Matthew 16:21-28 Dear Partner in Preaching, We’re at “part 2” of the Caesarea Philippi scene, and once again, I find that our present circumstances are prodding me to look again at a text I felt like I knew. Typically, I would focus on the heartbreak of the rebuke Jesus levels at Peter. And then connect Peter’s disappointment to our own, as we, too, often want a strong God, even a warrior God, who will come in to save us from our problems. Those – I would argue quite understandable – desires make it hard to accept, let alone celebrate, Jesus coming to us in vulnerability, suffering, and death. Until, that is, we realize...

John 17:1-11 Dear Partner in Preaching, You won’t often hear a Lutheran preacher or theologian talk about glory. At least not positively. Luther frequently railed against theologians of glory, those who trusted and elevated the role of human reason and ability with regard to our salvation. He argued instead for a theology of the cross, one that trusted completely in God’s mercy and grace as revealed in the cross of Christ. No, you won’t often hear a Luther preacher talk positively about glory. Except today. Or, at the very least, I can’t help but acknowledge how important “glory” is in this passage and, it would...

Luke 22:14-23:56 Dear Partner in Preaching, Sometimes when you read a familiar passage, you wonder just what you’ll preach on this time, and sometimes – and oh, how nice it is when this happens! – sometimes something entirely new jumps out at you. That’s what happened to me this week at the prompting of one of the readers of this column. Earlier this week, one of you wrote to me and observed that in Luke’s version of the Passion, Peter denies Jesus three times and Pilate proclaims his innocence three times. The preacher writing asked if this was significant. And, to tell you the truth, I’d never noticed that before....

Mark 3:20-35 Dear Partner in Preaching, How do you define “crazy”? Not what makes you crazy, mind you :), but what you think of as absolutely crazy. I ask because I think it’s really interesting that, just a few chapters into Mark’s story about Jesus, those around him are saying he’s crazy. Saying people are “Crazy” or, in this case the parallel, “out of his mind” is strong language. It’s a way of discrediting people, of dismissing their views and actions, of trying to limit, if not destroy, their credibility and influence. It’s the kind of thing that you either say in jest to a good friend (“Don’t be crazy, we...

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...