Pentecost 3, Year C (2025)

I Kings 19: 15–16, 19–21 / Psalm 16 / Galatians 5: 1, 13–25 / Luke 9: 51–62

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, June 29, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“LIFE PASSAGES & GOD’S CALL”

(Homily texts:  I Kings 19: 15–16, 19–21, Galatians 5: 1, 13–25 & Luke 9: 51–62)

As we make our way through life, we will encounter a number of passages, each of which have the ability to change us in ways that make us different from the ways we were before we transitioned to a new chapter or way of being.

For example: Think about graduation from school, or perhaps moving to a new home or to a new community. How about getting married, or becoming a parent? Or, how about joining the military, or acquiring a new skill (and along with those new abilities, a new job)?

Life is full of such things, and others.

Three Scripture readings, appointed for this Sunday, each have to do with changes, life changes. They are well-suited to that common theme.

We should begin with the prophet Elisha’s call. We read in I Kings 19 that the prophet Elijah came by Elisha and cast his mantle over him. Elijah asks, “…do you know what I have done to you?”. In response, Elisha seems to understand the significance of Elijah’s actions, goes to his family and bids them farewell. Then, he sacrifices the oxen with which he had been plowing, signifying his farewell to his former life. After that, his life changes as be assists Elijah, and then – in time - succeeds him in God’s work.

Next, let’s look at our Gospel passage.

In Luke 9:51, we hear that Jesus now sets His face to go to Jerusalem. (In Luke’s account, this is a turning point, for – from this point forward – all of Luke’s narrative will have to do with Jesus’ determination to fulfill God’s call and God’s purpose in His coming to take up our humanity.)

Jesus’ determination to go to Jerusalem is seen in His determination to go directly through Samaria. Remember that, in that day and time, most devout Jews would avoid Samaria entirely if they had to go from Galilee, in the north, to Jerusalem in the south…they would either go out of their way and go east, down to the Jordan valley, and then back up the hill westward to Jerusalem, or they would make their way west along the coast and then back inland again to Jerusalem.

But Jesus makes His way directly through this area. He seems determined to make His way to the Holy City, to fulfill God’s call and purpose.

Perhaps the Samaritans sense His determination in their seeming unwillingness to offer Him a welcome.

Then, three encounters with unnamed persons take place along the way. The first one says, “I will follow you wherever you go”, to which the Lord replies, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”. Then, another comes, and the Lord says, “Follow me”. But the person says, “Lord, let me first go and bury by father.” The Lord’s response might be difficult to understand, for He says, “Let the dead bury their dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God”. Still another says, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home”. In response, Jesus says, “No one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”. (Notice the parallels to the Elijah and Elisha account in I Kings.)

In each of these three encounters, the unifying theme is one of utter and complete devotion to God’s call to work for the advancement of the kingdom. Just as Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, and the actions He will take to usher in this new kingdom unfold, tell us that He is responding to God’s call and purpose on His life, requiring His complete and total obedience to that call, so does the dedication to that same call resonate in the back-and-forth between the Lord and these three persons who were encountered on the road to Jerusalem.

Now, these considerations bring us to St. Paul’s letter to the churches in the region of Galatia.

Much of the letter to the Galatians has to do with the incursions of unnamed persons[1] who were demanding that converts to Christianity had to obey all the requirements of the Law of Moses (Torah). By doing so, they were undercutting much of Paul’s ministry and his conviction that the requirements of Torah had been largely done away with, by the coming of Jesus Christ and His saving death.

Now, in chapter five of his letter, Paul describes the life passage that coming to faith in Christ represents.

He lays out a list of various vices that characterize the behaviors of those who do not know the Lord and who do not live according to the ways in which God’s people are called to live. In short, the list we read of these various behaviors and attitudes is a summary of the way of life of many in the Greco-Roman world of the first century.

Paul compares this pagan behavior with the ways of Christ, the desires of God, and the markers by which the Church ought to be known.

I think, at this point, it’s worth noting that Paul isn’t saying that, because the Law of Moses has been superseded, that it’s OK to do whatever we might want to do. No, instead, his is a call to uprightness of belief, proper conduct for believers and utmost devotion to the example set for us by Christ.

