Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 17

extravagant

There was a party to celebrate the resurrection of Lazarus. It was in Martha’s house, and she was hosting. Lazarus was there, talking to Jesus.

In the part of the dinner when people were talking and listening to Jesus and having a good time, Mary got up from her place and got a container of perfumed oil, and poured it on Jesus’ feet and, rather than using a towel to clean it up, got so low to the ground that she used her hair.

Judas gave voice to the thoughts of at least some others. Is...

BV Hope

Rich Dixon is back.

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BV Hope is a group of women from Buena Vista, Colorado, who decided to do something about sex trafficking.

They heard about our 2017 MOUNTAIN TOUR and insisted we stop in Buena Vista.

Geographically, Buena Vista just didn’t “fit” as an overnight stop. The compromise: we agreed to stop for brunch about 18 miles into our second day.

Our riders grumbled a bit, understandably, about this plan. Stopping for a meal after only 18 miles of a 65-mile ride isn’t i...

Love that draws us in

(Continued from yesterday)

Paul realized that his success had come working against God.

Paul realized that God didn’t want his hard work.

Paul realized that God wanted him. Relationship with him. Conversation with him. Reconciliation with him.

God wanted Paul to know him.

To know that the love of God isn’t measured out in scoops the size of our prayers, one act of God for each 100 or 1000 or million words from us.

Paul realized that the love of God was measured out, poured o...

On not being like we think we should be.

I always want to do the perfect sermon. I want to study enough and polish enough. I want to find the right words and the perfect story. I want God to be proud of my work. Or actually, I don’t want God to be mad at me. I don’t want to get in trouble with God for what I say to you.

And that freezes my thinking so much sometimes that I can’t do anything.

You know what I mean? I’m guessing that you might.

Because when I go from room to room, I hear things like, “I’m not praying like I sh...

A prayer for the fifth Sunday of Lent

God,

Can we call you that? Can we start that way?
Do we have to say, “Dear God” in order for you to hear us?
Or is it “Dear Jesus” or “Dear God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth”?

Do we have to tell you everything we have done wrong before we can ask you for something good?

Do we have to get the words right to get you to do something?

We confess that we’re not sure.

We confess that we want you to do a new thing, but that scares us.
We confess that we might not want to have to ch...

God knows about failure

I read the parable of the sower in a new way recently.

Howard Schultz, the most significant CEO of Starbucks, said that he learned about failure when working as a sales representative for Xerox. His job consisted mostly of making cold sales calls. He faced a massive amount of rejection. Obviously, God used that in his life to make him a great leader during the next chapters of his life.

So here’s the parable from Matthew 13:3-9: A farmer scattered abundant seeds across various types of...

Presence: a reminder.

I’ve written here about presence, particularly the presence of God.

Presence: and grief

Presence: and conversation

Presence: and me

Those post are part of a series I wrote when I was teaching a course on Pastoral Care. The idea that God is present with us is significant. Not fixing things, not doing what we want, but with us.

Right now, I’m teaching a class for beginning preachers and I’ve heard a few talks about some sentences in a letter Paul wrote to some people in Philipp...

Is It Worth It?

Rich Dixon asks another important question.

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Last time, I omitted the question that opened our team discussion about risk.

Is it worth the risk?

Unless you’re a teenage male, risk/reward analysis is likely a normal part of life.

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Jesus advised his followers to count the cost of following. I used to think this was all about analyzing risk/reward, being certain our physical circumstances are properly prepared, making sure the potential outcome is worth the risk.

I’...

When Jesus moves the edge to him.

Yesterday we said that Jesus chooses to go to people who admit they aren’t perfect. Here’s the continuation of that story:

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2. But it’s pretty clear that Jesus isn’t willing to leave people where they are, in lives that don’t work.

We think about that often. “Well, Jesus was loving. He wouldn’t reject me.”

Jesus was loving. And, by the way, Jesus IS loving. But it was the kind of love that says, “that pain you are feeling? I can heal that. But you have to follow me.”

That’s ...

What Jesus said on the edge of town

Yesterday was the fourth Sunday of Lent. Easter is three weeks away.

That may feel surprising to you. It does to me. Time is confusing right now. Everything is confusing right now.

In the Gospel text for yesterday, Luke 15, there are three stories that may be familiar to us, even if we haven’t spent much time in church. A lost sheep, a lost coin, and a father and two sons. In the posts today and tomorrow, I’m going to make three observations from those stories.

1. Jesus chooses to ...