Bloghardt's Reflector

FOOOOOTBALLLLLLLL!

St. Luke 10:37 - Trinity 13 - 2010

In the name of Jesus. Amen. Dear Parents, I know you love your children. I can see by the clothes they wear, the iPods and phones they have, and how much time you give to them. They go from school to band to football to soccer. You take them everywhere and give them everything they need. Sometimes it seems that you have given up your lives for them, doesn't it? 

Christ. He literally gave up his life for you, me, our children, for all. He died for our sins and was raised so that we would stand before God, forever forgiven. That is the Christian Faith into which you and your children were baptized.

Holy Baptism. You were baptized into the faith of Jesus. Your whole life was washed, made clean, and forgiven by the Blood of Christ. Your children too.

St. Luke 19:29-48 - Trinity 10 - 2010

St. Mark Lutheran Church - August 8, 2010

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In the name of Jesus. Amen.  Messed up priorities.  Messed up ideas.  Messed up thoughts.  Messed up.

That’s us.  Twisted.  Jacked up.  Running to and fro after what we want.   Doing what we wanna do.  How we wanna do it.  

Jesus wants to save us.  He wants to save Jerusalem.   That’s what Jesus is all about - He’s about saving people from their sins. 

But Jerusalem would have none of it.  They are like we are - we have what we think is important, the way we want to go, what we think is right and wrong, what we feel, and we do that... 

And it just eats God up inside.   He mourns.  It’s unbelievable, but Almighty God weeps - especially when we don’t have a clue enough to care.

We do our own thing.  If we don’t get caught, it must not be a sin.  If others do it, it must be ok.  Who is righteous? Who is living right?  I’m just taking what’s mine.  Who cares anyway?

He does.  He knows.  He weeps.  Jesus weeps - for Jerusalem, for His church, for you and me.

St. Luke 16:1-13 - Trinity 9 - 2010
St. Mark Lutheran Church - August 1, 2010
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In the name of Jesus. Amen.  After midnight on Thursday, I was awoken by my youngest son, “Dad.... Dad, they took ‘our’ Sprite.”

The boys and I were at this Higher Things Retreat on the Frio River.  And everything was perfectly wonderful - good Lutheran worship, Gospel, and hymns.. then.. some kids from another cabin helped themselves to the boy’s Sprite our fridge.  

And when I didn’t react with the indignation that I was supposed to react with, my sons pushed the argument up a notch.  “Well.... They also took your.... Diet Coke.” 

And before that comment ignited an “They took Diet Coke?  Oh-it’s on now..” reaction from their Dad, it hit me like a rock right there at the Frio in the middle of the night - this is why we don’t get the parable of the Unjust Steward.

How much are we like children when we come to our mammon, our stuff.  It’s my stuff, my things, mine... Mine.. Mine.. Mine.. Mine.   My... not yours... It’s mine and you can’t have what’s mine.  

St. Luke 6:41-42 - Trinity 4 - 2010
St. Mark Lutheran Church - June 27, 2010
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 In the name of Jesus. Amen.   So let me get this straight.  We are walking around with these big giant planks in our eyes.  All the while, our brothers in Christ, have these itty-bitty specs in their eyes.

 Big plank.  Little speck.  The example requires a visual.  If your optometrist came out with this in front of their eyes, would you let them do surgery on you? Its simple eye surgery, you see.  I'll just take my tweezers here and help you out.  Hold on... Gimme a sec... Almost .. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

 Now you'd think with this in front your eyes you couldn't see a thing... but we claim to have 20-20 vision!  Talk about slap stick!  

 Now, even with the planks in our eyes, we look for our neighbor’s mistakes, their faults, their blemishes.  We magnify them.  We investigate for their sins, their gossip, their deep dark iniquity.  

 We don’t always rejoice in their failures, but sometimes we push ourselves up with them.  They are so bad, so at fault, so icky.  We’re not so bad, at least not as bad as them.

 Chief of sinners though I be, we sing, but we know them to be cheifer. I’m bad, I know I’m bad, but they are bader.  You see what that person did, if you only knew, you’d understand.