Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 10/13 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text is Mark 10:17-31. In the first scene of today’s gospel, we hear of Jesus’ look of love and the response he gets from a very religious, self-sufficient, well-to-do man. All we know at the outset of this gospel is that this man is humble, for he knelt before Jesus and addressed him as “Good Teacher.” He is sincere. Kneeling showed deference and respect to a teacher of the Law. There is no indication that the man was being sarcastic or was testing Jesus.  What was Jesus getting at when he asked why the man called him “good?” Was he trying to help him see that since only God is good and Jesus is good, Jesus must be God? Or was Jesus identifying more with sinful humanity? We don’t know.  What about “inheriting eternal life?” There is nothing anyone can do to make themselves eligible to inherit anything. You’re either a member of the family or you’re not. In order to inherit, someone has ...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 10/14 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Mark 10:17-31.   In 1967, Dusty Springfield sang: The look of love Is in your eyes A look your smile can't disguise The look of love Is saying so much more than Just words could ever say And what my heart has heard Well it takes my breath away In the first scene of today’s gospel, we hear of Jesus’ look of love and the response he gets from a very religious, self-sufficient, well-to-do man.  Right from the get-go, Mark tells us that this gospel passage is about discipleship because the Greek says Jesus is “on the way,” not “setting out on a journey.” In Mark’s gospel, that is code for walking the way of the cross because Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. Early Christians were referred to as those belonging to “the Way” (Acts 9:2). All we know at the outset of this gospel is that this man is humble, for he knelt before Jesus and addressed him as “G...

These are some thoughts regarding Sunday's gospel text that were sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Gospel: Mark 10:17-31 17 As [Jesus] was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.  19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ”  20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”  21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.   23 Then ...

This is the message I shared with St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches this past Sunday, Oct. 11. The scripture text was Mark 10:17-31. . Throughout today's gospel, the one topic of conversation is that of money and possessions. Today, Jesus and his disciples are on the move, making their way to Jerusalem and Jesus' passion. Over the past few Sundays, we have heard radical demands from Jesus followed by confusion from the twelve disciples. True to form, Jesus' call to all today is uncompromising. There are three separate conversations in today's reading. The subject of each is money and its relationship to eternal life. The rich man wants to know how to get eternal life, the disciples want to know who can have eternal life. Jesus responds with the good news that no one has a chance "at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. [But you have] Every chance in the world if you let God do it" (v. 27). The first conversation is be...