RoboPreacher

“Following Jesus isn’t as hard as we make it; and it’s more demanding than we treat it.” Easter has come and gone. But the truth is, we’re a little too quick to think Easter is over. Because the thing is, whenever Jesus shows up, he brings Easter all over again! And the thing about Jesus is, he loves to show up. Especially when and where we don’t expect! After Easter we’ll be spending our time in the book of Acts and the Epistle to the Philippians. As you read your way through these scriptures, you can’t help but notice the ways Easter keeps happening!   None of the characters act on their own initiative, they’re always being led! Led by the very same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. And often enough, that Spirit works moments strikingly reminiscent of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection! Saul is raised to a new life. Ananias is asked to risk his. Paul finds in his weakness the strength of the one who humbled himself to the point of death.   T...

use it tonight The Holy Gospel according to St. John the 18th chapter ! It’s like Bob Dylan sung long ago, “And the first one now / Will later be last / For the times they are a-changin’.”   In other words, if we’re going to have half a chance of understanding what’s going on all around us, we going to need how to read the times.   And I don’t just mean just remembering to change our clocks, but discerning the sign of the times themselves… Like this moment in American and world history, as the question is being put to us over and over again. “What time is it.” Is it a time of change , or of holding onto old ways? Or another simple example, the High School walk out. No one seemed quite sure what to make of it. I got the impression not even the students were… Because that’s the thing, isn’t it? It’s hard to know what time it is. It’s never been easy, and it’s not getting any easier over the years.   That’s what’s really at stak...

and it’s more demanding than we treat it. Before Lent I usually plan a “continuing education.” This is an opportunity for me to step away and reflect. And anyway, pastors are expected to complete so much continuing education each year.   This year because of life and weather, the schedule I had set went to the wind. I it was out of my control though, so I tried not to stress about it. And a cool thing happened; at Grand View’s chapel service, a new schedule fell into place! The week wasn’t what I planned, but it was good. And I walked away with this thought: “Following Jesus isn’t as hard as we make it; and it’s more demanding than we treat it.” Let’s begin with the first part, following Jesus isn’t as hard as we make it.   One of the meetings I wanted to make sure I kept, was with the President of Grand View. Under his leadership Grand View has gone through a number of changes, and I wanted to ask him about that. But he wanted to talk about the churc...