Presby-Musings

One of the stories in the Gospels that has always captured my imagination is from John 8:1-11 . In the passage, we find that some legalistic religious leaders brought to Jesus a woman,  who had been caught in the act of adultery .  A strict interpretation of Mosaic law meant that the woman should be executed by stoning.   The purpose of these religious leaders was to discredit Jesus as a false teacher, who didn't uphold their religious laws.     The text later reveals that these guys already had stones in their hands, ready to throw at her.  Her verdict, as far as they were concerned, was decided.   But Jesus offers a strange response.  He kneels down and begins drawing on the ground in front of these men, and then invites any of them "who is completely sinless" to throw the first stone at her.    John's Gospel reveals that "one by one" they dropped their stones and left.  And then Jesus turns to her and asks her "Who is he...

In his book Finding God in Unexpected Places, Philip Yancey writes about encountering a remarkable woman in South Africa, who started a ministry in one of the most violent prisons in the country.  She started small group Bible studies, did counseling, started group therapy sessions and much more.   In one year, the prison went from 279 reported acts of violence down to 2. Yancey asked her how she was able to accomplish such an incredible task.  She told him that God was already present in the prison, she just needed to help reveal his presence to the inmates.   I think the dominant understanding of God in Christian culture needs some work.  The fact of the matter is, God is present in all things, in all spaces, in all times.  I have come to believe that God is the very "ground of our being," as some theologians have offered.   But most of us struggle to experience God because we've been taught that God is high in his holy temple, removed from ...

I've been attending a seminar this week in Colorado, working on my speaking and presentation skills, among other things.  When everything ended today I had just enough time to take a short drive into the Rocky Mountains before dark.   The drive took me west out of Loveland, Colorado and up into the mountains toward Estes Park in what is known as The Big Thompson Canyon.  In July of 1976 a huge flash flood rushed down that canyon and killed 144 people in the worst disaster in Colorado history.  Nearly forty years ago, I remember driving with my family down a portion of the highway next to the river, and seeing all of destroyed homes, debris and washed out bridges and roads. It looked like a wasteland even almost a year after the disaster.   Today I marveled at all of the houses that have been built over the years on the very sites of some of the houses that washed away.  When I was a kid, I never dreamed that I would one day drive that same highway ...

This week we are going to continue our Lenten sermon series--a series entitled "RE:"  "RE:" is drawn from the Latin prefix that denotes change or transformation.  Each of the sermons in this series is connected to a practice for the season of Lent:  Remember, Repent, Renew, Remain and Restore.  This week we are going to explore the Lenten practice of restoration, which I believe is at the very heart of what God is up to in the world.  Restoration is the act of taking what seems broken, used up, neglected, forgotten and making it new.  In fact, that's the one thing I want to make sure that we hang on to when we all walk away from worship this morning: Restoration is God's way of getting what God wants.   The passage of Scripture that we'll be studying today is from the prophet Isaiah chapter 43.  It is a passage of Scripture that the renowned Hebrew scholar Abraham Heschel held in highest esteem as an unbelievable word of hope.  He wr...