“Commune-ity Relations” (Acts 2:42-47)Rick Olson, April 13, 2008 Believe it or not, we pastors can get a little cynical now and then. I know it’s shocking . . . but between all the feudin’ and fussin’ and fightin’ that goes on and all the scapegoating and railroading and power-tripping, well, it’s hard not to sometimes. [...]

“How Then Shall We Know Him?” (Luke 24:13-35)Rick Olson, April 6, 2008 This week’s lesson tells of a post-resurrection appearance by Jesus . . . it’s the third Sunday in a row that we’ve heard such a story, and the second one told in Luke. Although this Easter, we heard Matthew’s version, John’s is perhaps [...]

“Seeing is Believing?” (John 20:19-31)Rick Olson, April 7, 2002 Our passage begins resurrection night . . . that morning, Mary Magdalene had come face to face with the risen Lord, she told the disciples “I have seen the Lord,” and John doesn’t say if they believed her or not, but he implies they didn’t. And [...]

“Maundy, Maundy” (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)Rick Olson, Thursday, March 20, 2008 The word “Maundy” in Maundy Thursday is from the Latin maundatum which means commandment, and our passage ends with the new commandment that Jesus gave his disciples, who are, of course, us: “Just as I have loved you,” he says “you should also love one [...]

“Palms Up” (Matthew 21:1-11) Rick Olson, March 16, 2008 (Palm Sunday A) We open with a wide shot of beautiful – but desolate – mountains, with a small dusty town in the foreground, an on-screen caption tells us it’s New ‘Salem Arizona and the camera swoops on into town, and we see the towns-folk going [...]

“Enough to Wake the Dead” (John 11:1-45) Rick Olson, March 9, 2008 I’ve always been bothered by this story, especially at the beginning . . . something seems not quite right about the way Jesus reacts to Lazarus, who was very ill. Lazarus – whom Jesus loved – was ill, near death, and it was [...]

“Covenant Dreams” (1 Samuel 16:1-13) Rick Olson, March 2, 2008 The Hebrew people wanted a king. They were jealous of their neighbors, among them the much-maligned Philistines, and they said “Give us a King to govern us.”[1] God, on the other hand, wasn’t too thrilled with the idea, and came to Samuel—the last of the [...]

“Spring Space” (John 4:5-42)Rick Olson, February 24, 2008 Springs create their own space in the Middle East, they make their own atmosphere, lush with humidity and haze. Water is the stuff of life, miraculous in the stone-dry Palestine heat it speaks of life in its burble, in its still deepness and cool darkness alive with [...]

“Born From Above” (John 3:1-17)Rick Olson, February 17, 2008 How many times have you seen it? On a bumper sticker or a billboard. On a sign in the end zone of the big game. Or—and this is my favorite—on those little, cumulative signs out on Route 66: For God so loved—telephone pole, telephone pole—the world—telephone [...]

“Ah, Wilderness!” (Matthew 4:1-11)Rick Olson, February 10, 2008 One of my mentors in ministry said that her class was maybe the last one taught at Columbia Seminary that there is only one interpretation of any given scripture passage . . . and if you think about it, we knew it all along . . . [...]