Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon for this Sunday, for the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. If you would like to see and hear me preach it, go here. Relationships are important, aren’t they? When we’re happy or sad, it’s good to have someone to share things with. This passage is all about relationship as can be seen in several phrases in this text. This gives us a different lens through which to look at and understand what God is saying to us today. Jesus’ followers had plenty of reasons to have troubled hearts and to grieve. Just a little earlier, Judas had left to betray Jesus, so he was no longer one of their band. Jesus keeps telling his followers that he will be betrayed and crucified. With all this swirling around in their heads and what it all meant, no wonder Jesus tells them not to grieve. And of course, these words are not only meant for those followers of Jesus, but also for those who were part of John’s community around 50 years later. They lived with persecution and I’...

Here are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel. This was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Gospel: John 14:1-14 [Jesus said to the disciples:]  1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.  2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.  4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.”  5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”   8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  9 Jesu...

This is the sermon that was for the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel text is John 10:1-10. If you'd like to see the video of the sermon, you can find it here . Today’s gospel is not a parable, but rather metaphor-laden teaching. Jesus is using figures of speech. Here we find Jesus as the gate and shepherd offering the promise of pasture and protection. How does this happen? First, the shepherd knows his own sheep. This does not happen immediately but over time. It takes an investment of time for and attention for a shepherd to know the sheep. Over such time the sheep get to know their shepherd’s voice from the voices of other shepherds that they should not follow. We can take comfort the in the fact that God has taken that time and attention to know us by name (Mike Baughman, Edgy Exegesis, patheos.com). The shepherd leads his sheep and the sheep follow. Sheep need to be led. They follow each other and unless someone is making sure the sheep in the front ar...