Bring On the Bulldozer
This is the message I shared on Sunday, 12/6 with St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church. At St. Timothy, two young men had their first communion. They are referenced in the message. The gospel is Luke 3:1-6. Is it just me, or do you hear music in your head when you hear these words, "Prepare the way of the Lord?" For some of us, it's from Handel's Messiah. Others may think of Godspell or some other music. After hearing this list of names that are foreign, it's nice to land on a phrase that resonates with us. We know some of these names--like Pontius Pilate and Herod. It seems Luke floods us with a list of the high and mighty of that day. There are a couple of reasons for that. Luke is careful to place John in secular history as well as religious history. Luke supplies these names to set the time of Jesus' life and death in a historical framework. We know when John began his ministry and from that, when Jesus' ministry began. I...