Letters On The Page

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Fourth Sunday in Advent          Isaiah 7:10-17            Romans 1:1-7             Matthew 1:18-25 O Lord, your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. It is not unusual this time of year for there to be a focus on Mary, the mother of Jesus. Regardless of one’s theological tradition, we see from the biblical witness that Mary is an exemplar of faith. God, through his messenger Gabriel, asks Mary to do something that has never been asked before.  In full trust of God for her future, she says “yes” to bearing the Son of God.  While we appreciate Mary’s faith and her role in bringing Christ to us, I contend that what we learn of Joseph is equally important. I am gratefu...

  Video of Vespers, St. Luke, Rensselaer Third Wednesday in Advent               2 Samuel 11:1-12:23                         Matthew 1:1-17 O Lord, Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  In the season of Advent, we look for the Christ who is to come. Israel looked in hope for the coming Savior. The Church waits with hope for her Lord’s second coming.  As we wait, we ask, who is Jesus, really? The genealogy in Matthew explains that Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham is the patriarch of the faith with whom God established His covenant. The LORD promised Abraham descendants and land. David is King David, son of Jesse of Bethlehem, who as a young man killed the gian...

Rob Henderson. Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class. Gallery Books. 2024.  I first encountered Rob Henderson on Shilo Brooks' podcast OLD SCHOOL.  Their conversation focused around George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London led me to purchase and read Henderson's book. Since watching the OLD SCHOOL podcast I have learned that people are paying attention to Henderson's observations regarding "luxury beliefs" of the affluent that he first witnessed while at Yale for his undergraduate degree. In the book, Henderson discusses "luxury beliefs" and their impact on society. That is a chapter worthy of reflection in itself.  The reason that Henderson can observe these "luxury beliefs" with a critical eye is because of his personal story and the trajectory of his life thus far. As the subtitle indicates, this is a memoir. His biological abandoned his mother while she was pregnant. After Rob was born, his mother became ad...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   Third Sunday in Advent        Isaiah 35:1-10                        James 5:7-11              Matthew 11:2-15 O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. Last week, we heard the fiery, accusing, rhetoric of John the Baptist as he prepared the people and spiritual leaders for the coming Christ. He memorably declares that the spiritual leaders are a brood of vipers and that they are unworthy trees ripe for the axe and will soon be thrown into the fire unless they begin to bear fruit worthy of their repentance.  This week, we encounter a considerably less confident and strident John the Baptist who...

Video of Vespers - St. Luke, Rensselaer, IN     Second Wednesday in Advent             Ruth 1- 4          Matthew 1:1-11 Matthew 1 and Luke 3 are the two genealogies that we have of Jesus’ human ancestors. Only Matthew includes women. The five women listed with their husbands have a story attached to them. Anyone expecting Jesus to come from a pure and holy, or even, a Jewish only pedigree will be sorely disappointed. While Jesus has no sin himself, he has several scandalous skeletons in his ancestral closet.  Last week, we focused on Tamar and her experiences of hardship, treachery, and deception as it is described in Genesis 38. Tonight, we focus on Ruth the Gentile.  Naomi and her two daughters-in-law find themselves in a desperate situation. When Naomi’s husband died, she had the security of her two sons. Then they died. What can they do? Orpah did as Naomi in...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Second Sunday in Advent   Isaiah 11:1-10        Romans 15:4-13         Matthew 3:1-12 O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  In the 1990s and early 2000’s I often found myself in pastor meetings hearing about how to plant and grow a church.   ·        A clearly stated mission was important ·        Outreach into the community ·        Vibrant worship ·        Location for the church house The key words for the church building where the faithful will assemble are “assessable” and “visible.” The building needs to be visible from the road, a sign saying “Church – Enter Here, parking needs to be in front so pas...

       Vespers First Sunday in Advent   Advent 1 Wednesday – Genesis 38:1-26 – Matthew 1:1-6 O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  We have two genealogies of Jesus. Luke 3 and Matthew 1. They are not exact replicas of one another. For example, Luke lists only the fathers, starts with Jesus and then goes backwards to Adam. Matthew starts with Abraham ends with Jesus. What I want to focus on tonight and the next two Wednesday Vesper services is the five women that Matthew includes in his genealogy.  The Gospels are written so that people may hear the Good News of Jesus. The Gospel writers not only present the content of Jesus’ life, but they present it in a way in which people will hear what is being said. For example, when reading through the genealogies, a predictable pattern is given by which names are read. For e...

 

Fareed Zakaria. In Defense of a Liberal Education . W. W. Norton & Company, NY. 2015.  At a time when many question the value of education beyond high school. Zakaria offers an inspiring and informative defense of college or university education that is broad based. The true value of Liberal Education is that it teaches you to write more clearly, speak well in the sense of giving more precise verbal explanations and presentations, and teaches you how to learn.  Liberal education teaches the curious how to use that curiosity productively. Zakaria's background helps the reader understand the value of western liberal education. He was born and raised in India. He completed High School in India before entering Yale for College. In India as well as many other parts of the world, education focuses on memorization and test taking. Innovative thinking is discouraged. When he Zakaria entered Yale, he experienced first hand the benefit of learning to think for himself and to develop...