Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, May 26, Holy Trinity Sunday at St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  The text was Romans 8:12-17 .  The Holy Trinity is something we will never fully understand in this life because it is a mystery. I love how the mystic, Hildegard of Bingen, who lived from 1099-1179, described the Trinity as “sound and life—wondrous splendor which is life in all things.”  How does that “sound and life” infuse us and the church? It all starts with the work of the Holy Spirit. That is how God’s people become so intimate with God. By the Spirit, the deeds of the body are put to death. Here, “death” points us beyond mere physical death. We will all die some day. However, Paul is talking about the life-destroying power of death that, in partnership with sin and the law, keeps life from being what God created it to be (Boring & Craddock). Paul contrasts two ways of life with two different results. Living according to the flesh ends in death, while li...

This is the reflection that was sent electronically to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Any thoughts? Gospel: John 16:12-15   [ Jesus said,] 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” Sunday, we celebrate the Holy Trinity. Scripture only hints at the nature of God being one in three and three in one. Each of the readings for Sunday portrays these various aspects of God. In our gospel reading, we have Jesus, the second person of the trinity speaking of the Spirit, the third person of the trinity and of God, the Father, the first person of ...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 5/27/2018 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Romans 8:12-17 .  The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is something we will never fully understand in this life because it is a mystery. So, I’m not going to try to explain it. However, I love how the mystic, Hildegard of Bingen, who lived from 1099-1179, described the Trinity as “sound and life…wondrous splendor…and which is life in all things.” How does that “sound and life” infuse us and infuse the church? It all starts with the work of the Holy Spirit. That is how God’s people become so intimate with God. By the Spirit, the deeds of the body are put to death .  Here “death” points us beyond mere physical death. We will all die someday. However, Paul is talking about the life-destroying power of death that in partnership with sin and the law, keeps life from being what God created it to be (Boring & Craddock). Paul contrasts two ways of life with two different resul...

This is the reflection I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  Second Reading: Romans 8:12-17 12 Brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”  16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. This Sunday we celebrate the Holy Trinity, the only feast concerning a doctrine of the church. I must admit that at first glance, I didn’t exactly see the connection between the T...