Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I'll be preaching tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Worship. If you live in the area, please join us. The text is the gospel, Matthew 16:13-20 . Caesarea Philippi is beautiful. It is lush and green with a spring that is a source for the Jordan River. Situated at the foot of Mt. Hermon, which is the only place in the land where you will find snow, in which my then young children played. The Arab people call it Banyas, going back to the time when it was named for the Greek god, Pan. There is no "p" in Arabic. It has a long history of polytheism—from the god Baal of the Old Testament to the Greek god Pan, to Caesar, who was worshiped as a "son of a god." In this pantheon of gods, Jesus asks who people are saying that he is. Jesus has a question. “Who are people saying that I am?” The Greek language, in which the New Testament was written, indicates the action was continual, not once and done. As I hear Jesus’ wo...

Being in the Church, Not of It Often we hear the remark that we have to live in the world without being of the world. But it may be more difficult to be in the Church without being of the Church. Being of the Church means being so preoccupied by and involved in the many ecclesial affairs and clerical "ins and outs" that we are no longer focused on Jesus. The Church then blinds us from what we came to see and deafens us to what we came to hear. Still, it is in the Church that Christ dwells, invites us to his table, and speaks to us words of eternal love. Being in the Church without being of it is a great spiritual challenge. These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey. Visit HenriNouwen.org for more inspiration!