Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are some thoughts I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church on the gospel for All Saints Sunday. John 11:32-44 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.  34 He said, “Where have you laid him?”   They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”  35 Jesus began to weep.  36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”  37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”   38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.  39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”  40 Jes...

This is the message I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Reformation Sunday, Oct. 28. The text was John 8:31-36 . I’m sure we’ve all seen pictures of the migrant caravan and our hearts are moved, whether or not we believe they should be allowed into our country. I cannot help but hear Honduras over and over as the place from which most of the migrants have come. They want to be free from the harsh life of their land of origin. They want a better life for their children. They want to be free from the poverty and violence in their neighborhoods. It brings to mind the refrain from an old song from the ‘60s by the Rascals: “All the world over, so easy to see People everywhere just wanna be free Listen, please listen, that's the way it should be There's peace in the valley, people got to be free.” (Edward Brigati / Felix Cavaliere, People Got to Be Free lyrics © Sony/ATV Music  P ublishing LLC, 1968) Today, as Lutheran Christians, we celebra...