What a life change that coming to faith in Christ represents! What a life passage that faith brings with it, closing the door to our former life and the ways in which we used to live before becoming Christ’s own.

God’s call to work for the betterment and the growth of the kingdom of God is ongoing. God’s call comes in various forms, and at various times throughout life.

May we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, discern God’s call and respond to it, embracing the changes that are bound to be a part of such an invitation.

AMEN.

 

 

 

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[1]   These persons are often called Judaizers. 

Pentecost 2, Year C (2025)

Isaiah 65: 1–9 / Psalm 22: 19–28 / Galatians 3: 23–29 / Luke 8: 26–39

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, June 22, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“ENTANGLED”

(Homily text: Luke 8: 26–39)

Into every life, some tangles are bound to occur: You get ready to remove your shoes, and as you untie the laces, they wind themselves into a tangle, often with a tight knot, just for an added challenge. Or, you finish using an extension cord, and carefully wind it up so you can put it on the hook in the garage, and sure enough, the next time to take it down to use it, it presents you with a tangle that requires removal.

This morning’s Gospel text presents us with the specter of a man who’s entangled: He’s become the host for a large number of demonic spirits, Luke tells us. [1]

His entanglement is so severe that he can’t be controlled. He cannot live among others, and is so deranged that he lives among the tombs.

In short, his predicament has destroyed any relationship he had had formerly with his family or with the members of the community he had lived in. It’s also worth noting that there was no possibility of a relationship with God, either.

Into this situation, Jesus comes, having crossed the Sea of Galilee with His disciples. He has now entered Gentile territory, on the east side of the lake. [2]

As the Lord encounters the man, the demonic spirits engage in negotiation with the Lord. Eventually, they are given permission to leave the man and enter a herd of pigs nearby. The pigs, having received these evil spirits, rush headlong into the water and are drowned. [3]

The man, now delivered from his tangled circumstances, is now in his right mind, Luke tells us, sitting clothed and behaving normally. He begs Jesus to allow him to become a follower. Instead of granting this request, the Lord tells him to go and relate what great things God has done for him.

This encounter reveals the markers of God at work in the person and the actions of the Lord. Specifically, these markers are ones which create, which re-create, and – in this instance – also restore.

Human beings can become entangled in all sorts of things: Addictions of one sort or another are good examples. So are harmful actions, harmful to the individual, and harmful to others.

In short, that was the situation with the afflicted man who was living among the tombs, unable to be around anyone else, and unable to be controlled: His condition entangled him, it was destroying his life, and it would destroy the lives of anyone who got near him.

We can see God’s hand at work whenever new-or-restored life comes into being. The addict who has come to the point of realizing that they cannot deliver themselves, and that God’s help will be an indispensable part of their journey to begin to turn things around. To be sure, twelve-step programs, and other programs that are designed to assist individuals with recovery are valuable, as well. I don’t think we should discount the role that God can play, however.

The Church, too, can become entangled in all sorts of things.

The time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century is a good case-in-point. The Church in that time had become addicted to wealth and worldly power. The Reformers sought to untangle the Church of that day from its misguided values.

In our own time, the Church can entangle itself through an infatuation with all sorts of causes. Many of these concerns have validity in and of themselves, but the extent to which the Church embraces these appeals can be to the detriment of its worship of God, and distract from its mission of bringing people into relationship with God, and of nurturing that relationship; it risks engaging in idolatry.

We will need the insights and the wisdom of God’s Holy Spirit to avoid the tangles which beckon and call us away from God’s intent for our lives and for the life of the Church.

AMEN.

 

 

 

 

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[1]   The two other Synoptic Gospel accounts also record this incident. See Matthew 8:28 – 9:1 and Mark 5:1–21. Matthew tells us that two men were involved, while Mark tells us that there was only one. It’s possible that, as Matthew relates to us, there were two men involved. Perhaps Mark and Luke recorded only one because Jesus directly interacted with one of the two. Another possibility is that Mark and Luke’s sources remembered only one man as being involved. It seems clear that all three accounts record the same incident.

[2]   We know this is not a Jewish area, because pigs were regarded as unclean animals according to the precepts of the Law or Moses (Torah).

