Who’s Missing From the Table?

Last Sunday, those of us that were here, we heard Rev. Andrea Harrison speak about the United Church crest, and the words on it: That All May Be One and then the addition in 2012 of the Mohawk phrase: All My Relations. I look out at all of you for the first time as your…

The Path to Belonging

Look, here is water! This passage kept ringing in my head a few weeks ago after I had coffee with Ali. Which is why I chose it for this Sunday. Look! Here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized? That is the question that the Ethiopian eunuch asked of Phillip after Phillip…

Room At the Table

When my husband and I designed and built our house 15 years ago, we deliberately made it a place that made it easy for hosting large groups of people. I have a large extended family, most of whom live close by and hospitality is one of the things that I value the most both at…

The Joy of Being Found!

If I had been smarter, I would have done these two parables BEFORE I did the parable of the Prodigal Son… because they are actually a series. Luke 15 contains three “lost and found” stories:The lost sheep (15:1–7)The lost coin (15:8–10)The lost son or prodigal son (15:11–32) Each story increases in emotional intensity:1 sheep out…

The Joy in Small Transformations

This morning you are going to hear a short piece of scripture about small things, tiny things, that wind up having an impact far beyond what you would imagine. Things that grow more or less wild… that are untameable… unpredictable… and Jesus likens them to the Kingdom of God. You can see them on the…

Welcome Home

You don’t hear of me in that story that was just read did you? I am Lydia, the mother of those two boys. Those two very different boys… Nathaniel the eldest and Zachariah, the child of our old age… And of course, I am a wife, Simon’s wife… I want to tell you a little bit more of…

The Same Angel Song

BE NOT AFRAID! That’s what Jesus said to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at the tomb on that first Easter morning! BE NOT AFRAID, go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to…

Two Parades/Two Visions

There were two parades that day. If you stood in Jerusalem long enough,you might have heard them both. From one direction:the steady rhythm of marching feet,the creak of leather and harness,the unmistakable sound of power on display. From the other… a different kind of noise. Not polished.Not coordinated.Not controlled. Voices rising.People shouting.Branches rustling.Hope spilling out…