Lord, may we trust your word of grace to love and nurture us in your kingdom. Amen

How good are you at telling good plants from weeds? Some of you I know are very good gardeners. You can march into the yard and quickly identify the intruders, pull them from the soil without hesitation, and toss them into a pile to be disposed of. From there I do not know what you do with them. Does it go into a burn pile, or do ordinary household weeds go into compost or a yard waste bin? I wonder how much gardening Jesus did in his life. Did his mom make him weed their kitchen garden? Even if she did, his parables about farming sound more like they were written by a carpenter than a farmer. Perhaps being raised by a carpenter gave Jesus the mental freedom to imagine things that could happen in a field that someone raised on a farm would shake their head at. Last week he imagined a sower tossing seed all over the place, next week he will talk about a mustard seed, and today we have someone sowing good seed in the field, only to have the enemy come along and sow weeds among the wheat. Skipping to the end of the parable, the weeds will come to a bad end. They will be gathered out of the field and burned.

More than the other Gospel writers, Matthew talks about judgement, mentioning weeping and gnashing of teeth six different times. For those of us who like to focus on the good in the Scriptures, this weeping and gnashing of teeth is uncomfortable. We want to think that in the end, God’s grace will be ultimately irresistible to all people, but that does not deal with the very real pain and flat out evil that is inflicted on so many people in the here and now. Only God is great enough to be able to hold justice and mercy fully together. For us there will always be a longing for those who harm us to get their just desserts. That is why we must always keep in mind who it is that does the judging at the end of the parable. It is the Son of Man who sends his angels and gathers out all causes of sin and all evildoers.

Lord may we trust your word of grace in love to accomplish all that is needed in us. Amen
As I mentioned last week, I spent last Monday evening through Thursday morning at the Rostered Ministers Gathering in Indianapolis. The theme for the gathering was Woven Together. There was an artist in residence who sat up front and off to the right when we were in one group. There she had a loom and was weaving while we were together. On Wednesday, she shared what she had produced and noted that the finished piece pulled together the threads that we had shared and that it held both beauty and some messiness. That is life, isn’t it? When we take different textures, different thicknesses, and different colors and weave them together, the finished piece is stronger than the individual threads, more complex, more interesting, more messy, and more delightful. God in creation weaves together heaven and earth, weaves together you and me, and invites us to join in the beauty of the handiwork. Best of all, when God speaks life into being, it is never wasted. Add to this that when you speak with God’s creative voice, whether in your words or in your actions toward creation or other people, you may not see the results, but it will become what God needs for it to be....

​As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of this nation I am thinking about what it means to be free. I often ask myself: is it freedom from or freedom for? That is kind of the chicken or the egg question. One will not work without the other. Freedom from is freedom from someone or something imposing their will on you that is contrary to your own desire. Freedom for is agency. That is the ability to...

                                 “Just tell the devil, the old deceiver: ‘But I am baptized!
​          And I have the promise that God loves me and saves me. Get away from me.'” -Martin Luther

This is one of my very favorite Martin Luther quotes. It is a great thought as we transition from the reflective time of Lent to the celebration of Easter. Remember that you are baptized, marked with the cross of Christ forever. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. Luther’s overwhelming concern is how does he know that he is saved? That he is right with God? It was not until he was studying the Psalms and Romans that he understood that it is not what he does that makes him right with God. It is what God does.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

​As I am considering the new year, these are not the first verses that come to mind. But they make sense. January is a month of transitions. A new calendar year has begun, even as in the church calendar we transition from the baby Jesus born to bring salvation to the ministry and teachings of Jesus.

​My favorite holiday has always been Thanksgiving. Christmas rates high for Maitland’s awesome standing rib roast and having family around. Easter is a favorite for breaking out into the joy of the resurrection and new life, but Thanksgiving is the best. My earliest memories of Thanksgiving are going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house with my family. My two aunts and their families would also be there. I got stuck at the kids’ table, but it was worth it for the feast and for the fun of playing with my cousins. As we grew up, Thanksgiving shifted to my mother’s house. I looked forward to it every year. All my family was there, but family also included whoever walked in the door. We all knew that Mom would always have room for one, or two, or a dozen more. The only challenge was pacing what food went on my plate so there would be room for pie and other desserts later. 

I know that riding a tandem bicycle with my husband builds us up both physically and spiritually. So why is the first verse that comes to mind when I think of tandem riding “Do not be mismatched with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14a)? Why not something that sounds more positive like “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing” (I Thess. 5:11). The reality is both are true.

​When we were dating Maitland and I were riding our bicycles out on the Centennial Trail out of Snohomish. He says, “Look at that. Isn’t it beautiful?” and points to a custom made tandem on the trail. I looked at him and said firmly, “No.” 

​“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Ps. 19:1)

​I will get to the heavens, but first I want to share God at work on the earth. Last evening a doe wandered into the field in front of our house. As my husband and I watched out the window, it became clear that she had a new baby with her. The little one could not have been more than a day or two old. It was tiny with spots. They grazed for a few minutes. Then the doe’s head went up.

​It is still April. Outside my window are multiple shades of green and a soft gray sky. Around the corner is May. May is when the colors explode as spring flowers appear everywhere. I am thinking of figurative and actual colors and flowers. 

The Gospel of Mark ends with the young man sitting in the tomb saying, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”

​So naturally the women who heard him fled away in terror and amazement. This is a pretty lousy ending to the Gospel, and Mark really does end there. The sixteen verses following this scene were added later because, well, it was a pretty lousy ending to the Gospel. The church wants to focus on the victorious resurrected Jesus. We want to see Jesus. The thing is, Mark says, if you want to see Jesus, you need to follow him to Galilee, where the work of living as disciples of Christ begins.