Jeremiah 23:16-29

¹⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

¹⁸ For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?

¹⁹Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

²⁰ The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.

In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

²¹ “I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;

I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.

²² But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.

²³“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? ²⁴Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ²⁵I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ ²⁶How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? ²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ²⁹Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I was talking to a few other pastors about this text and mentioned that I was having a hard time with an introduction for my sermon. One of them suggested that I start by saying, “I had a dream from God the other night…” He was joking of course, but it provided an introduction.

In this text, we heard about a very important theme in the Scriptures, and that is the theme of the council of the Lordor sometimes called the heavenly council. And it is important to differentiate here that this is the council with a ‘c’ which means a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, and make decisions. We are not talking about counsel with an ‘s’ which is giving advice.

Through His faithful prophet Jeremiah, God is warning the people against listening to the false prophets who are not preaching faithfully. If you are following along in our chronological Bible reading plan, you started Jeremiah a few days ago and know about the evil in Jeremiah’s day. If you aren’t following that plan (or aren’t caught up), here’s a brief summary.

Jeremiah was living and preaching to God’s people just before and through the time when the kingdom of Judah fell and was taken captive into Babylon. The kings were sacrificing their sons to pagan gods and abandoning the worship of God. Even though God was sending faithful prophets like Jeremiah and others, the people would not listen. And the kings would kill the faithful prophets who were calling the people to repentance.

The false prophets would tell people who despised the word of God, “Everything will be fine,” and to sinners they would say, “Don’t worry about punishment, God doesn’t mind.” Well, God did mind, and punishment was coming. And yet those false prophets ran and spoke false messages to the people claiming that God had sent them even though they had not stood in the council of the Lord.

Picture it like this – this council of God is like a heavenly throne room or courtroom where important matters are discussed. This picture about the council of God appears all over the Bible.

The council of God began back in creation. In the very beginning, there was a conversation between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Creation of Adam.jpg Out of that conversation came creation, and most importantly, out of that conversation came the creation of humanity. We get to hear that conversation in Gen. 1:26 where the Triune God says, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” It was so, and it was good – very good.

After Adam and Eve were created, they become part of that heavenly conversation. God would come walking and talking with them in the cool of the day, and they would hear God’s Word and speak back to God. But there was another voice in that conversation – a voice of discord, violence, and evil. Satan, the devil, had been part of that council of God and had rebelled against the Lord. The devil comes to Adam and Eve and speaks to them about faithlessness, evil, and death. From that conversation, Adam and Eve fall.

After the Fall, the topic of discussion in the council of God changes. The council is no longer focused on the creation of mankind. But, thank God that, in His mercy, the conversation doesn’t change to destroying us. Instead, the conversation is now about the redemption and salvation of mankind. The conversation is about the death of Jesus. And Adam and Eve get to hear this when God says to the devil that the Seed of the woman would crush his head (Gen. 3:15).

Now, we can’t hear this council of God with the ears that God has given us, so God sent His faithful prophets to declare what is being discussed in the heavenly council. Amos 3:7 says, “The Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” And from the text here before us, God says of the false prophets, “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people, and they would have turned the from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds” (Jer. 23:21-22). This was the job of the prophets. Prophets are those who stand in God’s council and bring God’s Words to God’s people. Words of Law and words of Gospel.

When you were growing up, did you ever get sent out of the room so your parents could have a conversation? They might have done this to figure out how to punish you and your siblings for something you had done wrong. Or they might have done this to plan a vacation or get a puppy or some other good. Whatever the reason was, they were having an important conversation that would impact you. But you weren’t invited into the conversation – at least not initially.

But then your parents call you into the conversation. They would tell you what they were talking about and send you to announce it to your siblings. “We’re getting a puppy,” or, “We’re going to Disneyland.” And you get to be their spokesperson and proclaim it. That’s what the all the faithful prophets of Scripture did.

Sometimes, the prophets were to bring news of judgment and destruction. “There won’t be rain,” or, “The Babylonians are going to come and destroy our capitol.” Sometimes, the prophets were to proclaim news of Gospel and deliverance, “A remnant will be saved. God will send a Savior who will bear our griefs, carry our sorrows, and with His wounds we will be healed.”

Heavenly Council One of the most amazing things is that God even gives His prophets a seat and a voice in this council. You remember when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham speaks up and gets God to agree to not destroy the cities if ten righteous people are found there (Gen. 18:22-33). Or, when God is going to destroy the Israelites for making the golden calf, Moses speaks up in the council and says, “God, if You go down and destroy them, the Egyptians will say that You only brought them out of slavery to destroy them.” And God relents of the disaster He had said He would bring on the people (Gen. 32:1-14).

This idea of the council of God is important for us to understand the Old Testament, but it even comes into the New Testament. Probably the most important glimpse of the council of God we get in the New Testament is in Luke’s account of the Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28-36). You remember that Peter, James, and John are there. They see Jesus’ face change and His clothes shine like the sun. Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus and are talking with Him. There is the council of God on earth, and Luke says that they are talking about Jesus’ ‘departure’ (lit.His ‘exodus’) which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

In other words, they were talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection. They were talking about Jesus’ redemption of creation and mankind. When Peter later recalls being at the Transfiguration and overhearing that council of God, he concludes that having the Bible is even better, “We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed…. No prophecy of Scripture come from someone’s own interpretation or was produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:16-21).

What this means, dear saints, is that when you hear the words of Scripture, you are hearing the council of God. You are hearing God’s call to repent of your sins, and you are hearing about God delivering you from sin, death, and the devil through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is important for us to always remember. God is constantly calling us to repentance and faith through His Word.

Over the last week, there has been a lot of chatter in our country about politics and guns and all sorts of things because of the evil and wickedness in El Paso and Dayton. Those conversations are important and necessary. But there is something you won’t hear in the media, and that is a call to repentance and faith after evil has struck those parts of our country.

In Luke 13:1-5, some people were with Jesus and asked Him what He thought about some Galileans who had been killed by Pilate. The people thought that Jesus should speak out against the leaders in government, but Jesus has a different take. He says, “Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”And Jesus mentions another event when the tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen people. Jesus says the same thing, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Dear saints, according to Jesus and according to the council of God, when you see evil in the world – whether it is the evil acts of the wicked or the evil brokenness of creation – know that God is calling you to repent. He is calling you to repent and trust in His mercy won and given through faith in Christ Jesus.

Council of God Now, Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father. Today, your Savior is talking with the Father, your Creator, and with the Holy Spirit, your Sanctifier. And do you know what they are talking about? They are talking about you and the cross. They are talking about how Jesus won your salvation there. How His blood shed there made a place in heaven for you forever. And the Holy Spirit is there, translating your prayers and interceding for you with groanings too deep for words (Ro. 8:26). The Holy Spirit whispers into your ear that you are an adopted child of God and heir with Christ. And you respond by crying, “Abba, Father” (Ro. 8:12-17).

And know that, whenever you hear the Scriptures, God is inviting you into that conversation, into that council where He calls you Himself through Jesus’ sacrifice. This is what the council of God is always about. This is God’s focus and intention, that you turn from your sins and that you trust in His Son, your Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we hear the Scriptures, may we heed God’s council. May we repent of our sins and believe in Christ. Amen.[1]

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] I am thankful for an interview that Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller did with Pr. Warren Graff on the heavenly council for portions of this sermon. https://wolfmueller.co/table-scraps-heavenly-council-with-warren-graff/

Eden in Desolation – Sermon on Mark 8:1-9 for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Aug4

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Mark 8:1-9

¹In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, ²“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. ³And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” ⁴And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” ⁵And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”They said, “Seven.” ⁶And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. ⁷And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. ⁸And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ⁹And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This morning, we heard how God worked so that Adam and Eve could enjoy paradise in bliss and peace (OT Lesson Gen. 2:7-17).