[3]   It would be worth our while to remember that, in biblical times, some conditions were ascribed to demonic activity which were, quite likely, a medical condition. That said, however, demonic possession and demonic activity is a genuine phenomenon and one to be taken seriously. In the case of the Gerasene man, it’s possible that his condition was mental illness (notice that Luke tells us that he was “in his right mind” after his encounter with the Lord). 

Service of Thanksgiving

Job 19:21 – 27 / Psalm 25 / II Corinthians 4:16 – 5:9 / Matthew 11:25 – 30

This is the homily given at the Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Steven Bruce Hoy, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 21, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker.

 

“LIFE’S LIKE A PITCHER – REMEMBERING STEVE HOY”

(Homily texts: Job 19:21 – 27 & II Corinthians 4:16 – 5:9)

We’ve gathered this morning to give thanks for the life of Steve Hoy, for the gifts that God gifted him with, for the wonderful impact he has had on our lives, and – above all – for the gift of life eternal in God’s presence, a gift that is now Steve’s in eternity.

As I think about all these things, I think a good way to think about them would be to imagine that each and every one of us is like a pitcher (the sort that one pours a liquid into, and out of).

Gifts that were poured into Steve’s life

So, at Steve’s birth, God created the vessel of his life, and then God poured into that vessel the gifts that Steve had, gifts that are like no other human beings in all of history. Steve was – and is – a unique creation of God.

As time went along. God poured into Steve’s heart the gift of Holy Baptism, whereby God declared His love for Steve. Along with the gift of baptismal waters, poured into the pitcher of Steve’s heart, came the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that Steve would come to know and love God in return for the love that God had shown to Steve. So, we can repeat those words that are spoken at Baptism, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.” You see, Baptism creates an indelible mark on the soul, one that can never be erased or taken away. (Thanks be to God!)

Steve’s knowledge of God and of God’s ways was nourished in Methodist Churches. There, he served as an acolyte and also sang in the choir as a young person.

Some of the ways that Steve poured himself into giving of gifts to others

Steve wasn’t just a receiver of all of these good things. Instead of getting filled up with them, he also shared them with others, pouring out the blessings that had come his way.

He had a deep love of people. In his younger years, he loved to party, being with people, even though he had a more quiet-and-reserved sort of personality.

He also worked to develop his skills in ice hockey, even to the point of attending a school in Montreal where some of the greats in the game are remembered today in the hall of fame.

That love of people, and his desire to better their lives, prompted him to pursue a career in education, working with those with special needs. In his teaching career, he often worked with the most challenging students. Some of those students, years later, remembered the goodness and the care that Steve had poured into their lives.

In the fulness of time, he met and married Liz. Theirs was a wonderful, generous and gift-giving sort of marriage, one partner helping the other through the ins and the outs of life.

Gifts poured in- and out - in abundance

Steve’s quiet nature often led him to ponder the mysteries of God and of our faith, asking the question, “Why do we believe what we believe?” These contemplations would often lead to conversations with Liz.

Liz and Steve were both regular attendees at our Wednesday noon Healing Services. As part of the format for those, we would consider the life of a saint, or perhaps a holy day in the calendar. Then, we’d open the floor up for conversation and give-and-take. Steve would often come out with a “nugget” of insight and wisdom. You could tell that his intellect and mind were working over the topic at hand.

Gifts given as life drew to a close

The gifts poured into Steve’s heart in his childhood and young adulthood, gifts of coming to know God, came to be important assets to Steve as time went along.

As his health deteriorated in recent years, God’s presence came to mean more and more to him.

Then, as his health began to fail, he could look forward, and with Job declare, “I know that my redeemer lives, and at the last he shall stand upon the earth. After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.”

Fr. Ted supported Steve as he entered the hospital. As part of that support, Steve could look forward with St. Paul, who said, “…we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

So, then, our faith encourages us to affirm that “life has changed, not ended”, as we will hear in our communion prayer in a few moments. For, early in his life, Steve was claimed by God as God’s beloved child, whose soul was “marked by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.”

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.

 

  

Trinity Sunday, Year C (2025)

Proverbs 8: 1–4, 22–31 / Psalm 8 / Romans 5: 1–5 / John 16: 12–15

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, June 15, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“GOD’S SELF-REVELATION AS FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT”

(Homily text:  John 16: 12–15)

The transition from the Easter season, which ends with the Feast of Pentecost, to the season after Pentecost is made by taking some time to reflect on God’s nature as the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In a very real sense, the design of the Church Year is a good one, for – from the beginning of the year in Advent until the conclusion of the Easter season, we’ve been thinking about and reflecting on the events in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even the Feast of Pentecost (last Sunday) fits into the narrative about our Lord’s coming, His ministry and His work, culminating in His announcement that – after His departure to return to the Father – He would send the Holy Spirit to lead His followers into all truth.

Now, as we enter the Season after Pentecost (which occupies about half of the year, until late November), we bear in mind that the God we love and serve is the Holy Trinity, the Three-in-One divine mystery.

With this thought in mind, let’s explore some aspects of God’s nature in this mystery.

Mystery is good word with which to start. For God’s nature in one Union but with three Persons doesn’t make sense from our human point-of-view. Indeed, we should say that we know and understand God’s nature only in part this side of heaven.

But what we do know about God and about God’s nature is due to God’s own revelation of His nature. So, I think the question naturally arises: Do we know all there is to know about God’s nature? The answer is surely “No”. But then, can we say that we know enough upon which to base our faith and to walk in relationship with this Triune God? There, I think, the answer is surely “Yes”.

Since we’ve mentioned the word “revelation”, we ought to take a moment to affirm God’s revelation as the Creator God. In the Genesis creation account, chapter one, we read of this creative power. The text tells us that “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was without form and void. Darkness covered the face of the deep. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.”[1]

The Christian faith sees in this account the three Persons of the Holy Trinity: God as Father and Creator, the eternal Word spoken (“Let there be light’) and the Spirit of God.

Now, let’s look at a passage from the beginning of John’s Gospel account:[2]  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Notice the parallels between the Genesis account and the beginning of John’s account, parallels of the Word, who is eternal with the Creator God, the Word spoken which creates, and the presence of light. A bit later on in the same chapter from John’s account, the Word is identified as Jesus Christ. (Verse seventeen.)

Now that we’ve folded our Lord Jesus Christ into our considerations, we would do well to say that it was the Lord’s coming among us that assisted our human understanding of God’s nature, and, indeed, prompted later Christian reflection on the nature of the Godhead. The Lord used the language of human relationship to describe His relationship to God, using the words “Father” and “Son”. Such language is quite prominent in John’s account.

One of the markers of divine power and activity is the power to create and to re-create. We see this in the Genesis creation account. Jesus Christ possessed that power and demonstrated it in His healings, in His feeding of large crowds, and in His raising of the dead to life (to cite but a few examples). The Holy Spirit, as well, demonstrates this creative power in the events at Pentecost, when the disciples were gifted with the ability to communicate with others in languages they did not know.

In our Gospel text, appointed for this morning, the Lord tells His disciples that He will send them the Spirit of truth, who will lead them into all truth and will make know to them all that the Father has made known to the Son.

This passage seems to indicate a relationship in which the Father sends the Son, informs the Son about the Father’s will, and then the Son sends the Holy Spirit, who will continue to inform the disciples of all that the Father has made known. It would be possible to infer from this that there is some sort of a higher/lower relationship in the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. Another way to see this relationship is one of procession, with the Father sending the Son, and the Son, in turn, sending the Spirit.

The understanding of God’s nature as Father, Son and Holy Spirit emerges very early in the Church’s life. In Matthew 28: 19–20, we read that Jesus’ disciples are to baptize in the “name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And in II Corinthians 13:14, St. Paul concludes his letter by saying that “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”.

These two scriptural citations are about as close as we can get in Holy Scripture to a description of the Triune God.

As time went along, the early Church, enabled, enlightened and led by the Holy Spirit, reflected on God’s self-revelation, especially in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Eventually, a word came into being to describe God’s nature as the Three-in-One: “Trinity”. Theophilis of Antioch, sometime in the late second century, is credited with its creation.

The Church’s two major Creeds affirm God’s nature, using a Trinitarian formula to do so. The first paragraph centers on God the Father. The second paragraph centers on the person and work of the Son, while the third paragraph has to do with the Holy Spirit.

The Church would, over time, understand that the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are completely and totally united, but with some differentiation in their identities.

