Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I am preaching at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Service. The text is Isaiah 55:10-13 The 6 th century BC prophet Isaiah, speaks to his people as a fellow exile. They are far from their home country of Judea, including Jerusalem and its environs. Some remember life there, while others only know life in Babylon. Jerusalem had been destroyed and few remained there. Babylon’s religion, language, and culture were different. They were aliens; there due to rebellion and disobedience to God. However, now this exile has done its work and it is time for the fulfillment of God’s promises. They will return to the land of their origin. God’s word has gone forth. We cannot depend upon much in life, least of all the weather. As we hear so often, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes and it will change.” Weather, however, is more dependable in the Holy Land. There’s the rainy season when it can also snow and the dry season. Even if dark clouds gath...

This is the reflection on Sunday's first lesson that was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. What are your thoughts? Isaiah 55:10-13 The Message 10-11 Just as rain and snow descend from the skies     and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,   producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, So will the words that come out of my mouth     not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do,     they’ll complete the assignment I gave them. 12-13  “So you’ll go out in joy,     you’ll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade,     bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession,     exuberant with applause. No more thistles, but giant sequoias,    ...

This is my sermon for the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The scripture text was 1 Peter 1:17-23.   Our second lesson uses the imagery of being in exile. The readers understand that they are strangers in a strange land (sundaysandseasons.com). Doesn’t that describe our current situation? We have not been this way before. There is no Siri, Google, or any other kind of physical GPS that can navigate us safely through this morass of Coronavirus. We feel disconnected from friends and family, from our church family. We may even wonder where God is in all of this. This lesson speaks to our needs today. Peter was addressing Gentile believers who were living in a hostile environment, feeling like strangers in the world. Their time on earth may have been as a time of exile (v. 17). For Gentile believers this was true in several ways: they may have been living away from their homeland, Christians saw themselves as exiles on earth whole real home was heaven and Peter’s readers...

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's second reading that I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . What are your thoughts? Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:17-23 17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.   22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, ...

Today I led worship and preached at nearby Zion Lutheran Church in Baker, WV. The text I preached from is Isaiah 49:8-16 .             I have two grown children. Though it now seems like a blur, I sometimes think about their early months of life. Everyone knows people who have such good babies . They don’t cry much, they just seem so happy. They sleep at night. I know those kinds of babies exist, but I didn’t have them.   My firstborn, Sarah cried for the first 6 months of her life. She would be fed, dry, and seemingly have all her needs met…yet she would cry and cry and cry. After a while, I cried too. The only way to settle her down was to walk her. I walked and walked and walked. I felt like I would never sleep ever again or eat another meal in peace. Yet as my daughter, I wanted to do everything in my power to take care of her and let her know how much I cared about her.        ...