SHADYSIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

It is striking that even you have boundary issues. You are the incarnation of God, and yet you, too, have to be careful with your heart. It is even more striking that, according to this text, the people who made you the most cautious were those who believed in your name because they saw the “signs” you were doing. …

“Everyone” doesn’t leave out many people, Lord. The Gospel writer John begins his good news for us with the incredible claim that you are the light that shines within all of us. …

Lord, I realize that these words were said as part of your Sermon on the Mount. You were never more prophetic. But in all humility, here is my very tentative suggestion: It is not really as hard to love my enemies and persecutors, as it is to love those I love. …

Your Apostle Paul was telling us that we tend to speak in such a way as to say, “Yes and no,” at the same time. I suppose this means that we say things like, “Yes, I love you, but no, I cannot give you time right now.” But you are the Heavenly Father who never talks like that. You just say, “Yes.”…

Lord Jesus, you cursed a fig tree for not having any fruit, even though it was not the season for figs. You apparently have unreasonable expectations of fruit trees. But it’s the metaphor that worries me. Am I supposed to be fruitful all of the time? Must there always be something in my life to offer to others? …

You had just chastised your disciples for being upset that someone who wasn’t a disciple was casting out demons. Your understanding of who is contributing to your mission has always been wider than ours. …

Lord Jesus, you were responding to the Pharisees’ latest charge against you. This time they were upset by the discovery that your disciples did not wash their hands before eating. Incredible. But I guess there is something of a fretting mother in all of us religious leaders. Our moms worried about germs. We religious leaders worry about the germ of sin that can make the soul sick. …

You had just cast a legion of demons out of a man. The townsfolk who heard about this were more afraid than impressed. They asked you to leave. The man, who had been driven out of his mind by these demons, was so grateful for his sanity that he begged you to let him follow you. …

You have such a strange idea of friendship, Lord. Most of us think that our friends are the people we can trust, and don’t have to fear. That’s why they’re our friends. There are people who don’t mind walking over us to get what they want. Worse, there are others who just don’t like us, and will do anything they can to hurt us. And then there are those who don’t mean to hurt us, but they just seem to have a gift for it. We fear all of these types of people. …

This is the only verse of the New Testament I know, Lord Jesus, which indicates you ever had a home. We tend to think of you as a wandering rabbi who had no place to settle down. In fact, we deduce from this assumption that we as your disciples should be rather wary of settling down ourselves. …