Service through Self - Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (Confirmation Sunday)

Service through Self

Pentecost 21B (Lectionary 29)/Confirmation Sunday

October 17, 2021

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

Mark 10.35-45

When I served congregations in Mankato and Waseca, I had the opportunity to belong to the local Rotary clubs. For those who don’t know, Rotary is a service organization similar to the Lions and Kiwanis. I joined Rotary to connect with other community leaders and to learn more about what was going on in our respective communities. I also resonated deeply with what Rotary stood for, such as the Four Way Test: Of the things we think, say, or do 1. Is it the truth? 2. Is it fair to all concerned? 3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships? 4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Much of the Four-Way Test culminated in Rotary’s motto, “Service above Self,” which was celebrated annually with a banquet bestowing awards on community individuals and organizations that embodied this value.

Service above self seems to be a value Jesus is promoting in our Gospel reading from Mark 10. In fact, “service about self” could be argued to originate from Jesus himself. Here, two of his followers, James and John, want positions of prestige and honor when Jesus comes into his glory (whatever that means). When the other 10 find out they are livid, probably because they didn’t think of it first. What is ironic about this request is that Jesus has just made his third and final passion prediction, telling them in vivid detail how much he is going to suffer through his arrest, trial, torture and crucifixion, with only a passing reference to his resurrection, or glory.

Like the previous two times Jesus makes this same prediction, they can’t help but misunderstand and saying something stupid. And just like the other two times, Jesus clarifies what it really means to follow him. Furthermore, like the other times, Jesus flips their world around by saying that true greatness is found in serving others. In case they still don’t get it, he finishes up by saying that’s what his mission is all about: serving. The implication is clear: as Jesus serves by giving his life for others, so do they as his followers. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.” (BTW, no matter how obtuse the disciples are, Jesus still patiently teaches them and they still follow him, a good lesson for all of us.)

You may not be aware that each Confirmand here today wrote a Faith Statement Paper and had to endure a half hour interview with me. These young people wrote amazing, faith-filled papers that would bring tears to your eyes as they did mine. During the interview, I asked them all what they wanted to do at this point in their lives, what kind of vocation they seem to have. They all gave terrific answers. But I then challenged them to think deeply about how they will serve God and neighbor throughout their callings, because that’s what God calls each of us to do. 

(Another by the way: I also asked them if they considered being a pastor, but nobody did, some quite emphatically. I didn’t at that age either, and would have been just as emphatic. I told them it was my job to identify young people who might be thinking about ordained ministry and encourage them in that idea. But it is also your job as a congregation to encourage young people you think have the gifts for ministry. )

In all seriousness, I want to address the Confirmands, reminding them what they are about to do here today:

In our time together, I reminded you that you are going to say “Yes'' to what your parents did for you at your baptisms. They started you on this journey of faith of following Jesus, and you agreed that you were going to continue on that journey. What we didn’t talk about much is that you do not belong to yourself in the same way any more. Yes, you still belong to God in a way that will never change. But as such you belong to all of these others behind you, not to mention the world. You are not your own.

But the good news is that they also belong to you, which is great because following Jesus is one of the hardest things you’ll do. They’ll be here to help pick up the pieces when life goes sideways and you’ll be there for them for the same reason. Serving above self is a great ideal, borrowed from Jesus, but it’s more accurate to say service through self because it is God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit who makes this hard work even possible. Confirmands: know that God has set you aside for good works and gives you the strength to do it. You are blessed to be a blessing. Go in God’s peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

For the video version of this sermon, click here.

With an Open Hand - Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

With an Open Hand

Pentecost 20B (Lectionary 28)

October 10, 2021

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

Mark 10.17-31

In 2016, about five and a half years ago I took a sabbatical, my first in 20 years of ordained ministry. It was a wonderful gift of time and reflection. A major portion of the sabbatical was a Quiet Retreat (not totally silent) at the former Holy Spirit Retreat Center north of Janesville, run by the Sisters of St. Francis order based in Rochester. When I arrived, I was greeted by Sr. Monique, who greeted me by name. When I asked how she knew me, I learned quickly I was the only male attendee. I almost turned around and left, but I'm glad I didn’t. I was able to read, sleep, meditate, work with a spiritual director and take long walks.

