Posts from the “Sermons” Category

Sermo Dei: Holy Thursday

Posted on March 28th, 2013

The story of humanity is a failure to love. Our first father loved himself above God. Our first father’s son had fallen so far from love that he struck down his own brother. Was it love that led Jacob to lie to his father and so steal the blessing from his brother? Was it love that led you to manipulate family members and angle for favor? Was it love that drove Pharaoh to begin a program of genocide, slaughtering the baby boys of Israel? Is it love that turns a blind eye to the legal slaughtering of children by the millions in our own day? Was it love that drove Moses to smash his stick against the rock when the people were complaining? Was…

Categories: Sermons

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Sermo Dei: Holy Thursday Matins

Posted on March 28th, 2013

There are few parts of your body that get as gross and stinky as feet. This was even more true in the ancient world, where roads were dusty, feet were sandaled, and baths were less frequent. So it was basic hospitality—kindness—to wash the feet of your guests when they came to your house. Except, if you were the dad or mom, the lord and lady of the house, you wouldn’t wash their feet. That’s what servants are for. Somebody low-paid, somebody low-ranking, they had to do the work of fetching the water, carrying the bowl, getting a clean towel, and then the yucky work of cleaning the grime and stench off of a stranger’s feet, then discarding the filthy water, cleaning the now-dirty towel,…

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[Sermo Dei] Judica—Lent 5, 2013 (Genesis 22:1-14)

Posted on March 17th, 2013

What is worse than the killing of a child? Our society rightly recoils when some children are murdered. You must understand that the Church’s opposition to abortion from the beginning had nothing to do with the oppression of women. The child conceived in the womb is a member of the human race, a creature endowed with unalienable rights by her Creator, and we are commanded by God not to murder our fellow brothers and sisters. We are all, collectively, guilty of this evil, and we must work to stop it. And for those of you who have special guilt and pangs of conscience because of abortion, cling to those words we heard in today’s Epistle, and find in the blood of Christ that which…

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[Sermo Dei] Laetare, the Fourth Sunday in Lent: Exodus 16:2-21

Posted on March 13th, 2013

I was a teenager when my grandparents sold their farm west of the Twin Cities and moved to a house in Litchfield, a town of about 6,000 people. The most particular memory I have of helping them move was the fascination at all the scraps of tinfoil my grandmother had saved, and more twist-ties than anyone could possibly need. She was a saver, which is what living through the Great Depression as a young woman will do to you. Listen again to the end of today’s first reading: “Moses said to them, ‘Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.’ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank.” …

Categories: Sermons, Theology

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Sermo Dei: Oculi (Lent III)

Posted on March 3rd, 2013

My first roommate in college was a great guy … when he was sober. But when he drank, he became violent. And one night that violence was turned against me. I was assigned another room, and my former roommate soon left school. A few years later I was surprised to receive a letter from him. He explained that he was in an alcoholic recovery program and as part of the program was reaching out to people hurt by his drinking, to try to make amends. That letter made me very happy, most of all that he was getting the help he needed. Making amends is part and parcel of the Bible’s teaching on repentance. In today’s reading from Jeremiah, the prophet instructs Jerusalem, “Mend…

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[Sermo Dei] Reminiscere: Wrestling with God (Lent 2, Genesis 32:22-32)

Posted on February 24th, 2013

As a little boy, I was in a big hurry to get home from church on Sunday mornings, because All-Star Wrestling came on at noon, where I would watch the likes of Jesse “The Body” Ventura, who later body-slammed his way into the governor’s mansion in Minnesota. The low-brow theater of so-called professional wrestling casts a simple good-versus-evil motif. The wrestling match depicted in today’s Old Testament reading could not be more different, for Jacob encounters God, who is good, wearing the mask of evil. God makes Himself Jacob’s enemy, and in the time of Jacob’s greatest need comes on the scene to fight Jacob. Everything in Jacob’s life has been preparing him for this moment. He was named “Jacob,” meaning “deceiver” or “supplanter”…

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[Sermo Dei] Invocabit (Lent I): The Lord’s Battle (1 Samuel 17:40-51)

Posted on February 21st, 2013

I get slightly nervous when I see a group of teenage boys unsupervised. That’s because I remember being a teenage boy, an exhilarating combination of strength and recklessness, intelligence without experience, testosterone über alles.   David’s confident stride onto the battlefield to face the Philistine champion Goliath would seem to be just such adolescent recklessness. David is strong, having worked in the fields as a shepherd. David is courageous, having hunted lions and bears raiding his father’s sheep. But David is still a boy. He has come to this battle simply to bring food for his older brothers in the army, and a gift of cheese to their commander. And there David hears what has happened. The champion of the Philistines, a magnificent, enormous…

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Sermo Dei: Ash Wednesday Divine Service

Posted on February 13th, 2013

“Who knows?” said the king of Nineveh. Jonah had come preaching. He came against his will. There is a certain madness to preaching, at least the kind of preaching God demands. Jonah knew they wouldn’t like it, so he set out in the opposite direction. Chapters 1 and 2 of Jonah tell quite a tale, but it’s chapter 3 set before us tonight. Jonah announces, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” What must he have expected? “Some will laugh at me, and others will kill me.” For his instructions at the beginning were, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” This is no generic message of a far-off judgment…

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Sermo Dei: Ash Wednesday Matins

Posted on February 13th, 2013

The ashes are not a Sacrament, nor are they a game.   A Sacrament is an earthly thing that God attaches to His Word of promise to give us His gifts. Baptism is a Sacrament, because there is an earthly thing—water—and there is His Word joined to it: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the FAther and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The promises are all over the place. Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved.” St. Peter says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; for the promise is for you and your…

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[Sermo Dei] Sexagesima: The Successful Life (Isaiah 55:10-13; Luke 8:4-15)

Posted on February 3rd, 2013

It felt great having the church packed last week, didn’t it? It’s validating to have a large crowd of people; conversely, we can think we’re failing if only a handful comes to a service or an event. In the church, success is primarily measured by numbers. The number one question pastors ask each other at conferences is, “How many does your church worship?” The correct answer is, “Our church worships three Persons in One God,” but the question actually reveals what churches are really worshipping: people. Likewise, “How is your school doing?” doesn’t mean “How well are you implementing your curriculum?” but, “What’s your enrollment?” Now consider the introduction to today’s Gospel lesson, the Parable of the Sower. The introduction sets the stage and…

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