Entries by Pastor Monte

Across the Divide

Proper 21C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago This is a terrifying parable. Yet, it seems fitting, somehow, for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana. The celebration, which begins today at sundown, ushers […]

/by

Welcome for the Weary

Proper 20C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago This week I am re-reading, The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander. A book which Cornell West described as “the secular bible for a new […]

/by

Hope for the Hopeless

Proper 19C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago When they were little, I sang to my kids at bedtime. Always the same three hymns, “Silent Night,” “Spirit of Gentleness,” and “Amazing Grace.” I […]

/by

Living Stones

Proper 18C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago Clarence Jordan was the author of the “Cotton Patch” translation of the New Testament, and founder of the inter-racial Koinonia farm in Americus, Georgia.  As […]

/by

The Good Life

Proper 17C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2). Like a parent sending […]

/by

Rise, Stand Up!

Proper 16C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago “She stood up” (Luke 13:13). We don’t know her name. She is as anonymous as her village. We don’t know where she came from. We […]

/by

Bring the Hammer Down

Proper 15C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago What’s up with these readings? Jeremiah declared, “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in […]

/by

Take My Hand

Proper 14C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago “Do not be afraid Abram.” “Do not be afraid little flock.” These words from our gospel and first reading are perhaps the most often repeated […]

/by

The Who’s Hear Horton

Proper 11C-22 Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago Imagine holding a single grain of sand at arm’s length.  That’s roughly the area of the night sky we saw this week in the very […]

/by