Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I'll be preaching tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In service. The gospel text is Matthew 10:40-42 . We have a reputation as a welcoming church and so we are. However, in these days of Coronavirus, we have to welcome differently. We cannot hug or shake hands with those with whom we do not live. We need to maintain a physical distance of 6 feet from others. As we wear masks, people cannot see if we are smiling or frowning. So, this leaves us in a quandary. How are we to be welcoming in these days, when physically distancing ourselves from others may be the most welcoming, loving thing we can do? Right out of the box, the basic theme of today’s gospel is obvious—welcome. Before these verses, Jesus was preparing his followers for what they may experience as they were sent out into the world; persecution. Here things have been flipped a bit with the emphasis more on the benefit to those welcoming the evangelists instead of what the sent ma

Here are some thoughts on Sunday's gospel. This was sent out to the people of S t. Timothy Lutheran Church, Bemus Point, NY. Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42 [Jesus said to the twelve:] 40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” Yesterday, when Ray and I were reading from 30-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer , the book we’re reading for our Adult Study session, I came across these words that hit me like a ton of bricks. See what they say to you regarding this gospel passage. “The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from everyday Christian life

This is the sermon I preached today, 6/2120 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Service. If you would like to see the video of the sermon, it is here. The gospel text is Matthew 10:24-39.  Have no fear, little flock; have no fear, little flock, For the Father has chosen to give you the kingdom; Have no fear little flock (ELW 764). YouTube link Jesus says, “have no fear of them.” Who are the “them?” They are the religious leaders of the time that accused Jesus of healing and performing miracles by the power of the devil. They were the ones who persecuted Jesus and arranged for his crucifixion. Jesus is saying, “If they do this to me, they’ll do it to you.” At the time, the disciples didn’t really get what the future would hold. Do any of us? A year ago, could we have imagined months of quarantine or shortages of household supplies like toilet paper? Could we have imagined race riots like we had in the 1960s? “Have no fear of them.” Jesus is preparing h

Here are some thoughts on tomorrow's gospel. What are your thoughts? Gospel: Matthew 10:24-39 [Jesus said to the twelve:] 24 “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!   26 “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.   32

This is the sermon I'll be preaching at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Service (hence the reference to horn beeping) on Sunday. The text is Romans 5:1-8. How are you all doing? If you’re doing well, beep your horn. If you’re struggling a bit, beep your horn. Do you find that you fluctuate between doing well and feeling overwhelmed? Some people find themselves breaking down and suddenly crying. We are under a lot of pressure. Not only are we dealing with the Coronavirus, which has gone on much longer than any of us thought it would, but we have come face to face with protests about our own racism. That is not easy to handle. Maybe we never thought of ourselves as racist. Maybe some of us aren’t. Maybe some of us find the whole Black Lives Matter and the mere thought of being accused of racism offensive. But I think deep in our hearts, we have all been infected by this sin which is every bit as rampant and debilitating as the Coronavirus. In the midst of all of thi