Sermon for Pentecost 6

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (LSB Proper 11C), July 21, 2019.

Who’s Serving Who?
Luke 10:38-42
(Other Readings Appointed: Genesis 18:1-10a; Colossians 1:21-29)

I’m not really a believer in coincidence, but even I had to admit that today’s Gospel is rather appropriate for a Pastor to hear on the day before he starts on vacation. Now to explain that statement. I still remember the day in a Bible Study where we were discussing the benefits and joys of personal time spent in devotion with God’s Word, and in that conversation I made the confession that finding “personal time in the Word” was a difficulty at times for a Pastor. One of our members seemed shocked at this statement, until I explained that yes, Pastors do spend lots of time with God’s Word, but it’s usually more about how do I preach on this, or how do I best explain this in a Bible Study, or how can I use this as a devotion with a shut-in—all of it being about how do I use the Word in my “professional capacity”. What is then often missed is what Pastors perhaps most envy about their parishioners: the simple joy of just being able to listen to the Word speaking to our own heart and soul.

This is what is at the heart of today’s Gospel. The account of Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha is not about Jesus making the declaration that the contemplative life, represented by Mary, is somehow better or “more holy” than the active life of service, which is represented by Martha. Yes, “Mary has chosen the good portion”, but this does not mean that Martha was somehow in the wrong for working at her hardest to be a good hostess and provide what she thought was best for Jesus who had come to be her guest.

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Sermon for Pentecost 5

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (LSB Proper 10C), July 14, 2019.

“Walk In a Manner Worthy of the Lord”
Readings Appointed
(Leviticus 19:9-18; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37)

The story is told of a Roman Catholic Priest and the homily he gave at one Sunday Mass. In the Roman Rite, the Homily follows immediately the reading of the Gospel, unlike our Lutheran tradition where we recite the Creed, sing a hymn, or even have the occasional children’s sermon. So at this Mass, the Gospel having been read, the Priest ascended into the pulpit and the congregation sat down and settled in for the message which they were going to receive. As the church went silent, the Priest looked out at his parishioners, leaned into the pulpit, pointed his finger at them, and said, “Think about it.” And with that, the sermon was ended and the Priest left the pulpit to continue with the Mass.

No one knows what the Gospel reading was on that day, but this story applies to any of the many times, like today, when the words of the Scriptures that we hear in our worship speak a challenge to us which we need to think about, meditate on, and apply to ourselves and our lives and living. In today’s readings, there is much “food for thought”, and how we are to see ourselves in the words we that have heard is a challenging task.

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Sermon for Pentecost 4

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (LSB Proper 9C), July 7, 2019.

Into the Field
Luke 10:1-20
(Other Readings Appointed: Isaiah 66:10-14; Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18)

Growing up, the hymn we just sang, “Onward, Christian Soldiers”, seemed to be a favorite of my grandfather’s as he often quoted it in some of his writings over the years to his congregation. It may have also been a favorite for him because of his love of taking long walks through Rock Creek Park, and could be hummed or sung as a “marching song” of sorts. Personally, I remember this hymn from my childhood, not so much for the text, but for the art that it was pictured with in the “old green Children’s Hymnal”, which showed a long line of crusader knights on horseback and on foot traveling off to battle.

When that hymnal was published in the 1950s, such imagery was seen as appropriate and perhaps understandable as a way of illustrating this hymn text from the pen of an Anglican Clergyman in 1865 written for a children’s procession on Pentecost. Yet today, such language and imagery is problematic. Mention of “crusade” or “Christian crusaders” brings up the history of centuries of Christian/Islamic conflict, which is seen by some as part of the roots of the current struggles in the Middle East to this day. And there may be some who might even take some offense at the very idea of continuing to call the Church here on earth as the “Church Militant”, literally, “the Fighting Church”, since the Church is called to preach and practice peace following the example of our Lord Jesus. And for this reason, there may be some who might well wonder if such a hymn like “Onward, Christian Soldiers” is really appropriate anymore.

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