One day as I prepared to take a walk, I made sure I had my wallet and cell phone before leaving. As I did so, I wondered why taking those was so important. Was I afraid the nuns would steal them? I didn’t need them; why was I so attached to them? So, I began leaving them behind, reflecting on how my possessions often end up possessing me and wondering where the fear came from. So likewise, today I’m inviting you into a spiritual practice, “With an Open Hand.” You should know there are other names for this practice, and you should also know that we will be traveling through some territory that may be uncomfortable for you. That’s okay; participate as you are able. If you need to take a break, sit quietly until we’re finished.

The difficult territory we are traveling through is our Gospel reading from Mark chapter 10, the story of a wealthy man who comes to Jesus wondering about eternal life. There’s a lot we don’t know about why the man comes to Jesus. Maybe he truly wants to know if there is anything he can do to merit God’s grace. Maybe he’s a seeker. Or maybe he is smug about his destiny and simply wants an “atta boy” from Jesus. There is much to be discussed here that we don’t have time for today, but what I want to focus on is how our relationship with our possessions affects our relationship to God and each other.

So, like my phone and wallet, I think that there are things we all hold so tightly it affects our functioning. There’s a story that says indigenous peoples trap monkeys by placing food in a hollow coconut tied to a tree, with a hole just big enough for a monkey’s hand, but not for its fist. All the monkey needs to do to be free is simply open its hand, but the monkey refuses to do so, even if it means saving its life. So, here’s the uncomfortable part: what are you holding onto with a clenched fist that’s trapping you and keeping you from the life God wants for you?

It could be possessions that are possessing you. One of my colleagues told me of a former neighbor who bought a very expensive car for his daughter who had just gotten her drivers license. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sleep because he worried she’d be car-jacked. It also could be anger at something that happened to you, a grievance you have against someone or suffering you have endured. As a congregation, it may be something that holds you back and keeps you from moving into the future. In this spiritual practice of “With an Open Hand,” I’m not suggesting that you “Let go and let God,” nor am I saying that you need to “Give it to God.” Those may be helpful practices for you. What I am suggesting is that you open your hand and hold whatever it is lightly. In other words, you acknowledge the item is yours, but that no longer has power over you.

We are able to do this because we have a God who opens his hand with his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus willingly opened himself through love, just as he loved that rich man, so we might have life abundant, not just at some future time but today. If you are willing, I’d like you to close your eyes and think of one thing that you are holding onto that is keeping you stuck. When you have thought of it, tightly clench it in one fist.  As I pray, slowly open your hand and hold that item lightly, acknowledging it but knowing that it has no power over you any longer. God loves you and opens his hand so that you may live because with God all things are possible. 

Good and gracious God, giver of all good things: help us open our hands when our fists are clenched tightly around the things that keep us from the life you intend for us. Free us from the tyranny of being possessed by our possessions. Loosen our fingers so that we may hold those things lightly, acknowledging they are a part of us but no longer control us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

For the video version of today's sermon click here.

The Heart of the Matter - Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The Heart of the Matter

Pentecost 19B (Lectionary 27)

October 3, 2021

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

Mark 10.2-16

If you want to boil a live frog, do you know how to do it? You don’t just heat up water and toss the frog in because the frog would immediately jump out. Rather, you put the frog in room temperature water and slowly turn up the heat. By the time the frog realizes what’s happening, it’s too late and the frog is done for. I don’t know if this is really true, but it does express a truth about what can happen in a relationship. That’s why I use this analogy when I’m working with couples preparing for marriage. If you’re not careful, your hearts harden a little bit over a period of time until it’s too late.

We have another of those texts that include “things I wish Jesus never would have said.” For those who have gone through the pain of divorce or watched our loved ones go through it, and for those who were brave enough to try again, these words are salt in old, yet still fresh wounds. To be up front about this, I don’t think God intends for us to be in abusive or life-sucking relationships. It seems clear that sometimes divorce is the best of not very good options. And in my experience, couples can find grace in trying again.