First, God formed the man. God breathed into man’s nostrils to make Adam a living creature. God planted a garden in Eden. God made every tree that is splendid to look at and good for food to spring up from the ground. God surrounded that garden with vibrant rivers and lands filled with gold and precious stones. Bliss of Eden

God put Adam in the garden and gave him a job – which, yes, is a good thing. Just consider how little Adam had on his work resume at the time. God gave Adam the gift of hunger so that he would have the joy and delight of eating and tasting the fruits of his labor. And God taught Adam what to eat and what not to eat.

Now, this is a bit of an aside, but it is very important. Many people have wondered why God would put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which produced the forbidden fruit in the bliss of Eden at all. Some will say that God put it there to test Adam and Eve to see if they would be good. But if that is the case, it means that God could not make man “good” unless He gave man the choice to do evil. That would be strange for a God who truly is good and all-powerful Himself.

Scripture gives us a better understanding for the existence of the forbidden tree. Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The righteous shall live by faith.” This is true now, but it was also true before the Fall.

Think of it this way: Everything Adam and Eve knew, they knew because they saw and experienced it. But the one thing they didn’t know was evil. God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden because evil did exist. So Adam and Eve would have faith, God was giving a promise to believe when He commanded Adam to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Think of it this way, when God gives that command He is saying, “Hey, Adam, there is evil and it is bad. If you find out what evil is, it won’t be good for you. Trust Me on this.”

In the end, Adam and Eve didn’t trust God. Obviously, we do not live in Eden anymore; instead, we live in desolation. Our English word ‘desolation’ contains the word ‘solo,’ and that gives a sense of what ‘desolation’ means. Adam and Eve went solo. Rather than trusting God, they went solo and trusted the devil’s lie bringing sin, death, condemnation, and desolation into the world.

We might think Adam and Eve were fools to give up the paradise God created for them. But we are apples that didn’t fall far from Adam’s tree. We too choose evil instead of faith, chaos instead of perfection, and desolation instead of bliss. We live in a place of our own making. A place we contrived from our rebellious hearts. A desert rather than a garden. Instead of life, there is death. Instead of abundance, there is lack. Instead of walking with God, we are surrounded by demons.

God warns us about the penalty of doing evil, but we go solo and crave what isn’t ours. God tells us that we must tell the truth and defend the reputation of others, but we go solo by spreading gossip and slander. Because of sin – and our sin alone – we dwell in a desolate place. Repent.

But even though we turned our back on God, He did not turn His back on us. God doesn’t despise us, He doesn’t come to punish us, and He doesn’t regret the fact that He made us. Instead, God comes to have compassion on us and graciously feed us. On the third day of this excursion, Jesus says, “I have compassion on the crowd.”That word ‘compassion’ in Greek means that His intestines are tied up. A loosey-goosy translation of Jesus’ words here would be, “My gut is wrenched for these people who don’t have anything to eat.”

Jesus Feeds the 5000 Look at what Jesus, God in the flesh does – notice the verbs. He calls the disciples. Jesus directs the crowd to sit down. He takes the bread. Christ gives thanks for the bread. He breaks the bread. He gives the bread to the disciples to set before the people. Jesus blesses the fish. He gives the fish to the disciples to set before the people. And Jesus watches them all eat until every last one of them is satisfied. Jesus continues to do this for us today.

Some of you are fully aware of the desolation you live in right now. Maybe it’s your health or a broken relationship that has left you lonely. Maybe it’s a money or job problem. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. Desolation stares you in the face, and you are worried. Know that Jesus is still with you to serve you with everything you need in every moment.

Do you think that when Jesus led that crowd out into the wilderness for three days, do you think that Jesus forgot they would need food? Do you think Jesus was preaching, and suddenly the light bulb turned on in the middle of His sermon and He said, “Oh, nuts. These people are going to need to eat. Oops!”? No, absolutely not! Jesus didn’t forget that they would need food.

Instead, Jesus brought them to a place of momentary need. He led them into the wilderness where they would need a miracle to provide for them. Jesus led them there for some good. We shouldn’t speculate why Jesus did this because the text doesn’t tell us exactly why Jesus did it. But Jesus deliberately brought them there where they would need Him to fully provide for them.

So, listen to this very carefully. Whether things are going well and you don’t notice anything lacking in your life or whether things are bleak and dire, by God’s grace you have everything from God that is best for you right now. Do you believe that?

Scripture says, “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18). Give thanks for everything you have from God at all times – whether those times are good or bad. Here’s why, listen to this from Romans 8:31-32, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And we can know that God is for us because of what Scripture says next: “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” In other words, if God gives His only-begotten Son to die on the cross while you are His enemy and a sinner, He won’t hold back anything good from you now that you are adopted into His family through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

God will give us all things in the future, yes. But He also gives us all good things now. Like He did in Eden and like He did in the wilderness, Jesus even now serves us sinful, fallen people who have chosen to live in a desolate place. Communion Cross with Jesus

Jesus is here with His compassion in the midst of your desolation to bring Eden to you. He has come to be your servant by feeding you the Bread of Life from this altar. In this meal, your Savior dispenses forgiveness, life, and salvation to you. Even though we are a small crowd, Jesus has come to deliver big compassion. So, come and receive. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Your Savior & the Law – Sermon on Matthew 5:17-26 for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Jul28

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Matthew 5:17-26

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Jesus Preaches the Sermon on the Mount ¹⁹Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Three weeks ago, we heard the three great parables of Luke 15 – the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. And, I hope you remember, the reason Jesus told those parables was that the scribes and Pharisees grumbled when they saw Jesus eating with scoundrels and said, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Lk. 15:1). Jesus was attracting and associating with shadowy characters and the known sinners of society. So, there in Luke 15, the scribes and Pharisees are thinking that Jesus is either removing the demands of the Commandments or, at least, lowering the bar of what the Law demands. They figure Jesus is some sort of liberal universalist who says that people can live however they want and still get in to heaven. In their minds, Jesus is, by His actions, saying that God doesn’t really care about sin.

Now, we don’t know for sure, but it is very possible that Jesus told the parables in Luke 15 about three years after He preached the words of our text today. Today’s text comes from the Sermon on the Mount which was very early in Jesus’ ministry. I mention this chronology for one reason. This sermon of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, was preached to great crowds that were following Him (Mt. 4:25-5:1). So from the very beginning of His ministry Jesus, your Savior, made it clear that He was not coming to abolish the Law. Those throngs of people heard Jesus very adamantly and very clearly say, “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to do away with them but to fulfill them.” He says that not the littlest part of the Commandments will pass away. He warns against relaxing any of the Commandments or teaching others that the Law is not important. According to your Savior’s clear teaching, the Law stands.

We always need to remember that Jesus’ death on the cross takes away the guilt of the Law, but it does not remove the Law’s requirements. Let me say that again because it is important. Jesus’ death on the cross takes away the guilt of the Law, but it does not remove the requirements of the Law. And we need to remember that the Law always points its finger directly at you and at me.

