RoboPreacher

nothing left to impart a baptism sermon on  what happens to demons in baptism : L, T, and V— and , by extension, Mom and Dad—and so also , all the rest of us, too, your sisters and brothers in Christ — we have all just witnessed a miracle ! And you , V, T, and L, you are the direct beneficiaries of this incredible work of the Lord ! BUT I know . It doesn’t LOOK like anything incredible has happened. Does it? Thus begins your formal theological training. You don’t have to go to seminary to become a theologian . As Luther said, life will make a theologian out of you. And, T, L, and V, your training begins now with the plain observation that God’s works aren’t often all that clear .   Martin Luther called this the deus absconditus . The hidden God. The God who absconds Thyself. And for Luther, this was a central tenant of theology AND life .   Luther, you understand, couldn’t bring himself to accept the easy answers. And this drove him deep into Scripture. And ther...

transform my malady The holy Gospel according to St. Mark Ch. 5, v. 1-20)! Faith is a counter -intuitive thing. And nowhere is this more obvious than today’s scripture; the Gerasenes’ Demoniac.   A frightening little episode. Beginning with this specter of a man running up to Jesus and shouting at him! Begging Jesus not to torment him. Jesus isn’t much for negotiating, though, he just asks the man his name.   But, instead of saying his given name, the demon speaks for the man.   Standing up straight, the demon boasts , “My name is Legion ,” for we are many . …Which brings us to this habit Mark has, of equating people with their ailment .   For instance, this man isn’t a person who’s possessed. He is his possession. So overcome is this man, that his entire identity is subsumed by his malady.   He isn’t a person who’s possessed, he is a demoniac… And one look at him could tell you that. …Apparently...