Sermon for the Third Wednesday of Lent

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier at Midweek Lenten Vespers on the Third Wednesday of Lent, February 28, 2024. It was the third sermon of this year’s Lenten Sermon Series, “Guided to the Cross”.

Guided to Love
1 Timothy 1:13-14
(Readings Appointed: Isaiah 63:7-9; 1 Timothy 1:12-14; John 19:23-27)

I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

I remember from my first days when I arrived away at college that I was looking through the pages of the orientation guide and the “glossary of college life” that had been prepared for those of us new to Concordia-Bronxville.  In addition to the usual information like what building was named what, and what time were meals, there were also some lighthearted thoughts on some other things that might happen to the “average college newbie”.  One such entry was listed under the word “love”.  It defined love as “a strong, emotional attraction towards another; or, a zero score in tennis”, and it also comically gave the reminder for one to not confuse these two ideas.

Love seems to be a word that is not so much defined as it is felt.  All of us have had, or at least I hope that we have had, the opportunity in our lives to have that feeling of love in our lives on some level, whether it was the love of parents, of family, of friends, or of that “one special someone”.  Yet, even though love is best defined through feeling, one also realizes that the very word love has become somewhat overused; in that besides being loved by and loving others, we also can love that film, or love that restaurant, or love that singer’s music.  It’s probably then no wonder that with all of these things that we can love we may really be left wanting to know what is really love.

Read Full Post »

Sermon for Lent 2

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Second Sunday in Lent, February 25, 2024.

An Eternal Death
Romans 5:1-11
(Other Readings Appointed: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Mark 8:27-38)

I remember from my days of studying German in High School and College that in German the use or non-use of indefinite articles can be important, even to the point of changing the meaning of a sentence.  One famous case in point was from John F. Kennedy’s speech at the Berlin Wall in June of 1963.  In that speech, the President wanted to express his solidarity with and hopes of freedom for the people of Berlin whose city was now divided by a wall into East and West.  And he did this by making to the listening crowd this declaration, Ich bin ein Berliner—I am a Berliner.  The only problem with this, though the crowd did not seem to mind, was the grammatical error Kennedy had made.  To call oneself a person from Berlin, one says, Ich bin Berliner.  In using the indefinite article ein, Kennedy was calling himself a Berliner, but in so doing the meaning here was that ein Berliner actually refers to a type of jelly or cream-filled donut.

The reason I somewhat digress with this story is that it has a little bit to do with my sermon theme for today, “An Eternal Death”.  When we hear those words, “eternal death”, our thoughts will perhaps rightly turn towards the everlasting punishment which awaits unbelievers who have rejected Christ and His salvation or sinners who die unrepentant of their sin.  It conjures up the images of “the fires of hell” and the endless torment of life lived forever separated from the presence of God.  But this is not where I am going with today’s message.

Read Full Post »

Sermon for the Second Wednesday of Lent

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier at Midweek Lenten Vespers on the Second Wednesday of Lent, February 21, 2024. It was the second sermon of this year’s Lenten Sermon Series, “Guided to the Cross”.

Guided to Hope
2 Corinthians 1:10
(Readings Appointed: Jeremiah 14:19-22; 2 Corinthians 1:3-10; Luke 23:39-43)

On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again.

On one of our national television networks, they have taken to closing their evening news program with a segment titled “There’s Good News Tonight”.  The stories told at this moment are all of those great, feel-good, human-interest stories, given to us so that we have some sense at least that not everything we hear about what’s going on in the world is not all bad news filled with doom and gloom.  The newscasters realize that for us who watch the news, we need to have something that leaves us with a bit of hope, something that tells us that somehow we have a reason to have hope for our world.

What is it that brings and gives us hope?  What is it that gives us reason to believe that things in our lives can and will be better for us tomorrow than they have been today and in days past?  Are we looking for something to make us feel better? Are we searching for things that will make us happy? Are we clinging to the chance of financial stability? Are we craving companionship? Are we wishing for peace and prosperity? These are all nice things and certainly worthy of being hoped for on some level.  But as we hope for all of these things, do they bring us what we might call a “lasting hope”, something that will not disappoint us or be taken away from us?

Read Full Post »

Sermon for Lent 1

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the First Sunday in Lent, February 18, 2024.

Where the Wild Things Are
Mark 1:9-15
(Other Readings Appointed: Genesis 22:1-18; James 1:12-18)

With all due apologies to the educators in our congregation, I regret to inform them that as they may have read today’s sermon theme in the bulletin, this message will have nothing to do with the book by the same title.  That title just came to my mind as I reflected on today’s Gospel, and I thought that I would just shamelessly borrow it with my own reasons behind it.  So now, on with the message.

