Articles by Matthew Myer Boulton

Blogging Toward Sunday

Enraging good news

Luke 4:21–30

Jan 28, 2013 by Matthew Myer Boulton and Elizabeth Myer Boulton

Jesus, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and still wet from his baptism, comes back to his home synagogue, publicly claims that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy, and is praised by everyone. Then, within five verses, everyone in the synagogue is filled with rage. They drive him out of town so that they might hurl him off a cliff.

What happened?

Living by the Word

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Luke 4:21–30

Jan 22, 2013 by Matthew Myer Boulton and Elizabeth Myer Boulton

Indiana’s fiery love affair with basketball began just a few years after James Naismith taught his Massachusetts gym class to toss a soccer ball into an elevated peach basket. After he got a taste of Hoosier Hysteria in 1925, Naismith wrote that basketball seemed to have its “origin in Indiana.”

Blogging Toward Sunday

Training our eyes and ears

Luke 4:14-21

Jan 22, 2013 by Matthew Myer Boulton and Elizabeth Myer Boulton

Our firstborn son came into the world seven years ago with red hair, blue eyes and keen perception. We discovered this early on.

We’d be out for a walk and Jonah would start pointing and saying, “Woof, woof, woof!” (i.e., “Mama, Dada, over there, a doggie!”). We wouldn’t see a dog anywhere, but he never lost his resolve. “Woof, woof, woof!” And sure enough, six, maybe seven blocks up, off in the distance we would see it: a big black poodle, or a cream-colored golden retriever. He was right every time. We were the ones without eyes to see.

Living by the Word

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Luke 4:14–21

Jan 15, 2013 by Matthew Myer Boulton and Elizabeth Myer Boulton

Breast-feeding is quiet and holy work—rocking, comforting, studying each other’s face and skin-to-skin bonding. When it goes well (and God knows, it doesn’t always go well!) nursing is a sweet and beautiful thing. It’s sweeter than honey, the psalmist might say, sweeter than the drippings of the honeycomb.

Features

The power of poetic preaching

Protecting people with words

Aug 27, 2012 by Elizabeth Myer Boulton and Matthew Myer Boulton

People are surrounded by dehumanizing forces and discouraging lies. Preachers should name these—and replace them with wearable forms of truth.

Blogging Toward Sunday

Now I see

John 9:1–41

Mar 28, 2011 by Matthew Myer Boulton

It's a truism that Christianity lives and breathes as much (or more) through music as through preaching or teaching, to say nothing of dense theological texts--so Christian preachers and teachers should be on the lookout for ways to incorporate the great hymns of the tradition into our sermons, lessons and other theological work.

Living by the Word

Sunday, April 3

John 9:1–41

Mar 22, 2011 by Matthew Myer Boulton

Three centuries ago in the village of Olney, England, a new parish priest came to town. The townsfolk flocked to hear him, fascinated with his vibrant, personal style of preaching and his checkered past as a slave trader.

Blogging Toward Sunday

From the wilderness

Mar 21, 2011 by Matthew Myer Boulton

Whenever the Israelites' "wilderness wandering" comes up, it presents a golden opportunity--especially in the current U.S. political climate --to talk about immigration.

Living by the Word

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Exodus 17:1–7

Mar 15, 2011 by Matthew Myer Boulton

Translated literally, the Spanish word desahogarse means "to undrown oneself." It refers to disclosing a story of grief or difficulty in a way that liberates the teller, or at least lightens her load.

Cover Story

Sacramental sex

Divine love and human intimacy

Mar 11, 2011 by Elizabeth Myer Boulton and Matthew Myer Boulton

What if everything we taught our kids about sex were grounded in a vision of God’s love in everyday life?

Film

How to Train YourDragon

May 18, 2010 reviewed by Matthew Myer Boulton
The first ever Academy Award for Best Picture was given in 1929 to Wings, a World War I aviation drama full of groundbreaking aerial sequences. People flocked to see the film largely because they longed to feel what it might be like to fly.
Film

Up in the Air

Feb 09, 2010 reviewed by Matthew Myer Boulton
"We are not swans,” declares Ryan Bing ham (played by George Clooney), summing up human nature to a crowded conference room. “We’re sharks.”
Features

Unholy rites

What's wrong with worship
Jan 27, 2009 by Matthew Myer Boulton
As Luke tells it, the Last Supper ends in an argument. For all the table talk of gifts and remembrance and the kingdom of God, the dinner descends into a dispute among the disciples over “which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest” (22:24). The meal of covenant and community turns into a banquet of boasting and contempt.
Features

The problem with The Passion

Braveheart Christianity
Mar 23, 2004 by Matthew Myer Boulton
The Buddha once remarked that understanding his instruction is like “trying to catch a poisonous snake in the wild”: it’s all too easy to get bitten. Among Christian teachings, none are more treacherous than those about Jesus’ Passion (from the Latin passio, “suffering”). Theological ideas have teeth.