Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, May 12 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Rev. 7:9-17.  The book of Revelation is one that is easy to shy away from. We get side-tracked with beasts and horsemen on different color horses, an apocalyptic end of the world as we know it and on bad theology we pick up in movies and books. The thing is, the title of the book is not the Revelation of JOHN, but rather as its first few words say, “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” This book is all about Jesus, so rather than avoiding it, say a pray before reading and embrace it. John wrote this book much later than other New Testament books were written. It was a time of great persecution for Christians under the Roman emperor Domitian. Many were martyred; thereby being added to the heavenly court. Revelation is a book of symbols, filled with hope to encourage these beleaguered Christians. Who are these gathered for worship in Revelation? They are an assortment of people from eve

Here are some thoughts on the epistle reading for this Sunday, Good Shepherd Sunday that were shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  Second Reading: Revelation 7:9-17 9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying,  “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 singing,  “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom  and thanksgiving and honor  and power and might  be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”   13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir,

Here are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel sent out to the members and friends of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Gospel: John 21:1-19 1 After [he appeared to his followers in Jerusalem,] Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.   4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple

This is the sermon I preached on Easter Sunday, April 21 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Luke 24:1-12.   The women in today’s gospel, were going to Jesus’ tomb to prepare his body with spices. They fully expected to find a physical, dead body. The women did not connect the dots, despite the numerous times Jesus taught his followers that he would rise from the dead. After all, it was commonly believed then and now that the dead are supposed to stay dead, aren’t they? The gospels contain no account of a resurrection per se. What we have is a story of an empty tomb and of remembering what we have already been told would happen. We do not find Jesus; we only find evidence of the resurrection. After all, we cannot find Jesus, but the living Jesus does find us. Just what did the women see at the tomb? First of all, Jesus’ tomb was open and empty. The stone it had been sealed with was rolled away and these are humongous bolder-like stones. There was no body to be seen.

This is the reflection sent electronically to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Thursday, April 18, 2019. SCRIPTURE FOCUS Gospel: Luke 24:1-12 1 On the first day of the week, at early dawn, [the women] came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.  2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  3 but when they went in, they did not find the body.  4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.  5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.  6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,  7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”  8 Then they remembered his words,  9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.  10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the moth

This is the homily I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church for Maundy Thursday.  The gospel text was John 13:1-17, 31b-35 . Tina Turner sings: “What's love got to do, got to do with it What's love but a second hand emotion What's love got to do, got to do with it Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?” I understand Tina’s frustration. At times in my life I have felt that way. But the thing is, in tonight’s gospel reading, love has everything to do with Jesus’ new commandment. For the commandment being given is not to wash each other’s feet as much as it is to love one another as Jesus loved us. What kind of love is Jesus talking about? For one thing, there is a depth of love that is beyond what the disciples had experienced before. Wherever the word “love” appears in John’s gospel, it is best understood as “attachment, commitment and loyalty.” It is a love that is in it for the long haul. John makes clear from the get go that Jesus

I shared these words  with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church last Sunday, 4/14/19. This is my response to today’s Palm Sunday readings. I was moved by these words and they eloquently echoed my own thoughts. Here are excerpts from a Palm Sunday sermon by Frederick Buechner entitled “The Things That Make For Peace” from A Room Called Remember : We call it Palm Sunday because maybe they were palm branches that were thrown into the road in front of him as he approached the city-a kind of poor man's red-carpet treatment, a kind of homemade ticker-tape parade. Just branches is all the record states, but maybe palms is what they actually were, and in any case it's as palms that we remember them; and all over Christendom people leave church with palm leaves of their own to remember him by on the anniversary of his last journey, to pin up on the kitchen bulletin board or stick into the frame of the dresser mirror until finally they turn yellow and bri