In the first world war, the Allied forces called the Germans “Huns” in an effort to tie them to the barbarian Attilla the Hun who had terrorized most of the Roman Empire during the 5th Century. After the “Huns” invaded Belgium, stories began to circulate about how these soldiers were cutting the hands off of…
I’m sure all of you remember the trend several years ago – several decades, actually – where kids would wear these rubber bracelets inscribed with the letters WWJD. This became a bigger trend for all ages, and turned into t-shirts, sweatshirts, ball caps, beanies, you name it. You might have had some of this swag.…
Have you ever seen an actor ask, “What’s my motivation?” Usually it’s in a comedy, poking fun at various actors who take their craft a bit too seriously. It’s called method acting, and it helps the actor get into the mind of the character by understanding what drives them – their motivation. Now, you might…
The disciples in the Gospel reading today were invited by Jesus to join him for something that they did not know would turn into such an amazing event. Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and went up to the mountain to pray. And then, while Jesus was praying, he was transformed before…
In the book, The Scarlet Letter, the character Hester Prynne is forced to wear a red letter “A” on her chest, publicly explaining to all those around her that she has committed adultery. It is a constant reminder of her sin, and she receives public humiliation and anger from all those around here. And this…
The Isaiah passage today is one that you will often hear at ordinations, because immediately after the angel touched his lips and declared his sins blotted out, Isaiah responds with such enthusiasm to taking God’s message to the people. His life was altered, and he willingly stepped away from his own life to pursue God’s…
It’s been said about Luke’s Gospel that he very often framed his narrative about the life of Jesus in such a way that even just the characters in the stories helped to shape what he wanted people to understand. Much like a play, where every character has a purpose. And if we read this story…
Our Gospel passage today ends with Jesus telling the people that the prophecy the he read from Isaiah was fulfilled in front of them. Now, this passage is a well-known Messianic passage, and for Jesus to say that the passage was fulfilled in their presence is to say that he is the Messiah. And if…
A while back, I was talking to someone who had walked up to me as I sat at a picnic table. I was working on a sermon. And this man was happy to find out that I was a preacher-man. He had all sorts of questions to ask me, and we spent probably a good…
When most people think of the word epiphany, they think of an “aha!” moments like when Archimedes got into a bathtub and realized he could measure the volume of irregular shapes with their displacement in water and ran naked through the streets of Syracuse yelling “Eureka!”. Or they think of something a bit more well…