Jeremiah 3:6-18 “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15) Who are your shepherds? I have a few. By now you know the names “Ben” and “Jake.” Brianne is a good shepherd for me too, especially in terms of my self-care and healthy boundaries. I have a good counselor who helps as a shepherd for my emotions and how I process what I’m experiencing in life and work. And then I’ve had occasional shepherds – that is, friends and...

Deuteronomy 9:13-21 “Then I took the sinful thing you had made, the calf, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly, until it was reduced to dust; and I threw the dust of it into the stream that runs down the mountain” (Deuteronomy 9:21) Sometimes it’s the small differences in scripture that can be the most interesting, especially if we don’t get lost in the tension of two differing accounts of the same event. That is what we have here in our Deuteronomy selection today....

Luke 18:9-14 "But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13) It’s hard to think of a better passage to read on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, than this parable from Luke’s gospel. Two men go up to pray and it is the sinner that is lauded for his prayers, not the righteous man. It is just such an archetypal story for Jesus that we’re hardly even surprised by the conclusion. It...

2 Timothy 1:15-2:13 “You are aware that all who are in Asia have turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain…” (2 Timothy 1:15-16) One of my greatest challenges in my faith is how to receive valid reports of Christians who misbehave, especially when they happen to be Christians with a larger-than-typical platform or profile. You know the type, right? The...

Mark 8:11-26 "Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again…” (Mark 8:25) Listen. I’m preaching this to myself as much as anyone reading this because it is a hard lesson to learn – especially if you have even the faintest streak of perfectionism in your soul. (Also, I think all people are perfectionists in some manner or another. After all, we were created to live in utter perfection with God and sin has disrupted that at the moment, but that inclination for perfection, utter beauty, order,...

Isaiah 49:1-12 “Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’” (Isaiah 49:1-3) Identity and purpose. This is what Isaiah gives us in this passage. First, he explains who he is –...

Ephesians 5:1-14 “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11) Near the end of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he does what Paul almost always does – he gives a quick series of ethical injunctions. I suspect that these quick reminders are of greater importance than we tend to think. In fact, I suspect these are the topics that Paul wanted to talk about with the churches except that every church was having their own issues and Paul had to...

Mark 1:29-45 “Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons” (Mark 1:31-32) This early healing in Mark’s gospel of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law has always been a favorite of mine – and not only because it lends itself to the easy punchline: “…and that was the first (and last) time that Peter would be good enough for her daughter” ::rimshot:: No, I like this story because it puts on full display why...

Matthew 12:14-21 “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. When Jesus became aware of this, he departed” (Matthew 12:14-15) What do we do with nay-sayers in our lives? Answering this question is probably a fair bit contextual – that is, who the nay-sayer is matters; if it’s your mother, that’s an entirely different thing than if it is your boss at work – but even with this caveat acknowledged, I still think Jesus presents us with a model for how to live...

Psalm 89:1-2 “I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens” (Psalm 89:1-2) Friends, it’s been a heckuva year. And, of course, the change of the calendar is psychologically refreshing, but it does not mean that everything will all of the sudden be better. However, as we stand upon the end of one year and face whatever...