Presby-Musings

  Fifteen years ago, I had a crisis of faith while driving to church early on Easter Sunday. I had a forty-five-minute commute back then, so I would practice my sermon as I drove in the wee hours of the morning.  On that particular Easter Sunday, I was going over the sermon, speaking the words out loud, when a dark realization came over me that felt like it chilled me to the bone.  I didn't know if I actually believed anything I was saying.  "What if none of this is true?" I remember whispering to myself in the car.   I began to wonder what, if anything, I could say that morning that would feel true to me, or if I was just going to be regurgitating ideas that I wasn't sure I believed in any longer just to get through the day.   In the end, I managed to get through that Easter Sunday morning and afterward began the process of determining whether I could still be a pastor with all the doubts I was carrying at the time.  Turns out, I could, and ...

Those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ seem to be all over the place when it comes to an understanding of what it really means to be a Christian.  This difference of opinion often makes us seem like a strange bunch, and for good reason.  If you were to gather a group of us together and ask us, "What does it mean to be a Christian?" or "What is the purpose of being a Christian?" You'll most likely get the expected stuff about being a "good person," loving others, and perhaps a smattering of "doing your best to lead a moral life."   To be fair, even those answers will be nuanced, as Christians often hold wildly differing views on what they mean beneath the platitudes.   But what you might discover is that there will be roughly half of the group with a sense that the most important reason to be a Christian is to "go to heaven when you die."   I remember when I was six years old, I made a profession of faith, and "asked...

I've been thinking a lot this week about resurrection, the universal rhythm of all things, and also about how long it used to take me to eat one of those really big chocolate rabbits when I was a kid.   Think deeply for a moment.   When was the last time you set out to tackle one of those really big chocolate rabbits?  I honestly can't remember when it was for me, but I do remember that after a few chunks were broken off and consumed, I felt daunted by the task of eating it.   Eating the chocolate rabbit was a process that required a certain amount of commitment to storing it properly so it wouldn't melt.  And also keeping it from the greedy hands of those who would secretly break off pieces of it for themselves, thinking you wouldn't notice.   I remember it taking days to finish off the rabbit, and by the end, it looked pathetic and sad, even while retaining the small smile on its face that had been imprinted at its inception. ...

As we begin our journey through the season of Easter, I want to spend some time in the Daily Devos reflecting on what it means to live as Resurrection people.   For the Early Church, the story of the Resurrection was the foundation of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  All of his teaching, ministry, and miracles were seen by early Christians through the lens of the Resurrection.  For the first centuries of the Christian movement, Jesus-followers held on to the defiant hope that the world could be made new, that evil and death didn't have the last word, and they were willing to lay down their very lives, if need be, to follow Christ's example.   Theologian NT Wright wrote the following in his book Surprised By Hope , and I find it quite beautiful, but also incredibly instructive:  “Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project, not to snatch people away from earth to heaven, but to colonize earth with the life of heaven." Wright's wo...

For Pastors, the  Monday after Easter is usually a day to rest and regather after the busyness and excitement of Easter Sunday.   A quick perusal of my social media confirmed this, as more than a few of my pastor friends reflected on the weariness they were feeling today — a weariness also marked by a sense of joy. I'm feeling that way today.   I'm still a bit tired from a full Easter Sunday, but also buoyed by the joy I felt yesterday, and the wonder of waking up to a beautiful morning filled with the songs of birds and a gentle breeze blowing through the burgeoning green of the new leaves on the trees outside my window.    According to the Church's historic liturgical rhythms, we are now in the Season of Easter for the next couple of months.  I rather like this gift from the mothers and fathers of the Church.  Easter should be more than merely one day of celebration.  I recently read an article in the New York Times entitled "Is Christ...

He Is Risen!   He is Risen Indeed! The long season of Lent is over.   Creation is reborn, and so are we.   It's a time for hope, and a season of renewal as we dare to believe that the world can be made new, and us along with it.   Today, we will focus on the Resurrection account in John’s Gospel and a moment when the Resurrection becomes personal.   We all share a universal longing to know and be known, especially when it feels like all is lost and we feel absolutely alone in the universe.   WHEN WE ARE KNOWN AND NAMED, EVERYTHING CHANGES John 20:1-18 John’s account is dramatic and vivid—the women are still first to the scene. Mary Magdalene brings the news, and Peter and John get in a footrace.   Mary is lost and confused, caught up in grief—then things start to happen.   11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus ha...

Today is Good Friday, and at the end of Holy Week, we finally stand at the foot of the Cross.  The "Good" in Good Friday comes from its original medieval name, "God's Friday," which, over the centuries, was shortened, largely because the masses, either intentionally or unintentionally, referred to it as "good."   The scene is a familiar one, the story of Jesus' crucifixion told from the perspective of each of the Gospel accounts, is well known to Christians, despite the varying ways they choose to interpret it.   One thing stands out, however.  Luke's Gospel relates that even in the midst of incredible pain and suffering, and at the point of death, Jesus forgave his tormentors.   The Gospel tells us: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Even in suffering, Jesus speaks of forgiveness. Even in death, He extends grace. This is the mystery at the heart of our faith. The Cross is not simply an instrume...