Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, Jan. 22 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Matthew 4:12-23. It’s time for Jesus’ ministry to begin; the turning point being the imprisonment of his cousin, John the Baptist. The time is right. Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum. If we walked that distance today, it would take between eight and nine hours. Can you imagine the move Jesus must have had? Nazareth is nowhere near Galilee and the landscapes are so different.  When I lived with my young family in Bethlehem, we would often vacation in the north. It was cooler there and such a relief from the desert Bethlehem is in. One such time we visited friends working at a hospital in Nazareth. I’ll never forget how the car climbed and climbed and climbed some more to get to where they lived, in the hospital compound, at the very top of a high hill. And it didn’t look anything like Galilee.  Throughout Matthew’s gospel, actions were to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets....

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, 9/8 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Luke 14:25-33. “ Really Jesus? You can’t really be serious about what you say in today’s gospel reading, can you? Come on…let go of my relatives, carry the cross and kiss good-bye to what is dearest to me? You don’t want this passage taken literally, do you? You can’t mean what you say here. There must be contextual issues, hyperbole, overstatement, sarcasm or something in your words to take the sting out of this directive.” Aren’t these the kind of things that come to mind as you hear today’s gospel? The gospel is supposed to be good news, but do you hear any in this passage? The text begins and ends with an “all or nothing” decree about following Jesus, with two practical illustrations in between. Jesus has some real eager beavers in the crowds that are following him. It wasn’t just one large group, but large groups—lots of people. And these were not disciples. These were peo...

Here are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel, sent to the people of St. Timothy today. Gospel: Luke 9:28-36  28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.  29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.  30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.  31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.  32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.  33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.  34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified ...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 2/21/18. The text was Mark 1:14-20 .                                                      Ok, I know I’m not the only one who thinks there’s something fishy about today’s gospel. Are we to really believe that these four prospective disciples would instantly drop everything and follow Jesus—and do this at night, since that’s when fishing took place to get the fish to market while they were fresh.   Jesus came to Galilee with the message, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near” (v. 15). This does not refer to the regular tick-rock, minutes and seconds kind of time, but God’s time—the opportune, royal time of God’s action and activity. God is getting involved. The kingdom of God language evoked Israelite memory of a time of political independence. G...

This is the message I preached Sunday, June 26 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church , where we had a wonderful baptism service. A tweaked version was preached at St. Mark. The scripture was Luke 9:51-62. In today’s gospel, Jesus has reached a turning point. Jesus being “taken up” refers to Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. In Luke’s gospel, everything is now directed toward that end. Jesus’ path to be the Savior and Redeemer of the world is set.   Jesus had a single-minded orientation. He knew that the way to Jerusalem meant the way of the cross and his death. Luke uses the expression, Jesus “set his face” to describe his determination. This expression is so important, that it appears three times in the first three verses of today’s gospel: Jesus “set his face” (51), Jesus sent messengers to Samaria ahead of him, which literally means “before his face” (52) and Jesus face was set toward Jerusalem” (v. 53). This expression is an idiom that speaks of a firm, unshakable r...