Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, May 5 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was John 15:9-17, It can be hard to make friends in a new place. We have lived here for just over nine years. I was pretty excited about already knowing people here. But, shortly after we came, Becca and Will moved! Then we got a bit closer with another couple and they moved! Then another female pastor and I used to hang out after our weekly pastors’ Bible study, and she stopped coming. However, the arrival of a clergy couple has helped. We’ve become colleagues and friends. I feel much less lonely, and this extrovert is grateful. I am also making friends outside church-related places: the Boys’ and Girls’ Club Pool and Zonta.  The creator of the universe calls us friends, which is the most amazing thing. Friendship implies a give and take. Jesus completely upends the old ways of master and slave in the accord of friendship with himself, saying, “I do not call you servants any longer, bec...

This is the sermon I'll be preaching tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. We will be having an indoor, in-person service (all socially distanced, with masks) as well as our drive-in service. The gospel reading is Matthew 21:33-46 .  Jesus says, “Listen to another parable…” continuing his response to the Jewish leadership regarding his authority. We’re in another vineyard today yet with a different setting. The cast of characters is larger and we find ourselves in a parable that has historically, often been used to fuel anti-Jewish sentiment.   Now Jesus is also calling out the leadership for being unfaithful to God. In the absence of the landowner, the tenants were to care for the vineyard. “ The first and second years are typically growing years for the root system and canopy. The third year is usually when they yield enough fruit to harvest. It takes about five years to get a full crop from the new vines” ( https://gaineyvineyard.com/blog/replanting-grapevines...

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's gospel reading that were sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . Do you have any thoughts? Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46 [Jesus said to the people:] 33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will ...

This is Sunday's gospel text from The Message: John 15:1-8   The Message (MSG) 15 1-3 “ I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn ’ t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. 4 “ Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can ’ t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can ’ t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. 5-8 “ I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you ’ re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can ’ t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to a...