Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, 9/8 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Luke 14:25-33. “ Really Jesus? You can’t really be serious about what you say in today’s gospel reading, can you? Come on…let go of my relatives, carry the cross and kiss good-bye to what is dearest to me? You don’t want this passage taken literally, do you? You can’t mean what you say here. There must be contextual issues, hyperbole, overstatement, sarcasm or something in your words to take the sting out of this directive.” Aren’t these the kind of things that come to mind as you hear today’s gospel? The gospel is supposed to be good news, but do you hear any in this passage? The text begins and ends with an “all or nothing” decree about following Jesus, with two practical illustrations in between. Jesus has some real eager beavers in the crowds that are following him. It wasn’t just one large group, but large groups—lots of people. And these were not disciples. These were peo...

Here are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel. This was sent electronically to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. I would like to have a conversation with you about this. What thoughts do you have on this gospel reading?   Luke 14:25-33 25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he i...

This is the message I shared with the folks at St.Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches on Sunday, 9/4. The gospel text is Luke 14:25-33.  Have any of you ever joined a book club, cd club or dvd club or another organization without reading all the fine print first? It can be difficult to figure out exactly what is expected in order to get the great bargains. After a while you realize how much money you have to spend in order to save. That wasn’t made clear in the ads, was it?  Unlike slick advertising agencies or those who proclaim a cross-less faith, Jesus clearly spelled out the cost of being his disciple. There was no small print or hidden fees. Please don’t misunderstand; our salvation is a free gift of God and we can do nothing to deserve it. Jesus was talking about the lives of those who are truly his followers. This is about how we are to live out our lives of faith. At times, Jesus was like a rock star. People followed him like groupies of today. The...

This is the message I shared with the folks at St.Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches on Sunday, 9/4. The gospel text is Luke 14:25-33.  Have any of you ever joined a book club, cd club or dvd club or another organization without reading all the fine print first? It can be difficult to figure out exactly what is expected in order to get the great bargains. After a while you realize how much money you have to spend in order to save. That wasn’t made clear in the ads, was it?  Unlike slick advertising agencies or those who proclaim a cross-less faith, Jesus clearly spelled out the cost of being his disciple. There was no small print or hidden fees. Please don’t misunderstand; our salvation is a free gift of God and we can do nothing to deserve it. Jesus was talking about the lives of those who are truly his followers. This is about how we are to live out our lives of faith. At times, Jesus was like a rock star. People followed him like groupies of today. The...