The story of
God and us
2nd Peter (1) Acts (7) Genesis (2) Hebrews (1) Isaiah (1) Jeremiah (1) Job (1) John (4) Jonah (1) Luke (9) Matthew (3) Newsletters (1) Ruth (2)
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What do you have to believe?
John 11.17–27; Acts 17.1–4,10–12
Read more: What do you have to believe?Maybe “I believe you can raise the dead” feels too heavy for Martha right now. And that’s where this week’s reading cuts off. A few verses later, Mary has an interaction with Jesus that’s somewhat different, but still does not end in her explicitly believing Jesus will raise her brother from the dead. We know…
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The shadows of sent-out ones
Matthew 22.23–33; Acts 5.12–16
Read more: The shadows of sent-out onesAt Bible Study on Tuesday, I was touched by how quickly folks caught on to what’s unique about this passage: the hypothetical in this story is not just a hypothetical about resurrection. It is a hypothetical that pre-supposes a patriarchal world where a woman’s job is to bear an heir for a man—even a deceased…
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Come away
Genesis 12.1–4; John 3.1–17
Read more: Come awayThe Hebrew scholar Naham M Sarna notes that there’s a crescendo that happens when God tells Abraham to “go.” God lists all that Abram would be leaving behind in increasing intimacy, increasing seriousness. “Leave your native land, leave your extended family, leave your father’s house. I am taking you somewhere new.” Quite a big ask,…
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Dominant powers versus ultimate powers
Jeremiah 23.1–4; Luke 23.33–43
Read more: Dominant powers versus ultimate powersIt was starting to feeling like maybe, just maybe, the bad guys didn’t have to keep winning. Maybe giants could fall. Maybe, as the Reverend Nadia Bolz-Weber says, dominant powers would not turn out to be ultimate powers. The next Halloween, for my work’s costume contest, I dressed up for Halloween as a cell phone…