Jesus goes on in this text and afterward to spell out the requirements of God’s Commands. According to Jesus, the holy Son of God, murder is committed without guns, knives, axes, forceps, vacuums, and syringes. Bloody hands Sure, you aren’t Lady Macbeth yelling at the blood of Duncan to wash off your hands, but you are guilty of murder before God. You have been angry with others. You have called others, “Fool.” You have held grudges. You have refused to ask your neighbor for forgiveness. And Jesus goes on to the other Commandments as well – lust is adultery and fornication, gossip is perjury, etc.

But you say, “Pastor, you can’t be serious to compare my anger to murder, or my lust to actually having an affair, or my gossip to perjury.” Well, your issue is not with me. I’m just the messenger. Your issue is with God’s holy and perfect Law. You can argue the morality of your sinful actions all you want, but those two tablets of stone only point at you and declare, “You are the sinner.”

Repent. Remember, Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”And, honestly, our righteousness doesn’t measure up to the low bar of the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. You might appear very moral and look good outwardly, but the Law is like an x-ray or MRI that exposes every sinful thought and feeling which is just as damnable as the outward action. Unless you keep the Law perfectly as Jesus did, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Repent, but do not lose heart. There is a righteousness that exceeds the outward, visible righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, and it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ who did indeed fulfill the Law for you. And through His death and resurrection, His righteousness now belongs to you.

As our Epistle text (Ro. 6:1-11) said, you have been united by your Baptism to Jesus’ death. In your Baptism, you were buried with Jesus into death. If Christ doesn’t return first, you will most surely die. But do not fear. Just as Jesus’ death didn’t last, neither will yours.Because you have been united to Jesus’ death, you can know without doubt that your death will not last. In Baptism you have died with Christ and been set free from sin. Your body of sin has been brought to nothing, and you are no longer enslaved to sin. Christian, you must consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

And still in this life you need the Law. You need to hear the accusations of God’s Commandments so that your sin is exposed, and you are left with nowhere to flee except to God for His mercy. And God, in His mercy, freely and fully forgives you for the sake of Jesus. Christian, you are free from the Law; Paul will go on to say that very thing in Romans 7:6.

When it comes to your salvation, the Law has nothing to say to you because the Law is not the way to eternal life and peace with God. But that does not mean your Savior says do not need to listen to the Law any more. I’d like to close with an analogy from a faithful pastor[1] that, I think, is very helpful to express how you relate to the Law as a Christian who is fully saved by Christ’s grace but still has a sinful nature.

Imagine that your heart is like a big mansion with all sorts of rooms, hallways, and secret passages. There are certain rooms where the Law must be allowed and given full access; however, there are other rooms where the Law should never be allowed.

The Law should never be allowed to access into your ‘How do I stand before God?’ room, your ‘Am I good enough to go to heaven?’ room, your ‘Does God love me?’ room, your ‘Does God think I am a good person?’ room, or your ‘assurance of salvation’ room. The Law should never be allowed to enter those rooms because Jesus has made you as good and as righteous and as perfect as He is.

But the Law is like a three-year-old boy who is always trying to get into the rooms where he isn’t allowed. So, you have to lock those doors and childproof those knobs to keep the Law from entering them.

But don’t think that you can deny the Law access into the other rooms of your heart. No, the Law must have full access to those other rooms. The ‘how I parent my children’ room, the ‘how I am at work’ room, the ‘how I treat my spouse’ room, the ‘how I live as a citizen of my city, state, and country’ room, etc. In those rooms, the Law must have full, complete, and even unsupervised access so you are convicted of your sin.

The Law is right when it declares that you have failed your neighbor and sinned. However, that does not, and it never will, determine your standing before God. Jesus does. Your Savior determines your standing before God.

Always remember that you don’t have to make yourself right with God. Christ has done that. Before you ever thought to get things right with God and even before you took your first breath, God loved you and sent Jesus to make you right with Himself. And through faith in Him, you have His perfect, complete righteousness.Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Analogy from Pr. Jared Melius that can be found here: http://wolfmueller.co/law-not-go-sermon-preached-pr-jared-melius/.

What Are You Doing Here? – Sermon on 1 Kings 19:11-21 for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Jul21

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1 Kings 19:11-21

¹¹And [the Lord] said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lordpassed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lordwas not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lordwas not in the earthquake. ¹²And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lordwas not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. ¹³And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. What are you doing here Elijah And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” ¹⁵And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. ¹⁶And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. ¹⁷And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. ¹⁸Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

¹⁹So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. ²⁰And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” ²¹And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When was the last time you felt like a total failure? You labored and worked and toiled and strived to complete that one monumental task. All your effort comes to an end, and the task is finished. But before you can pat yourself on the back, you look around and there is still so much to do. More to accomplish. More things that need your attention. And all you want to do is crawl into a cave and give up.

That’s where we find Elijah this morning. Fleeing, alone, scared, and hiding in a cave at Mt. Horeb (which is the same as Mt. Sinai) God asks in a low whisper, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah had had a busy month. But even before we consider what had just happened, we have to go back even further.

Elijah first came on the scene while Ahab was king in Israel. Ahab’s wife, Queen Jezebel, had introduced worship of Baal to God’s people. They were sacrificing their own children to Baal and praising themselves for it. The people were tearing down the true God’s altars and replacing them with temple prostitutes, and they would worship their false god by fornicating with them. All the while Jezebel was ruthlessly persecuting Yahweh’s faithful prophets by murdering them.

So, God sends the prophet Elijah to King Ahab to tell him that there would be neither dew nor rain (1 Kgs. 17:1). And for three and a half years (Jam. 5:17-18), Israel had no precipitation. Finally, God sent Elijah back to Ahab and the people of Israel saying, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him; but if Baal is god, follow him.”

After this, Elijah challenges Baal’s prophets to a duel – mano-e-450-manos. The 450 prophets of Baal would sacrifice a bull, lay it on an altar, and call down fire from heaven, and Elijah would do the same. The prophets of Baal call out all morning to their pagan god while Elijah taunts them because there was, of course, no answer (1 Kgs. 18:27-29). Elijah prepares his bull, places it on the altar, and Yahweh, the true God, answers by completely consuming the sacrifice. Afterward, the people of Israel confess, “Yahweh is God.” Elijah took the 450 pagan prophets and slaughters them, and God, sent rain once again.

However, Queen Jezebel wasn’t pleased. She sends a messenger to Elijah swearing by her defeated, pagan gods that she will kill Elijah by the same time tomorrow (1 Kgs. 19:2). That is why Elijah is on the run here in our text. God sends an angel to give Elijah food and water. That meal provided Elijah with the strength to travel forty days to Horeb (1 Kgs. 19:3-8) where he crawls into a cave.

So, after this great victory over the pagan prophets, after God’s provision of rain, after God’s provision of food, there is Elijah standing in a cave feeling very alone and very abandoned. God rightly asks, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah in the cave What are you doing here Listen again to Elijah’s response, “Listen God, I’ve been very jealous for You. I’ve done what You have commanded. But Your people have forsaken Your covenant. They have thrown down Your altars. And they have killed Your prophets with the sword. I’m the only faithful one left, and they are out to kill me as well.” Elijah’s response makes it sound like God had lost and that Baal had won. His answer makes it seem like no rain had fallen, and as though God had failed.

