December 2014 – Page 4 – 300 words a day

Setting down appearances.

Some of you know that I don’t like Christmas. I went through a phase of detesting it, but I’m mostly up to simply not liking it. When I unpack it, the problem is expectations. When I was a kid, we had a family tradition of Christmas Eve photos. My dad’s camera had a timer, so […]

by Jon Swanson

Feeding the crowd of Twelve.

Mark 6 We couldn’t talk about eating with Jesus (our Advent theme) without the story known as “the feeding of the 5000.” But did you know that it could just as easily be called, “the feeding of the Twelve?” All that food, enough to feed 15,000 people with 12 baskets left over, is part of […]

by Jon Swanson

Parties.

In the comments on yesterday’s post, Lenore said “What was there about Jesus that inspired Matthew and friends to want to eat with him?” I searched for the phrase “with sinners.” Which took me to Luke 15. It’s a chapter I’ve read often, with three parables I’ve taught about. But I never traced the food through […]

by Jon Swanson

Dinner with sinners.

Social outcasts still have friends. The rest of the social outcasts. There are always more outsiders than insiders. There are always people at the margins, going about their business, expecting to not be noticed. At least not positively. When a social outcast is seen, valued, embraced, they–we–want to share the news with friends. “This is […]

by Jon Swanson

Daily. Bread.

“Our Father, who art in heaven” It’s the start of a really famous prayer. It’s full of grand things: hallowedness. trespassing. kingdoms. glory. They are the kind of images that fit well with the majestic songs of Christmas. Buried in the middle of the prayer is a simple daily request. “Give us this day our […]