Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on New Year's Day, 1/1/17 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The text was Galatians 4:4-7 .   What is in a name? Shakespeare wrote, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" (William Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet"). When picked on, adults used to tell kids, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." We quickly discover that this is not so! Some labels given to us are such that we may struggle with them as adults. All names are powerful, but Jesus’ name is the most powerful of all. We use names as a concise way to convey complex meanings: being able to call someone by name means you know something important about that person, and being called by name means you are known. On this day we celebrate the privilege and the power of calling God by name, and that name is Jesus. Our texts for today affirm the power of the name we’re given at baptism: chil...

Things have been very interesting weather-wise in our country lately. Places that never have tornadoes have experienced devastation beyond what we can fathom. Several times in the last week we've been under tornado watches and warnings. Last night was one of those times. We considered how seriously we should take the warning. Do we go down to the basement or just go to bed as usual. We decided to err on the side of caution and gathered up a few necessary things (including the dog and cat) and went to the basement. Ray was attuned to the weather radio and I kept watching the updates on my laptop. I experienced a couple of different emotions and thought processes last evening. First off, I didn't think I was so materialistic. Going through a mental checklist of what we HAD to have downstairs with us brought me to that conclusion. And how would I live without my stuff (including clothes) if we did get hit? Secondly, I struggled with the issue of knowing that God takes care o...

Who am I? What is my purpose in life? Why was I born? These are age-old questions that most of us have entertained at one time or another. Identity is something many of us may have struggled with. We may look for it in our work, in our position in our family, in how well we’ve done financially, how well others accept us. Who am I? Identity is an issue that comes out in today’s gospel reading as well.             John knew who Jesus was, didn’t he? Earlier in this chapter of Matthew’s gospel, John proclaimed the difference between his baptism and the one which was to come, which the messiah would bring. Then Jesus arrives on the scene to be baptized. In baptism, normally it was the greater who baptized the lesser. This is why John tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized by him stating that rather Jesus should baptize him! John knew who he was and thought he knew who Jesus was, so why should John baptize Jesus?   ...

For Epistles class, I had to come up with an interpretive element for the passage Philippians 4:2-9. It is the last piece of the project which consisted of exegeting the text and writing a sermon. I used Wordle, which shows the most frequent words in larger print. Here are some results: It has been an especially difficult month on many levels: physically,emotionally,academically. I will be glad when the semester is over,as much as I love my studies,and particularly glad once internship begins in August. One frustration has been where we'll live in July. Initially, we were going to be able to stay in our apartment on campus until the end of July and then we'd leave for internship. Now we have a month to be proverbial vagabonds, moving from place to place--either on campus or among family and friends. This has been a time of high anxiety for many of us. I found the above Wordles particularly helpful to bring out the themes of the passage. What it all comes down to is giving it...

This is the message I preached at Bethany Village yesterday. I preached it 4 times in slightly different ways. This was the last one I preached at evening vespers. 7:00 Vespers Sermon How do you imagine God to be? What do you see when you pray? We all have different images of God we see in prayer, which are especially meaningful to us. I used to live in the Holy Land . From my window, I could watch a young shepherd with his sheep and goats. He loved and cared for them. He even played soccer with one of the goats. For me, the image of the Lord as my shepherd in Psalm 23 or Jesus ’ declaration in John 10, “I am the good shepherd,” are very rich and meaningful. Perhaps when you’re lonely or fearful, it is God almighty, the creator God who is your comfort, your protector. Our hymns and songs are full of pictures of God. God walks and talks with us IN THE GARDEN or maybe you see Jesus as the Lover of your soul. Someone living by the sea will have different images that ar...

I am now in week 2 of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) in a retirement community that ranges from independent living to skilled nursing. there is an area called Memory Support. These dear people have dementia or Alzheimer's. With these children of God, it is about being with them in the moment. A Bible study for independent retirees looks very different than one for memory support and yet even in an incapacitated state, connections are being made. From their past, they can connect with scripture, old hymns, and the Lord's Prayer. In pondering about the various experiences I am having, I thought of a song we've sung a few times that calls us to self-sacrificing service for God and God's people. Here are the words: The Summons 1. Will you come and follow me if I but call your name? Will you go where you don't know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known, will you let my life be grown in you and you in me? 2. Will you l...