Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached on 1/14 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text is John 1:43-51 . The other day I was in the grocery store. I noticed a couple wearing Bills regalia and decided to say to them, “Go Bills.” They smiled and responded in kind, “Go Bills.” Because they identified themselves as fans, we were able to identify each other and greet each other as fans. They displayed their identity and I saw it. I wonder how often we display our faith, not so much by t shirts and colors as by our actions. Others can then see Jesus in us. Sight is key in John’s gospel. In fact, the number of times it’s coupled with “come” is impressive. We hear “Come and see:”  A) When Jesus begins his ministry B) When the woman at the well returns to her hometown to invite others.  C) When they bring Jesus to Lazarus' tomb D) When they find Jesus on the cross E) When they come to the empty tomb. Today's gospel passage is found at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. We use the words ...

  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, Jan. 7, Baptism of Our Lord at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The scripture text is Mark 1:4-11 . This last part of this morning’s gospel reading grabbed my attention. It stood out like the words were neon lights.They are action-packed and we are going to concentrate on the part which is Jesus’ baptism. Today we have the appearance of all three members of the trinity at this event—Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father’s voice.  In one sense, Jesus did not need to be baptized, since he had nothing to repent of. He was sinless, so why did he get baptized by John? In doing so, he more fully identified himself with sinful humanity. As the Nicene Creed says, Jesus “ became truly human.” In this passage, as Jesus starts coming out of the water, four things are happening simultaneously: as He comes out of the water, the heavens are ripped open, the Spirit descends and enters Jesus like a dove and lastly, the Voice—declaring Jesus as the belove...