Category: Sermons

Water, Blood and Spirit

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Biblical Text: Mark 1:4-11

The text for the Sunday after Epiphany is almost always the Baptism of Jesus. This episode in the bible has always caused me some wonder. It doesn’t immediately make sense for me. And there are multiple ways that I credit things in the Bible as making sense. There is always just historical sense. I have no problem that Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. But the bare historical is always the least. What is the theological import, and why was it done this way? You might call these things poetical sense. Things in the bible make poetical sense. Or at least to me they usually do. It had to be that way because that is the only way the story makes sense. That is the only way it rhymes and keeps meter. But the Baptism of Jesus doesn’t immediately strike me that way. And being a pastor, especially a Lutheran pastor, where Baptism is such an important thing, understanding this episode felt necessary. This sermon is my attempt to wrestle with why this baptism is important.

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Epiphany Journey

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Sometimes in the study you get caught on some paths that might not make complete sense. For Epiphany I was thinking in terms of Jew and Gentile. I had heard someone call the Epiphany “Gentile Christmas” and it got me thinking exactly what was meant by that. And it got me thinking about the classic question “What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?” This is a meditation about how both cities find their place in Christ. And how in the journey of the Magi, you see both reason and revelation at work to bring about praise.

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Consolation and Redemption

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Biblical Text: Luke 2:22-40

This is an attempt at a New Year’s sermon. I admit upfront that I failed to create the sense that I wanted for New Year’s Eve that I wanted to. The texts of the day just wouldn’t allow it. I’m not sure if I combed through the bible I could find exactly that text. But I don’t think what I ended up with is bad. The text is really about Simeon and Anna and that is what the focus in on – and primarily the differences in Luke’s pairing of these two. Simeon is waiting for consolation; Anna is looking for redemption. Consolation and Redemption you could say are both modes of justification, the gift of God, but they are quite different. Consolation might be more appropriate for New Year’s, but that is me. This sermon explores these and how they are fulfilled in the Christ child.

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The Perfect Gift (Christmas Day)

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Biblical Text: Hebrews 1:1-12

With three sermons in 24 hours sometimes you pick a different text. That is what I did here. The Author of Hebrews explaining why we have the perfect gift in the Son.

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Hope and Realization (Christmas Eve)

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Biblical Text: Luke 2:1-7

The service is lessons and carols, so there are a multiplicity of texts. The real text is the Day – Christmas Eve – and the entire biblical story. This sermon is a reflection upon the dance between Hope and Realization. We really want the realization, but God likes Hope. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of realization, but not completed. And until it is complete, we live in Hope and Faith.

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New Creations (Advent 4)

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Biblical Text: Luke 1:26-38

Christmas on a Monday creates a blizzard of sermons. This is Christmas Eve Morning with is still technically Advent 4. It is pondering of the New Creation, that new creation which is Christ, incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. And how that new creation is also the fulfillment of the promise to David. That’s the doctrine. The Angel’s announcement to Mary has the doctrine. It also has a direction toward Elizabeth who is someone to share it with. Mary has the doctrine, Mary has a community that shares it, and the response the Mary gives is that of faith. Mary in this is our pattern. We receive the proclamation even if we might not understand it – the doctrine. We are made part of the family – the church. And what is asked is faith.

Witnesses to the Light

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Biblical Text: John 1:6-8, 19-28

It is interesting to me how different John the Baptist is in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) from the Gospel of John. Not impossible to reconcile, especially when you consider the reasons for the Synoptic portrayal, but the evangelist John has a much different purpose. The Baptist is not so much the last Old Testament prophet as a Christian pattern. To the evangelist the Baptists is not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor The Prophet. He is simply a witness to the light that all might believe. Which is not so different from the Christian calling – to be a witness to the light.

And it is in that witness that the Christian finds their authority. The authority to make straight the paths. Discerning what that means in any issue is not easy, but like John, if you have people asking you “who do you think you are?” You have an answer. I am a witness.

Personal note: Most sermons you have a vague idea how they might be received. It is the sermons that you are attempting to say something a little deeper that you don’t know. Sometimes you love it, but it was too personal and just confuses people. Sometimes you don’t like it (but the clock has run out) and people like it much better than you expect. Sometimes you divide congregations. This is one that I felt right giving. It is also one where the audio contains a couple extra lines in the moment that I think made it better.

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Mary’s Song

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Biblical Text: Luke 1:46-55

This was our 2nd midweek advent. We took up the 2nd song in Luke 1 – Mary’s Song. Often called the Magnificat, which is simply the Latin for magnify. And that is the word that this meditation picks up and plays with. What exactly does it mean for a soul to magnify the Lord? And why would anyone do that?

(Note: Sorry about the recording, I don’t have one right now. All the copies left the building before I could grab one. When one comes back I’ll rip it.)

Her Warfare is Over

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Biblical Text: Isaiah 40:1-11

The jump from Isaiah 39 to Isaiah 40 is one of the big discontinuities of the Bible. With Hezekiah’s cynicism Isaiah turns to a far future generation. That got me thinking this week about some of my mystery verses. What I mean by that is verses that make simple sense, but that simple sense doesn’t make theological sense. At least not easy theological sense. This sermon is an attempt, through John the Baptist promised by Isaiah, to understand what might be called generational sin. When the weight of sin long neglected catches up with us, what do we do?

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Zechariah’s Song

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Biblical Text: Luke 1:57-79

It is a short Advent Midweek season. Made shorter by our choosing to go caroling on a hay ride for Advent 3. So just a two sermon series. Which makes it perfect to meditate on the songs in Luke 1: Zechariah’s Song and Mary’s Song. This evening was Zechariah’s which is a nice summary of the old testament promises and how they are fulfilled in our hearing.

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