Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 11/24. The text is John 18:33-37 When confronted with a question, Jesus seems incapable of providing a definitive response. Here in today’s gospel, we have three sets of questions and answers. I want you to listen to them and then tell me if Jesus answered Pilate’s questions. First question: “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus responded, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”  Next: “ What have you done?” Jesus answered this one, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Jesus is a different sort of king. He is the King o f truth, love, mercy and forgiveness. His kingdom is a different kind of kingdom. It is the now, but not yet, kingdom, earthly and spiritual. His kingdom is where he, the king, is. Pilate’s last question in this pas...

  This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, Nov. 17. The text was Mark 13:1-8. Do you remember the story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse? The city mouse went to visit the country mouse in the country and found out that it was better suited to city life. In the case of today’s gospel, we have Jesus’ disciples, the country boys, visiting the crowded city of Jerusalem.  They were overwhelmed by seeing the temple complex. The thoughts of people were that nothing could harm it. But the problem was that the Babylonians had destroyed it in the past. The temple in Jesus’ time was not the one built by Solomon, but was the second temple, later enhanced by Herod the Great. For this reason, it was referred to as Herod’s temple.  How did Jesus respond to the country boys’ excitement? As impressive as all this may be, it will be destroyed. That certainly took the wind out of their sails. As Pastor Rob Myallis says, “if you think these rocks are sec...

  This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 11/10. The text was Mark 12:38-44, At United Lutheran Seminary, each year there is the Luther Bowl, the annual flag football tournament that the Gettysburg seminary hosts each year. One year, after the game, was Eucharist and dinner. I had volunteered to make chili. One of the necessary ingredients for chili is onions. I picked up a nice, fresh looking onion and cut it open. It was all black and moldy on the inside. I could not tell that from the beautiful exterior, but only from going to the heart of the onion. That onion was not suitable for chili because it was rotten. I obviously needed an onion that was good on the inside to accomplish the task of flavoring the chili. And by the way, that year, Gettysburg lost. In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus shows us that the heart of true discipleship is not about what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside of us, our hearts.  In this passage, we first hear...

  Below is my sermon from Sunday, 11/3, All Saints Sunday, that I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was J ohn 11:32-44.   Today we remember the faithful who have died in the last year. We also think back to the saints of old in scripture and others whom the church has honored throughout history. In today’s gospel, we have Mary and Martha and Lazarus—all recognized as saints by various churches. And of course, there are the disciples, but there is also the crowd and best of all, our Lord Jesus, who shortly after this miracle would himself experience death.  Jesus and his disciples are in Bethany and Jesus is met by Lazarus’ sister, Mary, but earlier in chapter 11, Jesus learns of Lazarus’ illness.  He purposely waits to go see Mary and Martha. Jesus, who could have gone there as soon as he heard, waited so that the people would believe that the Father had sent him.  The first chapter of John’s gospel tells us, “…in him was life, and the life was...

  This is the sermon I preached this morning at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was John 8:31-26 .  Today's gospel reading is all about freedom. The whole Reformation is all about freedom as well. From Paul's declaration that we have been justified by grace to Luther's hammering his 95 Theses on the Wittenburg Church door, we are reminded of the supremacy of God's grace. What the Reformation tells us is that there is nothing we can do, say or accomplish to earn God's love. God's love is a gift. We have problems when we forget that we already have love as a gift from God and try to earn it on our own.  As a monk, Martin Luther tried hard to get rid of the sin he thought was in him. He took harsh measures to subdue his body and its desires. His eyes were opened to the way of freedom from sin and the power of the devil through Jesus after reading God's word in Romans. The word “free” appears throughout today's reading. Jesus is the word, the truth th...