Month: July 2009

Text: Mark 6:45-52
Date: Pentecost VIII (Proper 12) + 7/26/09
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

We live in a day when informality is “in” and formality is “out,” maybe more than ever. More places of business than you might think have so-called “casual Fridays” when all the employees are allowed to “dress down.” I, for one, have never believed that it is a universal genetic truth that men per se are uncomfortable in shirt-and-tie, but rather, it is a learned trait. It used to be, “back in the day,” that people would normally dress up to go to church on Sunday, but these days not only is informal dress acceptable, but even the slovenly (at least by some)! Continue reading “No Time for Informality”

Text: Mark 6:39 (6:30-44)
Date: Pentecost VII (Proper 11) + 7/19/09
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

The title for this sermon is “Symposia on Green Grass.” A “symposium” (these days) refers to a conference dedicated to the presentation of various papers or speeches and an opportunity for discussion of issues. For the past number of years, for instance, our seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana has held the annual exegetical (Biblical) symposium and a symposium on the Lutheran Confessions. The two running together, then, are referred to with the plural form of the word “symposia.” A “Symposium on Green Grass” may, at first, make you think you should expect a meeting of people interested in gardening or lawn care with presentations by True Green or Scotts fertilizer. This title is, rather, a literal quote from the Greek of today’s Gospel, St. Mark’s account of the Lord’s feeding of the 5,000 in the wilderness, v. 39 of chapter 6, where this Evangelist, and Mark alone, tells us that Jesus commanded the people to recline, quote, “symposia symposia” on the, quote, “chloro,” or “green,” “xorto.” grass. Continue reading “Symposia on Green Grass”

Text: Mark 6:14-29
Date: Pentecost VI (Proper 10) + 7/12/09
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

Remember that the overriding question of at least the first half of Mark’s Gospel is, “Who is this Jesus?” Who is this that even the wind and sea obey Him? Who is this that such miraculous powers are at work in Him? Who is this that we hear such wisdom from Him? There were various guesses as to the answer. “Isn’t this little Jesus who grew up here whose mother and brothers and sisters we know?” “Isn’t this the carpenter?” Others answered the question in a religious way, as in today’s text. Some said He is John the Baptist come back from the dead. Others said He is Elijah who is to return before the Messiah. Others said He is a prophet. There would be still others who were not as much impressed as offended, especially as He began to gain popularity and numbers of followers. They would accuse Him of being if not in league with Satan maybe even the devil himself. Among all those answers, today it seems the most common answer to the question “Who is Jesus?” is, “Jesus is…irrelevant!” Nevertheless, the question keeps coming to you, who do you say that Jesus is? For your answer to that question reveals as much about yourself, your relationship to Him and therefore your spiritual condition, as it does about Jesus. Continue reading “Jesus' Name Has Become Known”

Text: Mark 6:1-13
Date: Pentecost V (Proper 9) + 7/5/09
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

The Gospel text for this morning used to be divided into two readings on two consecutive Sundays, the first, verses 1-6 concerning Jesus’ rejection in his hometown, the second, verses 7-13 concerning His sending out of the twelve disciples on their “vicarage” or student intern mini-mission. The current lectionary has combined these two sections to be proclaimed together on this one Sunday. In placing these two incidents together the Evangelist, St. Mark, seems to be saying, first, that Jesus is rejectable especially when He does not meet a person’s expectations and therefore, secondly, His disciples and Church that He sends forth in His name should expect to experience and endure the same rejection by the world. As Jesus said in another place,     “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16), and, in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). This, of course, flies in the face of all those these days who think that “if we only change the way we do things a little,” in other words change the message we’ve been sent to preach, “then people will let down their defenses a little and be more easily drawn to the Church.” As we consider this text, let’s do so, therefore, remembering the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Thy kingdom come, and how that kingdom comes all by itself without our prayer when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we can believe His holy Word. Continue reading “Thy Kingdom Come”