God won’t have it. Yahweh patiently but sternly whispers in Elijah’s ear, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He sends Elijah back with work to do. “Go anoint two kings and your successor as prophet.” And God promises that He will keep and preserve not just Elijah but another seven thousand faithful people for God who have neither bowed down nor kissed Baal. And Elijah goes.

Our society isn’t so different than Israel was in the days of Elijah. We live in a society that sacrifices our children on the altars of convenience and choice. Instead of cult prostitutes, we have every deviant sexual practice imaginable being tolerated and even promoted in our schools. Jezebel isn’t threatening our lives, but we have political leaders who might as well be Jezebel. They say that if we speak out against any of the prevailing sins in our culture, we are backwards and old-fashioned Bible thumpers. They threaten that our morals and the Scripture that teaches them will be forgotten and thrown in the corner of history to gather dust.

With all those voices against us, we might be tempted to be like Elijah and flee to our cave. But what is happening in our nation now is nothing new. We are saddened that the world is driving us to the cave, but, by our silence and fear of speaking out against sin, we have voluntarily walked halfway there in the first place.

Dear Christians, repent. We cannot retreat. We cannot have the defeatist attitude that Elijah had. God still has work for us to do. God has called you to be His salt and light in this world. He desires that you be His faithful witnesses proclaiming that Christ Jesus is the Savior of the world. The world does genuinely want to destroy us, but never forget that God is faithful.

Even if it looks like the Jezebels of our day have won, they haven’t. God defeats Jezebel both physically and spiritually. God told Elijah to anoint Jehu to be king of Israel in place of Ahab and his sons. A little while later Jehu overthrows Ahab’s son who was king. Then, Jehu marches into the city and has Jezebel thrown out of a window where the dogs tear her apart and eat her flesh (2 Kgs. 9:30-37). In her life Jezebel loses in spectacular fashion physically. But even more importantly, Jezebel loses spiritually.

Jezebel had a daughter named Athaliah who married Jehoram, king of Judah. Athaliah and her husband had a son, who had a son, who had a son, and so on and so forth, who eventually a boy named Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Despite Jezebel’s hatred and animosity of Yahweh, God made her the many times over great-grandmother of Christ Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Jezebel tried to defeat God by hating Him. But God defeated Jezebel by loving her. With Jezebel’s blood coursing through His veins, Christ shed His holy and precious blood to forgive even the sins of Jezebel. On the cross, Jesus’ foot, which was formed from Jezebel’s genetic material, crushed the head of the devil and of Baal.

So, stop worrying about how things are going in this world. God is able, and has already, defeated your enemies because they are also His enemies.

“What are you doing here, Elijah?” With words that are stern yet compassionate, God calls Elijah out of his cave and gives him work to do for the kingdom of God. And today, God calls you out of your cave because He has work for you to do as well.

God hasn’t called you to go anoint kings and prophets. But He has called you to raise up your children in the faith. God has called you to proclaim and confess that He has called you out of the darkness of your caves and into His marvelous light.

And when you do crawl into your cave, God calls you through His Word, “What are you doing here?” Jesus Coming out of the Tomb God will continue to defeat His enemies by raising up faithful believers from the offspring of His enemies. Scripture doesn’t promise that the Jezebels of our day will fall before our eyes. In fact, it is very likely that the voices of Jezebel will continue to grow stronger in our culture and society.

But Scripture does promise that Baal is dead and Christ is living. Jezebel has lost, and you have already won. And, you, Christian, are called to remain faithful.

“What are you doing here?” Come out of your cave, and do the work that God has called you to do. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds inChrist Jesus. Amen.

Glory – Sermon Romans 8:18-23 for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Jul14

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Romans 8:18-23

¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This text from Romans is intended to encourage us as we go through suffering. And these verses tell us where to set our eyes, where we are to focus, in the midst of suffering. It is very important that we focus on the right things when we suffer because, too often, we focus on the wrong things. Especially, we focus on the time when our suffering will end, and everything will be back to normal. But this is not where we should focus.

Joseph Forgives his Brothers To get an understanding of this, we are going to start by considering what happened in our Old Testament text (Gen 50:15-21) where we heard about what happened between Joseph and his brothers after their father has died. Joseph’s brothers were afraid that Joseph would punish them because of all the wrong things they had done.

Joseph was the favorite son of his father Jacob (Gen. 37:3). Jacob had given Joseph that expensive, many-colored robe and made it clear that Joseph was his favorite son. Because of this, Joseph’s brothers hated him and could not speak peacefully to him (Gen. 37:4). Joseph would have dreams. One where he saw his brothers all bowing down to him and another one where he saw his whole family including his parents bowing down to him (Gen. 37:5-11). And his brothers hated him even more after he told them about these dreams.

One day, when he was seventeen years old (Gen. 37:2), Joseph was sent by Jacob to check on his brothers where were working the flocks a long way from home. Joseph’s brothers see him off in the distance and decide that now is their chance. They formulate a plan to kill Joseph and throw him in a pit. But instead of killing him, they figure it is more profitable for them to sell him to some slave-traders and earn some money (Gen. 37:18-28). So, Joseph gets taken to Egypt and is sold to a man named Potiphar who was a high-ranking officer of Pharaoh. And so, begins a roller coaster of ups and downs – of suffering and glory – for Joseph.

From depths of the waterless pit that his brothers had thrown him in, Joseph rises in prominence in Potiphar’s house so that Potiphar puts Joseph in charge of everything (Gen. 39:4-5). But then he gets thrown into prison after he is falsely accused of trying to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. While in prison, Joseph catches the eye of the jailor who put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners (Gen. 39:22-23). While God is granting Joseph this success, he correctly interprets the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker who had been thrown in prison. Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him and mention him to Pharaoh so that his unjust suffering can end (Gen. 40:14-15). But for two whole years, (40:23-41:1), the cupbearer forgot about Joseph.

Finally, the cupbearer does remember Joseph when Pharaoh has a dream that none of his wise men or magicians can interpret (Gen. 41:6). So, Joseph is called to Pharaoh’s palace where Joseph interprets his dreams to mean there will be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of severe famine. And Pharaoh decides to make Joseph the overseer of storing up enough grain in the years of plenty so that there will be food in the seven years of famine.

Finally, we get to our Old Testament text, and Jacob, Joseph’s father, dies. Joseph’s brothers figure their dad was the only buffer they had that prevented Joseph from getting vengeance on them. So, they make up this lie and tell Joseph, “Dad totally said that you have to forgive us.” But Joseph’s view of things has changed from the time he was in prison. While he was in prison, he was just looking for an end to his suffering. But now, he has the hindsight to see that God was working everything out to provide, not only for his family, but for many others to save them.

Now, there is no Scriptural promise that God will give you the clarity of why you experience suffering in this life like He gave to Joseph. No. Instead, God has given you something better. He has given you the promise of heavenly bliss and perfection. He has promised you a future that isn’t worth comparing to the suffering that you experience in this fallen creation. So, dear saints, don’t set your sights too low.

When your checking account gets below a comfortable level, you focus on your next payday. When you get sunburned, you focus on the time when it won’t hurt your shoulders to wear a shirt, and then you focus on the time when you will stop itching from your peeling skin. When your kids can’t sleep and need attention in the middle of the night, you look forward to the time when they calm down and you can put your head back on your pillow. When you are sick, you focus on when your cough will go away, your sinuses opened, or when your stomach will be able to hold down food. When you go through chemotherapy treatments, you look forward to when they are done. When you experience pain and loss because of broken relationships or when friends and relatives die, you yearn for enough time to pass so the ache and agony subsides. All of that is like Joseph, when he was in prison, wanted his story to be told to Pharaoh so that he could get out of that pit of suffering (Gen. 40:15).

