Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I'm preaching at St. Timothy Lutheran Church for our first Drive-In Service. We will be celebrating Ascension Sunday. The gospel text is Luke 24:44-53 . If you like, here is a video of the sermon.  There are three movements in today’s gospel: the past, (vv. 44-47), the promise, (vv. 48-49) and the “while you wait,” the meantime. Each has its role. In the past we find the foundation that connected Jesus’ followers with their history. For us, that is BC—before Coronavirus. We also have the promise of Jesus: the call to be his witnesses (vv. 48-49), which is the disciples’ future. That is when things will be “back to normal,” a future that we long for. The final section is “While you wait” or what to do in the meantime (vv. 50-53) (Troy Troftgruben, workingpreacher.org). This is where we find ourselves today. In this in-between time, don’t we long for the days of being able to come and go freely? Oh, if only we could just gather together like we used to! But w...

Here are some thoughts on the gospel for Ascension, which we'll be using at St.Timothy Lutheran Church this Sunday. Gospel: Luke 24:44-53 44[Jesus said to the eleven and those with them,] “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”   50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up int...

This is the sermon for 5/17/20 for the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . Here is the YouTube of me preaching the sermon if you're interested. The text is John 14:15-21 .   Today’s gospel is part two of Jesus’ final words to his disciples before his crucifixion. It is bookended by “Keep my commandments,” but not like the Ten Commandments. Rather, Jesus’ commandment goes back to Holy Week, to Maundy Thursday, when Jesus said to the disciples, “ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). Today we find Jesus’ commandments also couched in terms of love. In fact, in John’s gospel, love is the only commandment Jesus gives. The gospel text begins talking about obedience through love. Jesus’ words begin with love and end with love. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Here and in the last verse of today’s gospel, “keep” means “to retain in custody, keep watch over, guard.” Anoth...

This was shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . What are your thoughts? Gospel: John 14:15-21 [Jesus said to the disciples:] 15 “If you love me , you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.   18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”   I’ve highlighted a few verses in Sunday’s gospel to visually demonstrate how this read...

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 Jesu...

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...