Romans 8:12–17

¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Whenever you say something about God, you are simultaneously saying something about yourself. When you refer to God as ‘Lord’ or ‘Master,’ you are saying that you are His servant. When you call God the ‘Creator,’ you are also saying that you are His creation and creature. When you say that God is ‘Almighty’ or ‘omnipotent,’ you concurrently saying, “I am weak.” Now, of course, God is all those things. He is your Lord, your Master, and your Creator. God is the Almighty who is all-powerful. Scripture clearly and repeatedly gives those titles to God. And because God is all of those things, you are the inverse. You are God’s servant and His creation. You are weak, in fact, much weaker than He is. And there is a time and place for you to recognize and confess all of that about yourself. That’s proper and right.

The thing to notice, though, is that when you talk about God in those ways, you are using language that is only focused on the difference of power between you and God. Again, yes, of course, there is a difference of power between you and God. But, Christian, your relation to God isn’t primarily measured by power. If all you know about God is how big, immortal, wise, powerful, sovereign, etc. He is, then all you can do is throw yourself on the ground before Him and hope for the best.

The Epistle reading is filled with language that proves that the relationship between you and God isn’t based solely on power. You, believer, are a son of God. God is your Father. That fact illumines all the other titles of God. The all-powerful God is your Father. The Creator is your Father. The Lord and Master of all things is your Father. God is your Father, and you are His son.

Now, before I go any further, something needs to be crystal clear. When the Bible talks about Christians as ‘sons’ here, that doesn’t mean only the men and boys have this status, but women and girls don’t. No! That’s not what this means. The term ‘son’ here means that you are God’s child and have a legitimate, legal claim and right to inherit everything that belongs to God. And this changes everything for you and for how you now live in this world He created.

Paul here is elaborating on what Jesus had already taught. Remember, when Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, Jesus’ response is, “When you pray say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven…’”(Lk. 11:2; Mt. 6:9). With these words, Jesus is tenderly encouraging us to believe that God “is truly our Father and that we are truly His children, so that we may boldly and confidently come to Him in prayer, even as beloved children come to their dear father.”^[1]

These verses (along with many others) clearly teach that this status of being God’s son and child is not something that you have earned. God, by His grace, has done it. He did the work of making you His son. You are not sons of God by virtue of your existence. You aren’t biologically God’s sons. Sure, everyone is created, knitted, and formed by God in their mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13), but that simply means that you are His creature. Not everyone is a child of God – not in the way Paul is talking about it here. You, believer, are God’s sons because you are adopted. God has chosen you and made you His sons (Eph. 1:5). The Holy Spirit has brought this about by giving you faith in Christ. 

Because you are God’s adopted sons and have Him as your Father, you, dear saints, are God’s heirs with a coming inheritance. You, Christian, are an heir of God and a fellow heir with Christ, and Scripture clearly says what you will inherit. You will receive the entire world. The whole world belongs to God. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” All of creation belongs to God, and because it belongs to your heavenly Father, that is your inheritance as His heir. Back in Romans 4:13, Scripture says that the promise to Abraham and to you who share the faith of Abraham (Ro. 4:16; Gal. 3:29) is that you are all the heirs of the whole world. That’s your inheritance; that’s what is in store for you, believer.

Because that is your coming inheritance, your life is different now – especially regarding the things you suffer. Look again at v. 17. You are children and “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” That word ‘provided’ might make it sound that you need to go do something – go and find Jesus to suffer with Him. But that can’t be the case.

Jesus has already suffered, bled, and died for you. Now, He’s risen. And Jesus isn’t suffering anymore. He is seated at God’s right hand with all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18). Christ’s suffering is over. So, when Paul talks about suffering here, he isn’t saying that you need to find Jesus somewhere over there and join Him in His suffering. Instead, Paul is saying that Jesus is beside you in your suffering – whatever that suffering may be. This can change our attitude toward suffering. You suffer in this life with Christ beside you. He is with you in your suffering. Your inheritance is coming, but for now, you suffer with Jesus at your side.

All of us are tempted to groan and grumble when we suffer even though the Bible tells us, “Do all things without grumbling” (Php. 2:14). We’re all guilty when it comes to this. We say things like, “He doesn’t know all the things I do for him.” “She’s only thinks about herself.” “The roads are so torn up and full of potholes.” “It’s too hot.” It’s way too easy to grumble and complain. My fellow adopted children of God, we need to fight against this.

I’m going to borrow and update an analogy from John Newton, who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Imagine that a man is traveling to claim a massive inheritance. Picture a multi-million dollar lakefront mansion. The waters are clear and clean. Trees all around. A huge boathouse. A pole-barn filled with fancy new and collectable cars. And a massive safe filled with gold bars. But imagine that the man traveling there is driving ’03 minivan that breaks down just before he arrives at the estate, and he has to walk the last mile. We would think he’s an absolute fool if he was grumbling that last mile, complaining, “My minivan is broken! My minivan is broken!” That’s us. We are on the way to our inheritance. It’s just around the corner. Yes, things have gone wrong, and we are suffering. But it isn’t going to last very long.

Now, that analogy might minimize the suffering you’re enduring right now. Some of you have been enduring a lot of physical, mental, and spiritual pain. Some of you have lost spouses, parents, and children. Your suffering is hard, difficult, and real. It absolutely is. But whatever that suffering is, it is nothing, absolutely nothing, in comparison to what you are about to receive when you get to your inheritance. And whatever is broken now will be fixed when you arrive. You’ll have plenty.

Dear saints, you are on the way. You have suffered losses. It’s hot. You’re tired, dirty, and sweaty. Yes, it’s difficult.

Keep going. Your inheritance is just around the corner. Christ is coming. Keep your mind on your inheritance (Col. 3:1-4), brothers and sisters of our heavenly Father. Amen.

