Touchpoints on Matthew
It’s Tempting
“Now, I’m not against Jesus being a role model. I actually wish people had taken seriously those WWJD bracelets they wore. There would be a lot less hunger and homelessness in the world. I never did see one of them go and sell all they had and give it to the poor. Oh well!”
The Highs and Lows
“I once had a professor who said, “Most people would rather be right than alive.” And what he meant by that, is most people live for the sake of trying to justify themselves and their actions and beliefs, rather than simply being involved in the stuff of life. With all of its highs and lows, joys and sorrows.”
Jesus ‘Buts’ In
Grace and peace from the Mystery in whom we live and move and have our being. Being and belonging. From the Revised Standard Version: You have heard it said … but I say to you” … and again “You have heard it said … but I say to you” … and again “You have heard it said … but I say to you ….” Matthew 5:21-37 Jesus … is a … “but-in-ski.” Following the law The passage this week is…
God-Flavors and God-Colors
“Their poverty of spirit, their pain and hungering, their meekness are no longer the condition of a hopeless humanity, but the soil from which God’s life-giving action will grow. Their stains are the window through which God’s light will shine.”
With God, All Things are Possible… Yikes!!!
“This is why Paul calls the cross foolishness and a stumbling block. The unacceptable one has chosen the unacceptable, the weak, the foolish and low-lifes. The unaccepted one has chosen to become unacceptable, weak, foolish and lowly. And in so doing, proclaims loud and clear that there are no ‘unacceptables.’”
Where God Makes God’s Home
“The one who we say is “Immanuel, God with us,” the one who we say is “The Word made flesh,” the one who we say is “God in our presence” … This one makes his home in a god-forsaken land with god-forsaken people. Which can only mean one thing – there is no god-forsaken land, and there are no god-forsaken people.”
New Year’s Resolutions
“I went online to look at the steps to salvation, or how to be born again. And I must say, I didn’t hear many first words that had God saying to me, “You are my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.” I read a lot about me being a sinner. That seemed to be the starting point for everything. My sinfulness. I read a lot about the ‘sinner’s prayer,’ but I couldn’t find the ‘beloved child of God’ prayer.”
God With Us
“And so the AT-ONE-MENT is begun in the manger. “It is finished” on the cross. God sacrifices Godself to be one with us. This is fully symbolized in holy communion: “…my body, my blood, broken and shed for you.” God sacrifices Godself as a “wholly other” to break down and become a “God with us.” The sacrifice of God is begun in the manger.”
WAY Better
“I can’t imagine the words that came back to John were easy to hear. John had always felt he knew who God was and how God acted. And that the world had better change. In the end, it was John who ended up being changed. And the answer he received only raised more questions.”
Visiting Jesus in Prison
Christ takes on the brokenness of the world. Christ becomes the brokenness of the world. So that we in our brokenness are not left alone or helpless. And now my brokenness and the brokenness of others is not a point of separation, but of unity, of healing and wholeness.
Who’s a Scaredy-Cat?
“He GAVE. He entrusts. He gives. This is who our God is. This is what our God does. He hangs on a cross and gives forgiveness. He comes back from the dead to those who denied and betrayed him and gives them his peace.
This is who our God is. This is what our God does.”
Watch Out!
“Here is the promise. The kingdom has come and it is continuing to come. While it may seem that the time is delayed, perhaps if we were just more awake, we might see where the kingdom is breaking in, re-entering the darkness of every generation.”
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