Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the reflection I sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  Gospel: Luke 24:44-53 44[Jesus said to the eleven and those with them,] “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”   50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52And they worshiped him, an...

This is the message I preached on Transfiguration Sunday, March 3 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  The text was Luke 9:28-36 .  Lancaster, PA is home to a theater extravaganza featuring biblical stories presented in a very dramatic fashion. According to people who have gone to see a performance, it is quite an experience. Today we read of God’s own sound and sight production, featuring heroes of the faith from the Old Testament as well as Jesus and a few of his chosen disciples. And oh…what we see and hear.  God’s show of Jesus’ transfiguration is in three acts—the first revolving around what was seen, the second revolving around what was heard and the third act concerns how this effects us.  Jesus took Peter, James and John with him up a mountain. Mountains were considered places close to the spiritual realm, a place for sacred encounters. Throughout scripture, God’s self-disclosure happens on mountains. The disciples’ curiosity must certainly have been ...