Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's gospel that were emailed to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus.]  2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”   3 So he told them this parable:  11b “There was a man who had two sons.  12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.  13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.  14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.  15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.  16 He wo...

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, 3/24/19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Isaiah 55:1-9.  This reading from Isaiah is especially meaningful to me. It emanates God’s care and promise of provision. I shared in the e-ministry this week how I was effected one Sunday morning as I read the lesson for the congregation in Rochester when I was the scheduled lector. At that time, I was divorced and the kids were living with me. I didn’t have two cents to rub together as the saying goes. Some weeks I was working 80 or more hours. What came in went out to pay bills and buy food. I was always concerned about how I would make ends meet. Then along comes this scripture which blew me away, letting me know I really didn’t have to worry so much about money and food. I had the sense of God’s loving care for me. That is the overarching theme of this text: the extraordinary nature and dependability of God’s promises. Though we apply these promises to us, who was Isaiah wr...