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Who is Generous?

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  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 Jesus’ d
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All Saints

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  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 the light of all people
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What is Truth?

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  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
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Jesus, the Divine Gumball Machine

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  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, Oct. 20 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Mark 10:35-45. James and John approach Jesus like he’s a divine gumball machine. Like children, they say, “...we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Seriously? “Whatever we ask of you.” Like I said, Jesus is the divine gumball machine.  Jesus responds so patiently and with such love. He doesn't tear them apart, but instead responds with, "What is it you want me to do for you?" (v. 36). What a gentle response. It certainly would not have been mine.  Jesus tells James and John that they don’t know what they’re asking. Jesus mentions hardships he will suffer: the cup he drinks, the baptism with which he is baptized.  When Jesus refers to his own baptism, he uses the present tense, suggesting an ongoing and present event.  Jesus literally says, “which I am being baptized right now”; he is in the midst of his baptism as he begins his long road to the cross.  Our baptism
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Wealth and Reward

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  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 10/13 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text is Mark 10:17-31. In the first scene of today’s gospel, we hear of Jesus’ look of love and the response he gets from a very religious, self-sufficient, well-to-do man. All we know at the outset of this gospel is that this man is humble, for he knelt before Jesus and addressed him as “Good Teacher.” He is sincere. Kneeling showed deference and respect to a teacher of the Law. There is no indication that the man was being sarcastic or was testing Jesus.  What was Jesus getting at when he asked why the man called him “good?” Was he trying to help him see that since only God is good and Jesus is good, Jesus must be God? Or was Jesus identifying more with sinful humanity? We don’t know.  What about “inheriting eternal life?” There is nothing anyone can do to make themselves eligible to inherit anything. You’re either a member of the family or you’re not. In order to inherit, someone has to die. Regard
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