Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on 8/28 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches. The text was Luke 14:1, 7-14 . Are we all familiar with Tupperware? We all know how Tupperware is sold. Someone has a party and invites friends to come to the party and buy stuff. Have you ever been to a Tupperware party? What are your two biggest fears about going to a Tupperware party? The first is that you’re going to be asked to hold your own party and the second is that you know everyone who is at the party is going to have their own Tupperware party later on and you’re going to be invited. Although Jesus is not talking about Tupperware in today’s gospel, he does talk about parties and whom to invite and whom not to invite. And where do we find Jesus in today’s gospel? We find him attending a meal.  Much of the action in Luke’s gospel takes place around meals. Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal. Jesus always appears to be eating. He’d fit right in

This is the sermon I preached on 8/21 at St. Timothy and S t. Mark Lutheran churches. The text is Luke 13:10-17. Some people are noticed wherever they go. You can’t miss them. But then, some of us are barely seen because of our stature or lack thereof. When you’re short, it is hard to get noticed in a crowd of much taller people. I will never forget a conversation that I had with one of the clerks at Microtel in Olean when I came for my interview with the church council of my first call. The clerk asked the Council president how he would recognize me.   The president's response was, “She’s very short!” In today’s gospel, Jesus was not teaching in the temple in Jerusalem, rather he was in a small town synagogue. The bent-over woman was likely well known in her village and people were so used to her that they no longer paid any attention to her and her ailment. After 18 years of being this way, she was invisible to other villagers. But Jesus saw her, not because sh

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches on 8/14. The text was Luke 12:49-56. There aren’t too many things in life we can be sure of, but in the Holy Land, the weather is one of them. Here in New York, when we make plans for outdoor events, it is always with backup plans of what to do in case of rain.   However, in the Holy Land, there are distinct rainy and dry seasons. If it is summer time, which is in the dry season, you can make definite plans for outdoor activities. It will not rain. If the sky becomes cloudy and dark, it just will not rain. That can be counted on! In the rainy season, if it clouds up, it will rain. In the summer you are likely to experience that dusty, scorching wind from the south. These are givens that the average person knows and understands. As Jesus said, these are signs that can be read. So, are you puzzled with the way Jesus portrays himself in today’s gospel lesson? Most of us

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 7/31 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text is Luke 12:13-21 Our society encourages us to succeed. From the time we are children, we are taught that if we work hard and do our very best we will be rewarded. Having plenty of money, a nice house, lots of vacations and a good retirement is what we are told to strive for. Some would consider such success a sign of God’s blessing of our efforts.    That theology was even more prominent in Jesus’ time. From that perspective, the rich landowner was a success. In fact, he was so successful that his current storage facilities were too small. Today's gospel passage is bracketed by two equally powerful, yet opposite drives--greed and being rich toward God. When Ray and I moved from Rhode Island to Gettysburg for seminary, we left many things in storage in Rhode Island. We felt we could do without them for four years and we did. Whenever we visited Rhode Island and drove by the s