Wait Eagerly while we goran - Romans 8-23 But, Christian, this passage of Scripture is telling you that there is something even better in store for you than the end of your suffering – whatever has caused it. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:19, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Dear saint, when you suffer, you do not simply look to the end of your pain. Instead, you are to look to the glory that is to be revealed to you. And, in fact, all of creation is groaning for this as well.

All creation eagerly longs and desires for you to be revealed as God’s children. 1 John 3:1-2says something similar, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.” But here, Paul takes it one step further and says that the sun, moon, and stars, the trees, the grass, and the dirt can’t wait to see the glory that God has given to you – and which you have now – but the glory which will be revealed when Christ returns.

You have this promise, but you do not experience it yet. You have this glory by faith in Christ even while you experience suffering here and now.

Some of you know this suffering better than I and others do. And some of you are even now suffering in ways that are incredibly painful, and you don’t know how you can go on. Listen to the first verse of our text again because it is a promise to you. “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Dear Christian, following Jesus means that you will endure suffering. But hold fast to this promise. You have been joined to Christ. In your Baptism, God joined you to Jesus’ death upon the cross (Ro. 6:3-5). There on the cross, Jesus cried out as He suffered God’s punishment for your sin, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”But God has joined you to Jesus’ death so that you would also be joined to Jesus’ resurrection.

Yes, you do suffer now. But that suffering is not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed in you. The time will come that the revelation that you are a child of God will be clear to all the world. Even when it doesn’t feel like you are a child of God, remember that, when Christ returns, all of creation will see that you have been redeemed by His blood. What a joy that will be.

I want to close with what is probably a silly illustration, but I hope it drives this home a little bit. When a mom decides to style her daughter’s hair, there are times of suffering. All the tangled snarls need to be brushed out, and the daughter isn’t her mom’s biggest fan. But the mom persists. She twists and braids and ties off the daughter’s hair. Finally, everything is finished. The mom steps back, looks at her daughter, and says, “Look how beautiful you are.”

And the daughter looks in the mirror and smiles because she looks just like a princess. The daughter knows, of course, that she had nothing to do with the hair styling other than she endured it. But she happily receives the praise and adoration of the glory that her mother has created.

The Resurrection Dear saints, the same is true of you. In Christ, God has done all the work required to give you your glory. And the day is coming when you will hear your heavenly Father’s voice, praising you for the work He has done in you (Mt. 25:21).

Until then, press on. Look to the promises of Scripture as you wait for the time when Christ returns, when your bodies will be redeemed, and your God-given glory will be revealed. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Feasting with Sinners – Sermon on Luke 15:1-32 for the Third Sunday after Trinity

Jul7

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In the name of Jesus. Amen.

You can take each of these parables out of their context, and they will correctly teach you about the Kingdom of God and His grace and mercy. When these parables are taken out of context, they become nice stories about how Jesus seeks out you who are lost sheep, lost coins, and lost sons, and the angels in heaven rejoice at your being brought into the fold. To view yourself as the lost sheep, coin, or son is not entirely wrong, but neither is it entirely right.

So first, let’s consider the context of these parables. The reason Jesus tells them is the grumbling of the Pharisees when Jesus is eating with and welcoming sinners. So, the point of each of the parables is to pound into our heads the joy of heaven over one sinner who receives grace. The parables show us the ludicrous feasting and joy of God’s mercy, pardon, and steadfast love over sinners.

Lost Sheep from Luke 15.jpg In each of these parables, what is lost – the sheep, the coin, and even the son – is not valuable. That is the point of the parables. This is most apparent in the parable of the lost coin. The party the woman throws costs more than the coin that she recovered. That one sheep was worth less than the cost of the party that the shepherd threw. Even that one son was not worth the cost of the party. And don’t pish-posh that statement.

The son had told his father to drop dead. The twerp demanded that his father sell off everything. The little brat went off, blew the inheritance, and returned only when he is tired of sharing swill with swine and thinks he has a chance at getting some bread. He came sauntering back to negotiate a job for himself. Had the father brought him on as a hired hand, it would have been gracious. Restoring him to sonship is merciful. Throwing a party about the whole business is unimaginable. No, the son is not worth a party.

But that is the point. The point is that God is like an obsessive and foolish shepherd, woman, and father who loves too much. God pays for work not performed and for merchandise not delivered.

If these parables give you a picture of a God who seems reasonable, then you are reading them wrong. Your heavenly Father turned His back on His perfectly good, entirely faithful, and completely obedient Son to purchase those who killed Him. Jesus laid down His precious life for sinners.

To paraphrase our Old Testament text (Mic. 7:18-20), “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression? You do not retain Your anger forever, because You delight in steadfast love. You have compassion on us, and You will have compassion us again and again.”

Shadenfreude Because of our sin, we are broken. No one wants to admit it, but we are happy when our neighbor suffers and we are sad when he rejoices. The Germans created a word for this by combining their words for ‘harm’ and ‘joy’ into one word, Schadenfreude. The worst part is we justify our Schadenfreude. We enjoy others’ pain because we figure they deserved it. We want others to get what we think is justice. But this is the opposite of compassion and is from the devil.

Satan wants justice for others. His desire is that you get the wages of your sin – death. And when we desire and demand justice, we join our voices to the serpent and receive nothing but hell and condemnation.

Like the Pharisees, we live good, respectable lives but only in an outward way. We mow our lawns and use our turn signals. We volunteer, pay our bills, and give to charities. And we think we deserve good, peaceful lives because of it. When we encounter any trouble or trial or cross, we conclude that God isn’t being fair. And worse than that, when God showers blessings on others, we figure God is rewarding bad behavior. And instead of repenting, we judge God to be unjust. We are entirely foolish for thinking so.

The Pharisees were angry at Jesus for receiving sinners, so they are damned and go home condemned. They refuse to repent. And they refuse to repent because they hate grace – even though they will never admit it. Irritation at God for accepting sinners through grace is the height of hubris and pride.

Instead of being encouraged that God forgives sinners whom we deem worse than us, we get jealous and think that God should simply accept us as we are because we are so much better than others. It is the same as saying, “I don’t need mercy, so others shouldn’t get mercy.”

Repent. The sheep, the coin, and the son are not worth the cost to restore them nor the party thrown afterwards. And, sinner, you are not worth the cost of your redemption. Let me repeat that and let it sink in: You are not worth the cost of your redemption.

But God does it anyway. How great is God’s steadfast love toward us and others?

No one is worthy of the banquet. No one is worthy to enter the feast. The feast is full of sinners accepted by God’s grace alone. Otherwise, what is Jesus doing on the cross?

The father in the parable slaughtered the fattened calf in order to celebrate the fact that Cross and Communion he restored and received his son back into the family. Sinner, your heavenly Father has fattened up Jesus, His faithful Son, to serve as food for you who are unworthy.

Come, you poor, lame, cripple, and blind. Come, you who have no other options or choice. You and I are sinners received entirely by God’s grace without any merit or worthiness of our own.

