The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - October 5, 2025

The Scriptures for this week call us to trust in our Lord at all times, even when times are difficult and we do not understand why things are going as they are.

The Old Testament lesson is from Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4. The prophet Habakkuk is crying out to the Lord because so many bad things are happening, and He, the Lord, doesn’t seem to care. There is violence and destruction and strife all around, even among God’s people because of iniquity (their sin), and justice is perverted. The wicked even surround the righteous, as Chaldean (Babylonian) armies are threatening the land of Judah and Jerusalem. (Read 1:5-17, where God says that He is raising up the Chaldeans in judgment for the sins of Judah, and Habakkuk questions again why God would allow such wicked people to swallow up people more righteous than they are.) In 2:1-4, Habakkuk is still waiting for answers from the Lord. The Lord calls Habakkuk to wait for His plans to be fulfilled at an appointed time in the future and not to be puffed up by his own self-righteous ideas about what should happen. Habakkuk and others are simply to live by faith in the Lord and His ways and promises. (Habakkuk is finally brought to that trembling faith in His Lord. Read 3:16-19, and rejoice in the God of our salvation, too. Note also how many times verses 2:2-4 are quoted or referred to in the New Testament. Examples are: Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, Ephesians 2:8, and 2 Corinthians 4:13-18. See, for example, even in the Old Testament: Genesis 15:6 and Isaiah 26:2-4. The appointed time, the fullness of time, was in the coming of God’s Son, Jesus, to redeem us and be our Savior and the Savior of the world. Galatians 4:4ff.)

The Psalm is Psalm 62. David had his struggles, too, and God taught him to wait in silence for His saving work. God alone, God only, was his hope. David warns against putting one's trust in other people, regardless of their status, or in riches or wrongdoing, for these can all be a delusion. Rather, David says, “Trust in the Lord at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us,” with His “power and steadfast love.” (Note also that the end of v.12 does not mean that we are ultimately saved by our good works that we do. We are saved by the gift of faith, which the Lord has brought us to, by His grace. Works that we do are a reflection of our faith and trust in our Lord, though. See such Scriptures as John 6:28-29, Romans 3:20, 26-28, 4:2-8, and Ephesians 2:8-10. Note also the thoughts on our Gospel, in Luke 17:5-10.)

The Gospel lesson is Luke 17:1-10. Jesus is warning His disciples about temptations that can lead us to sin. He does not want us to lead others into temptations and sins, either, especially those who are “little ones,” new to faith, or weak in faith, or are literally vulnerable children. At the same time, Christ would soon die for our sins and bring us forgiveness, as repentant sinners, and He calls us to forgive each other, again and again, since we are all sinful people, in thought, word, and deed. (The number 7 means a full and complete number. Jesus is calling His disciples to keep on forgiving others. Jesus went even farther in Matthew 18:22, when He said to forgive 77 times, or as some translate it,  70 times 7 times - and that does not mean that on the 491st time, we can stop forgiving. Thank the Lord that He keeps on forgiving us, above all. May we keep coming to Him, with sorrow and repentance for our sins.) We want forgiveness, but sometimes it is hard to keep forgiving others. The disciples know that and pray to the Lord, “increase our faith,” that we may love and forgive in a better way. Jesus then talks about servants, often literally “slaves” in His own day. Slaves were owned by their masters and received no pay, but were to do whatever the master wanted. Only when they had done their duty, all that he commanded, were they to eat and drink and do for themselves. Martin Franzmann says,  though, “No master of a slave is expected to serve his servants, but Jesus will do the unexpected. To those who serve in faith and love, with no thought of reward, He gives the reward (the gift) which none may claim and only He can give: 'He will gird Himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them.'" See Luke 12:35-40 and Revelation 3:20-21, with regard to Christ’s second coming and the undeserved gifts given in eternal life. Receiving Christ in the Lord’s Supper is also a foretaste of the eternal joys to come. See Psalm 23:5-6 and 1 Corinthians 10:16 and 11:26 and Isaiah 25:6-9.)

The Epistle lesson is from 2 Timothy 1:1-14. Paul writes this letter from prison to the younger pastor, Timothy, around 68 AD, not long before Paul’s death. Paul writes of “the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus” and remembers how that gift of faith had lived in Timothy’s grandmother and mother and now in Timothy, too. Paul assures Timothy again of the Gospel of God, “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of His own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus,” and “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” Paul encourages Timothy “never to be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord,” but to follow the pattern of sound words, the true Word of God received from Paul. Paul is confident that Timothy could, “by the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, guard the good deposit entrusted to him” - the true Word of God centered in the saving work of Jesus. The Lord had given that confidence to Paul himself, now in prison and facing execution. May the Lord strengthen all of us, too, in that trustworthy Word of God, for our life now and for our eternal future in our Savior Jesus.

Preparing for Worship - September 28, 2025

The Scriptures this week encourage us to keep trusting in our Lord and not in other people or in our money and possessions (mammon). Church leaders are reminded to follow God’s Word, centered in Christ, and watch out for dangers to their service to the Lord, too.