The challenge for us, as Christian believers, is to grapple with the immensity and the majesty of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As we do so, one point we should remember is that when we think about or consider the presence and work of one Person of the Holy Trinity, the other two Persons are also, always, present. (To think of the three Persons separately is known as “modalism”, whereby thought is given to the “modes” in which the Persons operate, or are considered, separately.)

One final thought is worth adding: As mysterious and as powerful and as full of grandeur this Three-in-One God is, that same God seeks to be in relationship with each and every one of us. That same Three-in-One God cares deeply for each individual.

Talk about a mystery!  There is, perhaps, the ultimate mystery, that God loves us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

AMEN.

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[1]   Genesis 1: 1–3

[2]   John 1: 1-5

Pentecost, Year C (2025)

Genesis 11: 1–9 / Psalm 104: 24–34, 35b / Acts 2: 1–21 / John 14: 8–27  

The is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, June 8, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“GOD’S ‘CORRECT’ BUTTON”

(Homily texts:  Genesis 11: 1–9 & Acts 2: 1–21)

Whenever I have to address an envelope, or to write something that others will need to be able to read, I use a typewriter. No, not an old, mechanical one like an old Underwood, but an electric one. The reason I use one of these things is because my handwriting isn’t at all good. In fact, it’s terrible, and worst of all, it’s getting worse as time goes along.

I can’t use a typewriter without having correcting ribbon in the machine. The reason for that is that my typing skills aren’t all that good, either. (In fact, I am self-taught…I can manage, but sometimes typing is a real challenge.)

As I think about the history of God’s dealing with human beings, I think that God must need to have a whole lot of correcting ribbon in the typewriter of His plans and desires for humankind.

Consider, for example, the two accounts of people speaking the same language, or speaking different languages that are before us this morning.

Our Old Testament reading relates to us the tale of the building of the Tower of Babel, while our reading from Acts informs us about the Holy Spirit’s gift of being able to speak in different languages.

In the Genesis account, we read that the whole human race spoke the same language. And so, those ancient peoples decided to make a name for themselves by erecting a tower that would reach to the heavens. When God sees this activity, and – more importantly – the motivation for it, He decides to confound their speech, making them speak different languages so they couldn’t understand one another, and – in the process – couldn’t manage to do anything they set their minds to.

In the Acts reading, recounting to us the coming of the Holy Spirit with discernable and powerful signs of His presence, people who spoke the same language were suddenly able to speak languages they had not previously known. The purpose of the Spirit’s gifting is obvious: It provides a tool to spread the Good News of what God had done in the sending of Jesus Christ.

Notice the correction to the human condition and to human behavior: In the Genesis account, those tower-builders were out to make a name for themselves, to promote their own glory. In the Pentecost event, God is glorified by the spreading of the Good News.

God does, indeed, have a “correct” button, and plenty of correcting ribbon as He deals with us human types.

The pages of Holy Scripture are filled with accounts of people who interacted with God, but who needed “fixing” in some way or another.

This last point brings us back to the Pentecost event.

We read Peter’s sermon, delivered on Pentecost, in our reading from Acts this morning. Gone from Peter’s character and behavior are his bumbling ways, and his inability to understand what God was doing in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God has corrected the text of Peter’s life, and now his speech is clear, and it is powerful.

We should ask, “What does all this have to do with me, and how does it inform my walk with God?”

That’s always a question that ought to be in our minds and hearts, and on our lips. After all, one of the purposes of Holy Scripture is to inform us about God’s nature and God’s ways, and to relate to us the ways that God has dealt with those He has chosen to be His emissaries to the world in ages past. In those sacred pages, we read of the successes, the mistakes, and the outright failures of those chosen ones. But we also read about God’s determined efforts to correct and fix what was less-than-useful for His divine purposes in those He had chosen to be His servants and witnesses.

So, too, will this same dynamic work its way out in our own lives: God will patiently correct, form, mold and shape us so that we can fulfill that divine plan that God has in mind. To be sure, the Holy Spirit has a major role to play in this process, as the Spirit did on Pentecost. The Spirit’s power to inform, to convict, to correct, to empower, and to enlighten is the same yesterday and today, and it will be the same until the end of time.

