St. Luke's Blogs

As we begin our summer sermon series: “St. Luke’s on Broadway,” I sense a growing excitement among us. I love the anticipation: How will Dr. Long bring the gospel message alive each week through a musical? What incredible music will we hear and sing?  What Broadway star will be singing?  Who can I invite to share the beauty of summer worship at St. Luke’s?

As I watched Mamma Mia, the movie offers powerful storytelling, with all the emotions one would expect. Throughout, I found myself saying: “Oh, that will preach!”  The message that spoke to me was the message of unconditional love.  Throughout we are reminded that love knows no bounds.  From the bonds between family members to the friendships formed, this musical reminds us of the power of love to heal, forgive, and reconcile…

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.” – Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Every day we are being influenced by our surroundings. There are messages all around us that influence how we think and how we behave.  TV, radio, newspapers, social media, blogs, and watercooler talk are just a few examples of the influences that are present and influencing our judgements and beliefs. 

This is not a new phenomenon. Although technology did not exist several thousand years ago, people still shared stories that influenced those around them…

My family recently spent some vacation time on the beach. The weather was beautiful. We enjoyed the white sandy shores and the crashing waves. Our daughters created sand castles, swam in the ocean, got stung by a jellyfish, and we spent time looking for sea shells. It was a beautiful time away and a wonderful experience enjoying some of God’s great creation.

Each time my daughters found a shell that they thought was a keeper, they would bring it over to my wife and myself. The shells came in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Some were beautiful, complete shells, while many of the shells my daughters found were broken. They were only pieces of shells. That did not matter to them…

I love the Moses stories we are examining in this series of sermons called, “Let My People Go.” There are many lessons to be learned from the prophet, Moses.  He was a Hebrew baby pulled from the Nile and adopted by pharaoh’s daughter.  He grew up in the palace of pharaoh.  When he reaches the age of 40, his life changes when he kills one of the Egyptian guards who Moses saw mistreating a Hebrew slave.  Now, he must flee and leave this life of luxury.  He becomes a sheep herder in the wilderness.  It is there that Moses encounters God in the burning bush in Exodus 3.  When God calls to Moses to come closer, he admonishes him and says, “Take off your sandals for the place you are standing is holy ground.”       

What is holy ground? 

Recently, my family and I took a quick trip to Southwest Oklahoma to visit our favorite fishing holes.  Located in the National Wildlife Refuge, we enjoy this place for so many reasons. It is a beautiful place within the Wichita Mountains. I personally think it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. This place is home for me.

As we drove into the mountains, we lost our cell phone signal. The lake we fish at is even further into the Refuge. Once you arrive, you have no digital distraction, only the beauty that surrounds you. We fished, we fought off a snake or two, and we had a blessed time in the beauty of God’s creation.

When we take time to look around, we can see the wonder and splendor that God has created.  Folliot Pierpoint experienced much of the same thing, only he lived long before the time of cell phones…

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you this day, with all your heart and with all your soul; then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will fetch you; and the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, that you may possess it; and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And the Lord your God will put all these curses upon your foes and enemies who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord, and keep all his commandments which I command you this day. The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground; for the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

“How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yea, faints
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at thy altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in thy house,
    ever singing thy praise!”

Our faith calls us to love, to love God and to love one another. Christians have the great privilege to love. It is a high calling. It is a difficult calling. Luke records the expanse of love, to which we are called, when he shares these challenging words of Jesus in Luke, chapter 6.

When I read the words, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” I cannot help but think of the life and work of Corrie Ten Boom. The life and faith of Corrie Ten Boom has been a blessing to so many people around the world. Corrie Ten Boom was living with her family in Haarlem, Netherlands when the German army invaded in 1940. During the German occupation the Ten Boom family worked to help hide and smuggle Jews to free and liberated areas. Because of their efforts to protect and save so many from certain death, they were themselves arrested, imprisoned, and later sent to concentration camps…

“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” – Leviticus 19:34

From the beginning, God was working with humanity to create a community of love, justice, and mercy. Repeatedly, the stories of both testaments teach us to show respect for others and treat one another with kindness. God use Moses to deliver the people from slavery in Egypt to new life in the promise land. While on the long journey to the new land, God gives the people the law. This law was not simply a list of dos and don’ts. The law that Moses offers the people is their new freedom and the structure by which God’s love would be lived out amongst God’s people.

One such scripture appears in the book of Leviticus…

“The Lord bless you and keep you:
The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.” -Numbers 6:24-26

Found in the book of Numbers is a priestly blessing that God shares with Moses. God commands Moses to tell Aaron and his sons that this is how they are to bless the Israelites. This blessing reminds God’s people that God is present. God’s people are not alone. They are blessed by God’s presence and by the work that God will do among them. From the time of Moses to today, this blessing is often spoken among God’s people.

The most current setting that I experience the sharing of this scripture is with the youth group at St. Luke’s. I love hearing this blessing being shared in our youth group…