Heavenly Father, teach us to rejoice in this and in nothing else. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Ready – Sermon on Luke 14:15-24 for the Second Sunday after Trinity

Jun30

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Luke 14:15-23

¹⁵When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

¹⁶But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. ¹⁷And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ ¹⁹And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ ²⁰And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Invite as many as you find to the wedding feast Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ²²And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Our God is a God of order (1 Cor. 14:33; Heb 13:20). Because God is eternal, all-powerful, and all-knowing, God is never surprised, never caught off guard. He is always prepared, always ready. This is very basic stuff, but it is good to dwell on it for a bit.

When God created the universe, He didn’t create cows until everything was ready for cows. God waited until the sixth day so cows would have grass, land, atmosphere, and light. God didn’t create fish or birds until He had created the sky and sea for them to dwell in. And God didn’t create Adam and Eve until very last so that they could be brought into a perfectly prepared world and perfectly prepared Garden. God made everything ready for them.

We can go further. When God sent the Flood in Noah’s days, God patiently waited for Noah to build the ark so that it would be ready to save his family and the animals. When God sent Jacob’s family into Egypt, God made everything ready by first sending Joseph down to Egypt so he could rise to power and provide food and a good, safe place for God’s chosen people. And God doesn’t bring His people out of Egypt until the Promised Land is already flowing with milk and honey.

When God drove the inhabitants of Canaan out so His people could dwell there, He doesn’t do it all at once. God said that He would drive the idol-worshipping pagans out little by little so the wild beasts wouldn’t become too many (Ex. 23:29-30; Dt. 7:22-23). On top of that, God also said that would first make the people afraid of the Israelites (Ex. 23:27-28). And when His people got to Jericho, that is exactly what Rahab said had happened (Josh. 2:9-11). God is never in emergency mode. He always makes everything ready.

But even above and beyond all of that, God makes sure that everything is prepared and ready when it comes to the salvation of sinners. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” God is always ready.

In this parable, Jesus tells us about God’s plan of salvation. The man giving the banquet in this parable had sent out invitations. You can think of this as a “save the date,” even though no exact date was given. The people are simply invited by the host, “I’m going to have a feast, and you are invited.” And the people respond, “Sounds great. We’ll be sure to come when you call us.” That is understood in v. 16.

This initial invitation is God’s repeated promise to send the Messiah, His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. God repeatedly invited people to come to Him through Christ, but He didn’t announce exactly when Jesus would arrive.

Heavenly Banquet Table So, the man has sent out this invitation without saying exactly when the banquet would begin. Then in v. 17, the preparations are finished – the food is cooked, the table is set, the decorations are hung, the wine is poured, everything is ready. The man sends his servant to tell all those who were invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.” But they all make excuses, and their excuses are lame and stupid.

No one buys a field without looking at it first to see if it is worth the asking price. No one buys a yoke of oxen without checking if they are old, decrepit, and sickly. And you just got married? Well, bring your wife, you simpleton! Your host won’t mind. Besides, this banquet will be a more exquisite honeymoon than you could afford or imagine.

Now, we need to pause here because a question lies before us: What things keep you from the long-prepared banquet? What do you value more than the kingdom of God? What are your excuses? It doesn’t matter what excuses you have; they are just as lame and stupid as the ones offered in the parable.

Is your schedule so full that you can’t eek out time to pray and study God’s Word for yourself or as a family? God sees that as a rejection of Him. Do you not come to church everySunday because it is your only time to sleep in or because that is when the tournament is scheduled? God sees that as a rejection of Him. Do you withhold your tithe because you don’t know how you would be able to make ends meet even though you can always justify all other kinds of frivolous spending? God sees that as a rejection of Him.

Hear what the master of the feast says, “None of those who were invited shall taste my banquet.”

Repent. Your excuses are all statements that you are perfectly happy and fine as you are and that don’t need a banquet. Confess your excuses for despising the things of God as what they really are – a rejection of the God who personally loves you.

Confess yourself to be poor and unable to pay the debt you owe to God. Confess yourself to be lame and cripple and unable to walk in the way that God’s Law demands. Confess yourself to be blind and unable to grasp the depth of your sin and the heights of God’s mercy toward you.

When beggars – the poor, lame, cripple, and blind – get invited to come to a ready feast, they come. God loves you and has made everything ready for you. God’s feast is ready, and His feast is not sometime in the future. His feast is now.

Jesus tells this parable while He is at a feast. Jesus had just told His host, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite [people who can] invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Lk. 14:12-14).

Immediately after Jesus says that, another guest responded to Jesus, “Blessed are those who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.” Then, Jesus tells this parable in response to that statement. Now, if you take that statement, “Blessed are those who will eat bread in the kingdom of God,” out of its context, that blessing, that benediction, that beatitude is one-hundred percent true. But in context, that statement is damnably ludicrous.

Whoever it was who said it was, at that exact moment, eating and drinking with Jesus, God in the flesh. The blessing he spoke of was not something in the distant future that would happen eventually. It was already present with him, and he completely missed it.

Because Jesus was there, the kingdom of God was there. The feast was ready, and that man made an excuse to not enjoy what had been made ready for him.

Last week, we heard the parable of Lazarus who desired to eat from the rich man’s table. But God blessed Lazarus in his poverty, hunger, illness, and loneliness. Lazarus’ dissatisfaction with the world made him dependent upon God and ready to receive the joys and comforts of heaven for eternity. This week, we hear a parable of people who have no desire for food. They have been invited to a banquet that is ready, but they are full of excuses.I said it before, but I’ll say it again: When beggars – the poor, lame, cripple, and blind – get invited to come to a ready feast, they come.

We started with the premise that God is always ready. Ready to have mercy, ready to save those who are lost, and ready to usher them into His feast. The only thing that will keep you out of His banquet is your stubborn unwillingness to recognize your need and His gracious invitation.

Sinner, your sin has made you unworthy to come to God’s feast. And God could have made a lot of excuses for leaving you out of His heavenly banquet, but He didn’t. It is His good pleasure to give the kingdom to those who are unworthy.

Cross and Communion Christian, God has ushered you into His paradise. You receive the benefit of the sacrifice of Christ’s death. You are promised the resurrection. And, now, in this feast you are about to receive, God nourishes you and declares you to be the object of His love and His perfect bride.

Your God says to you, His beloved, “Come for everything is now ready.” Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Gift of a Name – Sermon on Luke 16:19-31 for the First Sunday after Trinity

Jun23

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Luke 16:19-31

¹⁹“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. Lazarus and the Rich Man Graphic ²²The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, ²³and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ ²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ ²⁷And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Being rich is not a sin. Money can, of course, be very dangerous to faith in Christ. Jesus plainly teaches that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 19:23-24). But the rich man does not go to hell because he was wealthy. Instead, the rich man goes to hell because he does not love God.

Greed Even though the parable doesn’t explicitly say it, we know the rich man does not love God. As our Epistle text (1 Jn. 4:16-21) says, “he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen…. Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 Jn. 20-21). The rich man’s lack of love for Lazarus makes his lack of love for God as plain as the nose on your face.

We can go even farther and say that the rich man is put to shame by the dogs. By licking his wounds, those dogs are more compassionate toward Lazarus than the rich man who can’t even be bothered to send one of his servants to give Lazarus a crumb from his table. Again, it is not a sin to be rich – not at all. But you cannot be saved and live as unlovingly and hard-heartedly as the rich man in this parable.

The Scriptural command to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18; Mt. 22:39) is something that everyone, even pagans, know they should do. Everyone has the duty to love and serve their neighbor – but Christians especially have this duty.

