Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, Jan. 7, Baptism of Our Lord at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The scripture text is Mark 1:4-11 . This last part of this morning’s gospel reading grabbed my attention. It stood out like the words were neon lights.They are action-packed and we are going to concentrate on the part which is Jesus’ baptism. Today we have the appearance of all three members of the trinity at this event—Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father’s voice.  In one sense, Jesus did not need to be baptized, since he had nothing to repent of. He was sinless, so why did he get baptized by John? In doing so, he more fully identified himself with sinful humanity. As the Nicene Creed says, Jesus “ became truly human.” In this passage, as Jesus starts coming out of the water, four things are happening simultaneously: as He comes out of the water, the heavens are ripped open, the Spirit descends and enters Jesus like a dove and lastly, the Voice—declaring Jesus as the belove...

This is the message I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The gospel reading is Matthew 3:13-17 . It has often been said, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” How often do our initial opinions of a person come from our first encounter with them? Here in today’s gospel, we hear of Jesus’ first impression, which he made with a splash with all kinds of great things to follow. Jesus’ first miracle may have occurred at his baptism. The miracle is not so much that he won the argument with John, but that Jesus humbled himself by allowing, or should we say demanding that John baptize him. In this way, Jesus was obedient to God and was in solidarity with all humankind. This is how Jesus’ life was lived as well—he comes down with us all, on our level, identifying with our needs. His baptism foreshadows how his life will end—on a cross. In Matthew’s gospel, we have Jesus’ first words in the New Testament. In his argument about John baptizing hi...

What do you think about this passage? This was shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  What is God saying to you through it? Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17 13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Three basic things happen in this short telling of Jesus’ baptism: he is baptized by John, touched by the Spirit and publicly identified as God’s Son. Why was Jesus baptized after all? He certainly did not need to have his sins washed away ...

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, Baptism of Our Lord, Jan. 13 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The gospel was Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.   You are probably familiar with the TV show, “The Voice.,” Unknown amateur artists have the chance to wow the judges and viewers. The winner receives $100,000 and a recording contract. Even those that haven’t won have often gone on to have successful careers because of their exposure on the show. Listeners have heard some amazing voices and some not so amazing. In today’s gospel for the Baptism of Our Lord, author Luke spends little time writing about the actual baptism, but rather concentrates on the aftermath, speaking of yet another Voice, that of the Father.  It is after Jesus’ baptism, while he was praying that the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended that things started to happen. The closing of heaven brought drought (Luke 4:25), while the opening of heaven would bring God’s blessings. God’s power and mercy w...

Here are some thoughts about this Sunday's gospel text for Baptism of Our Lord. This was sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.   Gospel: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,  16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”    21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,  22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am we...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018. The text was Genesis 1:1-5.   I’m sure most of us, at one time or another, have watched Sesame Street—either as children, or with our own children or grandchildren. One of my favorite things on the program is when they show a number of images and ask, “Which one of these is not like the other ones?” Well, I must say that those words came to me as I looked over the scripture lessons for today I understand how the gospel story of Jesus’ baptism and the story from Acts regarding baptism fit together, but Genesis? That seemed to be the one thing that was not like the other things. Let’s see if we can get a handle on the creation and how it relates to the Baptism of Our Lord. Have you ever seen an image from the Hubble telescope? I recently saw one that contains around 10,000 galaxies, including some that were not visible in previous imaging. It was so beautiful and was suc...

This is what I shared with St. Timothy Lutheran Church in our weekly eministry. It is my thoughts about the upcoming scriptures for this Sunday, the Baptism of Our Lord. Genesis 1:1-5 1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. REFLECTION I’m sure most of us, at one time or another, have watched Sesame Street—either as children, or with our own children or grandchildren. One of my favorite things on the program is when they show a number of images and ask, “Which one of these is not like the other ones?” Well, I must say that those words occurred to me as I loo...