In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus holds forgiveness for others’ sins as a high standard for us: if we forgive others, we are forgiven; if we don’t, we are not forgiven our sins (Matthew 6:14-15). Our natural tendency is to condemn others for what they do wrong and not to recognize our own sins. […]

  We pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors [in the NIV, NSRV, KJV versions of the Bible].  It is not just debts, but, as other translations suggest, it’s our trespasses or sins, any way in which we disregard the person before us for our own gain. We may owe money to […]

  The second petition in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:12, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” has two main interpretations in our churches today: 1) as I just quoted and 2)” forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” There is another version of Jesus’ teaching in […]

  Does God choose the people who have never sinned, the followers of the law, the do-gooders who stand out? No. So often he chooses sinners to carry out his will. Think of Abraham who showed the door to Haggar and his son by her when his son Isaac was born. And what about Jacob […]

             “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This second of the Beatitudes addresses all those who have lost someone or something dear to them. There is an emptiness in the people who mourn, a loss that hurts terribly. And yet death is the most natural of things that happen to every […]

It is hard to imagine from the world’s point of view just how we would benefit from giving our lives over to Christ. To give up control over our lives? To surrender our ways? Our expectations? Assumptions about life? Preferences? It just doesn’t sound worth it when viewed from our human, world-influenced points-of-view. Why would […]

”Whatever will be will be! The future’s not ours to see. Que sera, sera. What will be, will be. Que sera, sera.” Many of my readers may be too young to remember this song sung by Doris Day in the 1956 film, The Man Who Knew Too Much. It came to my mind not long […]

When Jesus talks about serving food and drink/helping/visiting the poor, the sick and the prisoner, he is not just talking about a charitable act. It’s not just about the food or drink that we serve, it’s not just about the visit, it’s more about adopting this person and that one into our family, into the […]

So much of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was about creating a whole community of God, the kingdom of God. In The Beatitudes, Jesus blesses the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek(or unimportant), those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the peacemakers and even those who are persecuted.[Matthew 5:3-10] He goes […]

There are layers and layers to grief, but the one thing we do not want to do is to deny the grief, stuff the tears, or in any way avoid the pain. It is only in thoroughly grieving all our pain and suffering that we free ourselves of the past. There are layers to our […]