Thanks be to God for His patience, for His forbearance, and for His insistence on correction and amendment of life, so as to fit us out and make us into instruments of His divine will and purpose.

AMEN. 

Easter 7, Year C (2025)

Acts 16: 16–34 / Psalm 97 / Revelation 22: 12–14, 16–17, 20–21 / John 17: 20–26

This is the homily that was prepared for Flohr’s Evangelical Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania for Sunday, June 1, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“CONNECTIONS & CONNECTIVITY”

(Homily text: John 17: 20–26)

Ever think about the things that tie things together, or which connect them?

For example, we could mention such everyday items as string, or rope, or bolts, or screws, or nails. Each and all of these are unremarkable in and of themselves. But, they have their worth, their purpose and their value in their ability to connect or tie other things that are more valuable together.

So it seems as though there’s some sort of a back-and-forth, mutually dependent relationship between these connectors and the things they connect.

The same could be said about our relationship to Christ, to one another as Christian believers, and of the relationship between Jesus Christ, as the Father’s Son and the Father Himself.

All of these interconnections are mentioned in our Gospel text, appointed for this morning. It is part of what has come to be known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer”, which occupies all of chapter seventeen of John’s Gospel account.[1]

Jesus’ connection to the Father makes it possible for Him to relate to us all that the Father has told Him and has appointed Him to tell us. Absent that connection, there’d be no need to pay attention to what Jesus has to say to us (except, of course, if we believe that Jesus was simply a remarkable human being, and a great teacher in His own day…sadly, some Christians regard the Lord in just that way).

If we think about it, what the Lord has to say in this prayer is also addressed in chapter fifteen, where He tells us that He is the vine, and we are the branches. This is (at least to my mind) another way of saying that the vine and the branches are connected, one to another. It is that connection that makes fruitful ministry and work possible. In this description, Jesus makes a point of highlighting two important items: The vine and the branches, Then, of course, it isn’t just these two critical parts of the plant, it’s also the connection between them which allows them to function and to produce fruit.

Our Lord prays that all who claim His Name will be one, even as He and the Father are one.

What does/might this “oneness” look like in the world we live in today?

Does it mean that the Church (defined as the Body of Christ, composed of all who have come to faith in the Lord) should be organically one?

Perhaps that isn’t a realistic goal. Perhaps history will tell us that the Church, even in its very early times, was never organically, completely unified into one structure. The very early Church’s structure derived from its allegiance to and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ and the God who had sent Him into the world.[2]

History will also tell us that having the Church organically unified, and under the leadership of one person, isn’t necessarily good thing.

Today, we – all of us who claim the Name of Christ – are children of the Protestant Reformation. That is to say, that following the events of the early sixteenth century, the Church is now divided into many different “families” or “communities”. In times past, and not too long ago, major portions of this faith community wouldn’t have much or even anything to do with one another.

Thankfully, those times are – largely though not completely – behind us. Now, interfaith cooperation is much more common than it used to be. Roman Catholics engage in joint ministries with other Christians. Isn’t this a good thing!  Isn’t is a move in the right direction? Yes, indeed it is.

What can we hope for, given the state of the Church today? What is possible, what is desirable?

My own personal answer would be that we should continue to pursue mutual recognition of the validity and the value of differing expressions of the Christian faith (provided, I would add, that such an expression is faithful to the deposit of faith that has been transmitted to us).  Cooperation between differing faith communities should be encouraged.

At the same time, I think that each faith tradition brings with it certain strengths, certain benefits from which other Christians could learn.

After all, when we get to heaven, it is certain that denominational walls will disappear. There, we will be one in the Father’s presence, and in the Son’s presence, too.

It’d be a good idea for us – all of us – to practice our oneness this side of Paradise. It’s worth remembering that the world around us is watching (at least to some degree), so when we value our oneness in Christ, then we are able to fold into this connection others who, in their turn, will also serve as connections to the Lord with still others who will come to faith.

AMEN.

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[1]   John devotes five chapters to relating to us things that happened during the Last Supper, devoting chapters thirteen through seventeen to those events.

[2]   Previously, I’ve mentioned Raymond Brown’s book “The Churches the Apostles Left Behind” as a source to understand the varieties of worship, theological emphases, and organization that marked the very early Church. Brown’s conclusion, based on a careful reading of the New Testament scriptures, was that there were no less than seven different models of what the Church looked like in its formative years.

