Matthew 16:13-20 Dear Partner in Preaching, How do we keep faith in the time of COVID? And struggle for racial equity? And weather economic crisis? And stay hopeful (or even just sane) amid such a toxic political culture? (And all this during an election year!) Just now it feels like so much threatens to tear us apart. As those in positions of leadership sometime feel the pressures of the day more keenly, I know you wrestle with these questions – and bear the mental strain of trying to answer them – regularly. These questions have pushed me to read this passage a little differently this year. The larger story and scene that...

Matthew 16:13-20 Dear Partner in Preaching, This week’s reading probably ranks among my least favorite lectionary editorial choices – not because it’s not a great story and, for that matter, an important story, but because of how the lectionary divides it into two parts, disrupting, if not subverting, what feels like the narrative integrity of the story. In short, it’s just really, really hard for me to read this week’s praise and affirmation of Peter apart from next week’s reversal and rebuke as he gains far more insight into the depth and cost of his confession. Then again – don’t you love it when the text and/or...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Have you ever heard the sound of a heart breaking? Do you remember what it sounds like? Maybe it was your son or daughter’s heart breaking when they graduated from high school or college only to find the job market had disappeared. Or maybe it was your sister’s heart breaking when the doctor called to say the cancer was back. Or maybe it was your friend’s heart breaking when he called to say that his marriage was over. Have you ever heard the sound of a heart breaking? Do you remember what it sounds like? I think we hear that sound again in today’s gospel reading. It might be hard to detect at first, but if...