Weekly Moravian Message: June 18, 2017
Second Sunday after Pentecost – June 18, 2017 That’s what you do Jesus is on a mission: teaching, proclaiming, and curing, as he travels through the countryside. He cannot help but notice that the crowds—and there are always crowds—appear harassed and help-less. Who can blame them? Beaten down by problems and cares, surrounded by illness […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 11, 2017
Trinity Sunday June 11, 2017 I am with you It is fitting that Matthew’s Gospel, which begins by naming Jesus Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23), would have the last words of the Gospel remind us that “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (28:20). Everything between describing the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 4, 2017
Pentecost Sunday June 4, 2017 The Only Way to Attain Peace English teachers caution against the passive voice. “The ball was hit.” Who hit it? In the passive voice it’s not always clear who controls the action. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 28, 2017
Seventh Sunday of Easter Be Prepared The motto for both the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts in America is simply “Be Prepared.” We can’t know exactly what will happen in the immediate future, much less in the months and years to come. The days may progress more or less the way we have hoped […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 21, 2017
Sixth Sunday of Easter Spirit Watchers Each one of us sees the world differently. Our experience, expertise, and knowledge can sometimes sharpen what we notice about the world around us. For example, when I taste a bland dish for the first time, I might say, “This needs something, but I don’t know what.” Yet a […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 14, 2017
Fifth Sunday of Easter Troubled Hearts When we lived in the Midwest, a visit to distant family could at times seem like more effort and trouble than it might be worth—days away and pastor coverage, arrangements for flights and rental cars, pass-ports and time zones. However, whatever time of day or night we arrived, no […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 7, 2017
Fourth Sunday of Easter Listening to the Good Shepherd Jesus is our shepherd and leads to the way of life. A clear truth spoken to in John’s Gospel—a truth, however, that is sometimes hard to grasp. How often do we look for other guides for life’s ultimate answers? How often do we look to a […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 30, 2017
Third Sunday of Easter Encountered by Jesus On what road is Jesus encountering you? As a few disciples walk and talk about what has happened, Jesus comes near and goes with them, but “their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:16). Jesus inquires about their discussion. They stand “still, looking sad.” What gives you […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 23, 2017
Second Sunday of Easter Jesus Is with You After revealing himself to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning, Jesus sent her to share the glad news of his resurrection with his disciples. We may never understand their state of mind when they received the news from Mary, or whether they even believed her. But later that […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 16, 2017
Easter Sunday Good News The belief we share that Jesus of Nazareth was God incarnate, and that he lived, suffered, died, and lived again, is good news. We think of it as such and call it so. We declare it to be the Good News, news surpassing in goodness all other news. And it was […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 9, 2017
Palm Sunday God Is in Charge Through this Lenten season (and these bulletin backs), I have asked how God dares to enter into our world, “grounding” Godself with the very ordinary stuff of our lives, in order to show how the extraordinary happens. Walking through the Gospel stories from John about the ordinary things like […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 2, 2017
Fifth Sunday in Lent Weeping Someone once said that there are only two things certain about life: death and taxes. Yet it is one of those certain things and one of those ordinary things about life—death itself—that Jesus challenges in our Gospel passage from John today. Lazarus, we are told, has physically died—an ordinary death, […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 26, 2017
Fourth Sunday in Lent Seeing You will read this passage about light just a few weeks after our clocks have been turned ahead one hour in most of the United States to observe Daylight Savings Time. This will bring more light to our evenings, so that many of us will enjoy an extra hour of […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 19, 2017
Third Sunday in Lent Thirsty The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge writes, “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” words from a sailor challenged to find a way to quench his thirst amid the salty sea water. Fresh water is essential to human survival, re-minding us of the ordinary nature of the story in John’s […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 12, 2017
Second Sunday in Lent Shining Last Sunday, as the season of Lent began, we suggested that God was present in the midst of the temptations of Jesus, that God could use the ordinary struggles that Jesus faced—of bread, mortality, and power—to do extraordinary things. Over this season of Lent, we will be walking through several […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 5, 2017
