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Pentecost 21 - Sermon and Video Divine Service

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  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   Pentecost 21 – Amos 5:6-7,10-15          Hebrews 3:12-19               Mark 10:17-22 The prophet Amos pulls no punches. He is confrontational in his speech. He speaks directly and bluntly of a problem that is bringing spiritual ruin to God’s Chosen People. The sinful behavior that the LORD and Amos witness are not innocent deceptions. They are not little white lies that don’t hurt anyone. The powerful and wealthy are taking advantage of those who are beneath them in wealth and status and who cannot legally fight back. They refuse to receive God’s truth. They engage in bribery to conduct business. They manipulate the law and work the government against the less fortunate so that they can make more money. They have allowed their wealth and their endless need for more to become their idol. Their love for their idol is leading them down a path of manipulation and perversion that demonstrates no love or concern for their neighbor. In this
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20th Sunday after Pentecost - Sermon and Video

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By Edal Anton Lefterov - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,    Icon of Christ - Pantocrator - Creator of the Universe Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   2024 Pentecost 20 – Genesis 2:18-25    Hebrews 2:1-18        Mark 10:2-16 The Letter to the Hebrews is addressed to Christians who are being persecuted or under the threat of persecution. When you read through Hebrews, you realize that this is hardly an epistle at all. Rather it is a sermon encouraging the baptized to remain faithful to their confession despite the real distress they feel and the real danger that their faith exposes them to. An actual recognizable letter is not found until the final words in chapter 13.  We know that Hebrews is written and preached and disseminated to the wider church sometime before AD 70. The author of Hebrews speaks of the old covenant and the necessary animal sacrifices as if they are still happening in the Temple in Jerusalem. That came to a grinding halt when the Roman Army destroyed the Temp
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Wendell Berry

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One of my favorite authors is Wendell Berry. He is a Kentucky farmer and writer. He has written a number of short stories and books that center around the fictional small town of Port William. A personal favorite from his fiction is Jayber Crow .  If I was in a position to do so, I would make every Pastor of smaller communities read Jayber Crow.  The book and character of Jayber Crow offers wisdom. I have used two of his short stories from the collection Watch with Me in Bible studies and presentations. In his fiction, Berry presents characters that are recognizable and normal human beings who live through love, heartbreak, and death. As Port William is in rural Kentucky, Berry writes of the agricultural shifts and challenges that have materialized with the development of industrialized and mechanized farming.  Berry is also a poet and essay writer.  Perhaps the most anthologized poem is  Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation Front . His essays focus primarily on agriculture and agrarian t
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Sermon and video for 19th Sunday after Pentecost

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Video of service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 2024 Pentecost 19 Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29             James 5:1-20                   Mark 9:38-50 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. In the course of our three-year lectionary, the book of Numbers is only used three times. Numbers 6 and 21 are the other two readings. So, I offer a quick overview of the book of Numbers because even in our devotional readings, I suspect we may not draw deeply from this particular book.  The book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Old Testament and is a part of the Old Testament we call the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible. They are written by the prophet and law-giver Moses. The book of Numbers records the travels of Israel from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab where they camp along the Jordan River. The book is framed by a census of God’s people at Sinai and on the plains of Moab.  The
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Sermon and Video for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost

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Video of Divine Service   2024 Pentecost 18   Jeremiah 11:18-20         James 3:13-4:10     Mark 9:30-37 Questions Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  Questions are asked in today’s texts.  The questions lead us to reflect upon the humanity of the disciples as well as our own motives, attitudes, and behaviors. These reflections lead us to seek God’s help, specifically, His help through the cross of Jesus Christ.   The first question is from James: “ Who is wise and understanding among you? ”  My thinking is that if any of us leaps up and says, “Yes sir! That’s me, at your service!” Perhaps that individual ought to sit down and wait for what comes next. The Holy Spirit may very well stir our ears and heart so that we hear this as an accusation. Pride makes us think we are wiser than what we really are. Was it not pride that led the disciples to argue among themselves about who is the greatest amon
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17th Sunday after Pentecost - Sermon and Video: Words matter

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Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 2024 Pentecost 17          Isaiah 50:4-10        James 3:1-12          Mark 9:14-29   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.   Some of you may have heard that Pastor Martin Luther, esteemed Doctor of Scripture at Wittenberg University, has stated in print, that the Letter of James is as straw. He first wrote this in the 1522 Preface to the New Testament. His analogy has been taken out of context and from time to time it has taken on a life of its own. The 2009 Lutheran Study Bible has a useful introduction to the Epistle of James that also addresses the “straw” analogy. It says, “ The statements derive from Luther’s frustration with opponents who used James 2 to attack what Luther had learned about justification and sanctification while carefully studying the Epistles of Paul. ”  I do not wish to go much further with this except to say that Pastor Luther
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Sermon and Video for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Image address for James, writer of the Epistle Video for Service and Sermon at St. Luke, Rensselaer 2024 Pentecost 16 Isaiah 35:4-7a                 James 2:1-10, 14-18                           Mark 7:24-37   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.    “ Show no partiality ” James says. In other words, do not show favoritism for one person over another. The example he gives makes clear that James is not telling people to be polite. He is addressing an issue where one person, based on outward appearances, is elevated to a special status in the congregation while another is judged harshly and then treated in a dismissive manner.   I have no doubt that James is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As is clear from the other authors of Biblical books, the Holy Spirit uses the personal experiences and insights of the author to convey God’s point. So, why then does James focus on this sociological issu
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