Claimed, gathered and sent

The text for this sermon is Luke 20:27-38a . This is my initial draft.             The Gospel of Luke continues to challenge us. Wed. morning as the pastors’ group gathered for text study, we discussed what we thought it might be like in the afterlife. What are we expecting? It was certainly different from what Jesus’ challengers anticipated. One member’s response was, “I just want some answers. I want to ask questions.” Maybe you feel the same way. The Sadducees had questions as well. Though their example seems extreme, it appears innocent enough, but we need to understand a bit of the cultural and religious dynamics of the groups Jesus encountered. The Sadducees and the Pharisees were generally at odds with each other. The Sadducees only believed in the written law in the first 5 books of the Old Testament. They did not accept the oral traditions that went along with it. Nor did they believe in the resurrection from the dead or in angels. The Pharisees on the other hand, believ

We as Lutherans don’t talk much about the Holy Spirit. For some, even the words Holy Spirit conjure up images of Pentecostals, holy rollers and so on. My own journey has taken me from being a nominal Roman Catholic by way of the charismatic movement to the Lutheran church where I have seen the Holy Spirit’s work through Word and Sacrament, in our worship together, in the community of faith, and in our outreach. In Luke, we first hear of the Holy Spirit as Gabriel makes the promise to Mary that she will be the mother of Christ. The Holy Spirit is also on the scene at Jesus’ baptism descending upon him like a dove. Once full of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. Today’s gospel reading occurs right after that temptation. Strengthened by his time of testing, Jesus is now ready for his public ministry and the Holy Spirit is at work once again. After his baptism, he had begun teaching in Galilee, the

It's been a while since I've posted anything. This semester has been a hectic one. Below are some thoughts on baptism from Martin Luther's Large Catechism. The citations refer to the page and paragraph numbers in the Book of Concord. Baptism’s necessity is an issue I have had to struggle with. In Palestine , while working with Muslims who wanted to follow Jesus , the question arose whether one could follow Christ without being baptized. We (who were not Lutheran at that time) concluded that it was not, yet today, I bump up against Luther ’s teaching in the Large Catechism that the corollary to the Great Commission is “whoever rejects baptism rejects God’s Word, faith, and Christ …” (460.31). These adults were not rejecting it, but had not yet understood the need. It was not something we made an issue of. For one’s salvation it may not be essential, but to know the fullness of God in one’s life, to have the daily reassurance of God’s presence, to grow into all God has