Matthew 15:21-28 Dear Partner in Preaching, I find the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman one of the most painful in Scripture. This year, I also find it one of the most timely. First, the pain: Jesus treats her, well, abominably. When she begs him for mercy for the sake of her tormented daughter, he ignores her, remaining silent in the face of her pleas. He then seems to give in to the pressure of his disciples urging him to send her away. When she refuses to be ignored and pleas her case once more, he insults her by calling her a dog. It all feels, quite frankly, rather awful and not at all like the Jesus we expect. Now, I know the...

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...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Anyone interested in talking about prejudice and racism this Sunday? What about gay marriage? My guess is that a few – probably a very few – of us can’t wait to talk about just these things because they are passions of ours. My other guess is that most of us would rather not. And that we’ve got lots of very good reasons not to. These issues are too controversial, too painful, too divisive. And, perhaps above and beyond these reasons, we know that people don’t come to church to talk about these things. But here’s the thing: People are talking about them. With friends, with family members, with...