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Sermons
Up one levelA Sermon on the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:1–4)
It has probably not struck you that in one way it’s odd to be discussing the Lord’s Prayer on Good Shepherd Sunday. Although once we better understand this prayer, and are then also brought thereby into that intimate relationship which Jesus shared with his Father, it may be argued that the Lord’s Prayer is a very special way by which our Good Shepherd cares for the people of his pasture. However, I would point out the basic dissimilarity between today’s Gospel text from John 10, in which Jesus portrays himself to one and all as the Good Shepherd, and my text from Luke 11 where, in an intimate teaching moment, Jesus shares with his primary disciples his personal way of praying. Or to put this dissimilarity into focus, we must understand that the Lord’s Prayer is not like the Beatitudes which Jesus gave to the multitudes in his Sermon on the Mount. They were offered general wisdom, suitable for application by any friend or alien. The Lord’s Prayer, on the other hand, was rather Jesus’ private piety shared with those followers who were living in a dedicated relationship with him...
Learn From the Lilies: A Sermon on Mark 8:34
Jesus tells us in Mark 8:34 to deny ourselves. But what does that amount to? Are we, for instance, to deny all medical care, education, friendship, job training, food, and housing? Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), that keen Lutheran author, measures and weighs this self-denial or self-hatred in, Works of Love (1847). In that book he does this by warning against five of its abuses...
A Sermon on Habakkuk and Luke 18 for the World Day of Prayer
It is very easy to lose heart. If we take an honest look at what happens in our world today—what has been happening for a long time now, for time out of mind—it is very easy to lose heart, and despair...
A Sermon on Mark 2:1-12
Ever since I posted a reflection here on the story of the paralytic's friends breaking into Jesus' house, the pericope has continued to occupy my mind and imagination. Recently I had a chance to preach in an ecumenical setting, and a whole new aspect of the story's meaning began to emerge for me. Here's the sermon...
The Loneliness of Ministry and the Companionship of Christ: A Sermon
In 2007, Mother Teresa’s private writings were released in a book called Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the “Saint of Calcutta.” It is a remarkable collection of thoughts that come from a remarkable woman. For some, however, they were strange and alien. They didn’t produce any striking accounts of God’s presence or special visitations in her life. Instead, they spoke about loneliness, alienation, a sense of abandonment, a sense of not finding God. We live in a world that is shaped by experience. Contemporary Christianity appears plagued with concepts of emotional highs, deep intimate experiences of Christ, joy, hope, fulfilment, purpose, and meaning...
Stand Firm: A Sermon on II Thessalonians 2:15
St. Paul worries about us losing our faith and so he calls us to “stand firm” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). He worries because we are so careless about all of this. So he further says: “Let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12)! Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), whom we remember before God – as we have in November here since 1980 for his abiding and profound witness to the Savior Christ Jesus – he also knew about this threat to our faith...
Jesus’ Ascension: The Puzzle of an Elusive Savior
As Christians we testify that Jesus’ story doesn’t end with his death. But it also doesn’t culminate with his resurrection. If it did, Jesus might be walking among us today in his risen state, paying each of us random visitations as he did the disciples: suddenly coming through the walls to join us at dinner or popping up alongside us when we’re out for a walk. No, the risen Jesus disappeared. His glorified body is something we are no longer able to behold, at least here and now. So what’s the point of his rising at all—besides to show that death is not the last word? Wouldn’t Christian testimonies be more persuasive if the resurrected body of Jesus had continued to journey among humankind these past two thousand years? Wouldn’t Jesus have changed the world far more if he’d remained among us as a walking living breathing deathless wonder?...