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

^[1] Luther’s Small Catechism Lord’s Prayer Introduction.

John 10:11–18

¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

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

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus says that the chief identifying mark that He is the Good Shepherd is that He lays down His life for you, His sheep. Jesus has the authority to lay down His life and the authority to take His life up again. Your Good Shepherd wants you to know Him as the Good Shepherd precisely because He is crucified and risen for you. And Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gives the clear identifying mark of His sheep – the sheep of the Good Shepherd listen to His voice (Jn. 10:16).

This is such a beautiful image, but to get the picture something needs to be clear: Jesus isn’t referring to a shepherd with large ranch. When I was younger, I imported my idea of what a ranch is to this image. My grandpa was a veterinarian in South Dakota, and when we’d visit, I would periodically go with my grandpa to these large cattle ranches to help him do his work. The average size of a cattle ranch is about 1,000 acres. Sheep are what, maybe ¼ the size of a cow? So, I figured sheep ranches were around 250 acres, but that isn’t the picture here.

In Jesus’ day, everyone owned a handful of sheep because that was how they would get their winter clothing, their milk, meat, and leather. Every family needed to have a few sheep, but they couldn’t only take care of those sheep. So, when a whole block of families each have a handful of sheep, you’ve got a decent flock – 60, 80, 100 sheep. Typically, one person from that block had the responsibility of being the shepherd for that block’s flock of sheep. 

During the day, the shepherd would lead the sheep where they had good grass to eat and clean water to drink. But as the sun would set, the shepherd would lead his sheep back into the village where there was a large pen where all the different flocks would spend the night together so the shepherds could go home and sleep. They hired some college student to watch the 400-500 sheep through the night. Then in the morning, the shepherds would return to that pen where all of the flocks were mixed together. But that wasn’t a problem because each shepherd would call his sheep by name, “Come on, Long-ears. Time to go, White-nose. Get a move on, Stubby-legs.” And each sheep would hear the voice of its shepherd calling its name, and they would all follow him to go out in the fields for the day. That’s the picture Jesus is using throughout John 10.

At the beginning of the chapter (Jn. 10:1-5), Jesus says that the gatekeeper opens the pen for the Shepherd. The sheep hear the voice of their Shepherd, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought His own sheep out, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him. Keep that order in mind. The Shepherd leads and the sheep follow because they know His voice. Those sheep won’t follow the voice of strangers. A little bit after our text (Jn. 10:27), Jesus says His sheep hear His voice. He knows them, and they follow Him.

Now, with that imagery and context in mind, listen again to what Jesus says in v. 14-16, “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd.” In other words, Jesus says to these crowds in Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago, “I’m going to gather some other sheep into My flock as well.”

Now, you have to recognize that this is the second week in a row where Jesus directly speaks about you. Last week, after Thomas saw Jesus and confessed that Christ is his Lord and God, Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”(Jn. 20:28-29). Jesus had you in mind when He said that. Now here, Jesus had you in mind when He talks about bringing in other sheep who will listen to His voice and be part of the one flock with Him as the Good Shepherd.

Isn’t that beautiful? The voice of your crucified and risen Good Shepherd is what brings you into the flock, keeps you in His flock, and calls you back to the flock if you have strayed. In your Baptism, Jesus put His name on you, and He also calls you by name. By that calling, you belong to Him (Is. 43:1). As part of His flock, Christ’s voice continues to call, gather, lead, guide, and direct you. And as His sheep, you follow Him. Wherever He leads, you follow – whether it’s to green pastures and still waters or through the valley of the shadow of death. 

My fellow sheep, you need to be attentive to the voice of your Good Shepherd. What does that mean because, of course, there’s no recording of Jesus’ voice? You don’t know the tone, timbre, and pitch of His voice. So, how can you recognize His voice if you don’t know what His voice sounds like? It’s simple – to know the voice of your Good Shepherd is to know what He says, which means knowing your Bible. Knowing the Scriptures is how you recognize Jesus, your Good Shepherd. You can’t follow the Shepherd without hearing and recognizing His voice.

My fellow sheep, be in the Bible daily. People talk about wanting to hear God’s voice. If you want to hear God’s voice, read your Bible. If you want to audibly hear God’s voice, read it out loud. Scripture is clear that faith comes by hearing (Ro. 10:17), so hear the voice of your Shepherd from His holy, inspired, infallible, inerrant Word.

Spend specific time in God’s Word several times each day. If you aren’t doing that already, start today. Start small and build on that. Even if it’s just one short chapter (even the same chapter) every day – do it. Read it. Mediate on it. Write out specific verses that are comforting, encouraging, and challenging on note cards where you will see them as you’re brushing your teeth or doing the dishes. Be in God’s Word. Know what He says in it. Paraphrases like The Message and The Living Bible shouldn’t be considered the same way as a translation. Think of them as commentaries. There can be times where they are helpful. But if you had a letter from your parents or grandparents, you wouldn’t want a paraphrase, you’d want the real thing.

Also, know that Your Shepherd’s voice isn’t always going to say what you want to hear. It might be calling you back to the flock if you are straying. Your Shepherd will always say what’s good for you. When God’s Word is difficult or confusing, you can always come to me and ask me about it. I might not always have the answer right away, but I’ll do some digging and help you understand what your Shepherd is saying. That’s part of my job and calling as a pastor, which is to be an under-shepherd of the Good Shepherd.

Jesus’ voice, which calls to you from the Scriptures, is how you recognize Him. Remember, your Good Shepherd leads, and you follow. Jesus doesn’t drive you from behind with a whip yelling at you. No, He walks ahead of you. Your Good Shepherd leads where He knows will be good for His flock. Jesus will not lead you to places you can’t handle. And if you stray, He will seek you out. Jesus, your Good Shepherd, leads and what follows you? His goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in His house forever (Ps. 23:6). Amen.

