Strangely it is in Matthew’s Gospel, the 11th chapter that says, the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ I say strangely, because it is usually Luke that associates Jesus with sitting down and reclining at meals. And of […]
Sermons by PJ Mortenson
721 – 730 of 844 items
“Come Lord Jesus, be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.” Heads bowed, hands folded, eyes closed…dinner on the table…the family gathered all around. The smells of mom’s cooking on the table…I can smell it even now…. “If only,” I knew then, what I know now… According to Luke, inviting Jesus […]
Just so you know: this is “the second” of three healings on the Sabbath day – that are only recorded by Luke. These stories may have caught Luke’s attention and imagination (and not Mark, Matthew or John’s) because Luke himself was a physician. The first healing is a man with a withered hand. Then, “this […]
One of the things that I really truly appreciate about Jesus – is that he looked and saw what was happening around him. He was alerted to his conditions… He saw things that other people seemingly ignored. As a matter of fact, 138 times in the four different gospel traditions – Jesus – is reported […]
The great composer Beethoven used to sometimes play a trick on “polite salon audiences,” especially when he guessed they “weren’t really interested” in serious music at all. He would perform a piece on the piano, one of his own “slow movements” perhaps, which would be “so gentle and beautiful” that everyone would be lulled into […]
Luke 12. 49-56
Jesus has been hanging out in Galilee (where he is most comfortable) and now we find him traveling toward Jerusalem. Crowds continue to gather and grow wherever he goes…because, well, he’s a pretty cool guy. He’s been healing folks along the way. Demons are cast out. He’s even trending on Twitter. Hash-tag #Oneawesomedude! He even […]
Luke 12. 32-40
I have been reading articles on downsizing of late. It is something that has bothered me since Lent. It is something I am only recently taking seriously. We are savers. We are packrats. We are hoarders. We are collectors. We have our stuff. We put people who lived through the “great depression” to shame. I […]
Luke 12. 13-21
Another good – “Jesus story.” The “region” of a rich man brought forth plentifully. Understand this: it was “the region.” In other words, the production wasn’t because the rich man was such a great agriculturalist, but because it was a banner or bumper crop year in that locale. It was “the region” that produced, not […]
Luke 12. 13-21
Some say, “Capitalism is based on greed.” Economics 101 could not disagree more. When Paul buys meat from Joe-the-Butcher he does so “out of a belief” that the meat is more valuable to him – then what it is costing him to purchase it. So, Paul willingly exchanges his money for the meat. He is […]
Luke 11.1-11
In a lot of ways we can be like “little children.” We want what we want, when we want it. We will not take “no” for an answer. We dig in our heels. We can become very stubborn. That is, until we get what we want! “Are we there yet?” “I want that!” “Gimme that!” […]