In the Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector Jesus upends his original audience’s understanding of righteousness and justification. The Pharisee, who modern Christians view as being hypocritical and self-righteous, was a person revered by most ancient Jews. He was faithful, meticulous about his… Read More »Humility and Justification
When Jesus tells the Parable of the Great Banquet he is sitting at a table, at a Sabbath-day banquet, hosted by a prominent Pharisee. It’s in that context that he warns the Pharisees, the people who assume because of their religious performance, or because of… Read More »The Way Up is Down
A group of workers are hired in the morning and agree to work for a particular wage. Later the same day, a second group of workers are hired and agree to work for the exact same wage. However, the second group only had to work… Read More »He’s a Generous King
In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus tells a story about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep, all of which are exactly where they should be and doing exactly what they should be doing, to look for one sheep that’s lost. Then, in Luke’s… Read More »None are Expendable
This week, Pastor Shaq Hager explores two parables that Jesus tells one right after the other. In the first parable, Jesus describes the Kingdom as a treasure that a person finds in a field. The person buries the treasure and then purchases the field. Then,… Read More »A Valuable Kingdom
This week Pastor Shaq Hager explores two parables: the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven. The Kingdom of God doesn’t announce itself in grand or triumphant ways. It starts imperceptibly small and if we’re not careful, if we’re not attuned,… Read More »I Almost Missed It
This week, Pastor Dennis Allan began our new series, “Parables of the Kingdom.” In the Parable of the Sower Jesus tells a story about a sower, four types of soil, the three soils that do not receive the Gospel, and the one that does, producing… Read More »The King and Kingdom are Here
This Easter, Pastor Dennis Allan reflects on the way that Jesus, in his resurrected body, appears to Mary Magdalene, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and Thomas. They had seen Jesus had die. They knew his body had been buried. And then, on the… Read More »He’s Not Done Here Yet
This week, Pastor Dennis Allan walks through the story of Jesus’s final week from the perspective of the crowd who received Jesus with shouts of “Hosanna!” as he entered Jerusalem and, less than a week later, shouted “Crucify Him!” How does one crowd receive Jesus… Read More »When Jesus Doesn’t Do What We Want
When Jesus is crucified there is a group of women who position themselves near the Cross and bear witness to Jesus’s agonizing death while all the other disciples are in hiding. These women show up at Jesus’s tomb, ready to tend to His body, only… Read More »Faithful Presence