Sermon 7/20/2014 6th Sunday after Pentecost A

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo


What's the difference between the gospel and the Gospels? Comparing today's Gospel lesson from Matthew with our first reading from Wisdom of Solomon (not even in the Lutheran version of the Bible!) can help. Confusing? Probably. Worthwhile? I hope so.

As always, listen here or on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Sermon Audio 7/13/2014 5th Sunday after Pentecost A

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo MI

5th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A

Jesus tells the parable of the sower, with four kinds of ground into which the seed of God's Word might fall. If we are that ground, then I clearly see myself in one kind more than the others. Hint: it's not the good soil. Luckily for me, that's not the end of the story.

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. ²Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. ⁶But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹Let anyone with ears listen!’

18 ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. ²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. ²²As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’

Sermon Audio 7/6/2014 4th Sunday after Pentecost A

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

4th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A

Jesus' words today bring to mind the old saying, "You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't." Can I say that in a sermon? Based on the reactions I heard to this sermon, apparently I can, so long as that's not the content of my actual message. Law and gospel is the word today.


Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

¹⁶“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ ¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”


²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”