Words of Welcome

  Luke 13:1-9 This morning we’ve heard the prophet known as Second Isaiah invite us to “seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.”  As we seek the Lord, Isaiah calls on us to forsake wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts and return to God who will have mercy on us  ( Isa. 55:6-7 ).  This word from Second Isaiah is an appropriate one for today because the Lenten season invites us to look inward so we can discern where we fall short of God’s expectations for our lives. You might call this a time of testing that involves repentance and an offer of divine pardon. The reading from Second Isaiah goes well with the reading from the Gospel of Luke, which also speaks of sin and repentance. Here in Luke’s Gospel Jesus responds to news that Pontius Pilate had a group of Galilean pilgrims murdered who had gone to the Temple to offer sacrifices. Jesus asked the people who brought this news whether this group of Galileans were greater sinners than o...

  Gustav Dore, Jesus in the Wilderness Luke 4:1-13 The Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday, which reminds us that we begin as dust and to dust we will return. The Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent takes us into the wilderness, where Jesus undergoes a series of tests given to him by the devil. This wilderness ordeal takes place immediately after Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. According to Luke, after his baptism, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, who then led him into the wilderness. While he was in the Wilderness, Jesus fasted for forty days and nights, after which he was tempted by the devil. The forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness form the basis of our Lenten season, whether or not we join Jesus in his fast.  Over the centuries many have followed Jesus into the desert, hoping to purge themselves of spiritual distractions and sin. Desert fathers like St. Anthony went into the desert and practiced extreme forms of asceticism. According to their testimo...

  Luke 4:16-30 It is said that you can never go home again once you leave. There is a lot of truth to this adage, especially if you leave small towns and cities like the ones I grew up in and head to the big city. Most of my hometown friends who headed off to college didn’t return. While we enjoyed growing up in our hometown, college seemed to change us. Now, I don’t know if Jesus went off to college, but it appears something similar happened to him after he reached adulthood.  According to Luke’s Gospel, Jesus began his ministry at the age of thirty ( Luke 3:21-23 ). We don’t know what happened to Jesus between the age of twelve when the family returned to Nazareth after a visit to Jerusalem and the age of thirty when he began his ministry in Galilee except that he “increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine favor” ( Luke 2:52 ). People have tried to fill in the blanks with trips to India and England, or time spent with a Jewish monastic group called the Essenes. It’...

  Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Parents tend to be proud of their children, at least most of the time. We celebrate the big moments in their lives. It can be an award ceremony or a graduation. Cheryl and I would watch with amazement at Brett’s precision marching during half-time shows while playing his tenor sax. Of course, when he graduated from college, we were again tearfully proud. That’s what parents do. According to Luke, God can be a proud parent as well. Today is Baptism of Jesus Sunday, and this morning’s scripture readings speak of parental pride. In Isaiah 43, God says to Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by name, you are mine” ( Isa 43:1 ). I hear in that message a bit of parental pride, especially since a few verses later, God tells the people of Israel they are loved and precious in God’s sight. God says something similar in Luke’s version of Jesus’ baptism.   On this second Sunday of the new year, we celebrate Jesus’ baptism. Whil...

Malachi 3:1-4 I will confess that house cleaning doesn’t sit at the top of my favorite things to do in life. While I clean my bathroom, vacuum the family room rug, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor each week, I much prefer working in the yard. Nevertheless, housework has to be done, and done regularly. That’s especially true if you’re going to invite people over for the holidays. So, we dust, vacuum, mop, polish, and wash the things that need to be washed. We do this because it’s important to put our best foot forward when company comes to the house.  The season of Advent has similarities to housecleaning. The readings from Scripture call to mind the need to get ready for the coming of God’s anointed. The challenge facing us during this Advent season is that too often it gets swept aside by all the commotion attached to the holiday season. Since the Christmas shopping season now begins sometime around Halloween if not before, Advent can get lost in the shuffle. Nevertheles...

Ruth 1:1-18 You may have noticed that immigration is in the news. That’s because it’s a major political issue in this election season. Nevertheless, most of us are descendants of immigrants, whether our ancestors came in colonial days or more recently. When it comes to the Bible, there are numerous immigration stories that might speak to our situation. Consider this confession in Deuteronomy about Abraham: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.” (Deut. 26:5).  This morning we hear the story of Naomi, her husband Elimelech, and two sons, Mahlon and Chilion,  who migrated to Moab when famine hit their homeland in Israel. While the family resided in Moab, they added to their family two Moabite women who became the wives of Naomi’s sons. Unfortunately, all the men in her life died. Nevertheless, Naomi’s daughters-in-law remained loyal to her.  One ...

Mark 10:17-31 If you’re going to invest in something, how do you determine its value? It seems like everything in life has a price, and the price depends on how much we value it. So, once upon a time, Beanie Babies were the rage and people spent lots of money on them. Now, they’re pretty worthless. I have a lot of baseball cards, but I’m not sure they have much value. Maybe if I had a Mickey Mantle Rookie card in perfect condition, things would be different. Apparently, Mantle’s 1952 rookie card is worth around twelve million dollars, surpassing the 1910 Honus Wagner card, which is valued at around seven million. Why are these pieces of cardboard with a picture on them worth so much? Again, value is determined by what we’re willing to pay. Alas, I don’t have sufficient funds to invest in rare baseball cards. But, if you’ve got lots of money to spend, then why not? Everything in life has a price! Last Sunday’s reading from Mark’s Gospel spoke of divorce, while this week Mark speaks ...