Easter 6, Year C (2025)

Acts 16:  9–15 / Psalm 67 / Revelation 21: 10; 22 – 22: 5 / John 14: 23–29

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 25, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“REMINDERS”

(Homily text: John 14: 23–29)

Reminders.

They are everywhere, and they assist us to make our way, day-by-day, through life, enabling us not to forget the things we ought to do, the stuff we need to take with us, and the values we cherish which shape and mold us into the persons we should be.

So, for example, a reminder might be that object that we put on the floor just inside the door, so that when we leave, we will have to walk over it to get where we’re going (one of my favorite tricks, by the way, and quite effective!). Another example might be that photo on the wall of someone who’s been influential in our lives at some point or another. Still another example might be an object, given as a gift by someone who’s role in our lives manages to cast a favorable shadow over us today. One more example might suffice to illustrate the point: That person who writes on their hands in ball point ink the things they hope to do or to remember during the day. (When asked about this practice, and when told that there is paper for such things, the individual said that, yes, there is paper upon which to write a list of the tasks for the day, but then they manage to misplace or lose the paper, thereby also losing the “to-do” list.)

In our Gospel text, appointed for this day, our Lord Jesus Christ tells His disciples that He will - once He has returned to the Father - send the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who will lead them into all truth, and will remind them of all that He has taught them.

(Before we dig into this a bit, let’s recall that this portion of John’s Gospel account recalls and relates those things that the Lord said and did during the Last Supper.[1] We would also do well to remember that – in John’s account – the Holy Spirit is addressed as “Advocate”, a term that carries with it a legal association, much like an attorney would who stands alongside a client in a courtroom.)

Let’s notice the two points that the Lord makes about the work and the role of the Spirit: We might begin by noticing that the Lord says that this Advocate will lead us into all truth.

This is the truth that comes from the Father, and which has been given to the Son. (Recall our Lord’s statement in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one”.)

The second thing to notice is that the Lord tells those original Twelve, He will be going away. But, He says, the Holy Spirit will be the transmitter and the maintainer of truth. That same Spirit will remind those original Twelve of the things that the Lord had told them during the time of His earthly sojourn.

The repository of what the Lord had said and done – for us as Christian believers today – is Holy Scripture, the Bible.

A question arises: Do we think of Holy Scripture as a set of reminders?

It is, of course. In its pages are the accounts of what Jesus said and did during the time of His ministry. Also in its pages are the accounts of the successes and the failures of the heroes of Scripture. Yes, it’s all there: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Truth-telling, to be sure, and one reason to trust the voice of Scripture, for it lays bare the ways in which the ones whom God had chosen to do His will over time didn’t make the grade. There’s no whitewashing the deeds and the lives of the saints. Most of them (though not all) have mistakes – sometimes really bad ones – in the record of their lives and their walk with God.

Those missteps are reminders for us today, saying (in effect): Learn from the experience of so-and-so.

The lives of the saints (and here, I think of those saints we would address with a capital “S”, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and so forth) are reminders. Their faithfulness ensures that we are, to some degree or another, their spiritual offspring.

Those in the Church with whom we associate and with whom we worship Sunday-by-Sunday and with whom we serve are reminders. We see in others how God is moving and working in their lives. Those successes (and yes, the shortcomings, too) are reminders of God’s will and God’s ways.

One final point might be worth mentioning: As the Church moves forward into the years which lie ahead, it would be easy for it to forget those essentials of the faith upon which it was founded. It’d be easy to wander off into this cause or that one, to set up idols (defined as anything that takes God’s rightful and central place in our devotion and attention) of any number of worthwhile endeavors. To avoid this misstep, reminders, such as those that Holy Scripture and the assistance of the Holy Spirit, are vital.

AMEN.

 

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[1]   In John’s account, chapters thirteen through seventeen

Easter 5, Year C (2025)

Acts 11:1–18 / Psalm 148 / Revelation 21:1–6 / John 13:31–35

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 18, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“COOTIES AND OTHER DISGUSTING STATES”

(Homily texts:  Acts 11:1 – 18 & John 13:31 – 35)

As people relate to one another, and particularly as they get to know one another well, some level of back-and-forth banter often begins to take place. For example, there might be some sort of mild teasing. Or, some sort of an “in” joke might develop among these friends as their relationship develops.

