Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 26

One event and everyone labels you.

They ate in Bethany that day, Jesus and the disciples. I am sure of it. They all ate a meal prepared by Martha. Perhaps it was the best meal she ever fixed. Certainly it was the most peace-filled meal.

You may know the first part of the story. Jesus and the disciples come to Bethany, where Mary lives with Martha. Martha invites them in for a meal. Jesus says, “Peace to this house.” Mary sits down to listen to Jesus. Martha was distracted from what he was saying because she was busy with se...

Justice?

Rich Dixon keeps thinking about thinking about justice:

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Our teammate Betsy invited the FREEDOM TOUR 2016 team to discuss “justice,” and shared these verses as context.

Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.

I frankly was a bit fearful about where this conversation might go. Perhaps you remember the previous year and my less-than-successful attempt to discuss justice (here & here).

Where o...

Jesus in the house for supper

My parents invited people over for dinner after church. They invited missionaries to spend the night. I think they wanted to help others. They wanted us to understand hospitality. Maybe, there was a little hope that we would learn something, that our lives would be changed a little.

The same thing happens at conferences I’ve attended. People want to meet the speaker, to share a meal. I think they want to give something back to the speaker. I think that they – we – want to share some of th...

Water and wine and John and Jesus

“What was the first time we saw through the skin and saw a glimpse of something more?” The old man shifted slightly on the chair. “That’s easy. Water into wine.”

“We’d had conversations with him. He shocked Nathaniel with his mind-reading or whatever it was. But at the wedding, it was clear that there was something more.

“We were sitting at the table, enjoying the party. We knew the bride, teased the groom about his good fortune. We asked Jesus whether he’d made the furniture. Peter and...

A prayer for the second Sunday of Advent

God.

I want to pray what Paul prayed:

God, would you let their love grow in knowledge and wisdom more and more and more.

Knowledge of how and where you are working. Knowledge of the slow but sure ways your work is evident across generations. Knowledge of the real needs of others, not merely the ways they inconvenience me.

Wisdom of how to measure words and actions. Wisdom to not force answers. Wisdom to wait.

Because, God, the more our love grows in knowledge and wisdom, the m...

Intentionality means slowing down

Slowing down forces us to be more intentional.

My sister rides her electric bike just about everywhere. About a year ago, she sent me a photo of her odometer… she had passed 2,000 kilometers during the short time she had owned her bike.

I thought of that as I hopped into my car to drive 14 miles on an errand. If I was going to ride my bike instead, I would have had to plan ahead. I would need to consider the weather, the backpack I would bring, the clothing I would wear and what things ...

Sharing as fasting.

We usually talk about fasting during Lent. So it seems wrong to talk about fasting when we are supposed to celebrate Advent by looking at the meals around Jesus (This link takes you back a decade). But I want to suggest we can understand fasting as sharing rather than as giving up.

Usually, fasting is giving something up. When I think of giving up food or coffee (shudder) or media, I think about my suffering. And I think about the credibility I build.

But Isaiah redefines fasting. He qu...

Siblings

Rich Dixon is back:

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Last time I told you about a conversation around Adoption.

Moïse invited us to look at another passage.

In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Gotta be honest – for such a kind, gentle guy, Moïse generated some awfully penetrating discussions.

He talked about growing up in a church culture ...

The most important thing about John isn’t the food.

When I was a kid learning about John the Baptist, we learned that he wasn’t really a Baptist, though my mom secretly wished he was, being Baptist herself. We learned that he worn burlap bags, because that was the roughest fabric we had. And we learned that he ate locusts and wild honey, which was excitingly gross for kids.

I mean, who eats locusts and wild honey? (This was back in the sixties. We ate Spaghetti-o’s and Sugar Pops. The more processed the food was, the better.)

Now, his di...

Elizabeth.

It was a quiet Sunday lunch. No one was talking much; we were lost in our own thoughts.

“His name is John,” she said.

I looked up. Elizabeth went on. “Before Zechariah wrote on that tablet, I said it. But no one wanted to take the mother’s word.” She paused. “I’m not surprised. A godly woman without children wasn’t a reputable source for wisdom.”

It was still a quiet Sunday lunch, but no one was anywhere else. We waited.

“When Zechariah came home from Jerusalem, he looked differe...