So, what do we do with this text? First, we have to acknowledge that Jesus was dealing with a real problem in his time. There was a strong disagreement about divorce, who should get them, and how easily they could be gotten. There were two schools of thought within the Pharisees, the religious leaders who came to Jesus. One faction believed divorce should only be done in extreme cases and the other faction believed that men could divorce their wives for any reason, as little as burning the breakfast toast. Second, we have to realize that the Pharisees were more interested in trapping Jesus and making him choose between one side so the other side could attack him.

In response, Jesus makes two moves. First, he appeals to the lawgiver himself, Moses, and tells them that in expounding the Law Moses only granted divorce because of their ancestors’ hard hearts. Second, he takes them back before the Law was given to Moses, back to the very beginning of creation to illustrate God’s intention that humanity be in mutual, life-giving relationships. So, whereas the Pharisees are only interested in what they can legally get by with, Jesus is more interested in how we treat each other, particularly the vulnerable, such as women and children.

In other words, this text is about relationships and what kind of community we are going to be. Africans have the word ubuntu, which can be loosely translated, “I am because we are.” It’s all about community. The reality is that we are not a community of the strong or the perfect or “rugged individuals.” We are a community that welcomes the vulnerable, the broken, and those on the margins who seek a place of loving, healing relationships. As Martin Luther noted, the church is a hospital for the sick, not the well. And in being such a place, we bring that loving and healing into the world.

Marriage is one of the most important relationships we have; it is not to be treated lightly. And we must do all we can to support people in their marriages. But it’s not the only relationship we have and in order to preserve all of our relationships we must watch out for hard hearts. I tell couples they need to pay attention to their hearts, that the work of marriage is keeping hearts soft. That’s a good reminder in all our relationships and is the heart of the matter for today. God’s intention is that through God’s love in Jesus crucified and risen that we experience healing and share it, too. Know that you are beloved children, wrapped in the arms of Jesus, and blessed to be a blessing. Amen.

For the video version of today's sermon click here.

Cut It Out! - Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

 Cut It Out!

Pentecost 18B (Lectionary 26)

September 26, 2021

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

Mark 9.38-50

Last week, we reminded ourselves that we are on a journey with Jesus, just like the disciples are. Just as they were on the way to Jerusalem where Jesus will be betrayed, tried, crucified and resurrected, and Jesus was teaching them the way of discipleship, so have we been learning the way of Jesus. Jesus’ words these last few weeks, this week, and the weeks to come will continue to push our limits of ability to hear, like the disciples, because we are reminded that the way of Jesus is hard, which should not be surprising to us.

Also last week, we discovered that Jesus wants us to pay attention to voices that we might ordinarily miss or ignore. He uses the example of a child, reminding us to look for guidance at the margins of life. In a similar vein, in today’s Gospel reading Jesus reminds his followers, and us, to not be so arrogant as to believe that God can only work through us. He reminds us that we don’t somehow have it all figured out, that we are not the only bearers of truth. God can and does use other Christians, people of other faiths, and even those of no faith

But it’s the passage about cutting off body parts and going into hell that I’ve been pondering this week. Before I get to that, I want to say a little bit about Jesus’ use of hell and the other disturbing images in today’s reading. Long story short, nowhere in the Old Testament does it talk about hell, especially as a place of eternal torment. The term sheol actually refers to the place of the dead; that’s it. Those images of hell as a place of eternal punishment came into existence in the intertestamental period, the time between the Old and New Testaments, and got picked up by those religious leaders that Jesus has such a problem with, the Pharisees. More importantly, it’s important to know that a vast majority of the early church fathers denied this new doctrine. Rather, they favored universal salvation. However, like the Pharisees, the doctrine of hell as eternal torment was used by church leaders who wanted to control parishioners and used the threat of hell to do so.

So, why is Jesus using this language? I believe it’s to get our attention and say, “This is serious stuff.” And, if I may be a bit crass, Jesus is saying in today’s lesson, “Cut it out!” But, I’d like to go deeper into the text and play with the image of being maimed, cutting off body parts. To cut to the chase, if we took this text literally and were to cut off a body part every time we caused someone to stumble, we wouldn’t be able to walk, feed ourselves or see where we were going, among other things.

