Everyone Sins... So Who Cares?

Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15 and Luke 7:36-50

This week we have two very different texts from our Old Testament and New Testament. On the one hand, we have the story of David and Bathsheba and God’s anger at the sinful actions of David. On the other, we have a much more loving view of God that forgives. However, I think we need both stories in order to get the fuller picture of what is going on.

In case you don’t remember the whole story of David and Bathsheba – essentially, it went like this. David was roaming his palace – being a pretty poor military leader actually. He was at home living it up while his men were out fighting and dying in battle. It’s late afternoon, and he goes out on the roof of his home, which was naturally higher than any other house in all of Judah – and he spies a woman taking a bath. Deciding he must have this woman, he summons her, sleeps with her, and gets her pregnant. His private little escapade is now about to become extremely public.

Lord of Compassion

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:17-24 & Luke 7:11-17

I have to admit – I don’t honestly know how I would react if I were at a funeral, and the deceased suddenly rose up from his or her coffin and started talking. A miracle – yes. Frightening? Oh yeah. I imagine when Jesus raised this young man from the dead, there were probably a few people who screamed, probably fainted – and it’s something of another miracle that someone didn’t have a heart attack that Jesus would have needed to heal as well.

We read these stories sometimes with the eyes of familiarity – yeah, okay, so Jesus walks in, raises the dead, and moves on. I think we’ve removed the shocking nature of this resurrection story. Someone who is dead is now alive. I just want you to picture it for a moment. You’re here in First Lutheran, attending funeral of someone you love and care about. Suddenly, some stranger walks, orders that person to get up – and… they DO! They sit up and just – start talking.

Three in One: The Mystery of the Trinity

Scripture: John 16:12-15

There are two things in the Christian faith that are the most difficult concepts to wrap your mind around. 

The first is eternity – the mere idea of eternity is something that boggles our mind. We have no concept of it, we cannot grasp it – because for our reality – there is always a beginning, and always a middle, and always an ending. But not so with eternity. Yet – the idea of eternal community with God is the cornerstone of the hope we have in Christ. Even though we can scarcely comprehend it.

The second concept that we seem unable to comprehend is the trinity. Seems only fitting that an eternal God would Himself be just as incomprehensible as his longevity. This idea of “three in one.” 

Now before you yawn and go to sleep – I’m not going to attempt to shove all kinds of Trinitarian doctrines down your throat that will probably fall flat – or try to come up with an analogy that will ultimately wind up being a heresy because it can never accurately demonstrate or illustrate the true nature of the trinity – I’m simply going to talk about the trinity in terms of how we experience God, of how God has revealed Himself to us – as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Where Are We Headed?

Scriptures: John 14:23-29; Acts 16:9-5; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

We Christians tend to live in difficult times. We aren’t part of that early church movement that got to experience the ministry of Jesus, like in our John text, or even experience the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and how it moved and shaped the early church like it does in our Acts text. Nor are we at the end, seeing the glorious Holy City where God and Christ dwell among us fully and completely – God’s presence in our lives being a tangible reality.

No, instead, we are – somewhere in between. The church has been well-established for over 2000 years. The vision of Revelation 21 and 22 is something that is yet to come.

Triumph or Tragedy?

Palm Sunday 
Scripture: Luke 19:28-44

Well, this Sunday, the lectionary wanted me to preach on the last supper and the crucifixion of Jesus – but I felt that was getting ahead of ourselves a bit. That to jump to Good Friday the Sunday before would miss the point and impact of Holy Week. We call it Holy Week because there are seven days between now and next Sunday – and there is a lot that happens in these seven days. Today is the start – as we remember Palm Sunday, and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

The Hometown Prophet

This sermon was first preached January 23/24, 2010 at First Lutheran Church in Kearney, NE.

Scripture: Luke 4:14-30

So how many of you have ever asked, or been asked, the question, “So what’s your favorite scripture passage?” Most of us have some passage that always sticks out to us, something that we always remember – even if it’s one of those “oldies but goodies” like Psalm 23, or John 3:16… I’m a bit of an odd-duck, my favorite passage is from Exodus 33, when God gets irritated with the Israelites and tells Moses: “Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

Seems like an odd verse to like, I know – especially to have it be one of your favorites… but I like it because it reminds me that when I get annoyed with people, it’s okay to sometimes be annoyed. Even God got annoyed with the people he loved.

When Bad Things Happen

Scripture: Luke 13:1-9

Shakespeare may have thought “To be or not to be” was the question that preoccupied humanity – certainly was what preoccupied Hamlet, but I’d argue that “Why do bad things happen to good people” is right up there with questions that weigh heavily on our mind.

When people ask me that question, Luke 13 is exactly where I go. In this passage we see that the disciples were keenly aware of both the evils perpetuated by humanity – such as Pilate mingling the blood of a group of Galileean pilgrims with his pagan sacrifices, as well as the random acts of nature, like the tower of Siloam that fell and killed eighteen hapless Jews.

The disciples ask the question: Why do these things happen? What have they done to deserve that?