The Riverside Gathering Posts

They were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them [Acts 16:6b–7, NRSV]. Sometimes, God leads by telling us where not to go. That’s what happens in Acts 16, in the verses that lead up to the First Reading assigned for this upcoming Sunday [ Acts 16:9-15 the Sixth Sunday of Easter, RCL, Year C]. Paul and his companions are traveling across Asia Minor, sharing the gospel. They’re moving intentionally, faithfully, making plans to go deeper into the province of Asia. But then something strange happens:…

Now the Son of Man has been glorified… [John 13:31]. As the Easter season moves toward its close, the lectionary takes us not forward in time but backward—to the night of betrayal, when Jesus speaks of “glory” even as Judas walks out the door. This Sunday, the Gospel reading is John 13:31–35 [the Fifth Sunday of Easter, RCL, Year C]. In John’s Gospel, glory is not a reward after the cross but is revealed through it. In these verses, Jesus gives his disciples a mandatum novum—a “new” commandment—to love one another “as I have loved you” [13:34]. The timing of that commandment matters. It is given not in triumph, but in…

In the Book of Acts, nestled among more familiar stories of Pentecost and Paul’s dramatic conversion, we find the First Lesson for this upcoming Sunday [Acts 9:36-43, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, RCL, Year C]. It’s a quietly powerful narrative about a woman named Tabitha. Though her story isn’t well known, and spans just eight verses, it opens windows into the nature of discipleship, community, and resurrection that continue to illuminate our understanding of faith today. The narrative is straightforward: In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor [Acts 9:36]. Luke, with characteristic economy, tells…

Acts 9:1–6, (7–20) Did you think I couldn’t see you, As I rode with authority’s papers clutched in righteous hands? Do zealots consumed by religious fervor Always believe they’re doing sacred work? What would you know of my certainty, The conviction that burned like fire in my veins, The letters from the high priest that authorized my mission, The pride in defending the faith of my fathers? Have you counted the believers I imprisoned, Traced the damage done by my relentless persecution? Can you feel the weight of the stones I approved, As Stephen’s blood stained the ground and my soul? Did the Damascus believers tremble when they heard I…

  Meditation on Revelation 1:4–8 [the Second Reading appoint for this upcoming Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, Year C, RCL] Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come… [Revelation 1:4]. In about five weeks, I’ll be walking among ruins—dusty remnants of cities once vibrant with life and faith. Along with about 40 fellow pilgrims, I’ll be traveling through western Turkey to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea—the first ecumenical council of the Church and the birthplace of the Creed that many of us still say on Sundays. As part of that journey, we’ll visit the sites of…

A meditation for Good Friday He wasn’t at the table. He didn’t kneel for the washing. He didn’t hear the words, “This is my body, broken for you.” While Jesus served the bread and passed the cup, Barabbas was still in chains. By dawn, everything had changed. He stood blinking in sunlight, the iron loosened from his wrists, his sentence lifted—no explanation. And Jesus, silent, stood in his place. No upper room. No garden agony. No lashes, no trial for Barabbas. Just freedom. Freedom he didn’t ask for, purchased by a man he’d never met. And then, the hammer. The cries. The cross. Barabbas wasn’t there to carry it, but…

A Holy Saturday Meditation on Job 14:1–14, the Old Testament reading appointed in Year C, Revised Common Lectionary Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.He springs up like a flower and withers away;like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure [Job 14:1–2]. The Frailty of Life Holy Saturday holds a strange place in our faith. It sits between the drama of Good Friday and the triumph of Easter morning—a day of silence, of absence, of waiting. It is perhaps the most honest day in our calendar, the one that most resembles the lives that we actually live: caught between what we’ve lost and what we…

It is like when you throw a stone into a pool, and the concentric waves spread out further and further. Who knows where it will end? [George MacDonald in The Great Divorce]. In our recent journey through C.S. Lewis’s masterwork, we’ve encountered one of the most poignant scenes in all his writing: the meeting between Sara Smith and her former husband, Frank—or what remains of him. On the surface, this encounter represents a failed reconciliation. But beneath that narrative lies an earnest meditation on the nature of love itself. The Hidden Saint Sara Smith, Lewis tells us, was “no one of importance” during her earthly life. She held no prestigious…

As we enter into Holy Week, we find ourselves caught between two realities: the triumphant entry of Palm Sunday and the gathering shadows of the Passion. In these days that bridge both celebration and sorrow, we encounter Jesus not only preparing himself for what lies ahead but also preparing his disciples for their own journey through darkness. In the Upper Room, as the Last Supper draws to a close, with Jerusalem’s tensions rising and betrayal looming, Jesus turns to his closest follower with words both sobering and hopeful: “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own…

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert [Isaiah 43:19]. What if the God we long for is already moving—just not in the way we expected? This Sunday’s Old Testament reading, Isaiah 43:16-21 (Fifth Sunday in Lent, RCL, Year C) finds the people of Israel in exile—uprooted, disoriented, and uncertain. Forcibly removed from their homeland after Jerusalem’s destruction in 587 BCE, these displaced people have spent decades in a foreign land under foreign rule. The prophet addresses a community caught between memory and hope—remembering God’s mighty acts in…