Luke 13:10-17 Dear Partner in Preaching, Because I am an avid fan of the Olympics, I have been regularly staying up way too late to watch the struggles and victories of the athletes gathered in Rio. And while doing so I have been hearing a lot of “dream” talk. Michael Phelps described his recovery, comeback, and remarkable set of accomplishments in the pool this past week as a dream come true. Simon Biles, perhaps the greatest gymnast of all time, also talked about living out a dream, as did Simone Manuel, the first US African American to win a gold medal in swimming. Katie Ladecky, Kristin Armstrong, Ryan Murphy, Usain Bolt and so many...

Luke 12:49-56 Dear Partner in Preaching, What does it cost us to go to Church? I’ve been wondering of late what our people would say if we asked them that. A free Sunday morning? A chance to sleep in? The ten or twenty bucks they put in the offering plate? Odds are, if we stop to think of it, it costs us very little to be a Christian today, as even in an increasingly “post-Christian” culture, going to church, if no longer quite the norm, at least occasions little comment. Not so, of course, in Jesus’ day. As Jesus indicates in this complicated and, if truth-be-told, somewhat off-putting passage, those who followed him were regularly...

Luke 12:32-40 Dear Partner in Preaching, One of my favorite questions to ask in visioning work or counseling sessions is as follows: “What would you love to try if you knew you couldn’t fail?” You may have heard that question, or asked it, yourself. I like it because it prompts us to cast our gaze beyond our present circumstances and challenges, elements in our lives that, while perhaps real, often cast a larger than necessary shadow. We are evolutionarily wired to overestimate risk and danger because, well, in a harsh environment underestimating risk and danger can be deadly. But one might argue that in our relatively civilized world,...

Luke 12:13-21 Dear Partner in Preaching, What if this parable really isn’t about money? Or about wealth? Or about the need to give to the church? I know, I know, if that’s true, it robs this parable of its value as the fodder of a great stewardship sermon. (If it makes you feel any better, no one really was expecting to hear a stewardship sermon the last Sunday in July anyway.) Yet I think we move too quickly to assume the issue here is about this farmer’s wealth, when rather I think it’s about his isolation. Consider the little conversation he has with himself. Except it’s not just to himself, it’s also about himself…and only...

Luke 11:1-13 Dear Partner in Preaching, I think I would find this passage easier to preach on if there weren’t so many people dying right now. I know, I know, people die every day. More than that, people die in really difficult, preventable, tragic ways every day that I know nothing about. But in recent weeks, the violence in our cities and around the world has been nearly overwhelming. Orlando, Baton Rouge, St. Paul, Dallas, Nice, Baton Rouge again… there are too many people dying for me to read this passage and wonder, not how to pray, but why we pray at all. And here’s the thing: the overwhelming majority of the people we preach to...

Luke 10:38-42 Dear Partner in Preaching, I have been, as I expect you have as well, heart sick over the events of the last week. Two more black men – Alton Sterling and Philando Castile – shot and killed by police in Baton Rouge and St. Paul. The brutal slaughter of police in Dallas. These feel like troubled days indeed, and I very much want our preaching to offer relevant and realistic words of hope. At the same time, I will confess to having a hard time relating the story of Mary and Martha to these events. I think I’ve found a way in, but am still working on it, so I’ll share my thoughts thus far below and will be grateful for you...

Luke 10:25-37 Dear Partner in Preaching, Nine preachers out of ten, I’d wager, will preach this week’s parable of the Good Samaritan as a morality tale. And, frankly, I think that’s just fine. It does, after all, reflect a profound example of how we are to treat each other, regarding as “neighbor” not merely those who are close to us or look like us or believe like us, but rather anyone who is in need. Given the political and cultural impetus, just now, to perceive anyone as different as a threat, this is a timely message indeed. If you move in this direction, I think there is an important pattern available to us in this parable to...

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Dear Partner in Preaching, Four loosely connected thoughts on this passage that I hope will inspire your preaching this week. First, and mainly for you: you cannot do this alone. Notice that Jesus sent out the disciples in pairs. Why? With two, there is always someone to be encouraging if one of the pair is discouraged, to keep faith if one is dispirited, and to carry on when one feels tempted to quit. This discipleship thing can be hard, but it’s always easier with a companion. And the same is true with preaching! So if you have a healthy text study group available, go. If you don’t (or even if you do), try out a...

Luke 9:51-62 Dear Partner in Preaching, As is true of all texts, there are any number of interpretive directions in which you can go this week. Having said that, however, one simply jumped off the page for me and demanded my attention: why is it that when the James and John meet resistance to Jesus’ mission, their first instinct is to call down fire from heaven that will consume those they see as opponents? Let’s set the scene for a moment before trying to answer this question. Chapter nine is a pivotal chapter in Luke’s story about Jesus. It is, in a variety of ways, the hinge of the story, as it provides the pivot point between...

Luke 8:26-39 Dear Partner in Preaching, When I’ve written on this passage in years past, I’ve focused on the power of names. It regularly breaks my heart, for instance, to hear this young man respond to Jesus query, “What is your name?” by answering, “Legion.” He has defined himself, I’ve argued, by his deficits, by his ailment, by his pain, by his struggles and captivity. I’ve contrasted this shrunken, broken reality with the life-restoring gift of a new name and identity in Holy Baptism. I am still struck by this reality and, indeed, think it still preaches. J But this year I was taken not so much by what Jesus said to this...