Are you poor? Are you sad or hungry or feeling unworthy? Are you persecuted? Well then, blessed are you. Enjoy all your blessings!
Do Matthew’s beatitudes leave you just a bit uncomfortable? Blessings might a great reward in heaven, but—let’s be honest here—these earthly attributes that apparently bring about heavenly blessing are kind of hard to bear in … Read the rest
Continue reading "Bless Your Heart" »
I can’t quite escape the irony of ascending this pulpit, when we’ve just heard about Jesus coming down from the mountain to teach. Luke’s version of the beatitudes parallel Matthew’s account of the sermon on the mount, but here his teaching is delivered on a plain. On the level ground, where you might say that the mountain and … Read the rest
Continue reading "Leveling on the Plain" »
Beloved, we are God’s children right now—nothing is more true than that—but what we will be has not yet been revealed. I find so much comfort in that statement from the First Letter of John, but also plenty of challenge. How will the witness of my life be revealed when generations to come look back on my … Read the rest
Continue reading "Saints, Revealed" »