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

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

John 1:35–42a

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

As we consider the disciple Andrew tonight, let’s start with a pop quiz that consists of one question: How many of the twelve disciples can you name? I would guess the disciples fall into three tiers of recognize-ability. The top tier disciples consist of Peter, James, and John since those three are the ‘inner circle.’ The second tier probably consists of Thomas and Judas Iscariot, but they are both remembered for their shortcomings – and Judas has more shortcomings than Thomas. The remaining seven – Andrew, Phillip, Bartholomew (aka. Nathaniel), Matthew, the other James, Simon the Zealot, and the other Judas probably fall into the third tier.

Even though Andrew doesn’t get a lot of stage time in the Gospels, Andrew holds the title of being the first in at least three ways. Andrew is one of Jesus’ first two disciples. In the early Church, Andrew is often given the title, ‘first-called.’

In our Gospel text tonight (Jn. 1:35-42a), Andrew and John (the author of the Gospel) are both disciples of John the Baptizer. As Jesus walks by, they hear the Baptizer say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29, 35).

This little sermon must have had quite the impact on Andrew. Remember, John the Baptizer was the voice in the wilderness crying out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The axe is laid to the root of the trees” (Mt. 3:2, 10). But now the preacher of repentance points Andrew to the One who takes away the sin of the world.

Andrew leaves John the Baptizer with his camel hair clothing and diet of locusts and honey and follows Jesus. When Jesus sees Andrew following Him, He asks, “What are you seeking?” Now, there is more to Jesus’ question there than we might expect. Since Andrew is following Jesus, we might anticipate that Jesus would ask, “Whom are you seeking?” but that isn’t what Jesus asks. He asks, “What, what are you seeking?”And the word translated ‘seeking’ is commonly used in the Old Testament to refer to studying and searching God’s Word (Ps. 119:33, 45; Ezr. 7:10). In short, Jesus’ question was a common way of asking, “What Scriptures are you searching/studying?”

Andrew and John said to Him, “Rabbi, where are You staying?” That response has always felt a bit odd to me. It sounds like they are interested in getting a room at the same hotel where Jesus is staying, but their response is more than a curiosity about Jesus’ lodging situation. Notice, they address Jesus as “Rabbi,” which means ‘teacher,’ and the word translated ‘staying’ means ‘remaining.’ And because rabbis typically taught while sitting, they are asking Jesus where He is teaching. In other words, the response to Jesus asking what Scriptures they are studying is them requesting to listen to Jesus teach the Scriptures. And Jesus invites them, “Come and you will see.”

And, boy, did they see. Christ gave them eyes to see more than they could have ever imagined.

Andrew and John sat and listened to Jesus teach from the tenth hour (which is about 4:00 in the afternoon) and on into the evening. We don’t know the content of that lesson, but we do know what Andrew took away from that lecture. Andrew runs off to tell his brother, Peter, “We have found the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One who has come to crush the serpent’s head and take away the sin of the world.”

So, Andrew was the ‘first-called,’ but he also becomes the first ‘home missionary’ because he recognized the joy of introducing those closest to him to the Savior. Later on, Andrew’s mission field expands (Jn. 12:20-22). After Jesus rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, some Greeks ask Phillip if they can see Jesus. Phillip doesn’t quite know what to do with this request and goes to Andrew for help. Andrew and Phillip tell Jesus, so Andrew becomes the first ‘foreign missionary.’

Andrew might be a third-tier disciple, but he is a disciple who is used greatly by his Savior.

Sure, Peter gets more ink in the Scriptures than his kid brother, Andrew, but Peter doesn’t know about Jesus without Andrew first telling him about and bringing him to Christ. Peter has his great confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and upon that confession, Jesus says He will build His church (Mt. 16:16-18). But Peter first heard that confession from his obscure brother, Andrew. Peter will catch many men even going to Rome to tell others about Jesus, but Andrew might have cast his nets even farther. Some histories record that Andrew went around the Black Sea in the countries of Romania and Georgia, even catching men with the net of the Gospel in modern-day Kyiv.

Dear saints, evangelizing others doesn’t need to be super organized, flashy, or gimmicky. In fact, it probably works better when it isn’t – especially when we consider how Andrew evangelizes Peter.

Evangelizing is simply having our eyes opened by Jesus, sitting under His teaching, and inviting others to come and see for themselves who this Jesus is. You’ve heard me say it before, but I’ll say it again: Eighty-six percent of Christians started attending church because a friend invited them. In other words, invite your friends to come here. Get them in the door and in the seats. Then let Jesus do His work on them through His Word. That’s it!

Andrew followed Jesus because he heard the Baptizer say, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” But Jesus is the One who sought and saved Andrew by His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus is the God who comes to us. He brings us into His fold with His invitation, “Come and see.” And Christ teaches us giving us eyes to see. Then we, in turn, joyfully invite others to join us to be where Jesus promises to meet with us and save us.

We have found the Messiah, the Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Come and see. Amen.

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

John 10:11-18

¹¹ [Jesus says,] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

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

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus isn’t giving us any compliments here. He describes us as sheep. Dumb, stupid sheep. Sheep who get themselves in all sorts of trouble, who are stalked by hunters, who are dependent. Sheep who keep falling into the same pits of sin. “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned – every one – to his own way” (Is. 53:6), but Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has taken the iniquity of us all. He has voluntarily laid down His precious, holy, innocent, perfect life for us all.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and God the Father loves Him, because He lays down His life for the sheep (Jn. 10:14-15, 17). This statement is shocking. This isn’t the actions of a good shepherd. Shepherds keep sheep for wool and meat, so normally, a good shepherd is defined by being successful and profitable in doing that. Immediately after our text here, many of the people who heard Jesus say this figure He has a demon and is insane (Jn. 10:19-20). But Jesus is good because He is the shepherd who gives His sheep what they need – His holy and precious blood. Now, ‘good’ is a legitimate way to translate what Jesus says when He calls Himself the ‘Good Shepherd,’ but the word Jesus uses is deeper than our word ‘good.’ In Greek, Jesus calls Himself ‘the καλός Shepherd.’

