Word From Below
From Back to Front
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.
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Maundy Thursday
It’s Maundy Thursday. We are entering the passion of Jesus by way of the love Jesus shows us today: a love that frees us to fail, desert, betray and still be called friends.
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Ishmael, Isaac, and Palm Sunday
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.
By Tim Merrill
Word From Below
Freedom from Fear
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.
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
The Judgment of Mercy
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.
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Why are you talking to me?
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.
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
The Transfiguration of a Skinny Geedy
Geedy was just one word in the neighborhood’s descriptive lexicon for crack cocaine addicts. Sometimes called fiends, geezers, crack heads,…
By Tim Merrill
Word From Below
Don’t Speak Until You’re Spoken To*
After the brightly lit meeting on the mountain with Moses and Elijah, where Jesus is transfigured, he orders the disciples…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Becoming Perfectly Human
I use to think that the Sermon on the Mount was easy and beautiful. I use to think, “yeah Jesus,…
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
A Happy Baptism
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.
By Tim Merrill
Word From Below
Salt and Light
This past Sunday morning I attended a unique worship service with some friends. It was called “Street Church;” all the…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
The Inauguration
We are told that the three most important words in real estate are: Location! Location! Location! I don’t think God…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
What About Church Out Here?
One Sunday afternoon, I was driving through the neighborhood with a car full of local kids that were a part…
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
What’s in a Name?
I ask people, especially young people, about their names. I fill up with joy when Maisha tells me her name…
By Tim Merrill
Word From Below
The Word in the Temple
We’ve had a week to digest the Nativity Feast. The magic of Christmas finds its way into even the most…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Word Revealed
Joy is the purest form of gratitude, and gratitude is the most genuine gift we can give to God….
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Word at Home
We began this year’s Advent series by exploring The Waiting Rooms of Christmas. We waited in the Apocalypse and peace…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Waiting Rooms of Christmas – Public Disgrace
We began this year’s Advent series by exploring The Waiting Rooms of Christmas. We waited in the Apocalypse and peace…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Waiting Rooms of Christmas – Prison
This year, during Advent, the Gospel of Matthew invites us to sit in what we are calling The Waiting Rooms…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Four Waiting Rooms of Christmas – Wilderness
This year during Advent the Gospel of Matthew invites us to sit in, what we are calling, The Waiting Rooms…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Four Waiting Rooms of Christmas – Apocalypse
40“Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left…41Keep awake therefore, for…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Way of the Cross?
“Build that wall! Build that wall” “Go back to where you came from.” “Pack your bags! Pack your bags!” On…
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
Stone by Stone
This week’s text is difficult. It is the reminder that peacemaking is not for the faint of heart. The text…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Children of the Resurrection
The Gospel not only empowers us to see, but to see from a particular vantage point-through the unconstrained eyes of…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Zacchaeus: A Wee Little Man Was He (Not)
This week’s Gospel text is a narrative some people grew up singing in Sunday School: “Zacchaeus was a wee, little…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Superhero Spandex
Superhero movies are all the rage recently. I’m sure there are a variety of reasons why…such as an affinity for…
By Justin Mootz
Word From Below
Faith from Below
This is a familiar parable Jesus uses to teach us about the nature of prayer. The widow shows us what…
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
Becoming Human
This week’s text is a difficult one. The disciples want Jesus to increase their faith, which is the very thing…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Not Even Abraham
This week’s text is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lives a life of plenty,…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Gospel Hustle
In my neighborhood, this would be called a hustle. I see it every day. This parable sounds like a contemporary…
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
The Math of Mercy
Fifteen years ago this Sunday (9/11) something awful happened, and I do mean aw-full. Most of us were filled with…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Invitation of Love
Throughout the course of life we often engage Scripture through the lens of present circumstance. In my case, the engagement…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Sabbath Prayer: Week 6
As we mentioned four weeks ago, each summer we take a Sabbath break from the Word From Below reflections. Instead,…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Sabbath Prayer: Week 5
As we mentioned four weeks ago, each summer we take a Sabbath break from the Word From Below reflections. Instead,…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Sabbath Prayer: Week 4
As we mentioned three weeks ago, each summer we take a Sabbath break from the Word From Below reflections. Instead,…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Sabbath Prayer: Week 3
As we mentioned two weeks ago, each summer we take a Sabbath break from the Word From Below reflections. Instead,…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Sabbath Prayer: Week 2
As we mentioned last week, each summer we take a Sabbath break from the Word From Below reflections. Instead, we…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Sabbath Prayer: Week 1
Each summer we take a Sabbath break from the Word From Below reflections. Instead of writing on the Gospel lectionary…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Mystery of Mercy
We can manage moral purity from the “other side” of the road, but mercy “comes near” and gets involved in the mess of life.
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Family Matters
In this week’s text Jesus turns toward Jerusalem where he will confront the brutal reality of sin head on. On…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Seized By Fear
The man in the tombs we see in this passage is tormented by demons that will not go away. They…
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
A Gospel Turning
The Gospel is alive and well, but there is an exodus from the Church in North America. My hunch is…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Clash of Crowds
A collision at the city gate!! A crowd of death is leaving the city while a crowd of life is…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
The Marvel of Saving Faith
There are only two places where the Bible tells us that Jesus is amazed. In our lectionary text this week,…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Love in Motion
This week we celebrate the Trinity. Cynthia Bourgeault describes the Trinity as “love in motion.” Love in motion is the…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Pentecost Unity
This week we celebrate Pentecost, which some call the birthday of the church. The Spirit is “poured out” on all…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Unity Without Enemies?
My favorite scientific experiment is the one conducted by Mark Twain. He placed a cat and a dog in a…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Do you want to get well?
As we approach the sixth Sunday of Easter, we are continually being challenged to see life by the light of…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Seeing the New Jerusalem
The poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said, “That only which we have within, can we see without.” If we see hope,…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Dis-appointment?
Have you recently been disappointed by someone, or have you been the source of their disappointment? In a week’s time,…
By Ken Sikes
Word From Below
What It Means to be Eastered
“Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us.” These are the words that English Jesuit…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Resurrection Sunday
Christ is risen! This week we have tried to recover some of the shock of Holy Week and the truly…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Holy Saturday
Today the world falls silent. The psalmist says there is no speech and there are no words. And yet in…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Good Friday
In the Beginning, on the sixth day, on the very first Friday, God created humanity and called us “very good.”…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Maundy Thursday
The result of these next four days ultimately becomes the hope of the world. But today, just today, I want…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
The Gift of Shattered Expectations
Laying down cloaks was an act of homage for royalty. By riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey,…
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
Inventing Scapegoats
We are approaching the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Things are heating up. This week Mary anoints Jesus with costly perfume….
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Scandalously Wasteful: The Prodigal Dad
We continue our trek this Lenten season toward the Cross and our journey this week takes us into a very…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Towers and Trees
“God hates me!” wailed Reba. Her outburst was a result of losing her husband of 40 years. Just days before…
By Ken Sikes
Word From Below
A “Hens and Chicks” Spirituality
Jerusalem was in trouble, and she didn’t even know it. Jesus’ prophetic words here in chapter 13 are dripping with…
By Lina Thompson
Word From Below
Symbolic Universe
Friend and mentor, Dave Hillis, president of Leadership Foundations, tells the story from his days as a camp counselor when…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Who is this?
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…. -Hebrews 1:3 When my daughter…
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
The Mystery of Incarnation
Last week we heard Jesus’ first sermon. This week’s lectionary text keeps us in the same passage, but it focuses…
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Anointed for What?
Last week we witnessed Jesus’ first miracle (water becomes wine). It ends well. This week we hear Jesus’ first sermon….
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Water to Wine: Saving the Best for Last
It is no mistake that Jesus chooses the vessels of ceremonial cleansing to become the containers of liquid delight.
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Scandal
The real threat that Jesus exposes in this text is the hidden envy brewing in the disciples’ hearts.
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Meditations on (Un) Cleanliness
Undermining Jesus’s call to love.
By Stephanie Dunlap
Word From Below
Induction to Reality
Remembering the body of Christ for a hurting world.
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Dismantling and Re-framing Family
A new frame for the family portrait.
By Scott Dewey
Word From Below
The Paraclete Comes to Guatemala City
Tragedy in the Street Psalms community.
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
The Kiss of God
When it comes to life’s deepest mysteries, experience trumps explanation every time!
By Kris Rocke
Word From Below
Easter: My Redeemer Lives!
Easter becomes for us an opportunity for heightened awareness of the great gift of living truth that has been bestowed upon us.
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Holy Saturday: “As Secure as You Know How”
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.
By Joel Van Dyke
Word From Below
Good Friday – God With Us, Alone
I have loved ones in hard places, and the hardest place of all may be the place of abandonment.
By Scott Dewey
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