Edina Morningside Community Church

Today’s scripture reading: Acts 3:1-10

Sermon audio:

I heard an interview this week with a farmer in rural Minnesota, describing how the work stoppage at pork-processing plants is creating chaos in her farm practices. Because there is no working plant to process her pork, she can’t sell the pigs she has on hand. She could maintain her current stock until conditions change, but like other farmers she’s contracted to receive thousands more baby piglets this spring. When they arrive, there will be no space to put them in, and because sales have nearly halted, there will no money for the months of food necessary to grow them into adult hogs. The only recourse that she hinted at was euthanasia. Indeed, MinnPost reported this week that “COVID-19-related plant shutdowns could force hog farmers to kill and dispose of 200,000 pigs.”

Edina Morningside Community Church

Today’s scripture reading: Mark 16:1-8

Sermon audio:

We almost didn’t have Easter today. A few weeks ago, our church leadership, staff and I had discussed not marking the resurrection today. We would do the other events of Holy Week, yet press “pause” on Easter until we could be back together in person. Then we would hold a grand celebration, and it could be the most glorious embodied experience of resurrection. I couldn’t imagine celebrating Easter when it feels like we’re all still in the tomb!

Continue reading “Finish the Story in Galilee” →

Edina Morningside Community Church

Today’s scripture reading: Mark 11:1-11

Sermon audio:

The author E.L. Doctorow has described his craft in this way. “Writing,” he says, “is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” The same can be said of life itself. We don’t always know where the road will take us. It’s like Highway 1 along the Pacific Coast in California—weaving and turning around sharp corners, slipping through unexpected tunnels, and then opening suddenly into a breathtaking vista of the wide-open sky. It comes in bits and pieces, one stretch at a time. We can’t take in the whole journey, with the best of headlights, or even in the daytime. If we could see everything instantly, we might know what parts of the trip hold the greatest consequence. What chance meeting will change life forever, and which will be just a blip in passing? Where should we be careful, lest a careless detour lead to many lost hours before a U-turn? But we can’t know these things because we can’t see the whole trip at once. Only looking back can we recognize what’s of the most importance.

Continue reading “Committing” →