Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the message I preached last Sunday, 12/23/18 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church, for the last Sunday of Advent. The text was Luke 1:39-55. Today’s gospel is the story of the intersection of two women’s lives—that of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and Mary, the mother of Jesus. The first part of the reading is the Visitation, where Mary visits  Elizabeth. Then we have Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s words, the Magnificat,which we’ll be concentrating on today. If you’ve ever heard or read the story of Samuel in the Old Testament, you may hear a similarity in Mary’s words to that of Hannah, Samuel’s mother.Hannah prayed, “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in my victory” (1 Sam. 2:1). Perhaps Mary was inspired by Hannah’s words.  One of the hallmarks of Luke’s writing is the frequency with which he refers to joy and the sheer number of songs, like the Magnificat that are through...

Here are some thoughts for Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Advent. These were sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  SCRIPTURE FOCUS    Gospel: Luke 1:46-55   46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,    47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,   48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;   49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.   50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.   51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.   52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;   53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.   54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,   55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” RE...

Here are a few thoughts for Advent 3 that were shared via email with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  Second Reading: Philippians 4:4-7 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent, Joy Sunday. The reading from Philippians is very fitting for that theme. We will also experience the joy of the cantata, “The Light Before Christmas,” done by our choir.  Paul was in prison when he wrote these words and yet he was able to tell the Philippians to rejoice. There are many aspects of joy and many things that bring us joy. For Paul, it’s obvious that his rock-solid relationship wit...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 12/9/18. The text was Luke 3:1-6 We have in the very beginning of today’s gospel a list of 7 rulers of that time. Imagine these verses as a movie in which we see the known world, the center of which is Rome and we slowly zoom in – but not where we expect. Now , who of all of these does God choose? Emperor Tiberius-nope Pontius Pilate—nope Herod-nope Philip-nope Lysanius-nope Anna’s and Caiaphas-nope John…yep…wait…who? Once again, God chooses the most unlikely candidate in the most unlikely place. After all, Judea, in which were Jerusalem and Bethlehem, was a mere backwater of the world and John the Baptist was a nobody. But what God is doing through him will affect everything—even up to the emperor. In this list, we also have a foreshadowing of what was to come in Jesus’ confrontations with Annas and Caiaphas, Herod and Pilate. This, after all, is the world of a God who is completely involved i...

Here are some thoughts I shared regarding this Sunday's gospel for Advent 2.  This was sent to the people of St. Timothy .  SCRIPTURE FOCUS Gospel: Luke 3:1-6 1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,  2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,  4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.   5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth;   6 and all f...

This is the sermon I preached on Dec. 2, the First Sunday of Advent, at St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  The text was Luke 21:25-36 Waiting is hard. Children on road trips cry out, “Are we there yet?” A friend of ours in PA. tells of when her son, Luke, was younger. When he knew a package was coming, each day he would sit out on the front steps of the house waiting for its arrival. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, itself a time of waiting for the  coming of something far more precious than a package. We await two comings of Christ: his first as one of us on earth and his second when he returns in glory. Today we focus on the second one. In today’s gospel text, Jesus moves his listeners from the realm of cosmic signs, to the realm of the listeners’ experienced world of nature and finally to their personal realm. Jesus first talks about the realm of cosmic signs (vv. 25-28). “ Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind Do this, don...