Where do I sit?

"Where do I sit?"

This is the question that most students ask the first day of school, especially at lunch.  This involves more than simply convenience or even friendship, but the question of "coolness" and the reality of social status and rank.

Ultimately, this question isn't simply for first day high school students, but for all of us, as we face the lunch rooms of life, those situations where we have to figure out our social status.  

In a parable today (Luke 14:7-14), Jesus takes us the reality of social status and the question of "Where do I sit?"  He first teaches humility but then goes deeper, turning the whole status game on its head.

To be Seen

When Jesus heals a woman in today's Gospel reading (Luke 13:10-17), the first step is that he sees her.  There is something powerful in life when we are seen by another person.  In this case, "to be seen" does not mean "to be noticed" by others, but when somebody else understands what we’ve been through and where we want to go.  The other person sees in us the pain and the possibility of our lives. 

We yearn to be seen.

Yet, we often make it difficult, if not impossible for others to see us.  Shame around illness and the way in which illness becomes our identity cuts others off from seeing us.  

Jesus, as savior and Lord, does see us, and therefore can heal us.

The artwork is done by Artist Barbara Schwarz, a Dominican Sister.  Her gallery is found here.

Does Jesus come to bring division or peace?

August 17, 2025

"I come not to bring peace, but division..."  Harsh words from Jesus (Luke 12:49-53), especially because he talks about division in our families.

Jesus knows the gap between the way the world should be and the way the world is.  He grieves this.  He also knows that he alone can bridge this gap, hence the fire and hence the passion.

As disciples of Jesus, we are blessed with passion, a holy fire to work towards a better world.

Yes as disciples, we must also learn this passion must be met with humility.  For we ourselves have a gap between the people we should be and the people we are, a gap bridged by the cross of Christ.

Listening is THE Love Language

When was the last time someone really listened to you?

For many this is a matter of weeks and months, not days.  Listening is a lost art!

Reflecting on the story of Jesus visiting the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), Pastor Rob reflects on Mary listening to Jesus.  This passage not only uplifts listening as a love language, but reveals ways in which we can be a better listener, to each other and ultimately, to Jesus.

Given how hard it is truly to listen, especially to one who lived 2,000 years ago, we dare ask the 

question:  Who is this one who summons us to listen to him?

Photo Source:  Case Kenny, https://cheezburger.com/19582213/36-wholesome-love-languages-for-singles-and-those-who-are-in-relationships

Becoming a neighbor

In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), a stranger has compassion on an injured man and heals him.  Not only is the extent of care surprising, but Jesus pushes the ancient world's buttons by surprising his listeners that the one who showed mercy was a Samaritan, definitively "the other."

We continue to live in a world, much like Jesus'  time, when there are all sorts of division and boundaries that exist, which make it challenging for us to become neighbors to each other.

But this happens -- at the holy cross-section of wounds and compassion.

The artwork is a sculpture by artist Daniel Borup

Packing List: Faith, Hope and Love

What is on your packing list?

Jesus sends out his disciples on a mission trip (Luke 10).  He begins by warning them that he is sending them out as sheep among wolves.  Then he gives them a very strange packing list - no bags, no sandals, instead

Faith, Hope and Love

A reflection on how each week, Jesus sends us out as his disciples, into a weary and broken world with simply this:  Faith, Hope and Love.

Freedom FOR

For Freedom, Christ has set you free! Paul to the Galatians (5:1)

We love our freedom as Americans and later this week will celebrate our independence.

Yet, freedom can go awry, as Paul warns; in fact, he tells us not to use our freedom for our own self-indulgence.  

How shall we live then?  Relish our freedom or discipline ourselves against it?  It can often seem as if we live (and especially try to raise our kids) caught in between a Scylla and Charybdis, between a "Do whatever I want-ism" and a "Legalism that becomes exclusiv-ism."

Paul offers a different way of thinking and moving forward: focus on how Christ has set us free FOR loving and serving our neighbor.