When I was in college, I often went to the campus ceramics center to relax from my studies by crafting earthenware dishes, vases, and other vessels. I would take a lump...

A guest would not normally presume to tell the host who should be on the invitation list, but Jesus is not your typical guest. He uses his status as a guest...

In our scene for today, Jesus is at the house of a leader of the Pharisees to share in a meal. As he watches the other guests arrive, he takes notice...

The author of Hebrews ends on what some scholars speculate may have been an afterthought. If so, perhaps the author wanted to leave readers with one final encouragement: Praise God and...

Hospitality is a major theme throughout the Bible. The unidentified author of this letter emphasizes the central role hospitality played in the early Christian community, noting that welcoming strangers may mean...

People like rituals. We like predictable, daily rhythms as we progress from early morning to bedtime. We mark time by the changing seasons and the calendar of special occasions. It was...

Jeremiah’s efforts to reach the rebellious people of his generation remind me of the challenges faced by medical and public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeremiah tried again and again...

Jeremiah wrote sometime around 600 BCE, when Josiah was king of Judah. A little more than a decade after Josiah assumed power, it was beginning to look like independence from domination...

As we finish this week’s journey with God and ready ourselves to begin another week, we end with a cautionary note. When the leader of the synagogue saw Jesus call the...

I just cannot get over Jesus’ calling this woman forward. Luke notes that Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. There was a woman there who had been sick for eighteen years...