The Deepest Pain: Psalm 22 a message for Good Friday

Whether we hear the cry from the lips of David or from the dying Savior “My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?” the cry makes little sense from either. These are two people with a sense of the LORD’s presence and intimacy and yet the draw from the well of the deepest human pain, alienation. […]

There’s a Lamb In the House: Passover and Palm Sunday from Exodus 11:9-12:6

The lamb was the people’s wealth and sustenance. To slay a yearling was to slay all those that would come from the animal. For the faithful in Egypt, the offering of the lamb was saying this, “God we have turned our back once and for all on Egypt. Our future is in You and You only. “

Ask the Rabbi

Growing up, I learned that Hanukkah, Passover, and Purim spoke of the need, motive, and way of social justice.  Keeping the feasts and telling the stories kept us focused on the need to see and lift the oppression of others.  We were moved to do so because we ourselves had suffered.  We were compelled to […]

Walking Towards Already, A Message for Racial Reconciliation Sunday from Colossians 1:13-23

Julius Sprauve Elementary School was an all-black school, until my brother Aaron and I arrived.  We were not well received.  It got worse when the mini-series “Roots” came out.  The vivid depiction of slavery raised deep feelings in my classmates.  Their anger was leveled at my brother and me. I learned that time does not […]

A Wall Runs Through Our Town

From the 2020 Pandemic to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the winks and nods from the powers of this present darkness to those who seek to kill and destroy has left too many sisters and brothers vulnerable. It is not time to be silent but to cry out until the walls all come […]

To Thirst and to Cry

“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis‬ ‭2:7‬ The word “being” in the Hebrew is “nephesh” literally “throat.” A “throat” can thirst and cry. To be a “being” is to be capable of thirsting and […]

Death Interrupted

The Angel’s announcement is Heaven meddling in earth’s affairs.  We silence the oppressed, honor the strong, and bury the dead.  We carry on our tacit agreement with politics, custom, and death itself, but Christ’s resurrection means earth’s charade is as empty as the tomb itself.  With three words, business as usual has been shaken to […]