Yes, kalos does mean ‘good’ but not in a subjective sense that is open to anyone’s interpretation. Kalosmeans ‘right, fitting, true, beautiful, and competent.’ Jesus is uniquely qualified to be the Shepherd of sinful sheep. Christ is the ‘good for you’ Shepherd. Jesus, the kalos Shepherd, does what is unimaginable. He overcomes, defeats, and destroys the wolf by filling the wolf’s mouth with His own Body and saving you from being lost and devoured.

Hear this, you wandering sheep: When you had cut yourself off from God by your sin, Jesus, the kalosShepherd, came down to die on the cross for you. Jesus could have run away like the hired hand, but He didn’t. And, if Jesus didn’t run away then, what would cause Him to run away from you now? The answer is nothing. There is nothing that will make Him throw up His hands and say, “Well, I’m done with that sheep.” Jesus is with you. He is for you and is completely invested in you. And for that, God be praised.

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, but it is also Confirmation Sunday. So, Nolan, Josh, and Leah, you dear sheep, God be praised for each one of you today. You have done a lot of work. You have read, studied, memorized, and learned a lot to get to today. But none of this would have been possible without Jesus, your Good, Kalos Shepherd leading and guiding you, and He has done that through the work of others.

I hope that each of you confirmands recognize how Jesus has used your parents in His shepherding of you. Matt and Lisa, Joel and Marilyn, Jon and Mel, you have all been faithful to the promises you made to nurture and raise your child in the faith when they were Baptized. God be praised for that, and I hope that each of you confirmands thank God for your parents’ faithfulness. Not all children have parents who faithfully raise their children in the faith, but you do. You can also thank your Baptismal sponsors (or godparents, if that is what you call them). They also have been faithful in their prayers for you and supporting your parents in their duties.

So, today is a day to celebrate. It is a day to celebrate all the work that you and your parents and sponsors have done. Even more so, it is a day to celebrate because you will receive Jesus’ very Body and Blood for the forgiveness of your sin. But I do want to caution you. Just because you have come to this day of your confirmation, that doesn’t mean that you are done being shepherded.

The beginning of Hebrews 12 talks about the life of a Christian as a race. And everyone, listen carefully. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” The Christian life is a marathon; it’s a race that requires endurance. Nolan, Josh, and Leah, each of you are off to a good start, and you are running well. But none of us can say exactly how far along you are in the race. Today isn’t time to slow down. Keep up the pace. Keep pressing on; keep learning; keep growing in your faith. You aren’t at the finish line – not yet.

And to some of you Christians here today, maybe you have been slacking and slowing up in the race of faith. Repent. Consider this your reminder to keep running. Maybe you’ve gotten lazy and started walking. Maybe you have quit running all together. Maybe you have gotten completely off the course. Now, today, is the time to come back to the race. Put your past failures of loafing, slacking, and being lazy behind you. Start running again (Php. 3:13-14).

Now, whether you are being confirmed today, were confirmed years or decades ago, or are not yet confirmed, it is good to remember what Confirmation is. Confirmation is simply a recognition of God continuing to work in your life through the faith He gave you in your Baptism. When Jesus, your Good Shepherd, instituted Holy Baptism, He said that disciples are made by Baptizing and teaching (Mt. 28:18-20).

So, today, you confirmands are simply confirming and publicly confessing that the work that God began in you when you were Baptized has continued and that you have kept the faith that God gave you in your Baptism. In your Baptism, you were born again (Jn. 3:3, 5) and clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27). So, just briefly:

Nolan, you were Baptized on August 7^th, 2011 at Christ the King Lutheran in Wilson, WI by your grandpa, Pr. Les Johnson. And your sponsors are Les, Dawn, Dale, and Jeanette.

Josh, you were Baptized December 7^th, 2008 here by Pr. Gary Jorgenson. And your sponsors are Carson, Heather, Evan, Joye, and Ginny.

Leah, you were Baptized April 12^th, 2009 here by Pr. Gary Jorgenson. And your sponsors are Roger, Lisa, and Mikal.

In the waters of your Baptism, Jesus shepherded you to still waters and restored your soul. Through His Word, He leads you in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. And Jesus leads you through the valley of the shadow of death. He can do this because your Good Shepherd knows the way through that deathly valley. He went down it Himself and has come out of the grave. Now, Christ is risen from the dead. Jesus had the authority to lay down His life, and He had the authority to raise it up again. Your Baptism joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection (Ro. 6:3-11). Now, because He lives, Jesus is the living Shepherd and watchful Overseer of your soul (1 Pet. 2:21-25). And I love how each of you have picked verses that confess that.

Nolan, you chose Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” Jesus, your Good Shepherd laid down His life, but He will always be with you to strengthen you and uphold you with His almighty, righteous hand.

Josh, you chose 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing,” which I love because that was a portion of my Confirmation verses as well. You can pray to and through Jesus, your Good Shepherd, because He lives forever and is always watching over you. He hears you every time you call to Him and gives you what is best.

Leah, you chose Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” Jesus is and always will be with you in all your ways. Your life, and the life of every Christian here isn’t just the story of your life. It is the story of Jesus’ walking with you, leading, guiding, directing you, and making your paths straight.