God has given you abundant blessings so that you can use your wealth to help and be generous to others. Too often when we hear exhortations to assist the poor and needy – and I include myself in this rebuke – we over-generalize and turn the poor into a category or a nameless group of people that are difficult to identify. And once we have done that, we come up with all sorts of excuses to get out of helping our neighbor.

We know we can’t feed and clothe everybody so we don’t even start. Or we think to ourselves, “Jesus said that we will always have the poor among us (Mt. 26:11), so what good can I do?” But by doing this, we make the poor merely a concept, a demographic, or an abstraction. Once we have done this, we easily dismiss God’s call to help them.

So, don’t fall into the trap. Christian, God has called you to help your neighbor, and don’t forget that your neighbor has a name. In this parable, the rich man had a poor person put into his life by God, and that poor man had a name – Lazarus. And without question, the rich man knew who Lazarus was.

As the rich man was in torment, he doesn’t say, “Abraham, can you send that guy next to you to give me a drop of water?” No. The rich man sees Lazarus’ face, knows his name, and begs, “Send Lazarus.” And more than that, the rich man has five brothers who also knew Lazarus by name. The rich man knows that, if Lazarus could go to his brothers, they would recognize Lazarus, and they would know that he had risen from the dead to warn them about his torments in hell. From those two details, we know that Lazarus was a familiar family acquaintance for the rich man and his brothers.

Here’s the point: God hasn’t commanded you to feed and provide for the whole world. You aren’t God, and, quite frankly, you can’t do that. God hasn’t called you to provide for everyone, but God has called you to provide for Lazarus. God has put you into relationships with people who have a name. And God has called you to provide for them.

Crying to God So, when your conscience is pricked and you feel guilt for your lack of love, first repent. Repent of your lack of love. Then, make a list of the people God has placed in your life to help, to care for, and to love starting with the people closest to you.

Take out a piece of paper and draw a circle in the middle and write down the names of your family members who live with you in that circle. God has called you to care for them first. Be faithful in your care for them. Then draw another circle around the first and list your family members who need help – maybe a grandparent or an aged parent or aunt, uncle, or cousin. Those are the first two groups of neighbors God has called you to serve and care for. 1 Timothy 5:8 says, “[I]f anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Then draw another circle around the first two, and write down the names of the people from our congregation that need your care and support. After your family, your fellow believers, your brothers and sisters in Christ are the closest neighbors that God has put into your life to care for. Galatians 6:10 says, “[A]s we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Your brothers and sisters in Christ need your love and care. They need you to contribute to this congregation so that they can hear the Gospel and receive God’s gifts in His Word and Sacraments. They need you to help them when they fall into hard times. So be faithful in your giving to our congregation, and God will bless those efforts. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”

If you still have more to give, draw another circle. Write the names of your neighbors, coworkers, and friends who also have needs. And be faithful in helping them. Then you can draw another circle and write the names of others you know who need help. Or you can write the names of organizations that help those in need – the Women’s Pregnancy Center, Northlands Rescue Mission, the food shelf, etc. Get their newsletters or go to the websites and read the names and stories of the individuals who have been helped by those efforts as well. You get the idea?

With all those names, you might be overwhelmed. So, pray for wisdom. Ask God to give you the wisdom to know when you are equipped to help and when you are not. And remember that the closer to the middle of the circle those names are, God has called you to help those individuals first. And trust that God knows how to order your life and the lives of others as well.

Now, maybe you are a Lazarus. You might be the one who needs to be cared for, and if you aren’t now, you may be in the future. If that is the case, you might wonder, “How can I show love for my neighbor? How can I provide for others when I am in need?” The answer is surprisingly simple.

In Jesus’ day, beggars were seen as offering service to God be being needy. The generous cannot be generous if there is no one to be generous to. God may call you into His service by being the one who needs to receive the generosity of others who have the means to give. So, if you have needs, let us know.

Baptism 2 And never forget, Christian, that you have been given a name. Through the waters of your Baptism, God gave you your name. He has adopted you into His family. You are His child and part of the household of Jesus. The love you fail to show to those God has placed in your life is forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus, your Savior. And God does not forget to pour out His love, mercy, forgiveness, and provision for you.

This is what the Scriptures teach. The Scriptures point you to Jesus, your Savior. It is the same Scriptures that this parable says the rich man’s brothers should look to so that they do not come to the place of eternal torment that the rich man did. Those very Scriptures all point you to the Jesus who shed His blood, died, and rose again for you.

Sinner, you are not some nameless, faceless person to God. He knows you by name. He has called you by that name, and you are His (Is. 43:1). And, dear saints, your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 3:5; 13:8). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

From Amazement to Fear to Faith – Sermon on Acts 2:1-21 for Pentecost

Jun9

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Acts 2:1-21

¹When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹²And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

¹⁴But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;

¹⁸even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

¹⁹ And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

²⁰ the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

²¹ And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The crowd in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost was there because it was Pentecost – a harvest festival. We have gotten so accustomed to connecting the celebration of Pentecost with the sending of the Holy Spirit that we forget that Pentecost was one of the three major festivals of the Jews. All the way back in Leviticus 23[:15-21], God had commanded that this feast be kept; though, in the Old Testament, it is normally called the “Feast of Weeks.” Pentecost was celebrated fifty days after the Passover, which was why it became known as ‘Pentecost.’ Pentecost was one of three festivals that required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

One of the other festivals that required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem was, of course, Passover. I mention Passover because most of the people in the crowd we just heard about there in Acts 2 would have been in Jerusalem fifty days earlier to celebrate the Passover when Jesus was tried, convicted, and crucified. They would have been the very crowds that cried out, “Crucify Him,” when Pilate asked what he should do with Jesus.

So, people from all over the world are in Jerusalem again. But this time, they are hearing in their own, native languages about the mighty works of God. They were amazed. Amazed at the sound of the mighty rushing wind and amazed at the mighty works of God being told in their own language, their own tongue. This is the amazed crowd to whom Peter preaches.

Peter Preaches on Pentecost We didn’t hear Peter’s whole sermon. It goes on for another fifteen verses, but I want you to hear the highlights of the whole thing. In the part of Peter’s sermon that we did hear, Peter tells the people that, if they had read their Bible, wouldn’t have been surprised at what they are hearing because it had been foretold in the prophet Joel. Then, Peter goes on to proclaim Jesus to the people.

Peter reminds the people how they had, with their own eyes, seen Jesus heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and do all sorts of miracles. But even though they had seen all of this, they delivered Jesus into the hands of lawless men in order to be crucified. But Peter adds that Jesus was crucified according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

The sermon goes on to tell how though Jesus was crucified, He rose from the dead and is forever seated at God’s right hand. And Peter makes it clear that Jesus was and forever is the Lord and Christ whom they had crucified (Act. 2:36).

Upon hearing this, the people in the crowd are, according to Scripture, “cut to the heart” (Act. 2:37). But before I go to describe what happened that day, I want to make a quick mention of another time when a similar sermon was preached. A few years after our reading in Acts 2 today, Stephen preaches a very similar sermon to a similar crowd (Act. 7). But when Stephen’s sermon ends, the crowd is enraged. They grind their teeth, put their hands over their ears, rush Stephen out of the city, and throw rocks at him until he dies.

I mention that to highlight the greatest miracle on the day of Pentecost. The greatest miracle of Pentecost is what happens when Peter concludes his sermon by saying, “[K]now for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified,” and the people do not kill Peter or run to their safe spaces. Instead, the Holy Spirit works on them. They are, again, “cut to the heart.” They are devastated and full of regret. In other words, they lament and despair because of their sin. They go from amazement to fear.

