Minister’s Ramblings

Joseph needs to see his brothers fight for their younger brother, be willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a younger brother, before he can forgive them, before we get our happy ending.

Have you ever noticed how many Disney movies have siblings who don’t get along?  Everything from the Lion King to Cinderella to Frozen, there are stories of siblings who are opposed to each other.  Ever since the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible, the stories of siblings at war with each other have captured our imagination.  I imagine these stories hold a special sway for us because they are relatable for so many of us and yet, at the same time, they go against the ideal.  Many of us have experienced conflict with our siblings, but we are also aware of the idyllic relationship that is supposed to exist between siblings.

In the psalms, they often describe God as a just God, rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked, and some would look at Jacob’s predicament and say that this is exactly what God is doing. But in this story, instead of God letting Jacob suffer for being such a heel with his family, God instead gives Jacob a vision of heaven, and then God makes a promise, a covenant, with this lying, cheating, low-life. If our God was a truly just God, then Jacob has no right getting this promise from God.

One of the questions we need to ask of every bible story is “What’s the point?”  Why tell this story?  Especially when you get into some of the Old Testament ... Read more

In Matthew, it says: No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matt 11:27).  But what happens when he doesn’t? What happens when the Son doesn’t reveal God to us?  What about those moments when God feels unknowable, distant, absent even?

The sacrifice stories are ugly stories, but they get us to the main point of the story: that violence and death is not the answer; that is not the final outcome. The final outcome is life.

There’s a story that’s in Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 9:18-26) that’s shared across three of the gospels of Jesus doing a miraculous double-play. Two people approach Jesus seeking a healing miracle and both are successful in that pursuit. But it’s interesting to see how those two different people approach Jesus in this story in very different ways.

As many of you know, I’m a bit of a fan of superhero culture. On Saturday, Michele and I took our niece and nephew to Supanova: a convention celebrating all things sci-fi and fantasy and geek culture generally.

Let’s face it – Thomas cops a bad rap. According to John’s story (John 20:19-31), Thomas isn’t there when Jesus shows up and reveals himself to the other disciples. Then when they all try to tell Thomas that Jesus is alive again, Thomas has only their word that the impossible has happened.