Each year as we begin the Sundays in Lent, the Gospel appointed for this First Sunday is always the account of our Lord Jesus and His temptation in the wilderness by Satan which followed His baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  With our three-year cycle of readings, we are able to hear over the course of those years the version of this event from the perspectives of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  In many ways, it is Matthew and Luke’s retelling of Jesus’ temptation that are perhaps more familiar to most of us, especially with the details of the three different ways that the devil used to sway Jesus away from His mission as the Messiah and Savior.

Read Full Post »

Sermon for Ash Wednesday

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on Ash Wednesday: The First Day of Lent, February 14, 2024. It was the first sermon in this year’s Midweek Lenten Series, “Guided to the Cross”.

Guided to Forgiveness
2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:2
(Other Readings Appointed: Joel 2:12-19; Psalm 51; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21)

According to Liturgical Calendar Tables, it is indeed possible that Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday can fall on the same day.  Interestingly enough though, this has only occurred three times in the last century, and the same will be true in this century as well.  It happened back in 2018, again this year, and so get ready for it to happen again in 2029.  You have been warned!

In the thoughts of many, it is hard to see anything but a difference and conflict in the meaning and celebration of these two days.  And yet, for us as Christians these two days actually can and do belong together, especially as a celebration of love.  While Valentine’s Day has become a day to think about love in all its varied forms—familial, platonic, marital, even physical—we are called upon to enter into this 40-day season of reflection upon the truest love that there is: the love of God displayed and given to all who believe in Jesus Christ—that love we know and speak of so well in those familiar words. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)

Read Full Post »

Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord: The Last Sunday after the Epiphany, February 11, 2024.

A Glimpse of Glory
Mark 9:2-9
(Other Readings Appointed: 2 Kings 2:1-12; 2 Corinthians 3:12-18; 4:1-6)

Call it an “occupational hazard” of sorts, but in preparing for our worship today as we bring the Epiphany Season to its glorious conclusion with remembering the event of our Lord Jesus’ Transfiguration, my mind is already totally in “Lent Mode”.  Pastors, while being fully present in the moment of the Church Year that we all are celebrating now, also find themselves thinking weeks ahead as they plan worship and preaching for the season to follow.  Yet in many ways, this is exactly what today’s Feast is all about.  The moment of Jesus’ Transfiguration pushes us to look forward to the “coming attractions” in our Lord’s story, while also “snapping us” back into the realities of the present that Jesus and His disciples found themselves in.

So, to begin, a little bit of context about this event is helpful for us to understand what is really going on here.  In a couple of weeks, we will hear of the conversations which Jesus had with the Twelve Disciples the six days before He went up the mountain with Peter, James, and John. That conversation and teaching is important, and without digging too much in deep into it, this is what happened.  Jesus asked the disciples those important questions, “Who do people say that I am?  Who do you say that I am?”; to which Simon Peter gives the great answer and confession: “You are the Christ.”  And Jesus, having received this answer, then also charges the Twelve not to tell anyone about this. (Mk 8:27-30)

Read Full Post »

Sermon for Epiphany 5

A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 4, 2023.

Why We Run the Race
1 Corinthians 9:16-27
(Other Readings Appointed: Isaiah 40:21-31; Mark 1:29-39)

If simply looking at the back ends of cars was a sufficient basis for a survey, one could come to the conclusion that the long distance running community was filled with people who are proud of their accomplishments.  Just think of all of the “13.1” and “26.2” stickers that you have seen, proclaiming to us of the half and full marathons they have run.  Seeing them we can be proud of their accomplishment, even if it may seem that they are being “a bit braggy” about it.  And perhaps we might feel a little left out of their fun.  At one time, I did feel a bit like that, until I saw another sticker on the back of a car one evening when Kim and I were driving around.  Stopped at a light, I was scanning the stickers on the back of the car in front of us.  And when I saw this oval sticker, I had to laugh.  On it was this—a “0.0”, and underneath it in small print were the words: “I don’t run”.  I pointed it out to Kim and told her, “Finally, there’s a running event that I could get into!”

Now all kidding aside, when one looks at what these runners do, one also wants to ask them the question: “Why do you run?”  I’m certain that there are as many different answers to this question as there are the people you ask it of.  And their reasons probably run like this.  “I do it for the challenge.”  “I do it for my health.”  “I do it for the community I feel a part of as I run.”  In the end, each runner has their reasons, and so they run.

Read Full Post »