Letters On The Page

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Fifth Sunday of Easter   Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60   1 Peter 2:2-10   John 14:1-14 Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. The Collect of the Day serves to move us from our Praise of God to our reception of the Living Word of God. The Collect prepares us to listen to God’s Word by collecting the general themes of the appointed Scriptures for the day. I was particularly struck by the request imbedded in the prayer: “ Grant that we may love what you have commanded and desire what you promise .”  God does command us to do and not do things. Commands are demands intended for obedience. God’s commands do not always come natural to us. They may very well chafe against our impulses and preferences. It requires personal discipline for courage and for restraint. God’s demands are for your b...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   The Fourth Sunday of Easter   Acts 2:42-47   1 Peter 2:19-25   John 10:1-10 Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  The Gospel reading today continues a conversation that began when, on a Sabbath day, Jesus healed a man born blind. Eventually, the Pharisees, the great self-appointed policemen of Sabbath keeping, got involved, because Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Chapter 9 contains an instructive conversation about who is truly blind and who really sees. But the conversation is about more than just about sight, blindness, and working on the Sabbath. It is also about hearing and obedience.  Before Jesus healed the man born blind, he responded to his disciples’ question about whose sin caused this man’s birth defect. Was it the man or his parents? Jesus says the man’s ...

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Wednesday after the third Sunday of Easter  Ezekiel 34:11-16   John 10:11-16  Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. The Hymn of the Day, 709 The King of Love My Shepherd Is, is not just a lovely paraphrase of Psalm 23. The author of the text, Henry W. Baker (1821-1877) artistically connects us with additional Bible stories his poetry. For example, verse 3: “Perverse and foolish often I strayed, but yet in love He sought me. And on His shoulder gently laid, and home rejoicing brought me.” He is connecting us with the beautiful imagery of the Parable of the Lost Sheep from Luke 15:3-7. Chapter 15 contains three parables that tell of something valuable that is lost and then found after much worry and concern. When found, the parable announces that there is great joy on earth and in ...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Third Sunday of Easter      Acts 2:14a, 36-41   1 Peter 1:17-25   Luke 24:13-35 Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen The walk away from Jerusalem to Emmaus is a different experience than the walk toward Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem, the disciples are excited, the people jubilant. On Palm Sunday, we heard that Jesus rode a borrowed donkey. The people lined the road. They threw their cloaks on the ground before Jesus. They held Palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna in the highest!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”   The people perceive that Jesus is a prophet of God, a healer. He is the Messiah, the Christ, who fulfills Zechariah 9:9. The Messiah comes to Jerusalem on a donkey. Hopes are high for the in-breaking of God’s reign. Finally, t...

Video of Divine Service for Wednesday of Easter 2 Wednesday of the Second Sunday of Easter Ezekiel 37:1-14 John 20:19-31 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. That is quite a question that Ezekiel is asked while standing before a valley filled with dry human bones. Ezekiel is a priest. He sacrificed animals at the temple in Jerusalem before being enslaved with the rest of the population in Jerusalem and Judah. Ezekiel knows the difference between life and death. He lives in an agrarian society. He is not insulated from the normal rhythm of birth, life, and death found in all species of life whether it is plants, animals, or humans.  When asked, “ Son of man, can these bones live? ” Ezekiel should have said, based on observation and experience, “No.” Instead, realizing who is asking the question, he displays a welcome expression of humility. ...

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Second Sunday of Easter      Acts 5:29-42   1 Peter 1:3-9   John 20:19-31 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia! O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. For a number of years, I followed the TV series NCIS. Some of you may be familiar with the show. I don’t know quite when it happened but the leader of the group, Jethro Gibbs, began to administer slaps to the back of the head to his team members when they said or did foolish things. In my recollection, the one team member who received the slap to the back of the head most often was Tony. Tony was indeed the one character in the show that consistently provided comedic relief in the midst of intense investigations and life or death situations.  As I talk about this, I should be clear that this is a fictitious television show and such behavior amongst ...