Mark 4:26-34 Dear Partner in Preaching, I love these couple of mini-parables in Mark. (“Mini” in the sense that they aren’t the extended stories like the Prodigal Son or Good Samaritan, etc.) They’re small, but pack a punch. In this case, I’d describe that punch as a kind of quiet and dynamic confidence. Before jumping into that fully, let me offer just a couple of words of background information that might help. First, what is a parable? In some ways, maybe it’s easier to say what it’s not. A parable is not simply an analogy for us to figure out, where A=God and B=Jesus and C=us, etc. Some parables do function analogically,...

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...

Mark 2:23-3:6 Dear Partner in Preaching, I’m not if sure there is a more universal story in Scripture. To unpack that, I want to just notice with you how incredibly interesting it is that Jesus’ first confrontations are with those who are most religious. Mark’s Gospel is a narrative whirlwind. In the first chapter, Jesus is baptized, tempted, announced his ministry, calls his disciples, casts out an unclean spirit, heals many people gathered at Simon Peter’s home, goes on a preaching tour, and cleanses a leper. All in a mere 45 verses! And by the end of all this, his fame has spread so far and wide he finds it difficult to move about...

Dear Partner in Preaching, I want to propose a radical idea: on this Holy Trinity Sunday, don’t preach on the Trinity. Don’t even mention…it, him, her, they (proper pronoun, please?) Why? Because it’s a doctrine. Because it’s a confusing doctrine. Because doctrine itself is meant to be a way of understanding and describing our experience of the living God, but perhaps as much as or even more than any other doctrine, the doctrine of the Trinity has ended up not describing an experience, but substituting for one. For many of our folks – and who knows, maybe for us – it is little more than a formula – “In the name of the...

Acts 2:1-21 Dear Partner in Preaching, Some insights take a little while to sink in. And that is definitely true with something I realized about four or five years ago with regard to the Pentecost story. You know the details pretty well, as do many of our people: the disciples are gathered in the Upper Room (or at least in some room), waiting for the consummation of Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit, when the earth shakes, the wind blows, tongues of fire descend, and they are emboldened to preach the Gospel first in Jerusalem and eventually to the ends of the earth. In other words, a dramatic event which transforms the disciples, solves...

John 17:6-22 Dear Partner in Preaching, In this passage from the “farewell discourses,” Jesus prays for his disciples and…. Wait. Let’s not rush to all the other things Jesus does for or says to his disciples. Let’s just stop there for a moment. The evening before his crucifixion, and while anticipating an immediate future that will include betrayal, trial, condemnation, beating, and execution, Jesus. Stops. Everything. And. Prays. For. Those. He. Loves. Incredible. To think about…, but also to experience. And perhaps it’s this experience that may form much of this week’s sermon. Because here’s the thing: prayer isn’t...