Dear Partner in Preaching, I want to propose a radical idea: on this Holy Trinity Sunday, don’t preach on the Trinity. Don’t even mention…it, him, her, they (proper pronoun, please?) Why? Because it’s a doctrine. Because it’s a confusing doctrine. Because doctrine itself is meant to be a way of understanding and describing our experience of the living God, but perhaps as much as or even more than any other doctrine, the doctrine of the Trinity has ended up not describing an experience, but substituting for one. For many of our folks – and who knows, maybe for us – it is little more than a formula – “In the name of the...

Acts 2:1-21 Dear Partner in Preaching, Some insights take a little while to sink in. And that is definitely true with something I realized about four or five years ago with regard to the Pentecost story. You know the details pretty well, as do many of our people: the disciples are gathered in the Upper Room (or at least in some room), waiting for the consummation of Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit, when the earth shakes, the wind blows, tongues of fire descend, and they are emboldened to preach the Gospel first in Jerusalem and eventually to the ends of the earth. In other words, a dramatic event which transforms the disciples, solves...

John 17:6-22 Dear Partner in Preaching, In this passage from the “farewell discourses,” Jesus prays for his disciples and…. Wait. Let’s not rush to all the other things Jesus does for or says to his disciples. Let’s just stop there for a moment. The evening before his crucifixion, and while anticipating an immediate future that will include betrayal, trial, condemnation, beating, and execution, Jesus. Stops. Everything. And. Prays. For. Those. He. Loves. Incredible. To think about…, but also to experience. And perhaps it’s this experience that may form much of this week’s sermon. Because here’s the thing: prayer isn’t...

John 15:9-17 Dear Partner in Preaching, “As the Father has loved me,…” Last week the phrase that guided my reflections was “as I abide in you,” reminding us that it’s Jesus’ promise to abide in us, love us, and hold onto us that makes abiding in him and loving others possible. This week the phrase that has helped me – only and finally on Saturday morning! – find an angle into this portion of the Farewell Discourses is, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” Sometimes I wonder if it’s the preachers job, above all else, to help people imagine God differently. Imagine, not just think about. What I mean is...

John 15:1-8 Dear Partner in Preaching, “As I abide in you.” That’s the line in this week’s Gospel reading that helps me find a way to preach this passage. Without it, much of what Jesus says feels like a threat. You know what I mean? Abide in me or else – be pruned, wither, be thrown into the fire, and die! All voiced as a threat to bully people into staying loyal and faithful. But Jesus doesn’t just say “Abide in me.” Rather, he says, “Abide in me, as I abide in you.” And that changes everything. The other statements about pruning and withering and the rest are not threats of intimidation but rather statements of fact,...