“Which is more amazing,” asked pastor and theologian Karl Barth, “to find Jesus in such bad company, or to find the two criminals (who were crucified with Him) in such good company?” Ironically Barth asked that question in a sermon he preached for the inmates of the Prison of Basel, Switzerland, in 1957. That was almost 60 years ago. But the question is still a good one. It makes me wonder how I might preach a sermon on the passion of Jesus to prisoners condemned in prison.

Yesterday I was at the meeting of pastors of our circuits at St. Peter the Fisherman Lutheran Church in Lincoln City. The first thing I want to say is how grateful I am for the hospitality shown to us by that congregation. The second thing is that if you ever have chance to visit St. Peter the Fisherman in Lincoln City do go and at least explore the facilities.

This week we have come to the Fourth Sunday in Lent, and are just two weeks from Palm Sunday, March 20, and the beginning of Holy Week. The Gospel reading for this Sunday is arguably the most important, and certainly one of the most well-known of all Jesus’ parables.

Many, if not most of us pray the Lord’s Prayer every day. That means we probably say the words “Thy Kingdom come” hundreds of a times every year. But when we pray these words what are we really asking for? What does that really mean? How would we know when our prayer is answered?