Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached Sunday at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The scripture text is John 20:19-31 . Each of the Sundays during the Easter season focuses on the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. This week, he appears to Thomas and the others. Rather than focusing on Thomas, let’s focus on Jesus and his promises for his followers. This reminds me of a song written by Burt Bacharach, recorded in the ‘60s by Dionne Warwick entitled “Promises, Promises.” The chorus contrasts two different kinds of promises: Oh, promises, their kind of promises, can just destroy a life Oh, promises, those kind of promises, take all the joy from life Oh, promises, promises, my kind of promises Can lead to joy and hope and love Yes, love!!  The disciples behind closed, locked doors are scared to death and mourning the loss of their friend, leader and master, Jesus. Those that follow God had gotten killed by the authorities—first John the Baptist and now ...

This is the sermon I preached on 4/8 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church. The gospel text is John 20:19-31 . I learned a lot in seminary. One thing, however, that always sticks with me is about how we are to understand and interpret scripture. We need to remember that God is always the One doing the acting in the Bible. When we hear today’s gospel lesson, don’t we end up concentrating on “doubting Thomas?” I know that’s what happens to me and so we think that’s what the lesson is all about, but it isn’t. We need to return to the maxim that God is always the One who is doing the action. That being the case, we will look at today’s gospel through the lens of what God is doing and what kind of response that should elicit from us. First of all, we need to realize that there are many, many things God is up to, while we’ll only focus on a few. You have to admit that Jesus makes quite an entrance. Here is this group of his followers huddled toget...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 4/3 at St.Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The gospel is John 20:19-31. What comes to mind when you hear today’s gospel? Doubting Thomas, right? After all, it is a story about Thomas and he has a hard time believing, doesn’ t he? One of the greatest lessons I learned in seminary is that in scripture God is always the One who is acting. Look at Jesus’ interaction with Thomas: Is Thomas and his lack of faith the center of the story?   Or is Jesus and his gracious offer of himself to Thomas the center of the story? Let’s look at what God is up to in today’s gospel. The gist of today’s text can be boiled down to these three words: breathe, receive and reveal. Jesus BREATHED on his disciples for them to RECEIVE the Holy Spirit so that he could continue to REVEAL himself. However, before Jesus can breathe on his disciples, he needs to calm them down. They are scared and locked themselves behind closed doors. The di...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy' s and St. Mark's . The text is John 20:19-31 .            Have you ever been afraid? I mean have you ever really been afraid? I’m talking about quaking in your boots, perspiration dripping down your forehead, shortness of breath, hair standing up on the back of your neck, fear. The kind of fear you experience in a nightmare, where you are being chased by a tarantasaurus rex.           Fear is powerful. It affects us emotionally and physically. Fear can immobilize us, preventing us from living the abundant life God has in mind for us.           During holy week, Jesus’ disciples had experienced an emotionally draining week. Their master had been killed. He was buried in a tomb and now three days later, they heard from some women that he was alive. They had no proof of it for themselves, however. ...