What if we are not enough

 

July 25, 2021

Before Jesus feeds the 5,000 (John 6:1-14), his disciples tell him that there is not enough. It is a rather silly scene, telling Jesus there is not enough. However, in our life as well, we often are forced to confess to Jesus: I am not enough.

What if this is how it is supposed to be though — that we are not enough? Pastor Rob unpacks the lie of self-sufficiency. Instead of seeking our own sufficiency, we rejoice that Christ is enough.

And instead of trying to be enough, we bring to the table what we have — our loaves and our fish. Christ does the multiplication work to produce an abundant harvest.

The picture is of loaves and fish made by the Senior Shepherds group at St. Paul.

Also, the second half of the sermon has slightly different sound.  This had to due with a failure of batteries…they, alas, lacked enough juice.

Saint and Sinner

 

July 18, 2021

The disciples report back to Jesus all the good that have done (Mark 6:30).  This is a bit strange — what if coming to church was about declaring all the good we have done?

This doesn’t feel quite right, not simply because of modesty, but because we each acknowledge that we are like sheep without a shepherd, in need of Christ’s compassion (Mark 6:34)

A reflection on how we are both saints and sinners, capable of good works but also in need of God’s unfailing grace.

A tale of two feasts

 

July 11, 2021

Note:  The sermon includes two separate readings from Mark’s Gospel, typically excluded from the sermon audio files.  But they are necessary to make sense of the message.

The intended Gospel reading for today is gruesome:  The beheading of John during King Herod’s birthday feast.  Pastor Rob contrasts this with the feeding of the 5,000.  In the end, both stories are needed to reveal Mark’s point:  the true power in this world is not with kings; the true power is God’s love that overcomes the human heart.

The picture is from: https://www.thebostonpilot.com/opinion/article.asp?ID=183135, ultimately from Wikipedia Commons.  I would love to know who painted this.

No Magic Fairies

 

July 4, 2021

Unfortunately, God does not work through magic fairies.  If this were the case, we would be absolved of moral responsibility.  Instead, God has called us into relationships of mutual cooperation and interdependence.   Reflecting on Jesus visit to his hometown and sending of the disciples in Mark 6, Pastor Rob reflects on the various interdependent relationships:  Us and God; Us and each other; Us and the stranger.

Pastor Rob closes with a reflection on how we might be blessed as a nation to consider July 4 Interdependence Day, not Independence Day.

Cats and Monkeys

 

June 27, 2021

Pastor Rob has some fun with the terms “Monkey” and “Cat” Lutherans, talking about whether we are saved by grace or through faith!

The stories we hear from Mark’s Gospel suggest that there is great power to save in faith; yet God’s grace in Jesus Christ is relentless.  Turns out that faith and grace might just work together after all.

Ministry of Reconcilation

June 20, 2021

We live a cancel culture world, not just of politics, but of all relationships in which it is easy and even righteous to walk away from people.

In his second letter to the Corinthians St Paul offers us a different way to handle the brokenness of human relationships:  The ministry of reconciliation.  God’s reconciliation of all people in Christ means we are always connected to each other:  God did not cancel us and in the long run, we cannot cancel each other.

This ultimate reconciliation is grounded in Jesus’ death on the cross and culminates in the new creation of Heaven and Earth.  While we wait for Christ’s return, the Spirit opens our hearts to God’s redeeming work of reconciliation in our lives.

Also this sermon includes a coda pondering what a ministry of reconciliation might look like in regards to racial injustice and healing in the United States.

The picture comes from https://www.woodstreamchurch.org/sermon/reconciliation/

A Curated Life?

 

June 13, 2021

St. Paul offers us challenging and difficult words — all must stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Pastor Rob reflects on our “judgy” culture permeates everything we do.  Unfortunately, the proposed solution — the curated life, in which we carefully craft an online persona and feed, is not a tenable solution.  Instead, Pastor Rob describes the sacramental life, in which Christ is in, with and under all things, even the brokenness and sin of life, to make something beautiful.