Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I'll be preaching tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. We will be having an indoor, in-person service (all socially distanced, with masks) as well as our drive-in service. The gospel reading is Matthew 21:33-46 .  Jesus says, “Listen to another parable…” continuing his response to the Jewish leadership regarding his authority. We’re in another vineyard today yet with a different setting. The cast of characters is larger and we find ourselves in a parable that has historically, often been used to fuel anti-Jewish sentiment.   Now Jesus is also calling out the leadership for being unfaithful to God. In the absence of the landowner, the tenants were to care for the vineyard. “ The first and second years are typically growing years for the root system and canopy. The third year is usually when they yield enough fruit to harvest. It takes about five years to get a full crop from the new vines” ( https://gaineyvineyard.com/blog/replanting-grapevines...

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's gospel reading that were sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . Do you have any thoughts? Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46 [Jesus said to the people:] 33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will ...

  This is the sermon I'm preaching tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. We have both a drive-in service and an inside the sanctuary, in-person service--whichever you're more comfortable with. Join us is you're in the area. The gospel is Matthew 21:23-32. I’d like you to join me as we listen in on an exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus was in the middle of teaching in the temple and the chief priests and elders of the people interrupted him saying, “Who do you think you are, Jesus? You’ve caused so much trouble lately.” Talking among themselves we hear, “Why didn’t he just stay put in Galilee?” while another chimes in, “He comes marching in here like he belongs here!” Then an elder says, “And the crowd! Not one bit of decorum among them! They kept crying out, ‘Hosanna!’” “And if that weren’t enough, did you hear about the incident with the money changers? Jesus confronted them, tipping over their tables and making a huge scen...

Here are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.   What are your thoughts?  Gospel: Matthew 21:23-32 23 When [Jesus] entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.   28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to t...

  This is the message I preached today at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel text is Matthew 20:1-16. We are continuing  our Drive-In Worship and simultaneously worshiping indoors. Join us if you're in the area. Parables are meant to be shocking. They go along as if all is normal and then—there’s a twist that knocks your socks off. That’s how I felt when I read these words of Bible scholar Patrick J. Willson. Let’s hang out with the laborers who were the first ones to begin working and see what transpires.   “Are you envious because I am generous?” asks the owner of the vineyard (v. 15). You bet we are! If we are not envious, we are not hearing the parable. The parable rubs us the wrong way. Its visions of fairness and equality chafe. We cringe at what it seems to say about God. We shrink before what it seems to say about us! The parable catches us quickly into the narrative, because we carry around notions of what is fair and what is not and this story offends...

  This is the reflection that was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . These are some initial thoughts on Sunday's gospel. What do you think or feel when you read this passage? Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16 [Jesus said to the disciples:] 1 “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You als...

  This is the sermon I am preaching Sunday at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . We will continue our drive-in service and simultaneously have our first indoor, in-person worship since early March. The text is Romans 14:1-12. We are finally back inside our sanctuary and yet...worship is different. Not only do the COVID rules alter our worship, but we are physically separated. Many of us are still worshipping outdoors in our cars or listening on the radio. In a real, tangible way we are divided, physically that is, which brings us to the churches in Rome to whom Paul wrote.   The churches had trouble: division, quarreling, looking down upon others for what they did/did not eat and the holy days some observed/did not observe. Meat consumed in urban areas had been sacrificially offered to the Roman gods. Regarding various days being observed, several calendars included the keeping of Jewish holy days and Roman pagan festivals. Paul does not dictate solutions to these debates, but ...