Recently in Ordinary Time Category

Sermon delivered at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Berkeley. 

November 23, 2016 - Christ the King Sunday   

"Kings and Queens".  Text is from Luke 23:33-43

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Today we are at the end of our liturgical year, and we can also view this as the primary time to look forward to the coming kingdom and remember who it is that reigns on the throne. But the text that we're focusing on today is one at the crucifixion, not of Revelations, not of predictions but situated smack dab amid Christ's passion. And we see upon this hill called the Skull not just one cross but three, for along with Jesus hang two men who are condemned to die as well, albeit for serious infractions against the people. 

And even at his time of death, even as the centurions taunt him, as the leaders of the Judeans make fun of him, Jesus asks the Father for forgiveness for all of them. 

But even the first criminal appears to taunt Jesus as well, echoing for a third time the running joke, why can't Jesus just save himself from the cross, if he is indeed and truly the messiah. 

Sermon delivered at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Berkeley. 

November 6, 2016 - All Saints Day   

"Anxiety".  Text is from Luke 20:27-38 

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Happy All Saints Day to you, brothers and sisters, children of God, people of LCC and beloved guests, sinners and saints. 

Now those of you who have been walking with me this summer and fall, will know that I talk about Luke during this season while uplifting the journey that Jesus is making from Galilee to Bethlehem. This long, meandering journey that never seems to end. And we can imagine the journey taking place over six months to be real, as there was a lot for Jesus to do in such a short distance. But what we don't get the benefit of is Jesus arrival into Jerusalem, no, that reading takes place during Holy Week. Instead today we have Jesus already in Jerusalem, taking a trap by some Sadducees, the elite, aristocratic and priestly class of people an opportunity to educate some Sadducees about the nature of the resurrection.  

These Sadducees have so much anxiety around the end of life. They are not really interested in what Jesus has to say about their little game. They're interested in trapping him. The Sadducees, as we know don't believe in a resurrection, but why is this. Even as far back as our first reading in Job we are reading about how the writers understood that a physical death would still be followed by standing before the Lord. There is hope for the resurrection in Jewish literature of old, but we are always very clear in the gospels that the Sadducees had no concept of it. They only accept the Pentateuch, the first five books of the bible. They're much more interested in trapping the newly arrived Jesus than seeking actual answers. 

Sermon delivered at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Berkeley. 

October 23 - 23st Sunday after Pentecost 

"Humbling and exalted".  Text is from Luke 18:9-14

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Good morning to you my sisters and brothers, saints and sinners, disciples of Christ and children of God.

A Pharisee and a tax collector walk into a temple.

Stop me if you've heard this one.  

Both of these men are coming before God with their own idea of what they want to receive from the experience. 

Now when you think about it, the temple is quite a daunting place and it can be such for anyone coming forward who does not feel that they are in a right place with God. But the Pharisee has been here many times and is certain of himself. He follows what he's been taught to follow, God's law, by the letter, or so he believes himself. And he's doing what he thinks is the right thing to do, thanking God for the gifts that he has given him... and that he is not like all those sinners that he lists off, thieves, rogues, adulterers, and even that tax collector over there that came in when he came in here. 

Sermon delivered at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Berkeley. 

October 16 - 22st Sunday after Pentecost 

"Persistent".  Text is from Luke 18:1-8

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Good morning to you my sisters and brothers, saints and sinners, disciples of Christ and children of God.

What does it take before we finally get justice? How many times do those who are oppressed have to cry out before the people in power finally listen to what they have to say and deliver a verdict that is fair and just? 

Jesus is telling those who are following him a parable that descries what it means to be persistent in prayer. It involves a widow and an unjust judge, someone who basically doesn't care. It's very clear in the text what this judge's issue is, he just doesn't like people. He's a misanthrope, and one gets the feeling he is just going to the bench to do his bare minimum that he needs to do and nothing more. 

