Scripture: Numbers 13:32-33 – “So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, ‘The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim), and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.’” (NRSVUE) I think many of us have been in a situation when someone

Scripture: Jude 22-23 – “And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.” (NRSVUE) Generally speaking, the letters or epistles of the New Testament are written because someone is being a jerk. This is the case with the Letter of Jude. The author, who identifies himself as Jude the brother of James, is writing to a church that is in danger. “Certai

Scripture: Exodus 24:11 – “God did not lay his hand on the chief men of the Israelites; they beheld God, and they ate and drank.” (NRSVUE) Have you ever built up doing something you are going to do in your mind and then, when it actually happens, it is weird? It might be a first date with someone. It might be meeting a celebrity. It might be lots of things. You envision showing your best self and impressing this person, but in the end, there is just this sense of awkwardnes

Scripture: Exodus 23:9 – “You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” (NRSVUE) On the whole, the Bible is very pro-immigrant. But why? It relates to why people migrate in the first place. I think most people like to stay where they are. They have friends, family, roots, and concerns for their community. The only reason people would leave is if there was something wrong. If there is a natural disaster or

Scripture: Psalm 119:99 – “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your decrees are my meditation.” (NRSVUE) Have you ever watched something that promised a miracle cure to all your problems? I saw an ad this week with an AI version of Anthony Hopkins telling me that all the problems of old age could be solved with one seven second trick that they didn’t want you to know about and that Elon Musk had the answer. That ad is ridiculous on so many levels, but it rem

Scripture: Romans 14:15 – “If your brother or sister is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.” (NRSVUE) This morning, as I was trying to cling to the last few moments of sleep, my wife was blaring her “get pumped up for work” playlist on her phone. One of the songs was Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation.” It is one of the greatest hard rock songs of all time and speaks of a young woman who

Scripture: Romans 13:1 – “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.” (NRSVUE) News came out this week that, after about thirty years of fans complaining, the original, non-Special Edition of the original Star Wars will come out in February of 2027. So, that made me think about one of the key themes of Star Wars, and so much of life: rebellion vs. authorit

Scripture: Romans 1:11-12 – “For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened—or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (NRSVUE) What can a teacher learn from a student? My wife has been a high school teacher for more than twenty years. She has done a lot in that time and seen a lot of students come through her door. Some of her students became Ivy League scholars. Some

Scripture: Genesis 47:9 – “Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The years of my earthly sojourn are one hundred thirty; few and hard have been the years of my life. They do not compare with the years of the life of my ancestors during their long sojourn.’” (NRSVUE) One of the things that really throws readers of the Book of Genesis for a loop is how long people live for. Before the Flood, people lived for hundreds of years. Adam lived to be 930, Noah lived to be 950, and record-breaker

Scripture: Matthew 12:39 – “But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’” (NRSVUE) How many of us have been in a place of great doubt or turmoil or have faced a momentous decision and cried out, “God, please give me a sign!”? We need assurance to make sure that our decision will be the right one and will provide us with happiness and security. Of course, whatever signs we do

Scripture: Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” (NRSVUE) When we think of God’s greatest miracles, the parting of the Red Sea is toward the top of the list. With the Egyptians about to overtake them, the Israelite slaves are amazed as God parts the sea and allows them to walk on dry land to safety. Freedom, which seemed so impossible, has been delivered. The people’s celebration still rings out thousands of years later. Our Bible

Scripture: Genesis 29:35 – “She conceived again and bore a son and said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord,’ therefore she named him Judah; then she ceased bearing.” (NRSVUE) I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Leah in the Book of Genesis. She is the sister of Rachel, and Genesis describes them this way, “Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was graceful and beautiful.” (NRSVUE) “Weak” can also be translated as soft or delicate. It is unclear whether this is a defect

Scripture: Isaiah 51:1 – “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug.” (NRSVUE) It is very easy to feel small. Part of it is that there are billions of people in the world and you are just one of them. Part of it is that the rich and powerful seem to be able to do whatever they want while as you have to scrimp and save and accept the things you cannot change. And as y

Scripture: Luke 17:1 – “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Occasions for sin are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come!’” (NRSVUE) Which is worse: the crime or the abetting of the crime? Obviously, the crime is worse. What you do matters most of all; if there is no crime there is no harm. People are judged by their actions, not their thoughts. But Jesus says something interesting in chapter 17 of the Gospel According to Luke that might make us rethink this idea

Scripture: Luke 12:1b-2 – “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known.” (NRSVUE) What are you hiding? If you are making bread, you might be hiding yeast. Yeast is something that most people don’t think about, especially since most of us buy bread at a grocery store rather than make it ourselves. Yeast is a fungus that uses fermentation, converting carbohydra

Scripture: Psalm 119:42 – “Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word.” (NRSVUE) We have this romanticized image of the past where everyone was united by their faith in the one God. We contrast this with the anger and division we see before us today, a time when it seems no one speaks the same language any more. But if you read the Bible, you will notice that this was never the case. There were always times when people were ridiculed or per

Scripture: Genesis 4:26 – “To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord.” (NRSVUE) There are few things less interesting than other people’s family trees, especially if they involve ancestors you have never heard of. Unfortunately, there are lots of parts of the Bible that are long and meandering genealogies, the so-called “begats” that have thwarted many an attempt to read the Bible from cover to cover. But t

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:12b – “But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day the deposit I have entrusted to him.” (NRSVUE) The other day, I was watching an interview with Yale Professor Teresa Morgan by C. J. Cornthwaite. The topic was how the meaning of the Greek word pistis, which we regularly translate as “faith”, shifted over the years. When we say “faith”, we often mean believing things that

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:6 – “For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.” (NRSVUE) One thing I have noticed about mainline pastors like me is that we rarely talk about what happens to you after you die. We don’t put up billboards that say, “If you die tonight? Heaven or Hell”. I think we should focus on living the best and most loving life