Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the message I preached to God's people at Bethel Lutheran Church in Portville, NY on Sunday, April 27. The text is John 20:19-31.  Let’s use our imaginations today as we look at today’s gospel reading. We’re going to jump into a time machine and go back to Jerusalem later in the day after the resurrection. How do you think we’re going to find the disciples? Are they going to be ecstatic? Are they going to be boldly walking around the temple area telling the Pharisees, “We told you so. He’s baaaaaaaaaaack.” Were they telling everyone they met that Jesus is risen? Were they spreading the news and the faith?  No. They were hidden in the large room behind locked doors scared out of their wits. Would we be in any better shape? Just a few days before, their master and Lord was crucified. Yes, he rose on that Sunday morning—we know that, the women who went to the tomb know that, but just because some women had told the disciples about it doesn’t necessarily mean ...

This is a picture of Jacob's Well by David Roberts from 1839. Below is the sermon I preached at Bethel Lutheran Church in Portville, NY. It is based on John 4:5-42. We all have different paths that have brought us to faith in Jesus. Some have dramatic conversion experiences from of a life of sin and unbelief to a life of faith. Others have a relationship with God from childhood and cannot remember a time when God was not real to them. God meets us wherever we are. Jesus engaged Nicodemus differently than he engaged the Samaritan woman in today’s gospel. He tailored the encounter to the needs of the hearer. Nicodemus was Jewish. We are told his name. He came to Jesus in Jerusalem. The Samaritan woman is a Gentile. We never find out her name. Jesus came to her. Nicodemus could not wrap his mind around a new, spiritual birth, while the woman struggled to understand what it meant to have living water. There are several unusual characteristics about Jesus’ meeting wit...