The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector feels like an absurd joke. “A Pharisee and a Tax Collector walk into the Temple…” But I’m afraid our ears don’t quite hear it that way. Centuries of anti-Jewish exegesis taints our ability to hear the words of Jesus. The challenge is that many in our congregations think they know who the Pharisees are. They’re the hypocrites, we say. They’re the arrogant self-righteous Jews, we imagine. For those of us who grew up in the church, we hear...

The voice of the prophet rings out in Third Isaiah. While the Prophet Isaiah of chapter 1-39 lamented of the coming destruction of...

A few years ago, I was a pastor in Nashville, TN. The congregation I served met in a large, mostly white, commuter church in the city. But this congregation consisted of people from public housing across the street and many unhoused neighbors. Between 150-200 people met every Sunday night for a table-fellowship service. Each year, we would order dozens of pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday and have a viewing party in the gym. This was just one way we worked toward inclusion into normalized...