We are used to thinking of Good Friday as a day of solemnity, even of grief, as we ponder the sacrifice Jesus makes for us with his death on the cross. But have you ever thought of it as a day for celebration? If you take care in reading John’s Gospel – the Passion narrative appointed for Good Friday (the Synoptic accounts are read on Palm/Passion Sunday) – you’ll realize quickly that celebration is probably more the mood John invites then solemn grief. Because, according to John, Jesus’ death is no tragic accident but rather the culmination of Jesus’ earthly mission to rescue a fallen humanity from the...

This past week while traveling, I started reading James Carroll’s Christ Actually: The Son of God for the Secular Age. While I spend most of my time on planes writing – emails, mostly, occasionally a post, not nearly enough just writing – I like to have a book with me during takeoff and landing, those times when “laptop computers must be shut.” Carroll, NY Times bestselling author of Constantine’s Sword picks up in this book his exploration of the relationship between Christians and Jews. But this time it’s less historical investigation than it is personal memoir combined with some biblical study...

Ken Robinson is one of my favorite speakers. His TED Talk on Education and Creativity is the all-time most watched TED Talks and worth seeing more than once. His book Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life is a wonderful resource. If you don’t have time to read the whole book, you might watch this brief encapsulation and animation of its central idea: that we each have talents to contribute linked to our abilities and passions and the best hope for the world is that we cultivate the diversity of gifts we have rather than only valuing some. As he talks about this idea of cultivating an...

This past weekend I had a chance to reconnect with several former students while teaching in Minot, ND. One reminded me of a distinction I’d made some years earlier and, more importantly, shared with me the impact it was having on some of the young families in his congregation. The distinction was simple (and one no doubt I’d borrowed from others!): Is “faith” a noun or verb? The answer, of course, is both. But the distinction matters when it comes to how we understand our faith in our daily lives; do we, that is, on a day to day basis think of faith primarily as functioning as a noun in our lives or as a verb. If...

Every once in a while when I served as a parish pastor, I would joke with colleagues or parishioners that stewardship would be a lot easier had it not been for Martin Luther. When they gave me a slightly confused look, I would say that I just thought it would be easier to raise money if I could threaten my people with hell, or at least with purgatory, rather than assure them they were justified by faith rather than their good works. Just to be clear, it really was a joke in that I am regularly and incredibly grateful for the Lutheran witness to God’s grace and the promise that we are, indeed, justified by grace through faith rather than...

Judging by your comments (16) and emails (about double that amount) to the short piece I wrote on vocation last week, I’d say that we all, at the very least, want to feel called. And so I wanted to continue sharing some thoughts on vocation as well as continue inviting your conversation (especially in the comments so all can hear what you’re thinking). In this post, then, three observations I have about vocation in relation to the comments, emails, and dozens of conversations I’ve been privileged to have with folks over the years about their sense of calling. 1) No matter how hard we try, we still often tend to think of “calling”...