My dear, fellow sheep: Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and you are His sheep. You are not called to stand toe-to-toe with the devil. Satan, sin, and death are the wolves, and you are the sheep. Hide behind Jesus. Christ, your Good Shepherd and Overseer of your soul, places Himself between you and every danger to rescue you from every threat that you face. But even as you hide behind your Good Shepherd, you do not cower in fear. You stand confidently behind Jesus knowing that He has overcome the wolf. He has won the victory, and His victory is your victory because you belong to Him. Amen.

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

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

Luke 8:4-15

⁴ And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰ he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ¹¹ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹² The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The Scripture readings today seem present a contradiction. Our Old Testament reading (Is. 55:10-13)says that God’s Word always accomplishes the purpose for which God sends it. Just as the rain and the snow make things wet, God’s Word succeeds in everything God sends it to do. But then, in this Gospel lesson, it appears as though ³/₄^ths of the seed of God’s Word fails. To our eyes, the Sower throws around His seed ineffectively, haphazardly, and chaotically. So how can God say His Word always accomplishes the purpose for which He sends it?

I think they key to understanding this apparent paradox is… patience.

First, let’s consider the Seed that falls on the path. The seed that falls on the path is swallowed up by Satan and his demons. This looks like a total waste of good seed. But you know what happens after birds eat seeds? Those birds fly around and end up ‘depositing’ (which is the politest way I can think to say it) them somewhere else. To our eyes, seed on the path that gets devoured by birds looks like a total failure, but the Seed of God’s Word still works.

Second, the seed that falls on the rock. This seed springs up, and there is faith. But the plant doesn’t have much of a chance because there is no soil for roots to dig down and find moisture. Then, times of testing come and the plant dies as the sun scotches it. Now, if there had been roots, the sun would have been beneficial to the plant. Plants need sun and heat to grow. Even there, the Word works. The remarkable Seed of God’s Word is able to produce a plant even if it doesn’t last long.

Third is the seed that falls among the thorns. This is where we are going to spend most of our time and consideration today. The seed that falls among the thorns is choked out by the cares and pleasures of this world. Because you and I are all sinful and selfish, even good things in this life are a threat to our faith. Even the best gifts that God gives can entangle and trap you. So, enjoy the good gifts God gives you in this life, but also recognize how easily those things can choke out your faith. The harder you hold on to them, the more they take hold of you.

Now, how should we understand and apply this? Scripture doesn’t give specifics for each of us as to what chokes out our faith; instead, God’s Word gives us wisdom to discern what might be slowly strangling us. I am calling on you now to use that wisdom. Christian, there are times where you need to go out and pick weeds from your spiritual life. You can’t simply trim weeds. You have to pull them up by the root. We are ten days away from the beginning of Lent which begins a week from Wednesday. Lent is a good time to remove pluck the weeds that become a hinderance to God’s Word. The Scriptures call this fasting.

Fasting is not commanded, but Jesus does assume that His disciples will fast at times (see. Mt. 6:16-18). Fasting is not a way to make God more pleased with you. God is already completely pleased with you who believe that Jesus has forgiven you of all your sins. Instead, fasting is a way to uproot the thorns that the devil would use to choke out your faith. Fasting curbs your sinful, fleshly desires and tells your flesh, “Flesh, you are not in charge of me.”

So, you have ten days to consider what you might remove from your life for the forty days of Lent. Maybe, there is something that would be beneficial for you to give up in order to discipline your flesh and give extra attention to God’s Word. Again, God doesn’t command this. It’s not something you have to do, but it is a good practice. Don’t think that God will be more pleased with you if you fast. Instead, know that it is a good and beneficial to discipline yourself and deny yourself something, so that thing, whatever it is, doesn’t become a choking, strangling thorn in your life of faith. Doing that will help you to bear fruit with patience.

Another way to patiently bear fruit is to consider how you give to the ministry of God’s Word. I’ve said it before, this is not something I like to talk about. But, as your pastor, I am called to declare and teach the whole council of God. So, because the Scriptures talk about it, and because this text warns us about the danger that riches can be to faith, I’m addressing it today.

This time of year is a good opportunity to consider how you handle the riches that God has given you. You have recently received your year-end giving statement from our financial committee for 2021. Thank you to those who faithfully carry out that job. It is appreciated. So, you have the information about what you gave in the last year. As you prepare to file your taxes, you might be looking over that statement. I would encourage you to use that statement to consider how you are being a steward of what God has given you.

Here’s the recommendation: take out a calculator and figure out what percentage of your earnings last year were given to this congregation. Maybe you find out that you gave 3% of your income to Christ the King. First of all, thank you. What you give to this congregation is used by God to further His kingdom. Those gifts are used to fund the ministry here. They also go to help different charitable organizations in our community and mission projects throughout the world. So, again, thank you. 

Now, I would encourage you to consider increasing your giving by 10%. And, let me be clear, that doesn’t mean if you gave 3% that you give 13% this year. No. If you have 3% last year, prayerfully consider giving 3.3% this year. Or if you gave 7% last year, try to make it 7.7% this year. If everyone did that, we would easily make our budget for 2022. If you gave $1,500 in ‘21, try to increase that this year by giving $150 more and make it $1,650 for ‘22. And if you divide that amount over twelve months, it will probably feel a lot more manageable.

Doing that might mean that you bring snacks to your kids’ basketball tournaments rather than getting food from the concessions stand. Maybe it will mean going out to eat a little less this year. Wherever you might find that extra amount, I would encourage that you ask yourself: “Is this thing more important than than ministry of the Gospel and my kids and my brothers and sisters in Christ having a place where they can hear about Jesus and grow in their faith so they can produce fruit?” And maybe you can’t give as much as you did last year. Maybe your income will be less this year. God bless you. We love you and are here to help you. Just know that whatever you give to this congregation will be used by God to bear fruit over time.

Ok. That was all Law. And I hope and pray that it encourages you to consider how you use the gifts that God has given you. Now, we need the Gospel.

