easter becomes for us an opportunity for heightened awareness of the great gift of living truth that has been bestowed upon us.

How often I find myself living like the Pharisees, not able to rest in the holy silence of Saturday, not allowing it to simply be what it is.

I have loved ones in hard places, and the hardest place of all may be the place of abandonment.

Mingling…

The complicated triumph of coming home to self.