Mark Whittall

Jesus’ final ask, his final prayer, is that we may be one, as he and the Father are one. “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that they may be one.” Some people when they hear these words, they think about creeds and doctrines. They think that Jesus is calling us all to think the same way, to say the same creeds, to agree about the teachings of the church, to end our doctrinal disagreements and theological in-fighting. Some people when they

Imagine something disastrous is about to happen. An asteroid hitting the earth. A great fire. Or maybe the death of someone in the room. Now imagine that you’ve been given the task of explaining to those gathered in the room why this coming disaster is actually a good thing, and why they should be glad that it is happening. That sounds like a tall order, doesn’t it? But that’s what Jesus is trying to do in the gospel reading that we just heard. Our reading from John takes

In a noisy world, in a sea of voices, whose voice can you pick out of the crowd? Two weeks ago after the service one of the moms was telling me how even when there was lots of noise, even when he was back in the nursery with the door closed, when her baby made the slightest peep, she could hear his voice. In a noisy world, whose voice can you hear? Today on this fourth Sunday of our Easter season we celebrate what is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. Because of this, our