Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are some thoughts about this Sunday's second reading. What do you think? Let's talk about this. The reflection was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15 8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;   12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us;   13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.   14 Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. 15 Do your best to present you...

These are some of my thoughts on Sunday's epistle sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. First Reading: Acts 2:1-21 1 When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.   5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Mark and St..Timothy  Lutheran churches on Sunday, 12/10/17. The text is Mark 1:1-8. In Matthew and Luke, we have detailed stories of angels and shepherds and magi and angry kings. John’s gospel is an entirely different matter. But you have to love Mark’s version of things. He cuts right to the chase. There is no birth story. His gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The rest of the gospel explains how he can make that claim. But the beginning of the good news is not the gospel or anything else in the New Testament because the story of salvation and God’s loving interaction with humanity began in Genesis “In the beginning;” in creation. Immediately after Mark’s introductory verse, he goes back to the prophets of Israel and the promises God made through them. Mark cites Isaiah, but what we have here a mash-up of Isaiah, Malachi and the author of Exodus (Exodus 23:20; Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3). We hear “the voice ...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 12/3/17 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churche s. The text is 1 Corinthians 1:3-9.    Imagine that you spent a year and a half getting a new church up and running. When you left to work with other churches, the church was growing. Leaders were emerging and the congregation seemed healthy. All was well. Then a delegation from the young church arrives. They bring word—via a letter—and that letter carries bad news. The church is fighting. There are visible factions. Some are in danger of returning to their old lives to serve their former gods and to resume life as they once knew it. Others are lording their so-called knowledge over those whom they deem weaker in the faith. The weaker members are being intimidated by some of the stronger, more experienced believers. This resulted in some being anxious about their own status before God and they were apparently confused about the second coming of Christ. Class divisions are...