Claimed, gathered and sent

 We are nearing the end of our Advent journey that takes us to Bethlehem. This is my sermon from the last Sunday of Advent, 12/20/15. I preached this at St.Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Luke:1:39-45. Think about how you would respond if a relative showed up at your door unannounced? Besides that, she was going to be staying with you for a while. Not only would she be staying with you, but she is young, maybe 14 years old, unmarried and she is pregnant! Would you welcome her in with open arms or would you grit your teeth, while you welcome her, thinking to yourself, "Don't go away mad. Just go away." Imagine how Elizabeth felt when Mary stood at her door. There Mary was--alone, young and pregnant.   In addition to that, Elizabeth's husband is a priest. How would Mary's situation affect his reputation? Today's gospel is imbued with divine revelation. Elizabeth and Mary demonstrate to us how to respond faithfully to God's guiding ...

Tomorrow is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent. People are chomping at the bit to sing Christmas carols in church, but they will have to wait until Christmas eve. The gospel text is from Luke and this is what I'll be sharing with the people of God at Bethel Lutheran Church in Portville, NY.             Last Sunday afternoon a group from Bethel went caroling. We sang at several senior citizen housing sites in Olean and Portville, as well as the home of one of our members. Everyplace we went, people responded with smiles and thanks. However, there was one place that was new for this group of carolers—a group home for developmentally disabled adults. I was struck by seeing and hearing the responses of these so called disabled people. One man had a sleigh bell and rang it as we sang. Others entered into the spirit of the season as they heard familiar Christmas songs by singing along with us. I saw the power of music to move pe...