Racism Is as Racism Does

One can be prejudiced without being a racist. Prejudice involves ignorance and bias. The very word “prejudice” means to prejudge. In other words, in our prejudices, we make decisions and choose emotions before having all the facts. We are ignorant as we shape or fall victim to our prejudices. Sometimes… Continue reading

John 20:1-10 “When Loving is Believing”

Read the Scripture One of the great mysteries in the New Testament is the identity of the beloved disciple in John’s Gospel. His first appearance in the Gospel occurs in chapter 13 at the Last Supper. In Jesus’ day, Jews reclined while eating their special meals. During the Last Supper,… Continue reading

I Corinthians 1:18-25 “Fools for Christ” A Maundy Thursday, Good Friday Meditation

<a href="http://” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Read the Scripture [Years ago, I stopped attending community Good Friday services even though as a pastor, I was expected to be present. I simply could no longer listen to sermons and meditations which were based on a view of the cross which I found barbaric,… Continue reading

Zechariah 9: 9-10; Luke 19:28-40 “The Passion of Palm Sunday”

Read the Scriptures I have a colleague in ministry who has a complaint about the way most Christians observe Holy Week. My friend says that most go from the pomp of the Triumphal Entry of Palm Sunday to the victory of Easter without ever passing through the agony of Gethsemane,… Continue reading

I Corinthians 12:12-27; John 3:16-17 “The One and the Many”

Read the Scriptures (This is the third sermon in a Lenten series on sin. In the first sermon, we looked at sin as it relates to the past through the images of original and demonic sin. In the second sermon, we saw how sin relates to the future through a… Continue reading

Romans 8 12-17 “Scared to Death”

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by… Continue reading

Romans 5:12-6:1 “Possessed by the Past”

Read the Scripture  (This is the first sermon in a series of three Lenten sermons on the concept of sin. The second sermon is based on Romans 8:12-17 and is entitled “Scared to Death.” The last sermon in the series is based on I Corinthians 12:12-27; John 3:16-17 and has… Continue reading

Psalm 23 “The Lord is My Shepherd” (Part Two)

1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; 2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of… Continue reading

Psalm 23, Matthew 6:24-33 “The Lord is My Shepherd” (Part One)

Read the Scripture Passages As a child, when I heard the word “lint” (pronounced the same as the word “Lent”), I thought of those little specks of whatever people would get on their clothes. I remember every Sunday morning my father using the lint brush to brush off specks on… Continue reading

Psalm 109: A Problematic Prayer

(Based on the exegesis of Walter Brueggemann in Tenacious Solidarity: Biblical Provocations on Race, Religion, Climate, and the Economy, pp. 369-373) Read Psalm 109 For a few moments I want you to think back on your life to those times when you have been wronged, mistreated, betrayed, abused, used, hurt,… Continue reading