Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached this past Sunday, which was Pentecost Sunday, 5/15/16 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churche s. The text was Acts 2:1-21 . Did you hear that wind yesterday? Do you think that's what the apostles heard when the Spirit appeared or do you think it was bigger and stronger than the wind that blew yesterday? In the book of Acts, Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of wind and fire. We often describe the Holy Spirit as being like the wind. You can't see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind when it blows through.   The same can be said for the Holy Spirit. You can't see him, but you know when he's made his presence known. What comes to mind when you hear the word Pentecost? Do you think the apostles were   bewildered by the sound of the wind? Do you picture all the apostles with little tongues of flame dancing on their heads? Do you think of the apostles addressing the crowd and each person hearing them ...

  This is the message I shared with St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church on Ascension Sunday, 5/8/16. The scripture text is Luke 24:44-53 . Tag--you're it!   Luke's closing section of the gospel is like a holy game of tag in which Jesus tags followers, saying, "You're it. Now you're me in the world."   These are words we gather in worship to wait for, and we don't have long to wait. We're a part of Christ's family. When we meet at the table, we taste promises. We become Christ's body.   Today we are celebrating Jesus' Ascension. Jesus leaves his disciples with instruction, a commission, and a promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' time of instruction with his disciples serves to bring closure by recapping major themes of the gospel and to set the stage for the coming of the Sprit and the work of the disciples as witnesses in the months and years following his Ascension. Jesus' training consisted of...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was John 14:23-29 . Today's gospel lesson is rich in words of encouragement for the frightened disciples of Jesus. At this point, in spite of all of Jesus' teaching, the disciples still were unable to put together two and two. It was only later, after Pentecost that they experienced their "Aha" moment. Even then, they still had a lot of growing to do. They made their mistakes even though they were the God-appointed leaders of the church. These words of Jesus are words of encouragement for all of us as well. We too have trouble living the Christian life. Today's gospel is part of the farewell discourse of Jesus. I can imagine that the disciples were still unconvinced that Jesus' leaving them could be a good thing. There are three parts to today's gospel: the love relationship that results in keeping God's word, the promise of the Holy Spirit and God's gift of pe...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 4/10/16 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church --two very flexible congregations which I have the privilege of serving. The text is John 21:1-19. Something that continues to puzzle scholars-- and the rest of us --is just how dense Jesus' disciples could really be. How is it that they never recognize Jesus in his post-resurrection appearances?   In today’s gospel, this is the THIRD encounter the disciples have had with Jesus since his resurrection—and they still did not realize it was Jesus talking to them. Peter and the others who had left their nets to follow Jesus, have now returned to fishing, but without success. We don’t know if they were trying to go back to business as usual. Some scholars suggest that. The men had been fishing all night with no results. Now Jesus comes along and tells them to fish on the right side of the boat. They were probably wondering, what difference does it make wh...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 4/3 at St.Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The gospel is John 20:19-31. What comes to mind when you hear today’s gospel? Doubting Thomas, right? After all, it is a story about Thomas and he has a hard time believing, doesn’ t he? One of the greatest lessons I learned in seminary is that in scripture God is always the One who is acting. Look at Jesus’ interaction with Thomas: Is Thomas and his lack of faith the center of the story?   Or is Jesus and his gracious offer of himself to Thomas the center of the story? Let’s look at what God is up to in today’s gospel. The gist of today’s text can be boiled down to these three words: breathe, receive and reveal. Jesus BREATHED on his disciples for them to RECEIVE the Holy Spirit so that he could continue to REVEAL himself. However, before Jesus can breathe on his disciples, he needs to calm them down. They are scared and locked themselves behind closed doors. The di...

This is the sermon I preached on Easter Sunday, March 27 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church. The gospel text is Luke 24:1-12.  I read recently that a seminary professor wrote, “If it's not hard to believe, you're probably not paying attention!” (David Lose). He was talking about the resurrection. Does that shock us? After all, let’s think about this. For someone to rise from the dead is not an everyday occurrence. We’re not talking about having a near death experience. Nor are we talking about a mere resuscitation of Jesus’ body. The account of Jesus’ crucifixion makes it clear that those wanting the crucifixion made sure Jesus was good and dead. Jesus was so dead that no one really believed that he would rise--in spite of the numerous times Jesus told this to his followers. How did the women who were the first to go the empty tomb respond? Did you hear them say, “Praise God! He is risen! I knew this would happen just the way he told us!”...