Author Archives: NextSunday Reflections

Matthew 19:16-26 The rich young ruler has an imagination problem. Have you ever hopped into your car and gotten a message on your phone announcing where you are heading and how long it takes to get there? How do our phones know where we are going? Of course, our devices are only learning to do […]

Psalm 62 My wife and I visited the Taizé community in France at the same time young people from across Europe came for a week or two of prayer, study, and worship. The evening vespers were enchanting. Sitting on floor cushions we sang numerous Taizé prayers in nearly a dozen languages. Soon we stopped thinking […]

Jeremiah 33:1-13 This passage is hard to read. In Jeremiah’s mind, God’s back has turned away from the people. Their dead bodies will fill the houses and become defenses at the city’s walls. This is the brutal reality of war, as ruthless in biblical times as it is today. Nevertheless, the prophet announces that places […]

Jeremiah 32:1-15 The great cathedrals of Europe took decades to build, often more than a century. Stone masons could spend their whole lives working on a medieval cathedral, yet never live to see it completed. Dozens of masons worked side-by-side, measuring stone, cutting it with hammers and chisels, squaring it to precise dimensions, and finally […]

Psalm 146 When we step too far away and find ourselves in danger, praise be to God, who seeks us with the compassionate strength of a shepherd. When we hide between the nooks and crannies of sin and doubt, praise be to God, who seeks us like a determined, desperate widow in search of a […]

Luke 15:25-32 Consider how this chapter, with its three parables about being lost and found, begins. Jesus hears the grumbling of religious leaders who reveal that they don’t embrace the truth of a scripture verse they have surely memorized: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and […]

Luke 15:20-24 You know what it’s like when you are far from home and feeling a bit homesick. Memories of home and family come flooding back. You think of relatives, good cooking, favorite pets, funny moments, life-giving conversations. The prodigal son knows this experience like we do. While he is out there in the world, […]

Luke 15:11-19 My favorite part of the Prodigal Son story happens in verse 17, after the younger brother’s over-the-top adventures in a distant country where he spends his entire inheritance and winds up without friends or food. After six verses of riotous behavior and its consequences, the prodigal has a moment of awareness when he […]

Luke 15:8-10 You know how that moment feels, that long moment after your last glance of your child in the department store, when you suddenly realize that she’s slipped away from your sight. Or recall that moment when your wedding band slips off your finger and starts rolling towards the shower drain. Whatever the circumstances, […]

Luke 15:1-7 A parable about sheep and shepherds makes a wonderful children’s story. After years of leading children’s choirs and musicals, Kathie Hill’s musical “We Like Sheep” remains one of my favorites. I still recall sweet voices singing, “He never falls asleep counting sheep. Each number stands for a precious lamb that he’s been trusted […]