Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are some thoughts on this coming Sunday's gospel text, which were sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  Gospel: Mark 10:35-45 35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”   36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?”   37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”   38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”   39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;   40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”     41 When the ten heard this, they began t...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 10/14 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Mark 10:17-31.   In 1967, Dusty Springfield sang: The look of love Is in your eyes A look your smile can't disguise The look of love Is saying so much more than Just words could ever say And what my heart has heard Well it takes my breath away In the first scene of today’s gospel, we hear of Jesus’ look of love and the response he gets from a very religious, self-sufficient, well-to-do man.  Right from the get-go, Mark tells us that this gospel passage is about discipleship because the Greek says Jesus is “on the way,” not “setting out on a journey.” In Mark’s gospel, that is code for walking the way of the cross because Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. Early Christians were referred to as those belonging to “the Way” (Acts 9:2). All we know at the outset of this gospel is that this man is humble, for he knelt before Jesus and addressed him as “G...

These are some thoughts regarding Sunday's gospel text that were sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Gospel: Mark 10:17-31 17 As [Jesus] was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.  19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ”  20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”  21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.   23 Then ...

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, 10/7/18 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel text is Mark 10:2-16 . Several weeks before my 23rd anniversary of marriage to my first husband, he told me he didn’t want to be married anymore. He is gay. We had two children, Christian who was finishing high school and Sarah who was working.  All of us were devastated by the news. Gone were the dreams of what we would do for our 25th anniversary, which never arrived. Our family was broken and this impacted us on many levels. Christian was angry with his father for several years, but in time there was forgiveness. His father was his best man when he got married. Sarah was not thrilled about the situation, but over time, she too was able to forgive her father. In all of this, I felt like my heart was broken into a million pieces. I know the pain of broken promises, a broken marriage and divorce.  The Pharisees approached Jesus and Mark tells us it’s to test him. The...

These are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel that I shared electronically with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  Gospel: Mark 10:2-16 2 Some Pharisees came, and to test [ Jesus ] they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”   10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her ...

This is the sermon I preached on 9/30 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was James 5:13-20. These days, our public discourse, whether in person or via social media is ugly. People get angry at each other because they disagree on policies made by those in power. It’s taken so personally, that those claiming to be Christians wonder out loud or online if any they disagree with could possibly still be Christians. Especially in recent years, we Americans vilify each other over a host of topics.  The book of James speaks volumes to our world today. James spends much of his time writing about speech and in this final section of the letter, that speech is specifically prayer. In this focus, the community of faith to whom he writes is called to wholeness.  As we look at the first few verses, we see that James addresses people in all kinds of circumstances. No one is left out.  If you’re suffering, you should pray. If you’re cheerful, then sing songs of praise...