Sermons by Rev. Jason S. Glombicki (Page 7)

I need to confess that I don’t like today’s parable. It’s been a thorn in my side all week, and you’re probably getting the fourth rewrite of this sermon, but honestly, I stopped counting on Friday, so I don’t know. What makes me most uncomfortable is that I cannot seem to find the “gospel.” And when I say “gospel” I mean it in the Lutheran sense–the good news, that reminder of God’s grace, the recounting of God’s love, the thing that picks me up when the world kicks me down.  Instead, this parable has a lot of fire and brimstone, a lot of talk about an afterlife, and it is based on the actions of the rich man and Lazarus…

In today’s gospel, we heard the Pharisees complaining about Jesus’s leadership style. Remember, the Pharisees were religious leaders that had devoted themselves to a literal, conservative, and unchanging view of the Jewish Laws. They worked to follow over 600 Jewish laws, and these laws shaped their understanding of God and the world. From their perspective, they were doing God’s work by following these rules. So, when Jesus started fraternizing with those who didn’t follow these Jewish laws, they did what self-righteous religious people often do, they grumble…

The Jesus in today’s gospel is not my favorite. When I first read the text, I thought I should have stayed on sabbatical one more week and given this to Pastor Tom. Nevertheless, Jesus’ discussion of discipleship really struck a chord with me. It made the whole discipleship thing sound scary, intense, and it was off-putting…