There's a great scene in a classic episode of The Simpsons in which Homer, having been chosen to go into space as an 'every-man', breaks an ant farm, sending the ants everywhere in the zero-gravity environment. One of the ants, panicking, screams, "Freedom! Horrible horrible freedom!" It's a line that comes to my mind often, … Continue reading The Freedom to Love: A Reflection on 1 Corinthians 8.1-13
One of the major themes that comes out in the Sunday readings for Epiphany season this year is that of calling, or vocation. In fact, it is the theme of the readings from the Hebrew Bible and Gospels both last week and this week. Because vocation is something I think about a lot, I thought … Continue reading According to God’s Purpose: Four Calling Narratives
Today's Epistle contains what I think is probably one of the most surprising and helpful things the Apostle Paul says in his writings: A new grounding of morality and ethics that doesn't just do away with the Law, but rejects the binary of 'permitted' and 'forbidden', or 'lawful' and 'illegal' altogether. In the sixth chapter … Continue reading Everything is Permissible
The other day, we commemorated the Baptism of Jesus, a truly powerful moment in the life of Jesus and a paradigm for our own life of faith. Unfortunately, our Sunday lectionary readings leave what happens next until Lent: Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. I say 'unfortunately,' because it feels like this part of the story … Continue reading Tempted
Today, on this first Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. For me this commemoration is sort of like an Epiphany Part II, because I spent several years in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where Christ's Baptism in the Jordan is the primary commemoration of Epiphany itself. In the Eastern tradition, the feast is … Continue reading Waters of Repentance
Matthew Root 