Musings about Faith

Read the Parable here: Luke 11:1-13 Reflections on the Parable of the Friend at Midnight – Luke 11:1-13 We have come to a peculiar set of parables in Luke 11/12 which will be our focus for this week and next.   Up until now, for the most part, the parables have been fairly transparent in that it has been easy to see which character represents God, which character represents us and to see possible applications to daily life.   “The Good Samaritan” and the “Prodigal Son” are complex and multi-layered stories but they are engaging as stories and it is not too hard to see where Jesus is going with these stories.   But, there is a set of parables that are not so easy to interpret and the “Friend at Midnight” is one of these parables.   On a quick reading you might get the idea that Jesus is lifting up perseverance or persistence in prayer, and that is the traditional interpretation.   But there must be more to it than that.   Is the point of thi...

            Since the beginning of July we have focused on the Parables which Jesus tells in the course of his teaching.   These Parables are found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, primarily.   And these Parables are all focused on the Kingdom of God – or, if you prefer, the Realm of God.   God’s Realm has come into this world and into our lives through Jesus, the Word made flesh.   The Parables then present different angles or views of God’s Realm.   As we study, ponder and pray about the Parables we begin to see different dimensions of what God’s Realm is and different aspects of who God is. There are a couple important themes which link the Parables with each other and which most of the Parables share.   1.) The parables that Jesus tells are about what God is doing; how the Kingdom of God or the God’s Realm has come into the world through Jesus and how this Realm of God is abundan...

Read the Parable of the "Man who Feel Among Robbers" Here: Luke !0:25-37 Recognizing the Neighbor – Reflections on Luke 10 We have come in our parable sermon series to one of the most well known parables in the Gospels – The Parable of the Good Samaritan – which is found in Luke 10.  Throughout our series several themes have arisen which all of the parables share to one degree or another: 1. The parables that Jesus tells are about what God is doing; how the Kingdom or the Realm of God has come into the world through Jesus and how this Realm of God is abundantly present to all the world. 2. The parables and the Realm of God are not about us.  Try as we might to read ourselves into the parables in various ways ultimately Jesus is telling stories about what God is doing – showering us with grace, love and forgiveness – and not what we need to do in order to earn our way into the kingdom.  3. When we do appear or when Jesus references his listeners he does so in order to tr...

Read the Parable here: Matthew 13:24-43 Reflections on the Text – Weeds in The Field – St. Matthew 13:24-30 What do you do about weeds?   Anyone who does much gardening will have to confront this problem sooner or later.   This is the problem faced by our farmer in the parable for this morning.   He had dutifully sown wheat in his field but then his servants discovered that weeds were growing there along with the wheat.   And not just any weeds: Tares or Darnel.   This added a complication.   Darnel actually looks like wheat when it first comes up, so it is hard to tell the difference.   Only when the wheat ripens and then the stalks begin to bend over can you see the difference more clearly, for the Darnel has no grains so it remains straight.   So it is no wonder that the farmer was concerned that if his servants began to try to eradicate the Darnel they would certainly, accidently pull up some of the good wheat as we...