Claimed, gathered and sent

This morning as I was praying and meditating, one word came to me, "settle." I thought about the way we communicate this to our pets, to settle down. For me, however, that is only a piece of what "settle" meant for me this morning.  First of all, I needed to settle   into before I could settle down. That settling into meant to relax and like settling into your favorite chair, feeling that "Ahh." Once that happened, I could ask the Lord to settle my busy mind, my busy tongue, my busy eyes and to open my ears both to what God's message is throughout the day and to be a better listener in general. But for me, the capstone was for God to settle my heart into God's presence. How have you experienced the voice of the Father in prayer and meditation? Picture

This coming Sunday is Storm Sunday in the Season of Creation. Here are some thoughts about the gospel reading that went out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . I would love your input on this gospel text. Let's talk via email or the comments section of this blog.   Luke 8:22-25 22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they put out, 23 and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. 24 They went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”  The Sea of Galilee is a small lake and in Israel,...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 8/11, Animal Sunday in the Season of Creation at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel was Luke 12:22-31.   Today we worship with the entire living family on Earth. We celebrate birds, animals, reptiles, and all living creatures. Wisdom functions in the readings to help us perceive God’s creation in a way that is not self-serving. We see Jesus’ teaching and creation interacting together to teach the disciples to trust their heavenly Father for everything. I had a professor who always said that when we see a “therefore,” we need to find out what it’s “there for.” Prior to today’s gospel was a dialogue with a man from the crowd, which led to Jesus’ parable of the rich fool. Our first verse summarizes the gist of Jesus’ teaching. First of all, he tells the disciples to not worry about food and clothing. It’s not like the old saying, “Don’t worry. Be happy” because there is good reason to be happy—the loving care of God. If one is...