Walking with Jesus on the Road to Emmaus

One of the ways that we come to know God in a deeper way is through our imaginations. Religious art has been a great inspiration to me in my religious life. As I focus on a great painting, I am forced to slow down and to see things in a fresh and deeper way. In this painting by Matthias Stom, we are invited to sit with Jesus and two of his disciples as he reveals himself to them at a meal on resurrection evening. Continue reading Walking with Jesus on the Road to Emmaus

Art, Doubt, Easter, Faith

Still Doubting: Some thoughts on Doubting Thomas

One of the purposes of art is to make the gospel live for the people in the artist’s time. Caravaggio accomplished this for his generation, and John Granville Gregory did the same almost 400 years later. Borrowing Caravaggio’s composition of The Incredulity of Thomas, Gregory updated the characters to look like a group of young men you might see hanging out at a sports bar. Continue reading Still Doubting: Some thoughts on Doubting Thomas

Easter, Holy Week, Narrative Lectionary Year 3, Sermons

Seeking the Living among the Dead – A Sermon of the Resurrection, Luke 24:1-12

“The terrifying prospect of Easter is that God called these women (and us) to return to the same world that crucified Jesus and to share with the world that gift of hope.

As we leave the tombs of quarantine, a return to normal will be a disaster unless we recognize that we are going back to a world desperately in need of healing. The source of that healing is an empty tomb in Jerusalem. ” (Esau MacCaulley, NY Times, April 2, 2021) Continue reading Seeking the Living among the Dead – A Sermon of the Resurrection, Luke 24:1-12