Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 6/2/24. The text was Mark 2:23-3:6.  Mark’s gospel is contentious. It is filled with stories of escalating controversy. Today’s gospel passage portrays a series of five controversies, each raising the level of conflict. We even have an angry Jesus here.  As commentator, Judith Hock Wray explains:   The earlier controversy stories call attention to table fellowship (2:13–17), fasting (2:18–20), [and]wine and wineskins (2:21–22)…First-century Christians listening to Mark’s account probably heard these stories within the context of their experiences of controversy about table fellowship, fasting, breaking bread and sharing wine in worship. ( Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season after Pentecost 1 ) The first portion of the text is about when, [all this takes place], namely the Sabbath. The [text] …beginning [with chapter] 3…relocates the story to a [different] where, the Sy...

  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, May 26, Holy Trinity Sunday at St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  The text was Romans 8:12-17 .  The Holy Trinity is something we will never fully understand in this life because it is a mystery. I love how the mystic, Hildegard of Bingen, who lived from 1099-1179, described the Trinity as “sound and life—wondrous splendor which is life in all things.”  How does that “sound and life” infuse us and the church? It all starts with the work of the Holy Spirit. That is how God’s people become so intimate with God. By the Spirit, the deeds of the body are put to death. Here, “death” points us beyond mere physical death. We will all die some day. However, Paul is talking about the life-destroying power of death that, in partnership with sin and the law, keeps life from being what God created it to be (Boring & Craddock). Paul contrasts two ways of life with two different results. Living according to the flesh ends in death, while li...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Pentecost Sunday, 2024, May 19. The text was  John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15. Today is Pentecost. We celebrate the birth of Christ’s church. However, Pentecost is far more than simply the birthday of the church. This was just the beginning of God's work after Jesus went to heaven with his Father.   Especially in the Book of Acts, we read of many miracles being done through the apostles as the Holy Spirit worked through them. Miracles also continue today as God the Holy Spirit works through God’s people.   The fastest growing churches are those in the global south, countries south of the equator, not those in the United States, despite the number of megachurches there are. There, people walk for hours to get to church. Their commitment puts many of us to shame. Perhaps this is why these churches are growing exponentially. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in and through God’s people.  This past week,...

  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, May 5 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was John 15:9-17, It can be hard to make friends in a new place. We have lived here for just over nine years. I was pretty excited about already knowing people here. But, shortly after we came, Becca and Will moved! Then we got a bit closer with another couple and they moved! Then another female pastor and I used to hang out after our weekly pastors’ Bible study, and she stopped coming. However, the arrival of a clergy couple has helped. We’ve become colleagues and friends. I feel much less lonely, and this extrovert is grateful. I am also making friends outside church-related places: the Boys’ and Girls’ Club Pool and Zonta.  The creator of the universe calls us friends, which is the most amazing thing. Friendship implies a give and take. Jesus completely upends the old ways of master and slave in the accord of friendship with himself, saying, “I do not call you servants any longer, bec...