Two days before the festival of Epiphany and the end of the Christmas Season, the lights are still up, the music still familiar. And yet the Gospel appointed for today refuses to let us stay in that safe, sentimental place. Matthew gives us a Christmas story that is not cozy....

On this first Sunday after Christmas, the church gives us a story that feels a little strange. There are no angels here. No shepherds. No manger. No one is kneeling beside a crib. No one is hurrying through the night with good news. There is no stable, no star, no...

There is something wonderfully strange about beginning the church year with this reading. We turn the page to Advent expecting candles, quiet hymns, and the slow approach of hope. Instead, Jesus starts us off with a warning that feels like a jolt. No one knows the day or the hour,...