In this morning’s Gospel, we hear a story about ordinary people meeting the sacred—how the sacred is present in ordinary life, and how we, as ordinary people, are capable of encountering the sacred. We hear the story of two disciples walking the road to Emmaus. It’s a dusty road to an ordinary Judean town, It starts on the rocky hilltop where Jerusalem sits and then comes down through the foothills into the valley below. One of these disciples is named Cleopas. He is not

For most Sunday sermons, I reckon it’s best to talk about what it means to be a Christian. But today, on this Reformation Sunday, as our altar and pulpit are draped in this bright vibrant red, let’s talk about what it means to be a Lutheran. Let’s talk about our Lutheran identity. Identity, of course, speaks to our sense of self. The word identity comes from the Latin identitas, meaning sameness. It suggests that our identity is rooted in something about us that is the sam

The gospel reading today is the parable of the prodigal son, and I think we would all agree that it is a summary of our Christian faith: it tells the story of a human being, just like us, one who is free, who turns away from his loving father in a selfish sinful way. This man suffers for his sin, but looking into his own heart, this man recognizes and admits his sin. He seeks to return to his father, a loving father who is filled with joy at the prospect of his return. We hav

Thus in sleep sorrow-recalling pain drips from the heart and prudence comes to men against their will [from] the violent grace of the gods seated [in their] awesome resting place

If you will turn behind you, on the Eastern wall of the Church, you will see a painting of Thomas the Apostle, the protagonist of our gospel this morning, and you will see that he holds a scroll and a spear. Iconography of Thomas commonly includes the scroll and spear, the scroll symbolizing that he will spread the gospel to the far ends of the earth, and the spear pointing to his death as a martyr for Christ. Sometimes the iconography of Thomas includes carpenters tools, b

I This past April 13, Pastor M told the church council that she would be taking a week of vacation—from May 3 to May 10. And here we are today, on May 10, the last day of her vacation. I know we are all hopeful that Pastor has had a restful week, and that she comes back renewed. Pastor M is an authentically prayerful and spiritual person. We are lucky to have her. So on April 14, our council president MS texted me and asked if I would be willing to lead this morning’s Servic

I Talking about God is difficult. You see, God is not fully disclosed to us. God is not an object in the world, like a tree or a stone or a mountain, something we can point to and say, "There God is." Indeed, scripture itself tells us that no one has seen God. The German theologian Karl Rahner once observed that every person is a hears the Word of God —that there is within human existence an openness to a mystery that forever exceeds our understanding. We never fully grasp it