Br. Luke Ditewig Psalm 115:1-10 Matthew 9:32-38 I have gotten water in my ear while swimming. Muffled, it took a lot more effort to hear and pay attention. Remember what it’s like to lose part of your perception. The psalmist tonight says idols, gods which humans make, are not worth worship. “They have mouths but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.…

Br. Lucas Hall Matthew 8:23-27 Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12 “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” That question, I believe, strikes at the heart of Matthew’s gospel. Matthew’s intent in all his gospel is to focus on Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophets. He deliberately emphasizes the ways Jesus inverts expectations of the…

Br. Lucas Hall Matthew 8:23-27 Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12 “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” That question, I believe, strikes at the heart of Matthew’s gospel. Matthew’s intent in all his gospel is to focus on Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophets. He deliberately emphasizes the ways Jesus inverts expectations of the…

Br. Jack Crowley Mark 5:21-43 One of the many things I love about Jesus is that he knew how to work a crowd. Jesus dealt with crowds all the time. Crowds to be fed, crowds to be healed, crowds trying to anoint him king, crowds trying to arrest him, and finally a crowd who crucified him. Jesus knew crowds. These crowds were not just crowded with peo…

Br. Jack Crowley Mark 5:21-43 One of the many things I love about Jesus is that he knew how to work a crowd. Jesus dealt with crowds all the time. Crowds to be fed, crowds to be healed, crowds trying to anoint him king, crowds trying to arrest him, and finally a crowd who crucified him. Jesus knew crowds. These crowds were not just crowded with peo…

Br. David Vryhof Ezekiel 34:11-16 II Timothy 4:1-9 John 21:15-19 We stand today in the presence of two of the giants of our faith: the Apostles Peter and Paul. No one has had a more profound influence on the Christian faith and on the Church than these two men. Both of them have their own feast – Peter on January 18 for his confession of Jesus as t…

Br. David Vryhof Ezekiel 34:11-16 II Timothy 4:1-9 John 21:15-19 We stand today in the presence of two of the giants of our faith: the Apostles Peter and Paul. No one has had a more profound influence on the Christian faith and on the Church than these two men. Both of them have their own feast – Peter on January 18 for his confession of Jesus as t…

Feast of Irenaeus of Lyons 2 Timothy 2:22-26 “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness” (2 Tim 2:24-25). I’m not sure “gentle” is how I’d first characterize Irenaeus, the second-century theologian and bishop whom we remember today. In his great work Against …

Br. Jim Woodrum Job 38:1-11 Mark 4:35-41 In 1947, a friend of the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein suggested that he write a piece of music based on W.H. Auden’s epic poem, “The Age of Anxiety.” Despite critics deeming the poem as Auden’s “one dull book, his one failure,” it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948. The poem’s subject is four strange…

Br. Jim Woodrum Job 38:1-11 Mark 4:35-41 In 1947, a friend of the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein suggested that he write a piece of music based on W.H. Auden’s epic poem, “The Age of Anxiety.” Despite critics deeming the poem as Auden’s “one dull book, his one failure,” it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948. The poem’s subject is four strange…

Br. Lucas Hall Feast of St. Alban Today we mark the feast of St. Alban, the first martyr of Britain. In the third century, Christians were subject to various persecutions in the Roman Empire, and the story goes that the then-pagan Alban, living in Roman Britain, hosted a Christian priest in his home who was fleeing persecution. Impressed by the pri…

Br. Lucas Hall Feast of St. Alban Today we mark the feast of St. Alban, the first martyr of Britain. In the third century, Christians were subject to various persecutions in the Roman Empire, and the story goes that the then-pagan Alban, living in Roman Britain, hosted a Christian priest in his home who was fleeing persecution. Impressed by the pri…

Br. Curtis Almquist Matthew 6:19-23 At the beginning of the Gospel according to Matthew, we learn of the wise men who came from the East to pay homage to the infant, Jesus, predicted to be the “king of the Jews.” We read they bring with them treasure-chests of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts for the newborn.[i] We are never told what happene…

Br. Curtis Almquist Matthew 6:19-23 At the beginning of the Gospel according to Matthew, we learn of the wise men who came from the East to pay homage to the infant, Jesus, predicted to be the “king of the Jews.” We read they bring with them treasure-chests of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts for the newborn.[i] We are never told what happene…

Luke 12:1-12 We remember today the southern African missionary and martyr Bernard Mizeki. Born in modern-day Mozambique, he came to the Christian faith while a young man in South Africa, where he was baptized in 1866 by Father Puller of our Society. In 1891, he traveled to Mashonaland, in the northeast of modern-day Zimbabwe, to serve as a missiona…

Luke 12:1-12 We remember today the southern African missionary and martyr Bernard Mizeki. Born in modern-day Mozambique, he came to the Christian faith while a young man in South Africa, where he was baptized in 1866 by Father Puller of our Society. In 1891, he traveled to Mashonaland, in the northeast of modern-day Zimbabwe, to serve as a missiona…

John 21:15-19 “How’re you doing?” How do you usually answer this question? “I’m fine,” perhaps, or “I’m okay.” In our daily interactions we get asked seemingly polite questions like this over and over, and we are conditioned to respond politely. They don’t want to know your whole life story. Unless they do. But we can’t know their intention—unless …

1 John 5:9-13 John 17:6-19 As your preacher on this seventh Sunday of Easter, I must confess I struggle with a key concept found throughout the gospel and epistles of John. “The world” in these writings is a multi-faceted term. Its meaning shifts and accumulates layers of meaning every time it appears. Sometimes the world is simply the material rea…

Br. David Vryhof I Corinthians 3:10-14 Matthew 6:19-24 When I was in seminary – now, quite a few years ago – I took a course in preaching. Whether or not it did me any good, I’ll let you decide. One of the things I remember from that class was the professor’s admonition to first seek out the tone and intention of the text, and then craft a sermon t…