Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are some thoughts on this coming Sunday's gospel. This is what was sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Gospel: Mark 6:14-29 14 King Herod heard of [ the disciples’ preaching, ] for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”   17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, 7/8 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Mark 6:1-13. What a great time we had with family while we were on vacation. We enjoyed the pool—playing beach ball volleyball with Grace and another time Sarah, Grace and I were in the pool with squirt guns. Ray even got in on the action, grabbing one that was on the side of the pool and squirting us with amazing accuracy. We even got some special time with Grace while the other adults were working. We played Sorry and of course, Grace won, because she always wins, no matter what game is played. Later, we went out to lunch together and had a great time. Our time away was completely relaxing. It was an absolutely ideal vacation time, but as enjoyable as vacation is, there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed. As Dorothy said in the “Wizard of Oz,” “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” Jesus had been away fr

This is the reflection I shared on this Sunday's gospel in St. Timothy's weekly e-ministry. Gospel: Mark 6:1-13 1 [ Jesus ] came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.    Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gav

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, June 24 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Mark 4:35-41 .  Being on the water can be so much fun, can’t it? However, being in a boat, in a terrible storm, where the boat is taking on water is quite another matter. The boat Jesus and his companions rode in was not very big. It was a fishing boat.  When I lived in Bethlehem, that kind of boat was discovered because of a drought which made the depth of the Galilee very low. The boat was dubbed the “Jesus Boat.”  It was the largest boat type in use on the lake in antiquity. The boat could have been sailed or rowed. It would have had basic crew of 4-5 rowers with a helmsman/captain. I keep referring to the Galilee as a lake because that’s exactly what it is. It is located in a depression about 700 feet below sea level and is surrounded by hills. Although larger than Chautauqua, on a clear day you are able to see across the lake. And just like Mark writes, violent storms

This is the reflection on this Sunday's gospel reading that was sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.    Gospel: Mark 4:35-41 35 When evening had come,  [ Jesus said to the disciples, ] “ Let us go across to the other side. ”  36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.  37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.  38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him,  “ Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? ”  39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,  “ Peace! Be still! ”  Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.  40 He said to them,  “ Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith? ”  41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another,  “ Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? ” Every time I read a passage of scripture, somethin

This is the message I shared with the people of God at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . It was not based on any particular scripture reading, but these were some thought -provoking words from our bishop, John Macholz. He shared these on June 5, the last day of our Upstate NY Synod Assembly. I wonder, if we took seriously the growing trend of fewer candidates for the Office of Word and Sacrament and gave pause to consider a greater use of well-trained, lay persons to create now models for ministry how that would work for us?  I wonder, would that model be made more workable by building accountability into our present system and requiring annual attendance at gatherings where the focus would be on preaching and leading worship for those we presently call Deacons in this synod?  I wonder what would take place if we were able to let go of buildings that are weighing us down with maintenance costs that seem to grow year by year, I wonder what would happen if we created a new model