Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I'm preaching today at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text is Matthew 22:15-22. The question the Pharisees and Herodians present to Jesus is a yes or no question. It sounds simple enough: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” (v. 17).   But from the beginning, we’re told it’s a trap. Before they even open their mouths, suspicion has been aroused. Here, together, were Pharisees and Herodians—most unusual bedfellows. The Pharisees were popular with the people. They disdained the actions of religious leaders who kowtowed to the Roman occupation and they were a kind of renewal movement in Judaism. In principle, they resented and resisted the tax, but did not go as far as the radical nationalists who publicly resisted its payment. Then there were the Herodians who wanted to maintain their standing and wealth, resulting from their support of the Roman occupation. What’s the problem with the tax? This is a tax supporting the machinery of the Roma...

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's gospel. This was shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. What are your thoughts? Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22 15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap [Jesus] in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21 They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this,...

This is the sermon I preached on 8/21 at St. Timothy and S t. Mark Lutheran churches. The text is Luke 13:10-17. Some people are noticed wherever they go. You can’t miss them. But then, some of us are barely seen because of our stature or lack thereof. When you’re short, it is hard to get noticed in a crowd of much taller people. I will never forget a conversation that I had with one of the clerks at Microtel in Olean when I came for my interview with the church council of my first call. The clerk asked the Council president how he would recognize me.   The president's response was, “She’s very short!” In today’s gospel, Jesus was not teaching in the temple in Jerusalem, rather he was in a small town synagogue. The bent-over woman was likely well known in her village and people were so used to her that they no longer paid any attention to her and her ailment. After 18 years of being this way, she was invisible to other villagers. But Jesus saw her, not because sh...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Mark Lutheran Church . The text was Luke 18:31-35. At St. Timothy, we had a wonderful cantata entitled "Once Upon a Tree."  The music is beautiful and the theology is rich.  We often think of the Pharisees in negative terms. They are mostly portrayed as enemies of Jesus and his mission. However, that was not true of all Pharisees.   In Luke's gospel, there are many Pharisees that seem open to Jesus (7:36; 11:37; 14:1). It was some Pharisees that brought the warning to Jesus that Herod wanted to kill him. How does Jesus react? He does not seem bothered at all. Now, don't take Jesus as being naive. Jesus was simply working from a different timetable--God's. I love the way Jesus talks about his plans and how this news regarding Herod is going to change them. He acts like he didn't even hear what the Pharisees had told him. Jesus would be following God's mission for him, in God's time...

The gospel reading for this Sunday is Mark7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Here is the message I'll be sharing with the people of God at Bethel Lutheran Church,, Portville, NY where it is my privilege to serve as pastor.             Jesus has been busy in Mark’s gospel. He has already fed the 5,000, walked on water, and healed the sick. Jesus was like a rock star. The people would not leave him alone. The verse preceding today’s reading says, “ And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak …” (Mark 6:56).      Some of the scribes and Pharisees had come from Jerusalem to observe Jesus. He and his disciples were in Gennesaret, in the Galilee. That is over 97 miles away! It was no easy trip to get there in Jesus’ day. Why did the scribes and Pharisees go to Galilee? The crowds followed Jesus every...