What do we do? The reality is that we need to recognize we are all spiritually maimed because, in fact, we cause others to stumble, but what we do and what we fail to do. We are walking wounded, having damaged ourselves as much as we have damaged others, even though we may look whole on the outside. When I was a young store manager I fired one of my sales ladies, Nadine, because I found she’d lied on her application. I used it as an excuse to do what I didn’t have the guts to do otherwise because I hadn’t been satisfied with her work. Though I was well within my rights to let her go, it was not the right thing to do, and certainly not a good witness for Christ. I’ve carried that wound with me for over 40 years and wish I could go back and change it. Maybe you have similar regrets.

Where does that leave us? Is there any good news? It’s helpful to me to remember that even Jesus enters heaven maimed. After the resurrection, when Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room, he still has the scars of the crucifixion on his hands, feet, and side. So, through Jesus Christ and his grace, our scars are being redeemed and can be used for healing. I can’t go back and fix what I did to Nadine, but I can do better. Since then, whenever I’ve had to let someone go, I’ve made sure I’ve done everything in my power to help that person succeed and that letting them go is a last resort. But, I’m not the hero in this story; Jesus crucified and risen is.

The cup of water we can offer our thirsty world comes from a well of suffering, both ours and God’s. We who follow the way of Jesus know what it’s like to be thirsty, to find refreshment in God’s love and share that love with others. This is serious and important business, which is why Jesus tries to get our attention in these teachings. Jesus invites us to look around, perhaps find those who are already doing this work and join in with them. God be with you, fellow wounded healers on the road in this life as you bring refreshment to a thirsty, hurting world. Amen.

For the video version of the sermon click here.

Childlike Hospitality - Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Childlike Hospitality

Pentecost 17B (Lectionary 25)

September 19, 2021

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

Mark 9.30-37

In the first five years of my life we lived in St. Louis Park, west suburban Minneapolis, and we became friends with the Fleming family. It was easy because our moms were stay-at-home, they lived two doors down from us, and we had children of similar ages. Although we would move to South Minneapolis. and eventually suburban Richfield, and they would move to suburban Hopkins, we stayed in touch with them, getting together once or twice a year, often at Thanksgiving time. When we ate together, since there were 13 of us, there was an “adult table” and “children’s table.” As you can imagine, those children at the children’s table longed for the day when they’d be promoted to the adult table.

The status of children is at the heart of Jesus’ lesson on discipleship in the Gospel reading today. We have been traveling with Jesus and his followers on the road to Jerusalem and as he goes to meet his betrayal, crucifixion, death and resurrection, he has been teaching them the way of Jesus. If you’ve been on that journey with us, you know that they have been baffled by Jesus’ words. As New Testament scholar C. Clifton Black says, “They are so dense that light bends around them.” Unable to fathom Jesus’ predictions about his mission, they prefer arguing among themselves to asking questions of Jesus.

What are they arguing about? Greatness. We don’t know precisely what they were arguing about. Perhaps who was Jesus’ favorite and right hand man or, perish the thought, who was going to take over when Jesus dies. Now, this is not unusual for 1st century Middle Eastern men, as status was everything for them. But, what we do know is that Jesus takes the opportunity to tell them what true greatness is about. And here Jesus does one of those topsy-turvy, stand expectations on their head kind of thing. He says that true greatness comes from serving others.

To make his point, he puts a child in their midst and says they need to welcome others like this child. Now, similar to relegating children to their own lower dinner table, but far more extreme, children had no status in Jesus’ time, not until they became adults at age 13. Children were little more than property and weren’t to be seen or heard. Jesus is inviting his followers to look around at those people who don’t have any status or standing, those at the margins of society that no one takes seriously, those who appear disposable. Who are they? Jesus frequently mentions tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes, and lepers, among others, as worthy of attention.

In Canoeing the Mountain, Tod Bolsinger uses the Lewis & Clark Expedition to find a Northwest Passage as a framework for understanding the challenges facing the church today. Lewis & Clark believed they could canoe their way to the Pacific Ocean. That is, until they hit the mountains. They had no expertise for the way ahead and everything they thought they knew was useless. So, they did something unheard of: they listened to a voice at the margins, a young Native American mother named Sacagawea, who helped them find a new way forward into uncharted territory.

