Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the YouTube of the sermon I'm preaching live tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Worship. Join us if you're in the area. The gospel text is Matthew 16:13-20. Here is the YouTube of the sermon.

This is the sermon I'll be preaching tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Worship. If you live in the area, please join us. The text is the gospel, Matthew 16:13-20 . Caesarea Philippi is beautiful. It is lush and green with a spring that is a source for the Jordan River. Situated at the foot of Mt. Hermon, which is the only place in the land where you will find snow, in which my then young children played. The Arab people call it Banyas, going back to the time when it was named for the Greek god, Pan. There is no "p" in Arabic. It has a long history of polytheism—from the god Baal of the Old Testament to the Greek god Pan, to Caesar, who was worshiped as a "son of a god." In this pantheon of gods, Jesus asks who people are saying that he is. Jesus has a question. “Who are people saying that I am?” The Greek language, in which the New Testament was written, indicates the action was continual, not once and done. As I hear Jesus’ wo...

This is the reflection I shared with the people of St.Timothy. What are your thoughts? Just put them in the comments section. Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the ...

  This is the sermon I will be preaching tomorrow at St.Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Service. If you're in the Bemus Point/Jamestown, NY area, join us a 10 for a 30-minute service in our parking lot. You can worship from the comfort and safety of your car. There are some oddities in today’s gospel story. A foreign woman approaches Jesus and the disciples. The disciples seem to rebuff her while Jesus ignores her and then insults her. Is this the Jesus we expect? No! But we need to remember that Jesus is also human and fully so. Who is this woman approaching Jesus and the disciples? She’s a Canaanite, meaning she’s a gentile and she is nameless. A gentile and a woman--that’s two strikes against her! However, there are three Canaanite women in Jesus’ lineage: Rahab, Tamar, and Ruth (Matthew 1:3,5). Her people’s blood runs through Jesus’ veins and Jesus’ people’s blood runs through hers. As the woman approaches, she starts shouting! The Greek ...

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's gospel reading. What do you think when you read it? This was shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28 21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed insta...

This is the sermon I'll be preaching at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Worship tomorrow. The gospel is Matthew 14:22-33 .  One of the best things I learned in seminary is that looking at scripture, the first thing to do is to ask, “What is God doing in this passage? If Paul is teaching something to the Christians in one of his churches, you would ask, “What is God teaching the people?” because God is working through Paul. What is God doing in today’s gospel? Jesus, who is God, is walking on the water. That’s a nice trick, but why is he doing this? He is revealing himself to his disciples, so that’s what God is really up to. The story is a kind of epiphany, an appearance of Christ similar to his resurrection appearances. On a dark night of fear and helplessness, Christ comes to his disciples (Fred B. Craddock, Preaching Through the Christian Year A ). This small story is inserted between the description of the disciples as fearful (vv. 26-27) and as confe...

Here are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel. What are yours? This was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33 22 [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee], while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward J...