Everyday Lutherans

Once again, we hear a gospel lesson that contains John the Baptist. One of the reasons that we talk about John the Baptist so much within this season to help us bear witness to the way God was preparing the people and the world for the arrival of His Son. Yes, there was a star in the sky, the heavenly hosts, and the angels who told individuals and small groups but John the Baptist was the first human person who prepared the way for Jesus to truly make an impact in this world. Not only that but Jesus himself seemed to take the message that John was sharing and used it to help people know and understand that they were sent from God. This really got me thinking about the people who have influenced and impacted my own life, my own spiritual journey. The people who allowed me to hear the message of God, offer me space to learn and grow and then truly realize how God was calling me today. As I look back on my own life, I realized that it was not just one person. I had my parents, my gr...

(Holding up cell phone). How many of you have a love or hate relationship with device? For those of you who love it, you love the convience that in this one device are all of your contacts, your calendar of what you need to do, you have so many forms of communication with friends and family. Others of you, struggle with the reality that you are always able to be reached by anyone and everyone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you can never seem to escape this reality. Now how would you feel if this was destroyed? Some might feel pretty good and others of you, the world as you know would come crashing down around you. However, do you remember what life was like before these devices were in our life? Do you remember the conversations that people had? These devices are going to destroy communication as we know, people will not have to remember people’s phone numbers, you will always be at work, and families will never have time to spend with one another. Or the other side, this ...

Today our gospel is short and to the point. Have no fear, our sermon is not because we have a lot to talk about. In those few words are a message that we need to hear every single day. A message that we long to hear and to know to be true. A message that we know but not one that we live out. For the vast majority of us, we feel like John in this world. We are given a task, a purpose, a job that defines us. Something that would give us a name. Yet there comes a day in our work in which we question, should we still be doing this work. That someone comes along who is far more skilled, someone who delivers the same product but in a better way, and a person who we know, we are supposed to pass the torch so that the ministry of God may continue to a new people and have new life. For many of us, this is where we feel stuck. Perhaps not knowing where that person will be, do we feel that the person is not yet ready to take over the work, or we are reluctant to let the work that has defined...

John 1:1-15 Today as we gather together, many of us are focused on the new year. The new resolutions, the new hope, and the new opportunities. Yet when we are thinking about our resolutions, many of us are focused on our failures of the past year.  And some of our resolutions, we have been working on for several years. Yes, being healthy and eating healthy is at the top of most people’s lists. Yet when we think about our resolutions, we only think about our lives in the past year. Yet how far back should we go? How far back should we go to know how we should grow but also understand how Christ is calling us to live in the new year.  In this new year, we are starting with the Gospel of John, and it begins with the Creation story.  Yes all the way back at the beginning in Creation, we hear that Jesus Christ was there with us and for us.  Within our Gospel, we hear a profound word about what God has done in the world. “The law was given through Moses, but grac...

Merry Christmas!  Tonight we gather together and some of you willingly came to church to be united in prayer, song, and to worship God.  Our focus is on a special song about the first Christmas. Tonight we are celebrating Silent Night. Yes, that song that we will sing at the very end of the service.  The one that we light candles to and the one that we all cherish. It would have been nice if Jesus had heard it when he was here on earth. However, Silent Night was first performed in Ardenorfs in Austria.  It was Christmas Eve in 1818. Yes, 201 years ago, Father Joseph Mohr, a catholic priest, was getting ready for the biggest night of the year only to discover that the organ was not working.  Now keep in mind it was very similar to our own experience. Families brought their extended families together to fill the pews and everyone in the community would be present for the worship service.   Without an organ to sing the songs, Father Joseph got ...

Today, we are here for the last Sunday of Advent.  It is finally coming closer and closer, the day that we have been longing for and preparing for.  The day that has been inspiring our actions and mindsets for the past month or longer. It is no wonder then that we are gathered together today to celebrate with great joy and great anticipation for the arrival of Christ.   For many of us, we are still worried about the to-do list that has been on our mind for the past month.  Does everyone have a gift under the tree? Is everyone going to be there for the family meal? Will there be enough food? (Or will this be the first year that we will not have three days of leftovers, ok unless you have teenagers). Our minds may still be focused on this.  Which is why in the midst of Advent, we are called week after week to focus.   Now we have gone on this journey of finding hope, discovering the secret of peace in our lives, and then understanding a lo...

Just last week we talked about peace and how distant it feels for us.  I shared with you the very secret to obtaining peace in your life and in the world around us. That entering into a time of Confession and Forgiveness opens our hearts, minds, and lives to the possibility of what God is calling for you to be apart of.  However today, I want to share with you the very gift that we are lacking in this world. The very reason why we as a people do take that gift of Hope and Peace into our lives and freely give it to those who are around us. That gift is Love.  Yes, the very gift that we talk about, the word that so many children’s stories talk about, the very word that we long to hear from a special person and the very word that we idealize but one that we are also afraid of.  Let me share more of what I am talking about.    In David Redding’s latest book, The Golden String, he tells of being raised on a farm and developing a beautiful relations...

