Getting Lost in the Woods

  Luke’s gospel is rich with resurrection experiences. * First, are the women who go to the tomb, only to find the rock has been rolled back and are greeted by two angelic figures proclaiming Jesus had risen.  Then Peter, the only apostle to listen to the women’s report, runs to the tomb and finds it is empty, except for the linen shroud that had wrapped Jesus’ body.  Later that same day, two disciples were on the road to Emmaus when they encountered another traveller, a teacher, who opened up the scriptures for them.   They invited the traveller to stay with them, and as they sat down to eat together, the traveller broke bread, blessed it, and then,  “...their eyes were opened, and they recognized him” .  Soon after, the eleven apostles meet the risen Christ, as seen in today’s lesson. Luke goes to great lengths to describe the physicality of the resurrected Jesus.  He seems to appear out of thin air, and the disciples assume he is a ghost, an ap...

Ordinarily if I were the preacher on Maundy Thursday, I would invite us to reflect on the sacred beauty and inherent vulnerability of the foot washing ceremony.  Yet tonight’s service is as much about Jesus eating the Passover meal with his closest friends for the last time.   Using the bread and wine of the meal to create a sacred memorial of his Body and Blood, the sacrament of his presence with them.   In a year where a global pandemic has required us to fast from communion, somehow this piece of the story feels more poignant than ever before.  In our lesson from 1 Corinthians, Paul reminds us of Jesus’ words that final evening: “...the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’  In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as yo...

Our passage today focuses on Jesus’ royal entrance into Jerusalem for Passover.It’s easy to imagine: Leafy branches waving in the air and scattering the path. Jesus riding on a colt. The energetic crowd cheering and singing ‘Hosanna’. The procession probably felt similar to when we have watched floats and marching bands pass by the church for the Franklin County Fair parade; or the parades held in Boston after one of our regional teams won a national title; or like the crowds gathered for a presidential inauguration.  We know what that energy and fun feels like in our bones.  This kind of procession has an air of triumph and provides a common bond amongst the gathered people.  Yet we know where this journey through Holy Week will take us.  It will be this same crowd, or a very similar one, who days later will be crying out, ‘Crucify him’.  After the storming of the capital on January 6, we know all too well how a crowd’s purpose can shift in an instant, from bo...

One of the core values of the Anglican tradition is reflected in the three legged stool.  This idea that Anglican theology and practice are informed by three legs which must be kept in balance in order for the stool to remain steady.  Those three legs are scripture, tradition, and reason.  It has always felt empowering that our theology and practice is informed by scripture, tradition,  and reason .  As we learn and evolve as a species, so does our understanding of God.  I sometimes imagine God’s dream for creation is like a very large piece of marble, and that as stewards of God’s creation, we have been charged with doing the sculpting.  As stewards, our job is not to decide what the marble block will become, but to faithfully chip away at the marble so the sculpture, God’s dream, might become fully unveiled.  Each generation has slowly chipped away at the marble.   As the block takes on different shapes, we sometimes believe we ha...