Faith, Grace, and Hope

Reformation Sunday – Synod Sermon Readings:  Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 46; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36   Dear friends in Christ and co-workers in God’s kingdom on earth,  I send you prayers of grace and peace on this Reformation Sunday from myself and the saints at Big Timber Lutheran. We remember you in our prayers and we trust that you remember us. On this day, we remember our shared history with other Christians around this world. The glory of this day does not belong to Martin Luther or other reformers, but to God, our Holy Parent, who speaks through the power of the Holy Spirit in every age to those who will soften their hearts and receive a message of reformation with a willing spirit.  The focus of this holy festival remains the same as every Sunday’s focus- a celebration of God’s faithfulness, of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, of the Spirit’s on-going work through the holy, universal church, the community of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the l...

On a drive this past Saturday, my daughter and I were playing the game, "Fortunately, Unfortunately". This is an improvisational story-telling game where you build a tale, line by line, with one person starting with "Unfortunately..." and the other saying, "Fortunately..." My daughter loves to be "Unfortunately". I was coaching her in the concept of "yes, and" and in how to make the story broad and to consider all the options open to the characters. My character, Esmerelda, was taking a walk on a beautiful day when, unfortunately, a storm blew in. Fortunately, her friend, Bob, saw her and offered her a ride. Unfortunately, Bob's "check engine" light began flashing. And so forth... At one point, when Esmerelda and Bob were floating down a flooded stream on her porch with three cats in a one cat-carrier, I commented that my daughter was being kind of rough on our friends. She said, "I'm Unfortunately. That's my ...

Isaiah 45:1–7; Psalm 96:1–9; 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10; Matthew 22:15–22 Once upon a time, there were two groups of people. Both held a lot of power, and they struggled against each other constantly. People grew tired of hearing them complain about one another because it seemed nothing ever changed. One group was fiercely protective of their home territory—very interested in national security, if you will. They were deeply concerned with both the private and public lives of the people around them. This group was considered devoutly religious, though their strict focus sometimes kept them from seeing the forest for the trees. The second group was known for aligning themselves with foreign powers. Their idea of peace came through surrendering authority to leaders far away. They were major proponents of heavy taxation. Even though they weren’t typically viewed as religious, they developed a sudden interest in religious leaders and theological issues whenever it became politically expedient. ...

Synod Sermon – Pentecost 19, Lectionary 27, Year A Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:7-15; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46 D ear Friends in Christ, Grace and peace to you on this celebration of the Lord’s Day. I thank God for you and for all the Spirit is doing in and through you. Remember, beloveds, that the work of God is not only what   we   can name with our traditional spiritual frameworks, but also the gifts of the seasons, life-giving weather patterns, and the wonder of wild things. In the shifting sounds of autumn, I would like you to take a moment to reflect on the idea of walk-up music. Almost always, walk-up music is associated with baseball. It is the snippet of a song that comes over the loudspeaker as a player approaches the batter’s box. The music is both for the player and the fans. It hypes up the player and lets the crowd join in on the excitement of who is up next. Walk-up music makes an appearance in other arenas. Some large public-speaking events have adapted t...