RoboPreacher

tell me you love me anyway The holy gospel according to St. Luke the 24th chapter ! Easter, so says Scripture, begins with a strange ritual. At least strange to us … “On the first day of the week , at early dawn, the women came to the tomb , taking the spices they had prepared.”   No, the women aren’t going to Jesus’ tomb to do a little baking . They were there to finish the work of preparing Jesus’ body for burial . You see, the ancients didn’t dump the work of death off to professionals like we do. There were complex rituals about how to make the dead suitable for burial. And while this may sound strange to us, I want to suggest that we are just as ritualistic. Perhaps even more so, now that we have denied ourselves the opportunity to reckon with death so closely and candidly.   It’s not that we’ve done away with rituals. It’s that we’ve transferred them from death to life . And the outcome is that our rituals have only become more involved. And we’ve only grown more...

to recreate us Easter & an empty tomb : Back when the Lutherans were first just getting a hold of me; our theology prof. invited a bunch of us students to a movie… He said it was all about Luther’s theology that he had been trying to teach us… And the movie he chose was, “Little Miss Sunshine.” Has anyone here seen it ??? Anyway, this was back when lutherans -who called themselves Christians, for heaven’s sake- were totally shocking me with their lack of stuffy, self-righteousness. And this movie did not disappoint … I thought, since our professor said the movie was about Luther’s theology, the movie would be about finding religion and then getting your life in order…   But all the characters in this movie were a total mess ! -The grandfather is foul-mouthed, among other things.  -The brother-in-law has to stay with the family because he’s on a 24/7 suicide watch.  -The eldest child can’t stand his family, and in protest ref...

now there is naught but death's gray shell The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke ! For Easter Sunday; it sure is gloomy. Not only that, either. The Gospel practically reads like a misprint this day. Here you are. Dressed in your Sunday finest. On your best behavior, no doubt. The Easter feast is waiting at home. Or the brunch reservation made weeks ago.  You’re here . Ready for some good news. All decked out and just waiting to sing Alleluias to the rafters. Only the Gospel is sure full of false-starts .  I nstead of “alleluias;” the Gospel report is keeps inserting that qualifier, “ but .” Hardly a joyous word. And that isn’t all that’s wrong! The cast isn’t filled with joy or wonder this day. The women arrive early to prepare the body, only to have two men dressed in dazzling clothes, reprimand them. They should know better than to be looking for Jesus in a tomb , they sternly say. Once they finally remember everything Jesu...