Do you want to be made well?

Easter VI (May 25, 2025)

"Do you want to be made well?" Jesus asks the man who has been sick for 38 years!

The obvious answer should be "yes", but it isn't.  In our lives too, we often fall into cycles and situations in which we are not well, but we aren't quite capable of rising above the situation.

Into this situation comes Jesus, willing to offer compassion and challenge beyond anything we've experienced before.

The art is by Nathan Greene.  You can purchase it here.  I am sensitive to images of Jesus in which Jesus looks European instead of middle Eastern, but I loved the combination of compassion and power in this artist's rendition.

A New Commandment and a New Promise

 

"A New Commandment I give you:  Love one another.   As I have loved you, love one another."

How can Jesus command love, something seemingly impossible to command?  

And what might it mean to love others as Jesus has loved us?

To get at these questions, we look at the setting of Jesus giving this new commandment, namely, when he washes the disciple's feet.  As we ponder this act of service, we discover not only the depth of challenge in Jesus words to love as he loved, but also the word of grace and promise contained in them.

This is a screenshot of an artwork by Alida Bothma.  You can view the Etsy site to purchase the print.

What is your "full" name?

 

Easter IV (May 11 2025)

What is your “full name” — the thing that people say after your name that completes their description of you? 

For example, “That is Jane, she is a great teacher” or “That is Sam, he is an amazing basketball player”

Today we learn the full name of an early believer in the book of Acts (9:36-43):  Tabitha, aka Dorcas, “was always doing good and helping the poor…”  What a beautiful full name!

Pastor Rob offers a word of challenge today:  In your quest to make a good full name for yourself, have you focused on the right things?  It is very tempting to focus on the “resume” virtues instead of the “obituary” virtues!

There is also a profound word of grace today in today’s reading, a reminder that ultimately, God has the last word on our name and not our mistakes, failures or bad things that have happened to us.

Note:  I do not have permission (yet) to post this artwork by a Christian artist named Sarah Beth, but I found it so beautiful!  You can purchase the art here.

Do you love me? A reflection on shame and wholeness

Easter III (May 4, 2025)

The story seems like comfortable at first:  The disciples go fishing, they eat breakfast with Jesus and then Peter tells Jesus he loves him. (John 21:1-17)

But once you start digging, you realize this is a story about the power of shame.  Peter is ashamed of his denial of Jesus and this manifests itself in all sorts of typical shame behavior

• Avoiding
• Covering Up
• Focusing on self and past mistakes

How then can Peter move forward?  How can we move forward in our shame?

It turns out that nice guy Jesus isn’t going to cut it.  Instead, we need the son of the living God to redeem us from sin and shame.

The painting is by Tissot.  It is on display at the Brooklyn Museum of Art