Words of Welcome

    Acts 1:3-14 The season of Eastertide invites us to reflect on the ways Jesus revealed himself alive to his disciples. According to the Book of Acts, Jesus ended his time on earth after spending forty days with his followers, speaking about the kingdom of God. On the fortieth day, Jesus gathered one more time with his followers. Before he departed, he gave his followers final instructions.   The key verse in our reading this morning is found in verse eight, where Jesus gave the disciples their marching orders. He told them: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This verse serves as an outline to the Book of Acts, because things start getting interesting on the day of Pentecost. It was on that day, as the believers gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, that the Holy Spirit descended on them, em...

Romans 8:14-17 It is written that on the Day of Pentecost, the streets of Jerusalem were filled with pilgrims celebrating one of Judaism’s most important festivals. At the same time, one hundred and fifty of Jesus’ closest followers gathered for prayer in an upper room in that very same city. This gathering took place just ten days after Jesus departed from his disciples. At that time, Jesus commissioned his disciples to take the gospel message to the ends of the earth. However, they would need to wait until the Holy Spirit came upon them ( Acts 1:8 ). This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit swept through the upper room like a mighty wind and rested on each of them like a flame of fire. Then the Spirit empowered them to preach the Gospel in the diverse languages of the people gathered in Jerusalem ( Acts 2 ). With the coming of the Spirit, the church’s missional calling went into action.  This morning, I decided to set aside the reading from Acts...

  “ My Lord and My God!” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2018 John 20:19-31 On Easter Sunday, we proclaim that Christ the Lord has risen from the dead. In the Gospel of John, Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene and then sends her to share the good news with the rest of the community that he had risen from the dead. So ends part one of the story (John 20:1-18 ). And, as Paul Harvey used to say, now for the rest of the story. In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, it’s Easter evening, and Jesus’ followers are hiding out behind closed doors, even though Mary had shared with them the news of the resurrection. John tells us that they were afraid of the authorities. Besides, even though they knew that the tomb was empty and they had Mary’s report, it appears they needed more proof that Jesus was truly alive.  All of a sudden, Jesus appeared in their midst. Can you imagine what they were thinking at that moment? What would you have been thinking? After all, they locked the...

  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’...

Acts 10:44-48 We tend to live in silos where everyone looks like us, thinks like us, and believes like us. It’s a comfortable existence, but there’s little chance we’ll grow spiritually or intellectually. If this is true, then perhaps we need a nudge from the Holy Spirit to get out of our relationship ruts. Although Pentecost Sunday is two weeks from now, this morning we’ve heard a word from the Book of Acts reminding us that the Holy Spirit is the central actor in Luke’s second volume. The Book of Acts opens with the story of Jesus’ ascension. Before he departs, he commissions his followers to be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” However, he tells them to wait until the Holy Spirit comes to empower them before they head out into the world.  The first step in fulfilling this promise took place on the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit fell on the disciples who were huddled in the upper room, empowering them to proclaim the go...

  Revelation 1:1-8 The Easter baskets and candy quickly went on sale this past Monday morning if not before so the stores can get ready for the next big holiday. Though the stores prepare for Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, the season of Easter is still with us. Eastertide reminds us that Jesus spent time with his followers after his resurrection, encouraging them for the journey ahead. Besides, in the Eastern Churches, today is Easter Sunday, what they call Pascha.   This morning’s reading from the Gospel of John takes us to a locked room somewhere in Jerusalem on the evening of Jesus’ resurrection. While Jesus’ followers listened to Mary Magdalene once again give her account of meeting Jesus in the Garden, Jesus himself appears in their midst. When he appeared, he showed them his hands and feet, and his pierced side. Then as his followers rejoiced at seeing him alive, he commissioned them. He told them “as the Father has sent me, so I send you. Then he breathed on th...

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 John the Baptist stood in the Jordan River preaching a message of repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins. When people asked if he was the Messiah, he told the people that while he baptized with water, another person was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire ( Lk 3:1-17 ). Last Sunday, when we reaffirmed our baptismal vows, we reaffirmed the promise that in our baptisms we have been sealed with this same Holy Spirit John spoke of. Yes, Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. This Sunday we build on that message by turning to Paul’s discussion of spiritual things. Here in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul tells the believers in Corinth that he does want them to be ignorant when it comes to spiritual things.   Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church reveal something interesting. They are a very dysfunctional congregation, which means dysfunctional churches have been around since the very beginning of the Christian...

  Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 In the movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, three convicts break free from a chain gang and head off on a journey. Everett, Pete, and Delmar have many interesting encounters and adventures that mirror Homer’s story of Odysseus. Along the way, the trio comes upon a group of people lining up to be baptized in a river.    When Delmar hears the people singing Down to the River to Pray he runs down to the river and jumps to the front of the line so he can be baptized by the preacher without delay. When he rises from the baptismal waters, he believes that he is now a changed man. The old Delmar had been buried with Jesus in the waters of baptism and as he rose with Jesus he was a new creation ( Rom. 6:1-4 ). Filled with joy, he shared the good news with his companions:  Well that's it boys, I been redeemed! The preacher warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight-and-narrow from here on out and heaven everlasting's my reward! A...