This week Good Shepherd has officially entered the interim period as you prepare for the calling of your next pastor and that work, along with pandemic recovery, may prompt some “Make Good Shepherd Great Again” feelings. But, as we walk this road together, Jesus invites us to remember the measure of true greatness is not in how many people are in attendance or how much people are giving, though those two things are important. Rather, true greatness is measured by how we share with others, how we care for others, how we love others and how we serve others, as well as how well we pay attention to those others that we may be missing from our table.

The lesson of the children’s table, the child in the midst of the disciples, and Sacagawea remind us that there are voices at the margin that are missing from the table and need to be included as we move forward. I am excited about the possibilities that face Good Shepherd and the work we will be sharing. We may not know the way forward, but we do know that the One who walked with those first bumbling, clueless followers also continues to walk with us, prodding us to service, strengthening us to do it, and forgiving us when we fall short. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Let’s Go! … Oozing Love - Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Let’s Go! … Oozing Love

Pentecost 12B (Lectionary 20)

August 15, 2021

Grace, Waseca, MN

John 6.51-58

“… and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (Jesus, in John 6.51b)

“You are what you eat.” (Popularized by Victor Lindlahr)

On a recent episode of Science Friday, host Ira Plato talked to Sarah Everts, researcher and author of The Joy of Sweat. She talked about what makes sweat useful, it’s chemistry, and why it’s our evolutionary superpower. Then Everts told a story of a woman whose sweat was red and, if that was not disconcerting enough, it was ruining her clothing. The doctors ran many tests, but couldn’t figure out why her sweat was red until one day they noticed her brownish-red fingers, like a roll-your-own smoker. Except she didn’t use tobacco in any form. To make a long story short, the woman was consuming 45 bags of tomato snack chips per week and that’s why her sweat was red. I hope they were small bags. Can you imagine?

If we are what we eat, then what does it mean that Jesus’ flesh is for the life of the world? Today’s Gospel is the fourth of five texts reflecting on Jesus as the Bread of Life in John 6. Three weeks ago, in the story of the feeding of the 5,000, we discovered that the shape of Holy Communion was hinted at there, summed by the letters BBBS: Bring, Bless, Break, and Share. Last week we reflected on how Jesus as the Bread of Life gives us what we need for our wilderness times and, because we are the Body of Christ, enables us to be the Bread of Life for others going through difficult times as well.

In today’s text, what was hinted at about Holy Communion comes full bore as Jesus becomes more explicit and, dare I say, graphic. The Word who became flesh in John 1.14 now shockingly gives his flesh and blood to eat. It’s easier to see in the Greek, but this is no ordinary eating; this is chewing or munching. As we’ll see more pointedly next week, this is “tough to swallow” (as Eugene Peterson says in The Message). And, if you like puns, Jesus is trying to get a rise out of the Jewish authorities, but they can’t stomach this and are getting fed up, if not sick.

There has been a lot of ink spilled over what happens in Holy Communion, what kind of presence Jesus talks about. As Lutheran Christians, we insist that we consume Jesus, just as he claimed, without explaining it. When Jesus says “This is my body, this is my blood,” we believe that “is” means is. Bottom line: that means that Jesus goes to every part of our body, every molecule and atom. And at the risk of being just as graphic as Jesus, comes out through our very pores. In all that we think, say, or do we ooze the love of God through Jesus for the sake of the world.

Today is my last Sunday as your Interim Senior Pastor and besides thanking you for the opportunity to walk with you these past two years, I want to share with you some of my observations about God’s call on you. First, God has gifted you with tremendous staff and lay leadership; a beautiful worship space and physical plant; an endowment fund to meet community and individual needs; a childcare center, Grace Garden, that is respected throughout the community; and dedicated volunteers such as Ward Ask and Randy Bennet who guide the mission to Pine Ridge and the quilters who send more than 300 quilts each year all over the world. Even more so, God has given you a desire for reaching out into the Waseca community in a meaningful way, as yet discovered, and you are looking for a leader to guide you.

