Sermons

Nations shall rise against nations and kingdom against kingdom. We could certainly make a case that we are living in the end times as Jesus describes it. But many people over the centuries have all insisted that theirs was the end times, and they all have one feature in common: every one has been wrong. Elsewhere in Scripture, Jesus makes a point of telling us that we are not to speculate on when the end times will come. That is not for us to know. So what are we to do if we seem to be living in a time when nations repeatedly rise against nations and kingdom against kingdom?Continue Reading

At first glance, today’s Gospel reading sounds like a rousing sermon on stewardship. Give everything to the church! But that’s an overly simplistic reading of the Word, and one that, in truth, is squarely at odds with Jesus’ message.

You will notice that the widow is not following Jesus’ suggestion when she puts her last two coins into the Temple treasury. Jesus doesn’t advise her to part with the little that she had. “Sell all that you have” is something he advises the wealthy young ruler, enslaved by his wealth and his possessions and blind to those around him.Continue Reading

What makes a saint? How do we define the term? Typically, we think of saints as possessing qualities that elude many of us: we see them as patient and serene, forgiving and clean: in a word, flawless. Today’s reading from Isaiah promises a feast for the faithful, but much of his prophecy is far harsher and judgmental. In the previous chapter, we hear: Now the Lord is about to lay waste the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter the inhabitants. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress. The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled; for the Lord has spoken this word.  Continue Reading

Strange, isn’t it, to be talking of reformation when we gather each week in a structure of liturgical worship that has changed so little, not only in 500 years but in several thousand years. Still we gather in a tradition whose founder, Martin Luther, said that the only absolutes for worship was that the Gospel was rightly preached and the sacraments properly administered. Everything else – everything else – was adiaphora. Open to interpretation.

And come to think of it, perhaps it’s not so strange. In nearly 55 years as a congregation, St. Michael has experienced at least one significant change, becoming a part of the newly formed Evangelical Lutheran Church in America after its creation in 1988. Much more recently, the people of God at St. Michael’s have had to re-form as a congregation when the time came for a beloved pastor to step down after four years here and more than 60 years in ministry. When Pastor Pete arrived, you accustomed yourself to a particular style of worship leadership. But that changed over time as Pastor Pete’s health declined. Gradually you stepped up to provide your own worship leadership, fulfilling Luther’s ideal of the priesthood of all believers. When I arrived, you and I had to become accustomed to a very different style of leadership. But virtually all of these changes are adiaphora. That is, they are all open to interpretation without harming the central core of worship, which is the right proclamation of the Gospel and the proper administration of the sacraments. Continue Reading

The Japanese call it kitsugi. It’s a technique for mending a piece of pottery that has been broken. With this technique, the lacquer used for mending is mixed with powdered gold or silver. Once the broken pieces are lacquered together and the piece is once again fired in the kiln, the result is that the cracks and breaks are highlighted – and the object ends up more beautiful than ever.Continue Reading

Harsh words from Jesus this week, who seemingly instructs us to mutilation. If your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your hand offends you, cut it off. If your foot offends you, tear it off.

          Even if we accept that he is speaking metaphorically, what can such a call toward violence mean for us? What message does Jesus have for his followers today?Continue Reading

Even as Jesus again informs his disciples of his impending death, their discussion on the road is not of what they will do when he is gone but of who among them is the greatest. We all have different definitions of greatness, but it is safe to say that our idea of what makes a person great is different from Jesus’ ideas.Continue Reading

Nobody in this scene comes off looking good. Especially not Jesus, although the portrait of Jesus in Mark’s gospel shows a far more human figure, perhaps because this one is the earliest of all gospels, written perhaps seven years after Jesus’ death. Mark’s Jesus gets angry. He gets fed up with his disciples. And in this exchange, he is flat rude.Continue Reading

This instruction from Jesus seems so clear and so obvious that it is tempting simply to point to his statement – it is what comes out of us that defiles – and say, “Don’t say unkind things,” and sit down.Continue Reading

If at first the man’s response to Jesus’ question seems bewildering, it might be because we think we know how we would answer. Do you want to be healed? Yes, of course. But what is Jesus really asking the man at the pool – what is he asking each of us in turn?Continue Reading