First Sunday in Lent Grounded In teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus shares this: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (or as the NRSV version of Matthew 6:13 states, “And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one”). Yet in our […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 26, 2017
Last Sunday after the Epiphany Transfiguration of Our Lord The Rhythm of the Christian Life Why do you come to worship on a Sunday morning? Maybe you come to find a bit of peace; to get away from your problems for an hour. Or maybe you come to get motivated and empowered to face your […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 19, 2017
Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany Another Way It just seems too good to be true, but then again . . . Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount about nonviolence and the love of our enemies are a bit of a head-scratcher. Does he really mean what he says? “Turn the other cheek . […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 12, 2017
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany Understanding the Law In our text for today, Jesus does not discard the law. Instead, he interprets the law by teaching that the laws are not mere rules. They are actually the way to being in right relationship with God and with neighbor. As Jesus cuts through the people’s understanding […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 5, 2017
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany The Jesus of Flavor In the past couple of years, during my time at our children’s ministry at Esperanza for Bethlehem, I kept hearing these remarks from our kids regarding the meal preparation: “Pastora, you did not prepare this meal right.” Because it needed some “adobo” Spanish seasoning. I realized […]
Weekly Moravian Message: January 29, 2017
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany “Favored by God” The scriptural Beatitudes are an important list of nine “blessed” verses, or “favored by God” verses, as the Greek word actually translates. In this, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus confers a blessing upon various groups of people who are characterized by what they […]
Weekly Moravian Message: January 22, 2017
Third Sunday after the Epiphany “Come with me!” “Come with me!” (Matthew 4:19 CEV). That is one version of Jesus’ invitation “Follow me.” Sometimes we call ourselves “followers of Jesus.” I prefer that phrase to “Christians,” because of some of the statements and actions that people label as Christian. I ask, “Would Jesus do that? […]
Weekly Moravian Message: January 15, 2017
Second Sunday after the Epiphany Jesus Our Lamb When John the Baptist cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” you can imagine how startling that may have been to those who stood by. Every Israelite understood and at one point had experienced the sacrifice of a lamb—or […]
Weekly Moravian Message, January 1, 2017
First Sunday after Christmas Threatened by Jesus Herod was a wise man. He knew Jesus was a threat. So he tried to kill him, in what we call the slaughter of the innocents, a preemptive strike against a political rival. Is Jesus a threat? To us? Matthew 1 gives a genealogy of Jesus, his Jewish […]
Weekly Moravian Message, December 25, 2016
Christmas Day O sing to the Lord, for the Lord has done marvelous things! Once upon a time, a few years ago, I read a story in a Bible study. A boy of about six years of age was sleeping in his bed, when suddenly there was a fierce thunderstorm. He awoke and called out […]
Moravian Weekly Message, December 18, 2016
Fourth Sunday of Advent The Birth of the Messiah Matthew’s telling of the birth of Jesus is very simple, brief, to the point. Read it through several times, in order to hear precisely what Matthew does say—and what he doesn’t! This is not Luke’s story! This story centers around Joseph! Joseph chooses to hear and […]
Weekly Moravian Message, December 11, 2016
Third Sunday of Advent “Are you the one?” John asks of Jesus, “Are you the one?” Jesus responds with words that might have come from Isaiah, or the psalm, or from his mother Mary! With God’s salvation come healing, wholeness, reconciliation . . . restoration! The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, those […]
Weekly Moravian Message, December 4, 2016
Second Sunday of Advent Prepare . . . prepare the way . . . prepare the way of the Lord! This is my annual Advent challenge. I actually do a lot of preparing. I have a church list, a gift list, a grocery list, a card list, an invitation list, and an RSVP list. In […]
Weekly Moravian Message, November 27, 2016
First Sunday of Advent “Now is the time to wake up!” “Keep awake!” “Be ready!” The Scripture readings for the first Sunday of Advent have an urgency that is not familiar in our day-to-day living. It’s as if the writers want to shake us into being on guard, alert, aware: God is moving! Pay attention! […]
Weekly Moravian Message, November 20, 2016
Reign of Christ Sunday “Today in Paradise” Jesus was crucified between two criminals. One mocked Jesus, but “the other” said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” I got stuck on that first word: “today.” I was distracted by theo-logical questions. Does this […]