Lenten Reflections
Go! for Lent Luke 17:14
The lepers in Luke 17 are not healed until they obey Jesus’ instructions to “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” When they start on their way they are still lepers who have no reason to present themselves to the priests, but they believe in Jesus enough to do what he told them to do—and that […]
Go! for Lent: Exodus 4:10-13
One of the perceived obstacles to working with refugees and immigrants is language. “If we speak different languages, how will I ever connect?” In Rwanda last year, I visited a refugee camp where the primary language was Kinyarwanda, a language I had never heard of, much less spoken. While we had an interpreter, they were […]
Go! for Lent: Matthew 2:7-8
When I was in seminary, I had the great opportunity to travel to Liberia to learn about the relationship between the Episcopal Church of Liberia and The Episcopal Church. I had never been to Africa, and I knew very little about Liberia past what one finds on the internet before I found myself on the […]
Go! for Lent: Genesis 27:3-4
Growing up, I always marveled at my mother’s gift of blessing everyone she ran into. It was like she owned the words “Dios te bendiga.” She was the one who blessed my son every day, making the sign of the cross on his forehead and kissing him on both cheeks. That was a comfort to […]
Go! for Lent: Mark 16:15
I love this verse. It’s all about “being sent.” It consistently reminds me that as Christians, we need to be out and about in the world, “being” and sharing the Good News as we understand it. If the word of Jesus is so embodied, then it’s actually not just an imperative but something you are […]
Go! for Lent: Jeremiah 1:7
Our faith as Christians is one of movement, of devoting our lives to a triune God who ever asks us to move. Our scriptures teem with movement — just read the Psalms. The most pastoral and restful of these, the perennial favorite Psalm 23, leads us through the landscape. Even God’s own self is flowing […]
Go! for Lent: Matthew 28:19-20
Go, Baptize, Teach, Remember. These two verses are called by Christians “The Great Commission “. It catches my attention that it seems to be backwards. Usually we don’t go anywhere, the person Comes, we Teach, make sure they Remember and then we Baptized. This is the way I see it. First, Go! This means we […]
Go! for Lent: Mark 10:52
Mark 10:52: Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. On vacation in France recently, I twisted my foot while walking downhill and broke my fifth metatarsal. At the hospital’s emergency room, the doctors put my foot in a cast, directing […]
Go! for Lent: Matthew 14:14-22
Jesus had just fed the multitude of five thousand men, beside women and children. What was going through the minds of those disciples, I wonder? With five loaves and two small fish He fed the multitude? How many have we nourished with what little we have during this Lenten season? I often think of giving […]
Go! for Lent: Luke 10:1-12
In a sentence: Discipleship is more radical than we believe it is! In a couple of paragraphs: We have built a church institution that is more focused on staying than going.. We have an institution not focused on following Christ into our communities and into relationship with people who we are deeply connected to but […]