I’ve learned that both this congregation and the Waseca community is resilient and continually comes together to meet difficulties and traumatic events, and that Grace is often at the forefront. I’m confident that you will weather the storm of the pandemic with the same resiliency and become stronger for it. Furthermore, I suspect that because the school system is such a central component in Waseca you will build upon your long standing relationship with them and find new ways to be partners. Even so, I hope you will discern a way to address the significant mental health needs that are arising because of the pandemic.

Finally, I would like you to remember that the hard work of the Discovery Team, Call Committee and Church Council to call your next senior pastor is not the end, but rather a new chapter in God’s mission and ministry through Grace. So, please look deeply at the new mission statement, vision statement, and core values and then live them out while living into them. And remember that you are beloved children of God because you are what you eat, the very flesh and blood of the One who gives himself for you, for the sake of the world. So, Go!, oozing love. Amen.

For the video version and entire worship service click here.

Let’s Go! … In the Strength of This Food - Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Let’s Go! … In the Strength of This Food

Pentecost 11B (Lect. 18)

August 8, 2021

Grace, Waseca, MN

John 6.35, 41-51; 1 Kings 19.4-8

One Sunday after worship, Terri approached me and said, “I just want you to know how much my son, George, appreciates your sermons.” Her son, a high school teen, had been serving on the AV team the past several Sundays and, I might add, had been held captive to my sermonizing. I don’t know what I said that day, probably mumbling words of gratitude. But what I do remember is that I was going through a rough patch in my ministry at that time, which Terri couldn’t possibly have known. And I distinctly remember thinking that I would go “in the strength of that food 40 days and nights into the wilderness.”

Now, I’m not presumptuous to compare myself to the prophet Elijah in our reading from 1 Kings 19 today. This snippet doesn’t do this wonderful story justice, of a prophet who, with the power of God, does some amazing work only to run in fear of his life from the wicked Queen Jezebel. Yes, that Queen Jezebel. (This is a perfect example of the old adage, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Exhausted and out of gas in the wilderness, he collapses under a broom tree wanting to die. (By the way, it was pointed out by Dr. Rolf Jacobson, professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary, that those in the Old Testament who askGod to die aren’t allowed. I might add that God always has more for them to do, perhaps giving pause to those who claim they’ve done enough in the church and that it’s someone else’s turn.) Well, an angel appears to Elijah twice to give him bread to eat, strengthening him for God’s mission ahead. I encourage you to read the whole story, beginning in 1 Kings 17 and ending in chapter 20.

Being in the wilderness is typically not a choice for us; we find it disorienting and uncertain. We have been in one of the most disorienting wildernesses of our lives for the past year and a half caused by the pandemic. In the midst of this awful time there are added personal and social wildernesses: job changes; the death of loved ones to whom we have not said adequate goodbyes; political upheavals; and even increased divorces and addictions. None of these are of our choosing. And if that weren’t enough, here at Grace, we’ve had the wilderness of transitioning from one senior pastor to another.

Without diminishing the seriousness of these wildernesses, our texts today suggest these can be places of possibility. On the one hand, we can acknowledge that we don’t know what’s next and that is disorienting. Yet, on the other hand, we know that these are places where God shows up and meets us in the midst of our need. This is hard, because we aren’t comfortable in the wilderness and we want to rush through to the other side. But what if we were to sit for a bit, rest for a while, take a breath and look for where God’s angels come?

If that sounds simplistic, Jesus’ declaration and promise bolster us. He says, “I am the Bread of Life.” In those words, Jesus focuses the story of Elijah’s strengthening for 40 days and nights as well as that of the Israelites who were provided manna every day for 40 years on the way to the Promised Land. In the giving of himself as the Bread of Life, Jesus establishes a relationship with us, one that promises he will sustain us so that we can go “in the strength of that food” into our wildernesses of daily life.

Yet, there’s more, because there’s always more with God. We not only get strengthened for our journeys in the wilderness, we also help strengthen others in their journeys. You see, Jesus as the Bread of Life feeds and then we, as the Body of Christ, feed others with ourselves. Although Terri didn’t know it, she was the Bread of Life to me that Sunday. Wherever you are today, know that Jesus as the Bread of Life meets you and feeds you, not only to sustain you on your journey but also to sustain others in our hungry, thirsty world. So, let’s go in the strength of that food! Amen.

For the video version of the sermon click here.