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Hope for the Drowning (Ps 119:24-25; Luke 14: 1-6)

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One of the striking features of the Old Testament is the rarity with which phrases like “I love the Lord” occur. Whether we’re working through the narrative sections or the prophets or poetry or wisdom, that’s a phrase we just don’t hear. We do hear about God’s love—his covenant faithfulness toward—for his people. We hear that all the time. But almost nothing is written about a reciprocated love. In fact, Psalm 116:1 stands out as being the ONLY Psalm in the Psalter in which we are invited to say  or sing with the Psalmist , “I love the Lord.” (Ps. 116:1).    Far more often we find these phrases: “ your law do I love,” “my delight shall be ever in your statutes” (statutes meaning rule or law), “I love your testimonies,” and “I love your commandments more than gold.” All of these, of course, come from our Psalm this morning. But they can be found throughout the Psalter, and the whole Old Testament.  Psalm 119 is especially important in this regard. It is  the...
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Mary and 21st Century Discipleship

Hi Friends: I was interviewed by my brother, Aaron, for the Wesley Seminary podcast series. Here's a link to the conversation. If you find it helpful, I hope you'll feel free to share it. Tim
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Allegiance and the stronger man

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Audio is available here This past Wednesday some of us might have commemorated the 74 th  anniversary of D-Day—the day when American infantry stormed Omaha and Utah beaches, while English soldiers waded ashore on ones named Gold and Sword, and Canadians took one of their own, named Juno. It was the turning point of the war. German forces were bogged down in Russia, the German/Italian army had been retreating since 1942 in North Africa. But this was the day when the tide turned. Once the beachheads established, the end of the war was not in doubt. The Axis powers would lose in Europe; it was only a question of time. In fact, we could say, the Axis powers lost the war on June 6; what remained was pressing the victory to its end.   Keep that image of inevitability in mind today as we come to our Gospel lesson.    When we pick up the story, Jesus has returned home—that is, his home base in Capernaum, probably Peter’s house —and he is tired. He has...
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