Hear again what Jesus says in the last verse of our text: “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” Dear saints, you Christians, you are the good soil. You hear the Word of God. You hold it fast in an honest and good heart. And you bear fruit with patience.

Jesus promises that the good soil bears fruit. But that fruit requires patience. Sometimes the fruit you bear doesn’t come in a way that you will ever see, but that doesn’t matter. Jesus promises it is there, and the fruit you bear is of eternal benefit to you and to others. Whatever fruit you bear is used in service to God and His kingdom. And that fruit is never wasted, never lost, and never in vain.

Know that your honest and good heart has come from the Seed of the Word of God itself. The Word cleanses and forgives you. The Seed of the Word is what makes your heart clean (Jn. 15:2-3). And the fruit comes.

Don’t be surprised if you don’t see the massive, hundredfold production. Be patient. God is the one who will bring it about. Don’t fall into the devil’s temptation to measure how successful God’s Word is. If we try to measure the how successful God’s Word is by looking for our fruit, we will, without a doubt, be discouraged. Instead, remember that the success of God’s Word Is not dependent on what you see or experience. The success of God’s Word is dependent on His promises.

Dear Christians, to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. Hear and receive Christ’s Word. Hold it fast. Be continually nourished by that Word as you hear it, read it, learn it, and receive it now in the Lord’s Supper. And be patient. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to bring it to completion (Php. 1:6). Amen.

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

Jonah 1:1-17

¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. ⁴ But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. ⁶ So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” 

⁷ And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” ⁹ And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰ Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 

 ¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. ¹² He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” ¹³Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴ Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 

¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. ¹⁷ And the Lordappointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

You are familiar with the account of Jonah, but some ironic details of this chapter are often missed because of that familiarity. So, let’s walk through the text and try to catch several of those details.

God calls Jonah to go and preach. The surprising thing is that Jonah is called to preach outsiders, to the pagan sinners in Nineveh, the capitol city of Assyria, Israel’s fiercest enemy. God says to Jonah, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before Me.” The picture that God gives is that the evil and sin of Nineveh has piled up so high that it is surrounding God’s feet.

So, God calls Jonah to arise, and Jonah rose. But that is as far as his obedience to God’s call goes. Instead of arising to go to Nineveh, Jonah flees. Notice that Jonah is fleeing from God’s presence (v. 3a) and goes down. Down to Joppa. In Joppa, Jonah finds a ship going to Tarshish. He boards the boat and again goes down into it. And Scripture repeats itself by reminding us again that Jonah is trying to go away from the presence of the Lord (v. 3b).

Yeah. It doesn’t work. God hurls a great wind and tempest on the sea. In other words, God goes with Jonah by the means of this storm. God would have been totally just to simply send a wave to crash over this boat filled with His disobedient, fleeing prophet and these idolatrous, pagan sailors, but God is merciful.

But still, Jonah repeatedly and unrepentedly continues his downward track, but God doesn’t give up. As the storm intensifies, the sailors begin to put Jonah to shame, religiously speaking. They are fervently praying. The sailors are also hurling the cargo of the ship into the sea. Now, our translation makes it sound like they were tossing a bunch of freight overboard to make the ship lighter, but Ezk. 27:12 talks about all the precious metals that went in and out of Tarshish. It is likely the sailors are throwing gold, silver, bronze, and ivory into the sea. And the Hebrew grammar indicates that the sailors were trying to lighten something but not the boat. They were trying to lighten the wrath and anger of the sea. The text gives us a picture that the sailors are trying to appease the angry god of the sea by throwing the precious cargo overboard as an offering and sacrifice to the sea itself.

But their prayers and sacrifices aren’t heard. The storm continues to rage. And through all of this, Jonah has continued his downward spiral. There he is in the bottom of the ship and lying down. Jonah is as low as he can physically get by himself. And beyond that Jonah is sleeping, but this isn’t the normal sleep you get at night. The word for sleep there is the same “deep sleep” that God caused to fall upon Adam when God removed Adam’s rib to create the woman (Gen. 2:21). Jonah has done everything he can to flee from God’s presence.

But God still hasn’t given up.

The unbelieving captain of the ship wakes Jonah up and urges him to pray. Again, Jonah here is just getting put to shame, religiously speaking, by these pagans. The captain tells Jonah, “Arise, call out,” which are the same two commands God originally gave to Jonah regarding Nineveh. The captain says to Jonah, “Arise, call out to your god. Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” Again, God hasn’t given up, and Jonah hasn’t successfully fled from God’s presence. God opens this unbelieving captain’s mouth to continue to call Jonah back to Himself.

The sailors cast lots to figure out who is to blame for this storm, and God causes the lot to fall to Jonah (Pro. 16:33). The crew interrogates Jonah, and he tells the sailors that he is fleeing from the presence of the Lord. We’re only ten verses into the chapter, but this is now the third time we are told that Jonah is fleeing the presence of the Lord. And we need to chew on this a bit.

Jonah isn’t just trying to get away from God’s call to preach to Nineveh. Jonah is fleeing God’s presence, which is exactly what believers desire. Believers long to be in the gracious presence of God, but that is the very thing Jonah is running from. God’s merciful, abiding presence with His people was the whole point of the Tabernacle and Temple. And the irony here is that Jonah can only run away from God because of his intimacy with God.

And here is the ironic thing that I can’t delay saying any longer. God had called Jonah to preach a message of judgment to Nineveh (Jon. 1:2). It’s obvious that Jonah doesn’t like the Ninevites, so we would expect that he would jump at the chance to go with the message that these wicked heathens are about to get God’s wrath. But when we get to the end of the story, after the whole city of Nineveh has repented and turned God (Jon. 3), Jonah tells God why he didn’t want to go to Nineveh. Jonah says, “I made haste to flee… for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jon. 4:2). Jonah fled because he knew God’s Word of judgment would cause the Ninevites to repent and believe. And Jonah doesn’t like that. He doesn’t want to be in the presence of a God who gives mercy and grace to people Jonah doesn’t like because that means the people Jonah doesn’t like will be in God’s presence with him.