But in their fear because of their sin, they offer no excuses. They point no fingers. Their mouths are silent before the Law with the exception that they fearfully ask, “What shall we do?” (Act. 2:37). Of course, they know that there is nothing they can do. They can’t go back. They can’t make up for it. They can’t pay Jesus off. No excuses will help them. They know they can’t remove their guilt, but Peter points them to Jesus who can.

Peter says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Act. 2:38).

That day, God added 3,000 souls to the Holy Christian Church. Their fear is swallowed up in faith. Faith in the Jesus whom Peter preached. Faith in the name of Jesus given to them in their Baptism. Faith in the Jesus who died for them, rose for them, and washed them.

And it is that promise of Scripture that I want you to consider today. Sometimes, we get too caught up in the amazement of the coming of the Holy Spirit. But the most amazing thing that happens when the Holy Spirit arrives is how people are moved by the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God to repentance and faith.

Romans 15_4 - Spirit Scriptures Salvation So you, when the Law comes and points its finger at you and declares you to be a sinner, don’t make excuses. Don’t try to turn the accusations away. Don’t try to put your own spin on it and say that at least you aren’t as bad as so-and-so. Instead, repent. Repent because the Holy Spirit wants you to know that Jesus came to save you who are lost in sin. That means that Jesus has come to save you and me.

Secondly, know that this salvation isn’t only for you. It is for your children. The promises of Baptism are for the cute little sinners who are born into your family. Jesus calls them to Himself as well.

Finally, know also that this promise is for everyone you meet. Your family, your co-workers, your acquaintances, the people you pass by on the street – Jesus died for them as well. And your Savior desires that they hear the promises of life, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation as well. So, fill your speech with those promises.

One study showed that 86% of people who attend church regularly attend because someone invited them. That’s amazing. So, as your pastor, I ask you: When was the last time you invited someone to join you here at church? I am willing to bet that you would be fearful if I were to have everyone stand and say when the last time was.

Brothers and sisters, our world is dark, and people are hurting. Let us, all of us, be people of faith in our Lord while we invite others to the faith as well. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Heart & the Helper – Sermon on Ezekiel 36:22-28; 1 Peter 4:7-14; John 15:26-16:4 for the Seventh Sunday of Easter and Confirmation Sunday

Jun2

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Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The sermon today is from all three texts read: Ezekiel 36:22-28; 1 Peter 4:7-14; John 15:26-16:4

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear Confirmands and dear Christians,

I have good news and I have bad news. First, the bad news: Being a Christian is difficult.

According to Jesus, to be a Christian is to be on the narrow path (Mt. 7:13-14), and Christ promises, “In this world you will have tribulation” (Jn. 16:33). In our Epistle text, Peter says, “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Pe. 4:12). God doesn’t promise that Christians get a detour around problems in this life. Instead, Scripture promises the exact opposite. In fact, in today’s Gospel text, Jesus says that there are people who are willing to kill you thinking that they are worshipping God by doing so (Jn. 16:2).

No, you don’t get a detour around problems in this world, but don’t be discouraged – here’s the good news. You do get a Guide through them. This past Thursday marked the Ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God the Father. Christ ascended into heaven in order to help you with the help you need the most. You, Christian, have been given the Holy Spirit who helps you in every trial, temptation, and tribulation.

Your Savior sends the Holy Spirit to be your Helper, your Aid, your Defender, your Comforter.

Andrew, Stephanie, Josiah, and all you saints, though you have enemies attacking you from the outside – the devil and the world – and enemies attacking you from the inside – you own sinful flesh and desires – you are not without help. You have the comfort of the Comforter and the help of the Helper.

When you are discouraged because of your constant sins and failure to keep God’s Law, the Holy Spirit is right there helping and comforting you with the Word of God. He says, “Yes, your sins are great. That is why you have a greater Savior, Jesus Christ. God is not disappointed with you. He is totally and completely pleased with you because of what Jesus has done for you.”

When the devil accuses you and throws your sins in your face, the Holy Spirit, your Comforter and Advocate, stands between you and the devil saying, “None of that, Satan! Those sins were already thrown in Jesus’ face, and He has taken the punishment for all of them.”

When the world calls you a hypocrite saying that you do not live the way you should, the Helper reminds you, “You bear God’s holy name. You have been Baptized in to Christ, so you have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27).

Did you hear what God said in our Old Testament lesson? Were you listening? God promised that He would act for the sake of His holy name which you bear. Because God has defined Himself as a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex. 34:6). God will make sure you have that mercy, grace, love, and care. God has sprinkled clean water on you, His people, and He has cleansed them from all your sins and idols. Holy Spirit New Heart God given you a new heart and a new spirit. God has put His Holy Spirit within you, and He has caused you to walk in His statutes and rules. Again, God promised to do this for the sake of His name, His reputation, and your benefit because you are His.

God promised all of this, and because of what Christ has done, it is finished.

God acted. You were in desperate need of help. You weren’t just dying, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. And, even worse, you were dead and still actively and stone-heartedlyrebelling against God. But He gave you what He promised in our Old Testament lesson. Christ came and removed your heart of stone and gave you a heart of flesh.

Christian, you will struggle your entire life – Scripture promises it. Yet, there is a comfort in Christ saying that you will struggle because those very trials, tribulations, and persecutions mean that you belong to Him. Just a few verses before our Gospel text began, Jesus said this: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (Jn. 15:18-19).

And know this, know this: You have help in your trials. The same Jesus who died and rose again for you is the same Jesus who helps you by ascending to the right hand of God the Father with all authority in all creation having been given to Him. And He has given you a new heart and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and the Helper.

Each of the verses our Confirmands picked are Holy Spirit-sent to help and comfort you now and forever.

As Andrew’s verse (Jn. 3:16) promises: God loved you so that He sent Jesus to die and rise again for you. Believe in Him and you will never perish but have eternal life.

Josiah’s verse (Prov. 3:5) encourages you to trust in those promises of Christ and to not lean on your own understanding. Your own understanding will lead you nowhere. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than your ways and thoughts. Trust in those.

And Stephanie’s verse (Jer. 29:11) reminds you that God’s plans for you are for your welfare. God’s plans for you are to give you a solid future and hope for all eternity.

Christian, you have a new heart and the Helper. Go from here in that comfort and that certainty. God has promised, and He is faithful.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Pastorsamwise

"Don't the great tales never end?"

Author Archives: pastorsamwise

The Council of the Lord – Sermon on Jeremiah 23:16-29 for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity

Eden in Desolation – Sermon on Mark 8:1-9 for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Your Savior & the Law – Sermon on Matthew 5:17-26 for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

What Are You Doing Here? – Sermon on 1 Kings 19:11-21 for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Glory – Sermon Romans 8:18-23 for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Feasting with Sinners – Sermon on Luke 15:1-32 for the Third Sunday after Trinity

Ready – Sermon on Luke 14:15-24 for the Second Sunday after Trinity

The Gift of a Name – Sermon on Luke 16:19-31 for the First Sunday after Trinity

From Amazement to Fear to Faith – Sermon on Acts 2:1-21 for Pentecost

The Heart & the Helper – Sermon on Ezekiel 36:22-28; 1 Peter 4:7-14; John 15:26-16:4 for the Seventh Sunday of Easter and Confirmation Sunday