John 20:19-31 Dear Partner in Preaching, Well, we made it. We made it through a very different Holy Week and Easter, normally one of the busiest times of the year, a time when our churches typically have more people in and out than during any other eight-day stretch, yet this year stood nearly empty. We made it. And now we’re wondering when things will get back to normal. At least I am. In Minnesota, we’re two weeks into a five-week shelter-in-place situation and I keep finding myself thinking ahead to when this is over and we can get back to normal. Wondering if maybe we’ll be able to gather for worship sometime in May,...

John 20:19-31 Dear Partner in Preaching, My apologies for the lateness of this post. This week totally got away from me! So I’ll keep it short. Two brief ideas that perhaps fall together and complement each other. Thought # 1: What an assortment of people and emotions in the two upper-room gatherings John narrates! There are folks who deserted Jesus, denied him, watched him die at a distance, and at least one up close. There are folks who saw the empty tomb, one believed (though what he believed, exactly, we don’t know) and one was confused by what he witnessed. Fear abounds, and doors are for that reason locked fast. After Jesus appears...

Dear Partner in Preaching, The story of Thomas has always been one of my favorites. Of course, it’s not just a story about Thomas. It’s also a story about frightened disciples. So scared, in fact, that, they hid behind locked doors. And who can blame them? They had just witnessed the one they confessed to be the Messiah betrayed by one of his own, tried and convicted by both religious and civil authorities, and then brutally executed. Little wonder they were afraid, assuming that the next step would be to round up Jesus’ followers. But when Jesus comes on the scene, their fear falls away and is replaced by joy. This, I think, is the...