All of this is to say that Jonah wouldn’t make a good pastor. Jonah doesn’t want God to be merciful to people Jonah doesn’t like. He doesn’t want the Ninevites to be forgiven. God knew this about Jonah, but God still didn’t give up on Jonah.

Ok. Back to the boat and the storm. Jonah tells the sailors to throw him overboard and the storm will cease. They do that while asking the Lord to forgive them. You have to love these sailors. Jonah hits the water, the tempest ceases, and the sailors believe in God (Jon. 1:15-16). God hadn’t given up on the sailors, even after they have prayed and sacrificed to all their pagan gods.

And God still hasn’t given up either on Jonah or the people of Nineveh. We don’t know how far from land the ship had gotten at this point, but it was likely a long way off since the sailors were so frantic in their actions. Jonah wouldn’t have had any hope of swimming to shore or having another ship find him. But God appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Some lifeboat! Jonah had gone down as far as he could physically get by himself, but God will bring him down even further. (This afternoon, read Jon. 2 where Jonah prays to God from the belly of the fish and see how low Jonah got. But even from those depths, Jonah’s prayer reaches up to heaven.) Jonah was swallowed and in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jon. 1:17) so he would be rescued and later preach God’s Word to the Ninevites and so they would repent.

Now, the whole book of Jonah is about God not giving up on sinners. He desires that all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4).

Dear saints, you worship the true God who never gives up, and He never gives up on you – even when your sin has piled up into heaven. That is why Jesus has come. Jesus is the greater Jonah. Christ left God’s presence to bring God’s love, salvation, forgiveness, grace, and mercy to you. Christ has come down from heaven. He came down to earth – down into your sin and mess. He humbled Himself to the point of death – even death on a cross. And Jesus went even further down, He was swallowed into the belly of the grave. And just as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the fish, Christ was three days and nights in the belly of the earth (Mt. 12:39-41).

Jonah is a type of Jesus. What Jonah did unwillingly and unwittingly, Jesus has done intentionally out of His great love for you. Jesus dived down into the depths of your sin and evil to bring you His peace and forgiveness. Dear saints, through Christ, the world is redeemed (1 Jn. 2:2). The storms of this world may rage and threaten you, but Christ brings you His love, mercy, forgiveness, salvation, peace, and joy. The sacrifice has been made. Our ship is saved. The waves have stopped their raging. The storm is passed, and the God of heaven and earth is pleased to bring you safely into His gracious presence in the heavenly harbor. Amen.

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

Here is a letter I wrote to Governor Walz regarding his press conference May 13th which announced the opening of businesses at 50% capacity.

Dear Governor Walz:

First, I would like to thank you for doing everything within your sphere of authority to keep the residents of Minnesota safe and healthy. I believe you have the best interests of all Minnesotans in mind as you go about your work. I am sure that this is not an easy time for you, either as governor or personally, as you make difficult decisions about how best to uphold the welfare of the people whom you have been elected to serve. I also appreciate that from the very beginning of this pandemic, you have recognized faith-based leaders as “essential workers.”

Please know that we here at Christ the King Free Lutheran Church in East Grand Forks keep you and all our other elected and appointed leaders in our prayers regularly and by name. According to Holy Scripture, we believe that all governing authorities are put in place by God for the good of the citizens of our cities, states, and country (Romans 13:3-4).

Under the Fourth Commandment (the command to honor one’s father and mother), we believe that governing authorities are an extension of parental authority, and therefore, we must fear God so that we do not despise or anger our parents or superiors, but honor, serve, obey, love and respect them. We always strive to keep that commandment and carry out our vocations as citizens of this state. God has appointed you to uphold the law of this state and to protect its citizens by the means granted to you by the Constitution and laws of this state.

We also believe that God rules in two ways in this world. He rules by means of the governing authorities of a particular place, to keep order and protect the citizens of that place. But He also rules in another way, by means of His Church, in which Jesus alone is Lord; who saves and forgives by His death and resurrection; and who grants and sustains faith by means of His living and proclaimed Word and Sacraments. As Christians, we strive to uphold and submit to both of the ways by which God rules in this world, first as members of Christ’s Church, and then as citizens of this world, this country, state, and of the city.

We also believe that neither the Church nor the governing authorities have the power to interfere or try to rule in the other’s realm. The Church does not, and should not, have the authority to make civil law or enforce it. Likewise, the State (in the broad sense) does not, and should not, have the authority to rule within the Church or to instruct the Church on how God’s Word is preached. That belongs to Christ’s explicit command, and not to the rule of the civil governing authorities.

In light of that, I believe you have overstepped your God-given sphere of authority by issuing the Emergency Executive Order 20-26 of May 13, in which you continue to prohibit faith-based gatherings. I do not accuse you of targeting any specific religion – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or any other specific faith. But because I am a Christian, I can only speak as a Christian.

Since we also believe that under the Fifth Commandment (that one must not murder) we are commanded by God not to harm our nor cause any suffering to neighbor in his or her body, I understand and agree that we ought not do anything that might intentionally cause our neighbor any harm, including spreading the COVID-19. Instead, we Christians are to be active in promoting our neighbor’s bodily welfare. We have many people in our congregation who fall into the various categories of higher risk for contracting the virus, and even if you had not issued any directives, we still would have done everything in our power to care for the members of our congregation and community by taking important health precautions. For the sake of health and the well-being of both the congregation and the community, as well as in our voluntary submission to you as our governing authority, for the past several weeks we have held services by way of YouTube recordings.

