Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches on Sunday, 11/1, All Saints' Day. The text was Rev. 21:1-6a. Our reading from Revelation is one of the last chapters in Revelation. It is like the unexpected twist at the end of a good mystery story. After all our talk and concern about "getting to heaven," in the end, heaven comes to us. Should that really surprise us? After all, in Christ "the Word became flesh and lived among us" (John 1:14). God is the God who always comes down. The book of Revelation uses apocalyptic or end time imagery to express the terrifying situation of the early churches at the time when the Roman Empire required the worship of the emperors as gods. It also conveys the faith that God is their ultimate salvation. God's action of renewal includes 3 aspects: Location--the new Jerusalem, the presence of God with God's people and the demise of death itself. The first aspect of God...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church on Sun., 10/25. The gospel was John 8:31-36 .    All of humanity longs to be free. The Jewish people longed for freedom from Egypt and in Jesus' day, freedom from the Romans. Today we have refugees leaving Syria and Iraq--in order to be free. All those under occupation want freedom.Those who are imprisoned by fear want freedom. Over the years many songs have been sung about the longing for freedom--from "We Shall Overcome" to the song, "People Got to Be Free," by the Young Rascals. What does this have to do with the Reformation and today's gospel? Everything. As a monk, Martin Luther struggled mightily to be free from the sin he was certain permeated his very being. He took harsh measures to subdue his body and its desires. It wasn't until he read God's word in Romans that his eyes were opened to the way of freedom from sin and the power...

This is what I preached last Sunday, 10/18 at St.Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The gospel text is Mark 10:35-45. Does it seem like Mark's gospel is repeating itself? Didn't we just hear something about being servants and that the first shall be last? It's like being on a merry-go-round that never stops to let us off. The disciples had to hear this teaching again because they didn't get it when Jesus taught them earlier. Today's gospel story occurs after the third time Jesus tells his disciples about his coming passion. After the first prediction (8:31), Peter objects and rebukes Jesus, after the second prediction (9:31), the twelve discuss who will be the greatest of them. After the third prediction, which is the most detailed one, we find the Zebedee brothers asking for favored positions in glory. James and John approached Jesus innocently enough, "Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us" (v. 35). Doesn't thi...