Claimed, gathered and sent

It's been a long time, hasn't it? I have been in the process of rehabilitation from back surgery in November and December 2020. The doctor said it could take up to a year to be completely healed and he wasn't kidding! I'm now back to work as pastor of St. Timothy Lutheran Church for only 15 hours/week and that I find exhausting. So...I haven't posted my first couple of sermons since coming back or my midweek reflections on the text, but that changes, as of today. This is what I sent to the people of St. Timothy. Gospel: John 11:32-44   32  When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33  When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34  He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35  Jesus began to weep. 36  So the Jews sai...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, June 23 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Luke 8:26-39. In the 1980s, going to live overseas as missionaries with small children, people worried about us, especially those that didn’t understand what it meant to follow God’s call. We were crossing several boundaries, including that of religion. Those Muslim terrorists—aren’t you afraid for your own lives and those of your children? The call to prayer five times a day was something we really had to adjust to since the mosque was close to our apartment. I came to love it. And the boundaries of culture took a while to learn! You do not cross your legs, showing the bottom of a shoe because that means you consider the other person no better than the dust on your shoes. Women’s shoulders are considered sexy, so you can’t wear sleeveless outfits. And if you wore shorts—you were surely a prostitute because only someone of that ilk would dress in such a way. ...

Here are some thoughts regarding this Sunday's gospel that were sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.   Gospel: Luke 8:26-39 26 Then [Jesus and his disciples] arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”— 29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.   32 N...