Of course this widow that continues to pester him will not be daunted. She knows she has been wronged. We don't know what the matter is, whether it has to do with her property, some injury to her person, but it is definitively a matter that needs to be dealt with fairly and for certain. 

Sermon delivered at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Berkeley. 

October 9 - 21st Sunday after Pentecost 

"Boundaries".  Text is from Luke 17:11-19

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Good morning to you my sisters and brothers, saints and sinners, disciples of Christ and children of God.

Boundaries may be invisible lines in the sand, that prevent us from going from one place to another. But have you ever seen a boundary from a plane? Sometimes, you may spot them...particularly if one place contains a park that ends at the lines of the boundary while there is farmland on the other side, but for the most part, when I'm flying, I can't tell where California ends and Nevada begins, or Utah, or Colorado...

Sermon delivered at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Berkeley. 

October 2 - Michael and All Angels Sunday 

"Angels".  Text is from Luke 10:17-20

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Good morning to you my sisters and brothers, saints and sinners, disciples of Christ and children of God.

We start with a few short passages from Luke in which Jesus has sent the seventy out and they return with joy, proclaiming that by using his name, even demons would listen to them being cast out.

Here Jesus tells them about having seen Satan cast from heaven, which hearkens back to an older Jewish legend about how Michael and Satan fought and Michael cast Satan down from heaven. And they power that Jesus has given the ones that he has sent out is such that the miracles done in the name of the spirit are done not by the superhuman beings such as Michael and Gabriel but by the people that Jesus had appointed. 

Finally, Jesus tells them not to rejoice in the power that he has given them. That they should instead rejoice that they are destined to join him in the hereafter, the paradise where he resides with Father God and all the other beings of heaven. 

Through the name of Jesus Christ he gives his disciples power, the power to heal and exorcise demons and more important, the power to proclaim the good news in the world that Jesus Christ has come, God has forgiven all people and death holds no more sway over humankind. Such power being exercised by humans is limited, and only through Jesus' will and command. It is the power of beings who many consider to be mythological, but who our scripture tells us about with clarity and purpose. Who are these beings called angels, and what marks our fascination with them, despite our firm conviction that there is only one God in heaven.

Sermon delivered at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Berkeley. 

September 25 - 19th Sunday after Pentecost

"The Chasm".  Text is from Luke 16:19-31 

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Good morning to you my sisters and brothers, saints and sinners, disciples of Christ and children of God.

This is a classic parable of Jesus in Luke, and when we approach it it sounds like a classic reversal. Here we have a two significant characters. First we have the rich man. He enjoys all the things life has to offer, and wants for nothing. He has failed, however, to take notice of the suffering even at the gate of his house and has left Lazarus, a poor soul, hungry there, with dogs licking his wounds. As what comes to all mortal men, the both of them die. However, the fortunes are now reversed, as Lazarus, upon his ending, is carried off by angels and received into the land of the dead by Abraham, the patriarch of all the children of Israel. The rich man, however, is condemned into Hades, and suffers unending pain and torment. 

Crying out to Abraham, the rich man wishes for some small favor, that he send poor Lazarus with the slightest bit of water to quench his thirst. Having been refused that, because of the distance of the chasm, that the patriarch send Lazarus to warn his brothers against the life that caused he himself to find torment. Abraham says it is impossible, if they are not swayed by Moses, and the words of the prophets like we heard from Amos this morning, a dead man rising up would not make any difference. 

So one thing that we find in this passage is that even in death, the rich man is entitled. He doesn't appear to be overly remorseful of his behavior, and even fails to acknowledge Lazarus directly, but continues to expet Lazarus to serve his needs. Abraham, bid Lazarus to quench my thirst. Abraham bid Lazarus to warn my brothers. At first glance it appears that the rich man has earned his comeuppance. He did not even see Lazarus in life, he failed to acknowledge the suffering at his doorstep, and even in suffering fails to see his own culpability, choosing to objectify Lazarus and not see him as a human being.