The story of Joseph is most compelling. A quick recap is in order. He is one of Jacob’s sons. He is the “golden child” among many siblings. He’s very smart, very talented and very confident. His brothers grow to resent him. They seize him with the idea of killing him and blaming a wild animal, but relent and decide to sell him into slavery and tell their father he was killed by a wild animal, showing him his torn and bloodied technicolor dream coat.

Joseph winds up as a slave to the pharaoh of Egypt. He winds up interpreting pharaoh’s dreams and eventually rises to become pharaoh’s chief executive officer, overseeing his entire kingdom.

Read More

There are certain verses in the Bible that jump out at me every time I read or contemplate them. They nail vital aspects of our faith, key points that help us to frame our understanding of God and our life with him. We have one of them this morning.

“If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we above all people are to be most pitied.” (1 Corinthians 1:19)

As you heard, Paul wrote this as part of his strong affirmation of the Resurrection of Jesus and his promise for our own resurrection. The “vital aspects of our faith” include our understanding of who Jesus is and where he is leading us.

First, Jesus teaches us how we are to live as individuals and in community, as family, neighbors and so on. And it’s not just what he says. It’s how he says it. In one place he’s general, “Love your neighbor.” In another he’s very specific, “You must forgive.” He shares parables that invite us to reflect on different aspects of a story and how it rubs up against our own lives, in effect teaching us to think more like him.

Read More

I’d like to begin our look at this morning’s gospel from the perspective of the fish. These fish are tilapia, by the way, mild fish. And they have evolved to live a rather simple life, swimming around doing what tilapia do, perhaps aware that forces beyond their normal life are seeking to catch them. The net comes and they try to escape. Some do escape!

Peter is after tilapia, doing what fishermen do. Experienced fishermen know their favorite spots. Peter and his friends are likely at a spot called Tabgha, where seven warm springs flow into the Sea of Galilee. Tilapia like that spot and they tend to stay close to shore there, in the shallow water, where they can find algae, living or dead plants and insects.

Read More