Preach the Gospel! It’s What We Need!

Co-missioners,

Early last month we brought you a review of N.T. Wright’s reflection on the pandemic, published this past June. The reviewer was Matt Metevelis, a hospice chaplain and parish pastor in Las Vegas. Matt is a voracious reader, as we mentioned. Luther and Augustine make his heart sing. He writes a lot too, often on Facebook. Two weeks ago he posted something there that caught our eye. We thought it worth sharing. When we asked for permission to do so he told us to wait. He had just sent a longer version to the editors at Mockingbird and was awaiting word on whether they’d publish it. Publish they did.

And so good is Matt’s final, polished essay that we’re sending you to Mockingbird this week to read it. The point he makes cuts straight to the heart of our own mission at Crossings. Preach the Gospel! Or in Matt’s words, “The pure Gospel 1.0. The one where the cross is not behind us like a bad party we went to in college or a stinky bus station we’re thankful to have survived.” Echoes of down-to-earth Luther in the American lingo of 2020. We trust it whets your appetite.

So here’s the link. By all means follow it. Enjoy!

And if you’d like to learn more of Matt and how he thinks, you might check out a recent podcast in which he’s being interviewed by one Michael Chan, a former classmate of his at Luther Seminary. The topic is hospice chaplaincy and how Matt approaches it as a servant of the Gospel. Well worth the time it will take you to listen. Especially so if you spend time at deathbeds too. Again, a link to follow.

Peace and Joy,

The Crossing Community