Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 2/11/18 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text is Mark 9:2-9 . The other night, Ray and I were watching the old tv show, “The Twilight Zone” on Netflix. The story was about a man from the 1800s, Wild West, who was suddenly transported to 20th century, downtown Manhattan. At night, he was surrounded by cars with horns blaring, buses, bright neon lights flashing and so on. It was more than he could stand and he nearly went out of his mind. What if the scene were reversed? What if someone from our time found him or herself as a witness of Jesus’ transfiguration? We can explain so much in our world—from volcanoes to northern lights to germs and disease transmission. What do we do when we are confronted with something so amazing, otherworldly and unexplainable? Three of the disciples went with Jesus to a high mountain. This tips us off that something big is going to happen. Throughout scripture important revelations happen on mountains

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 1/28 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Mark 1:21-28 So far in Epiphany, Jesus has been revealed as the King of the Jews, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Messiah, a preacher and one who calls disciples. Today we have learned that he’s a teacher and exorcist and we hear a new title, the Holy One of God. Today’s gospel takes place in Capernaum, Jesus’ base of operations. Although Nazareth was his hometown, Capernaum was his base. On the screen, you see ruins of a synagogue in Capernaum from the 4th or 5th century, A. D. It is built on the foundations of a 1st-century synagogue, likely the one from today’s gospel. It is one of the few places today in the Holy Land where you can be where Jesus had actually walked. Capernaum was also where Peter was from and there are ruins of his house there as well. Now we need to change gears to have a better understanding of this story. Let’s talk about food! How do we eat sandw

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 2/21/18. The text was Mark 1:14-20 .                                                      Ok, I know I’m not the only one who thinks there’s something fishy about today’s gospel. Are we to really believe that these four prospective disciples would instantly drop everything and follow Jesus—and do this at night, since that’s when fishing took place to get the fish to market while they were fresh.   Jesus came to Galilee with the message, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near” (v. 15). This does not refer to the regular tick-rock, minutes and seconds kind of time, but God’s time—the opportune, royal time of God’s action and activity. God is getting involved. The kingdom of God language evoked Israelite memory of a time of political independence. God’s rule would usher in an age of justice and peace according to the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 52:7). According to Mark, this kingdom is “of

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches on Sunday, Jan. 14. The text is John 1:43-51 . There is a cycle of discipleship that causes the church to grow: First is Jesus’ invitation to follow him, followed by the invitation to come and see. Then we are told what we will see, which is akin to receiving teaching and growing in faith. When this cycle is perpetuated and reproduced over and over in the lives of Christ’s followers, the church grows. This may sound a little crass, but it’s like the message on a bottle of shampoo: lather, rinse, repeat. In today’s gospel reading we see the lather, rinse, repeat of discipleship. First, we have Jesus’ invitation to follow him. Jesus found Philip. Philip didn’t search high and low for Jesus. We cannot find Jesus. He isn’t lost, for one thing. Jesus finds us. After finding Philip, Jesus says, “Follow me.” That’s good enough for Philip. “What is not obvious is the mysterious, inward, hidden work of God i