Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are a few thoughts about this coming Sunday's gospel, which frankly, can be confusing. What thoughts do you have? This was shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . Gospel: Luke 20:27-38 27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to [Jesus] 28 and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30 then the second 31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”   34 Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in...

This is the sermon I preached on All Saints' Sunday, 11/3/19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Ephesians 1:11-23 . On All Saints’ [Sun]day, it is not just the saints of the church that we remember in our prayers, but all the foolish ones and wise ones, the shy ones and overbearing ones, the broken ones and whole ones, the despots and tosspots and crackpots of our lives who, one way or another, have been our particular fathers and mothers and saints, and whom we loved without knowing we loved them and by whom we were helped to whatever little we may have, or ever hope to have, of some kind of seedy sainthood of our own [says Frederick Buechner in The Sacred Journey]. Today’s second reading is telling us that all we need to know to be a saint we find in Christ. The fabulous, flowing language sweeps us away as we hear about all the wonderful things Paul asks God to do for the saints of Ephesus. This letter was meant to be circulated to other churches as well ...