As a citizen of Minnesota, I ask you to continue to keep and uphold the law of our state, and to continue your good and God-given work of protecting the citizens of Minnesota. I will continue to pray for you and for your administration as you strive to do that.

But as a Christian pastor, responsible before God for the work of the Church and the congregation I am called to serve, I would ask you to remove the current restrictions on gatherings of faith-based communities so that they are consistent with the current restrictions on businesses. Again, I can only speak as a Christian, but we can take reasonable precautions as to how we would worship together.

In your address on May 13^th, you mentioned that small businesses are critical to the communities and residents of Minnesota. As a pastor to many small-business owners, I agree, and I would also argue that churches holding worship services are at least equally critical. You said that turning the dial on activities needed to consider three factors (I quote):

1. “How close are you and another person in a given setting or activity?”
2. “How long are you in that close proximity to another person?”
3. “How predictable that setting is.”

While we desire to gather together in our sanctuary as an entire congregation, we could add additional worship services and have families sign up for those services to ensure that we do not exceed 50% capacity. We could shorten our worship services. We could make changes on how and where people are seated to ensure that we maintain the recommended social distancing. We could thoroughly clean and sanitize after each service. We could hold our worship services outside. All of the current recommendations for a business can be done just as easily at a church.

So, I ask you to reconsider your prohibition in 6 c of your Emergency Executive Order 20-56. Please trust us to act reasonable and responsibly as you trust other small businesses.

In many of your statements and declarations, you mention that you want to keep the residents of Minnesota safe. That is a godly and right duty that you are to carry out as the authority of this state, and I hope that you do so. You are to keep the people of Minnesota safe from people who do evil. But the government has limitations, both by law and by ability. You cannot keep people safe from things in God’s creation – like fires, floods, and COVID-19 – that are beyond anyone’s control. Yes, protections and precautions can be made, but when those things threaten us, we trust in God to protect us if He wills because no earthly authority can offer shelter from those. And I hope that you do not feel that you have to carry such an impossible burden.

Again, thank you for your clear desire to carry out your office with honor and care. Thank you as well for your time and consideration of this matter.

Respectfully,

Rev. Samuel Wellumson

Pastor, Christ the King Free Lutheran Church

East Grand Forks, Minnesota

Parents, it’s time for a wake-up call:

Ask yourself “How much time do I spend each day teaching my kids about Christ and the Scriptures?” Take some time. Think seriously about it. And answer honestly.

Does your family regularly have devotions together, and if so, how long does it take?
An hour? I seriously doubt it.
Half an hour? Yeah, unlikely.
Fifteen minutes? Maybe.

How often do your conversations with your kids reflect upon Scripture as it intersects with everything going on in your and their lives? As you eat together and talk about the day, do you remind them of Christ’s love for them when they are upset about the kid who said something nasty or hurtful to them? As you drive them to school, do you pray for and with them for their day?

Time is the great equalizer. Rich or poor, healthy or sick, urban or suburban or rural – EVERYONE has the same amount of time.

Photo used from FaceBook user Cory Austin

Look at the picture. That tall tube of orange balls represents the time you have with your kids each year. Three-thousand hours or about 8.22 hours per day. That sounds fairly accurate. The little vase of orange balls represents the average amount of time kids spend in church (I’m not sure where they got that number, but go ahead and double it if you think it’s a fair assessment for your kids). That vase of balls, even if you double it, would easily fit into the tube.

Now, let’s color those balls. Orange for the time spent rushing them to whatever sports practice and games, for the time spent doing homework and studying for tests and quizzes, for watching television, for when you just want a break and go on your mobile device and send them off to be on theirs. And white for the time spent in God’s Word and prayer.

Now, take those 3,000+ balls, mix them together, and pour them back into the tube. How much white do you see? Maybe, you’ll get lucky and a majority of those white balls will land on the outside of the tube. Maybe, the white balls will all land in the middle and all you see is orange.

Bringing your kids to church, Sunday School, and youth group isn’t enough. You, (yes, you) need to be bringing Christ and faith in Him into every part of your kid’s day.

And I can already hear the objections, “But our schedule is full already.” “But they have so much homework, and they have to learn.” “But sports teach them important life skills – what it means to be a team, a good work ethic, how to be healthy, etc.” “But the house isn’t going to clean itself. They need to do their chores or the house will be chaos.” “But I need a break from a hard day at work.”

You are right. Absolutely right. I’m a parent too. I know.

Let’s try something else with those pesky balls and their color. What if you do the little things? What if you do actually pray with your kids when they bring up something made their day difficult? What if you take the time to thank God for something good that happened? What if you point them to Scripture that fits with each joy and disappointment in their lives? And each time you do one of those things, that orange ball gets a white dot on it. It’s still mostly orange. But little specks of white land on a lot more balls. At least you see a peppering of white speckling in that sea of orange. This is all well and good.

This is how God designed parents to teach their children the faith. Deuteronomy 6:6–7, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

But, remember parents, you can’t teach what you don’t know. You can’t connect the events of your kid’s life to the Bible and faith if you don’t know what the Bible says.

Parents, you have 8,760 hours in a year. How many of your ping pong balls are completely white? Are you at church hearing the Word of God? Are you attending Bible Study? Are you in Bible class while your kids are at Sunday School? Are you reading your Scriptures and praying daily? When was the last time you read something in the Bible and went to ask your pastor about it? (You’d make his day if you did that! I can speak from personal experience [Gal. 6:6]). If you aren’t doing those things, start.

Yes, those orange balls are important. God wants us to work and learn and enjoy creation and take care of ourselves and the things He has given us. But, in the end, everything orange pales in comparison to the white.

Parents, do your job. Teach your children the faith. Your pastor and your church are here to help you every step of the way. But it needs to come from you. Feed them and be fed for them.

Philippians 3:8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Php. 3:8).