Writings and Sermons
A New Testament professor taught me that parables should surprise us. Not in a jump-scare sort of surprise, but in a way the reveals to us the work God is interested and involved in. Today’s parable hasn’t surprised me for awhile. So I dug into it this week and, as I’d hoped, God was still […]
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One of the ways I’m staying sane in through this pandemic is by knitting more. And it’s amazing to me how well the things even I make hold together because of the physics of knitting. Today we pray that God’s people are knit together. I had some thoughts about that: I worked most closely with […]
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I love Jesus’ response in today’s Gospel. And there’s a lot of theology going on in between what is actually said. I explored some of that and how it relates to Moses’ conversation with God. Because I think it’s all about the image of God…which points to another part of Scripture… I worked with Exodus […]
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I preached my way into the realization that one of my bedrock beliefs is that God honours our struggle. And I don’t know if I remembered to say that during this sermon, but I wanted to talk about some of the struggles we tend to forget existed in the times Scripture tells us about. You […]
Read MoreRules aren’t always my favourite. I can rankle against being told to just do a thing. (Understanding the reasoning why often helps this.) But community is one of my favourite things. Which means, as Jesus talks about, figuring out how to live with people who do things that I wouldn’t do. All this, plus some […]
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With the pandemic and all the new important safety precautions, this Gospel really hit me differently this year. I’m now much more understanding of Peter. Also, wear a mask, distance, and wash your hands. I worked most closely with Matthew 16.21-28.
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I don’t know that I’ve ever preached on Shiphrah and Puah. But this year their refusal to go along with Pharoah’s death plan, their instance on doing the right thing in hard and dangerous circumstances, their bravery, seemed not only important, but like the first in the series of dominos. I could imagine Moses’s mother […]
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I love Peter trying and failing to walk on water. I do. But this year it wasn’t preaching for me. Instead I kept hearing this joke that’s sometimes funny and that I’ve never really liked. The work of holding it in conversation and prayer with this passage brought me to a question: Do I believe […]
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Today’s Gospel is the collection of all of the short parables from Matthew 13. I have never enjoyed preaching on these parables as much as this year. Because, after ten years of ordained life, I finally feel like I began to understand some of what Jesus is teaching in here. I worked most closely with […]
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St Paul can be a difficult theologian for me. His writings about women and leadership aside, I’ve often struggled when Paul veers into interpretations that have been harmfully used and contrary to historic understandings of Scripture. After this week, I think I need to trust Paul’s theological thinking more. I worked with Matthew 13.24-30 36-43, […]
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Theologybird Writes 