Tag: light
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Have and Need
“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”– Isaiah 9:6 (NRSV) Okay. Be honest. Did you have your Christmas tree up at the beginning ofNovember? Anyonehave it up before Halloween this year?…
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Kingdom Justice
Psalm 7; Revelation 19:1–9 “They got what they deserved.” We long for justice. In fact, much of the separation between political parties and people, in general, is defined by justice. When we look at emotionally charged issues such as racism, justice is often the biggest piece. The person negatively affected want to feel heard and,…
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Thieving Glory
Matthew 24:42–44; 1 Thessalonians 5:2–6; Revelation 16:12–16 Calling God a thief seems more than just a little ridiculous. Yet, Jesus uses the imagery of a thief to talk about the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is an ambiguous phrase. Many (perhaps even most) Christians, think of the “Day of the Lord”…
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You’re MINE
Luke 9:49–56 Family feuds can be long and painful. Some people are relieved that they won’t be traveling for the annual family gathering during Thanksgiving. The Jews and the Samaritans were family. They were at one point, at least. Over the generations, things continued to get worse, until they became enemies. Peculiarly, the Samaritans still…
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Rooftop Shenanigans
Jeremiah 17:9–11; Luke 12:1–12 If you have a smartphone, you are probably aware of this little program installed on it, which is supposedly an assistant. “Hello, Google, Siri, Bixby, Alexa.” This program can be helpful. Yet, there is often weirdness associated with it. There have been plenty of experiences where Facebook suddenly shows stuff in…
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Monuments to What
Ecclesiastes 1:10–11; Matthew 23:25–32; Luke 11:47–54; Acts 7:44–58 You have probably heard George Santayana’s famous quip, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Perhaps the writer of Ecclesiastes phrased it differently. The reality is that human behavior (especially, selfishness, greed, and hatred) has a tendency to repeat itself. Jewish history…
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Work-Out Regimen
Luke 7:36–50; Philippians 2:12–16 The scorn of the Pharisees toward Jesus was pretty easy to see. They were effectively declaring that Jesus could not be an actual true prophet, because he dared to accept the anointing by the woman. “If he only knew what she was like,” they said. Jesus did and loved her anyway.…
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See and Be Seen
Genesis 16:7–14; John 1:47–51 Have you ever been to a big event? Maybe a concert? Maybe a sports game? And then you spend anywhere from 2 to 4 hours with thousands of your closest friends. Most of those people really aren’t your friends. Unless you are ticket holder buddies, you are unlikely to see them…