Following Jesus to Samaria
Delivered on August 26, 2010 at the "New Directions for Lutheranism" Conference (TEXT: JOHN 4:27-42)
Berthold von Schenk's Kindgom Plan - "Majors and Minors"
Berthold von Schenk's Kingdom Plan - A Sermon Series on "Giving" Sermon 6: "Majors and Minors"
Berthold von Schenk's Kindgom Plan - "The Offering"
Berthold von Schenk's Kingdom Plan - A Sermon Series on "Giving" Sermon 5: "The Offering"
Berthold von Schenk's Kindgom Plan - "A Wonderful Law Which is a Way of Life"
Berthold von Schenk's Kingdom Plan - A Sermon Series on "Giving" Sermon 4: "A Wonderful Law Which is a Way of Life"
Berthold von Schenk's Kindgom Plan - "Money and Dues"
Berthold von Schenk's Kingdom Plan - A Sermon Series on "Giving" Sermon 3: "The Attitude Toward Giving"
Berthold von Schenk's Kindgom Plan - "Money and Dues"
Berthold von Schenk's Kingdom Plan - A Sermon Series on "Giving" Sermon 2: "Money and Dues"
Berthold von Schenk's Kindgom Plan - A Sermon Series on "Giving'
The Rev. Dr. Berthold von Schenk is probably most famous in Lutheran circles for being one of the key catalysts for liturgical renewal among 20th century American Lutherans. But if you were to ask him, what his greatest legacy was as a parish pastor, he would likely reply that it was his “Kingdom Plan.” The Kingdom Plan was based on this simple rule: every parish must be the Church. Word and Sacrament were to be the content of every official meeting of the congregation... To address the topic of tithing and its role within his Kingdom Plan von Schenk preached a 6-part sermon series on offering and giving. Over the next six Wednesdays, Lutheranforum.org will be reprinting each of von Schenk’s Kingdom Plan sermons. Though the illustrations are at times a bit dated, nevertheless his approach to the dreaded topic of “stewardship” remains valuable...
Leaven in the Lump: A Sermon
In the refrigerator of my childhood lived a jar. A big Mason jar with a screw-top lid not fastened down all the way. Inside the jar lived what we called “our pet.” The pet had been living for almost forty years by the time it got to us, handed down from my great-grandmother. Each week, my mother would remove the jar from the fridge and carefully lift the lid, remove the waxed paper from under the lid, and measure out a cup of grayish-white, gloppy substance, which she would then set aside in a bowl covered by a damp kitchen towel. Back into the jar went a half-cup of flour and a half-cup of warm water. Sometimes, she would pour off a sour-smelling yellowish liquid. Sometimes, she’d stir the liquid back into the goop in the bottom of the jar. She never needed to add anything else, and frowned upon my aunts who also had a jar of the pet, but fed theirs yeast water and sugar with the flour...
Learning from Mary in Advent: A Sermon
The focus of the Fourth Sunday of Advent is on Mary. Our Gospel reading recalls the meeting of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and Mary. These were two unknown, unimportant women in their own society, but God uses them as the means to begin His work of salvation in Christ. The Gospel begins in the maternity ward. The Psalm today is Mary’s song, praising God for what He has done for her and His people. It is a subversive, revolutionary hymn, for it tells of how God overturns all our ideas about who is important and who is not, Who takes the side of the poor, the lowly, the weak, the outcast, Who fulfills His promises to His people to be their help and salvation...
Sermon for Holy Cross Day 2009
It may seem ironic or perhaps irenic, that on a day when we gather to consider the future of this church and our place within its ministry and mission, we find ourselves at the foot of the cross, in the place of suffering and in the place of death. While we would rather be anywhere else, spending our time and effort on other more productive aspects of our church life, this, brothers and sisters, is where Christ has led us. To put it bluntly, if we dare to dream or claim that we are “a Resurrection people, who pray first and walk together,” we must admit to ourselves and proclaim to the world, along with Christ, that there is no resurrection without death...
Take the Test: A Sermon on Genesis 22:16
Today we’re radicals because we’ve read Genesis 22 out loud in church on the near sacrifice of Isaac. Many Christians today are saying that these Bible verses shouldn’t be read in church because they scare children–traumatizing them with the thought that God might also ask their parents to kill them. So why have we today, blithely and a bit recklessly, waded into these deep and dangerous waters?...
Christ beyond Fear: A Sermon
Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." The peace that Jesus brings is not the sort of peace we could ever think up for ourselves, St. Paul tells us. Writing to the Philippians, Paul tells us that “the peace of God passes all understanding” but it “will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (4:7). That doesn’t sound like the peace we mean or the peace we want. It doesn’t sound like the peace that will make the fears and chaos and struggle of our lives today go away and make us solvent, safe, and secure again. How can our hearts and minds feel peace when everything around us is going to pieces?...
Sermon of Straw #16
Here we are at the end of James. Let’s take a look at what we’ve figured out about this little book so far. It’s true James doesn’t have a lot to say about Jesus. In fact, the book mentions Jesus only once! It doesn’t give us any details about his life or reminders of his crucifixion for our sins or hope based in his resurrection. That is, of course, what prompted Luther to say that James is an epistle of straw. But straw isn’t worthless; it’s actually quite good food for your livestock. You just don’t want to build a house out of it in case the big bad wolf comes around...