Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached Sunday, 7/21/19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Luke 10:38-42. We are presented today with a radical story. Jesus upends the cultural norms of the day, which is what usually happens when Jesus is on the scene. The first person Jesus encounters is Martha who welcomed Jesus into her house. This in itself is radical.   First of all, it was unusual that a woman owned the home. She’s in charge and the responsibilities of the household fell on her. If this is the Mary and Martha John wrote of in his gospel, where is their brother Lazarus? We may assume he had died if the house was Martha’s. Martha is distracted. Wouldn’t you be? For one thing, it wasn’t just Jesus who arrived, but his disciples as well. Now, was it just the 12 or did this include the 70? That makes a lot of difference. Her complaint to Jesus about Mary not helping is certainly reasonable. After all, how many of the disciples or even Jesus ever had to prepare a meal ...

This is the message I preached on Sunday, February 24 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The Gospel was Luke 6:27-38.   There’s nothing easy about today’s gospel lesson. You may feel like, “You’ve got to be kidding, Jesus!” These hard words are not meant for the crowds, but for Jesus’ disciples, for those who are committed to hearing even when they cannot fully understand what Jesus means.  Throughout the centuries, people have tried to water down these words of Jesus. Some would say that enemies can only be loved if people try harder. Others would try to spiritualize this passage, coming up with a more spiritualized interpretation of what it means to love an enemy. However, no matter how we may explain this passage from Luke’s gospel, nothing will reduce its demand.  Right out of the gate, Jesus lays down his expectations of discipleship: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. The love Jesus s...