Grade school children often do this with their classmates. Recall in your own life experiences your time in grade school…did you accuse other people of having “cooties”? One way I recall this word being used was to say that boys had “boy cooties”.

In today’s reading from the Book of Acts, St. Peter is being accused of hanging around with Gentiles. The party within the Church that advocated the strict adoption of all the requirements of the Law of Moses (Torah) were essentially saying to Peter, “You shouldn’t be hanging around with those Gentiles. Don’t you know that they have cooties?”

As the young Church grew, it – and the Good News of God in Christ that it carried and shared with others – was bound to attract a wide range of people, including Gentiles. The question before the Church was to determine who could become a member of this new movement, and on what grounds could they be admitted.

So serious was this matter that a council was convened to sort out the various approaches to this subject. You can read about it in chapter fifteen of the Book of Acts. The council met in Jerusalem in the year 49 AD.

It’s interesting to note how Luke (the writer not only of the Gospel account which hears his name, but also the Book of Acts) describes those who were accusing Peter of bad behavior by hanging around with non-Jews. Luke uses the term “circumcision party”. We will see this term again in chapter fifteen as Luke describes the decision-making process that took place at the Council of Jerusalem. We also read, in Acts 15:5, that it was the party of the Pharisees who were maintaining that a person couldn’t enter the Church unless they adhered to all the requirements of the Law of Moses.

(Did you know that the early Church was composed of varying sorts of people and groups? Furthermore, it’s worth noting that – though the early Church was united in its witness to Christ – the Church varied from place-to-place in its method of organization, theological emphases, and so forth.[1])

The decisions that were reached at the Council of Jerusalem amount to a series of compromises. (Surprising? Shouldn’t be, I don’t think...the Church, at various times in its life, has had to make compromises on a number of issues.) I commend to your reading and contemplation the account of the proceedings at the Council of Jerusalem:  Acts 15:1 – 29.

As we think about the convictions of those of the “circumcision party”, we might come to the conclusion that they had missed something – something important – in Jesus’ own conduct and His decisions about whom to associate with.

Our Lord hung around with some pretty disreputable types: Tax collectors, prostitutes, and – yes – Gentiles. Recall the Lord’s encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman.[2]  This woman confronts Jesus’ own perspective, challenging Him to see that God’s intent was to fold into the divine plan not only Jews, but also non-Jews, Gentiles.

Moreover, the Lord’s consistent message, during His earthly ministry, was one of outreach, and one of love. (See today’s Gospel reading for our Lord’s emphasis on the requirement to love.) Possessing such a love will be – our Lord says – a marker of discipleship.

If we think about it, we all, every one of us, have “spiritual cooties”. We – in our unredeemed state – are separated from God by our sinful nature. Holy Baptism is the means by which that unclean state is washed away, and we are raised to a new life.[3]

The decisions reached at the Council of Jerusalem amount to a radical welcome to those who had come to faith in Christ, but who were not blood descendants of Abraham.  The Council affirms our Lord’s call to amendment of life in its decisions. The early Church, in its radical welcoming of all persons, also maintained that becoming a follower of Jesus meant that there would be changes in life, a change in perspective, growth in the faith, and an abandonment of the ways of that life that existed before coming to the Lord.

Maintaining a balance between the radical welcome that marked the early Church’s life, along with its insistence on a new and holy way of living, one that was marked with the pattern set by our Lord, isn’t easy. In our own day, such a balance is often missing, either by those who think the Church is a country club for saints, or by those who think that “anything goes” for those who are welcomed into the fellowship of Christ’s body.

AMEN.

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[1]   With regard to the makeup of the early Church, I commend to you an excellent book by the New Testament scholar (and Roman Catholic priest) Raymond Brown, who maintained that there were no less that seven different models of Church organization and outlooks in the early years of the Church’s existence. His book (still available) is “The Churches the Apostles Left Behind”.

[2]   See Mark 7:24 – 30.

[3]   See St. Paul’s description of Baptism in Romans 6:3 – 9.