As we continue in this season of Advent, we come to this Sunday longing for peace.  Our hope turns to peace. What has changed for you this week, that last week we were so worried about, that everything in our heart and mind was consumed, something that kept us up at night so that all of our time and energy may have been focused upon that?  Yet, now do we even remember what it is that consumed our thoughts from this past week? This past year? If only it were that simple, to have peace.   In our lives, an event, a person, or a fear will keep us up and we are left wondering when shall our hope for calm, for justice, and for safety or security actually come to us?  What would be the event that would distract us, that would solve our issues or even better cause us to not have to worry again. What is it that will get you and all of humanity to realize that Peace is possible? Now I realize that this sounds crazy.  I mean we have been fighting for thousa...

Today is Christ the King Sunday, we are reminded of the glory and honor that is bestowed upon Jesus Christ by His Heavenly Father.   Here in the United States, we do not truly think about a King.  In fact, our very beginning was in opposition to having a king telling us what to do and how we should do it.  We wanted people whom we could hold accountable to determine how we shall be as a society. Even that was over two hundred years ago.  So our ideas and concepts of Kings are old. Our ideas come from movies or fairy tales and they are vastly distorted through the lens of time.  We think of Kings like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. We think of Lord of the Rings. We think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.   Yet, the reality of the success of the kingdoms of this world is vastly different than the success that we experience and know through Jesus Christ.  When we think of the success and honor given to earthly kingdo...

Our Gospel lesson today can serve as a warning, but on that, we must hear through the ears of the people who heard it.  So let us go back to first-century Jerusalem, Jesus is speaking about the end times and especially the destruction of the Temple.  Now imagine for one moment that you are standing in the church, the place where you come to encounter God within the world, the place where you find comfort and peace.  A place where things can actually make sense in the world or at least, you know that God is in control here.   So I want you to think for a moment, Jesus, the savior of the world begins talking about the destruction of this place.  That not even one stone shall remain upon one another. For many of the people who heard it, were afraid. They knew that the temple had been destroyed by a foreign army and the people were taken out of their homeland to become homeless and without a homeland.  They knew this was part of their history and if ...

The Sadducees come forth and present a case before Jesus.  A case that seems highly far fetched and out there. Of the seven brothers, who would be married to the woman on the day of the Lord’s return?  Yes, a student is trying to catch the teacher within a logical trap yet ultimately they are the ones who look the fool.  We should discuss who were the Sadducees.  Why they would be asking Jesus about the resurrection.  The Sadducees were made up of very wealthy and very educated people.  They were a strong minority within the time of Jesus because of their wealth.  They were leaders within the community and were willing to do anything so that they could maintain their wealth and power within this world.  Because of this, they did not like being told that they were wrong. They were a group of people who did not believe in the resurrection. They did not believe that there was any life after you lived your life here in this world. It was here i...

Today is All Saints Sunday, we can enter into this place and feel a little letdown.  We are reminded of the moments and time that we shared with friends, families and loved ones.  People who meant so much to us on this journey of life and faith together. We have many of the same feelings that we did on the day of the funeral.  We come back here to a feeling of loss but also today, we celebrate the moments that they brought us to laughter, the lessons that they gave to us that we still live out, and truly are reminded more fully of how we still honor them even today.   There is an ancient song that says, “You don’t know what you got, till it’s gone…” Oh, that feeling of longing rings more true as we reflect and long for that person to be back in our lives.  How we could share one more hug, one more meal, one more day of joy in their presence. However, we do not remain in despair. Our loved ones would not want us to remain in mourning or loss, they wou...

All Saints Sunday is coming up this week.  People around the world are stopping to honor the Saints who have gone before us.  It is on this Sunday that the church has set apart to be reminded that the church is made up of the people throughout time.  It is a reminder that each and every one of our journey of life and faith has an impact on others not only in our life but for generations to come.  However, in that same moment, if we do not learn and grow into that faith, it can only take one generation to fall away from the church.   For each and every one of us, we have someone in your life tell you that faith was important.  Perhaps that person sat down with you over the course of years to remind you over and over again, the meaning of God in your life, the depth of God’s love, and the unending grace that comes from God.  Or perhaps you merely had someone who gave you the line, “You are going!” Whatever the situation you have had, I want you...

Our gospel lesson today reminds us of how quickly and easily we can be led astray and forget our reason and purpose as a church and as a people of God in this community.  Jesus confronts the Jewish people and at that moment, they confess that their generation has never been slaves to anyone but they show that they have forgotten that for over four hundred years, their ancestors suffered as slaves and their lessons should still be learned and passed on from generation to generation.  Yet like the crowd gathered before Jesus, we do not always remember the small details or the harsh reality that molded and shaped the people as they are today.   Every year, we gather together to remember the calling of a monk to reform the church. A church that was so focused on growing power, influence, and wealth, instead of bringing forth God’s Word to the world.  Now, this is a very simple generalization of what truly happens however if we think back on history, this is exa...

Today’s sermon is going to be a little different.  Oh, do not fear, there will be some law, some gospel, and all the good stuff from Jesus. Today, I would also like to share with you some of the ministries and happenings your sister congregation at Grace is doing and we would also invite you to pray for us.   So let’s start with the most important, today’s gospel.  Today’s gospel gives us insights into a situation in which we ourselves could encounter and that we can learn volumes from.  We encounter a woman who feels that justice is not being served to her and is willing to go to great lengths in order to continue to pursue that justice.  The other is a person who is so focused on themselves, a person that has risen to great status and achieved a lot but their motivation in doing so does not care about God or other people. Thinking about these people, there are times in our own lives that we ourselves probably encounter a person just like these people....