Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon for this Sunday, for the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. If you would like to see and hear me preach it, go here. Relationships are important, aren’t they? When we’re happy or sad, it’s good to have someone to share things with. This passage is all about relationship as can be seen in several phrases in this text. This gives us a different lens through which to look at and understand what God is saying to us today. Jesus’ followers had plenty of reasons to have troubled hearts and to grieve. Just a little earlier, Judas had left to betray Jesus, so he was no longer one of their band. Jesus keeps telling his followers that he will be betrayed and crucified. With all this swirling around in their heads and what it all meant, no wonder Jesus tells them not to grieve. And of course, these words are not only meant for those followers of Jesus, but also for those who were part of John’s community around 50 years later. They lived with persecution and I’

Here are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel. This was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Gospel: John 14:1-14 [Jesus said to the disciples:]  1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.  2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.  4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.”  5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”   8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all

This is the sermon that was for the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel text is John 10:1-10. If you'd like to see the video of the sermon, you can find it here . Today’s gospel is not a parable, but rather metaphor-laden teaching. Jesus is using figures of speech. Here we find Jesus as the gate and shepherd offering the promise of pasture and protection. How does this happen? First, the shepherd knows his own sheep. This does not happen immediately but over time. It takes an investment of time for and attention for a shepherd to know the sheep. Over such time the sheep get to know their shepherd’s voice from the voices of other shepherds that they should not follow. We can take comfort the in the fact that God has taken that time and attention to know us by name (Mike Baughman, Edgy Exegesis, patheos.com). The shepherd leads his sheep and the sheep follow. Sheep need to be led. They follow each other and unless someone is making sure the sheep in the front ar

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's gospel. I'd love your input. This was sent to the people of St.Timothy Lutheran Church .  Gospel: John 10:1-10   [Jesus said:] 1 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.   7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did no

This is a devotion I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  The reason for the many Lutheran references is because of the original intended audience. The principles apply to all Christians, however. Have you ever heard the term “liminal space?” It is:   a threshold…Liminal spaces are transitional or transformative spaces. They are the waiting areas between one point in time and space and the next. …we have the feeling of just being on the verge of something. Liminal space is, of course, a literal space …But there are also spaces of liminality in our mental states. This, too, is a type of liminal space” (betterhelp.com/advice/general). As Lutherans, we think of that kind of space as living in the “now/not yet” of the kingdom of God. It is not the past, which is behind us and we are not yet in the future, which is unknown. Doesn’t it seem fitting to our lives today? It’s not an easy space to inhabit and it often makes us uncomfortable because we want to ge

This is my sermon for the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The scripture text was 1 Peter 1:17-23.   Our second lesson uses the imagery of being in exile. The readers understand that they are strangers in a strange land (sundaysandseasons.com). Doesn’t that describe our current situation? We have not been this way before. There is no Siri, Google, or any other kind of physical GPS that can navigate us safely through this morass of Coronavirus. We feel disconnected from friends and family, from our church family. We may even wonder where God is in all of this. This lesson speaks to our needs today. Peter was addressing Gentile believers who were living in a hostile environment, feeling like strangers in the world. Their time on earth may have been as a time of exile (v. 17). For Gentile believers this was true in several ways: they may have been living away from their homeland, Christians saw themselves as exiles on earth whole real home was heaven and Peter’s readers may

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's second reading that I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . What are your thoughts? Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:17-23 17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.   22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew,