The Gospel According to John
There’s something insidious about the power of death, and about the feelings of helplessness that come with it. Today we see the consequences of death’s power, when Mary Magdalene approaches the tomb and finds it open, the body of Jesus, …
What does it mean to have a share with Christ? It seems, whatever this share is, Peter wants it. He wants to have a share with Christ Jesus so much that his eagerness overwhelms his pride. Because it’s in his …
Let’s talk for a minute about covenants. Covenants are often considered contracts of sorts. Some covenants are formal, and some are informal. Our Thursday Matters group has a covenant, where they agree to certain patterns of behavior and etiquette. And …
Some of you have heard that my eldest son attends school a little bit out of the area, and I’m usually the assigned driver to drop him off at school in the morning, and it’s pretty common for me to …
Epiphany 2B2024John 1:43-51 Herb Chilstrom, the first presiding bishop of the ELCA, joined my home congregation when I was in high school. Since my father was one of the pastors of my home congregation in our small Minnesota town, Pelican …
Easter 7A2023 John 17:1-11 Today, Jesus prays for the disciples. It’s Maundy Thursday, and before Jesus starts teaching and praying, he washes the disciples’ feet. Just a chapter later, Jesus will be betrayed by Judas, arrested by soldiers, and denied …
Easter 6A2023 John 14:15-21 On the night before his crucifixion, because he knows he will leave his disciples, Jesus promises to send them the spirit. You know the Spirit, Jesus says, because the Spirit abides in you, and the Spirit …
Easter 5A2023 John 14:1-14 The summer of 2014, three chaperones, me included, and 10 middle school and high school youth piled into two vans and drove from Phoenix to a Lutheran Bible camp outside Eugene, Oregon. On our way to …
Easter 4A2023 John 10:1-10 Jesus said: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. All I’ve got this morning is testimony. I know what it’s like to not have abundant life, and I bet you do too. …
Easter Vigil A2023 John 20:1-18 It’s not very often I am up at dawn though, tomorrow, I will have the opportunity. When we rise in darkness, the inky blackness can fool us into thinking it’s still the middle of the …
Maundy Thursday A2023 John 13:1-17, 31b-35 In a poem entitled Fear, poet Kahlil Gibran writes: It is said that before entering the sea a river trembles with fear. She looks back at the path she has traveled, from the peaks …
Lent 4A2023 John 9:1-41 Jesus encounters a man born blind. Expressly to reveal God’s work in him, Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud, spreads it on the man’s eyes, and tells him to go wash in the pool of …