The Psalm is Psalm 146. Psalm 145 ended with the words: “My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,” and the psalms that follow, including Psalm 146, all “Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) We are not to trust in princes or any other people, for they cannot bring salvation. Our hope is in the Lord, and He alone can help us, in faithfulness and justice. He can help people in all kinds of need, including prisoners, the blind, those bowed down by the troubles of this life, sojourners, widows, and the fatherless. He reigns forever and can help all generations.

The Old Testament lesson is from Amos 6:1-7. Amos was a prophet of the Lord from 784-746BC and spoke during Jeroboam II and his reign of 41 years in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The king had reconquered a large area of the land and wealthy people felt secure and prosperous. They had beds of ivory and ate choice food of lambs and calves and drank wine in bowls and anointed themselves with the finest oils, and had time to sing and write idle songs, but they had also drifted from the Lord to false gods and wrong ways of worship (see Amos 4:26-27) and were not grieving and ill at the troubles of the poor and needy. Judgment was coming for their sins and rejection of the Lord, coming soon, as it did about 720BC.

The Gospel lesson is Luke 16:19-31. Jesus tells a parable of a very rich man who had the best of everything in food and clothes and lived extravagantly every day. At his gate was a very poor man, who was ill and hungry and wished only for some scraps from the rich man’s table. But the rich man ignored him and did not help him at all. The poor man’s name was Lazarus, which means “The Lord is my Helper.” He died in faith in the Lord and was taken to the side of Abraham and heavenly feasting. The rich man died without faith in the Lord and ended up in Hades (Hell) in fire and great anguish. He had already wasted his “good days” on himself and his desires. The rich man begs for mercy and for even just a drop of water in his agony. But there is a chasm between heaven and hell, and people cannot cross from one place to the other. The formerly rich man then asks that his five living brothers be warned, by someone coming back from the dead, of judgment coming for them, too, apart from repentance and faith in the Lord. Abraham says that these people have the Word of God, and if they won’t believe that, they will not believe, even if someone does come back from the dead (as Jesus would soon do). How tragic that so many still reject the Good News of Jesus even today and are headed for eternal sorrow. This parable is also a commentary on the words of Jesus in Luke 16:13-15. May we continue in faith in the Lord Jesus, our true Savior.

There are two choices for the Epistle. The first is 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and calls for faithful overseers and deacons (pastors and teachers and other servants among God’s people.) Paul speaks of their ideal qualities to a young pastor, Timothy, and warns of the “snares of the devil” that can be a danger to them, too - the love of money, self-centeredness and conceit, too much wine, greed, etc. Instead, they are to be faithful to their Lord and hold on to the mystery of the faith and be confident in the faith that is in Christ Jesus and teach God’s Word well in care for God’s church. In the alternate reading, 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Paul continues to teach Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith,” confident of eternal life, and with a good witness about God, who gives life to all through faith in Christ Jesus, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Timothy is to guard the good deposit of God’s Word entrusted to him and share that knowledge only. Paul warns him also to seek to be content and avoid the dangers of the love of money, which can quickly corrupt. Timothy is also to teach the rich to use their money wisely and to do good and share with and help others, and to set their hopes on God, not on the uncertainty of what they have. These are all very important words for church leaders and for all believers - to be focused on Christ and the Word of Scripture and not on the “irreverent babble” that we hear all around us.

Sermon from September 21, 2025

Sermon Based on Matthew 9:9-13

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)

The text for our meditation today is the Gospel lesson, read just a few minutes ago, from Matthew 9:9-13, along with some thoughts from just before that reading.

Jesus had just come back to the city of Capernaum, in Northern Israel, by the Sea of Galilee. People had brought, literally carried, a paralyzed man to Jesus, hoping for a healing for the man. Jesus recognizes their faith and says to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” That’s probably not what they were hoping for, but Jesus was teaching what was most important for all of us to have - the forgiveness of our sins, which separate us from God

Some Jewish religious leaders are there, and they are shocked. “This man is blaspheming,” they thought - speaking against God - for only God can forgive sins. Who does Jesus think He is?

Jesus knew their thoughts and proved that he could forgive sins by also doing a miracle of healing. He said to the paralyzed man, “Rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And the man rose and went home, healed physically and spiritually. And as Jesus forgave and healed this man, He used a term for Himself, “Son of Man,” which was used in the Old Testament to describe some of the prophets, but particularly to refer to the coming Savior of the world, who would be a true man and yet also the true Son of God. And the people who saw this miracle were afraid, but they also glorified God, who had given such authority to this man, Jesus (Matthew 9:1-8).

And it was soon after that that our text for today begins. Jesus “saw a man called Matthew, sitting at a tax booth, and said to him, ‘Follow Me,’ and Matthew immediately rose and followed Jesus.” Most scholars assume that Matthew had already had some contact with Jesus and had heard His preaching and teaching about the need for repentance and forgiveness of sins and the new life that Jesus offered. Jesus had already been very active in that part of Northern Israel, and Matthew might already have been brought to faith in Jesus in his heart through Jesus’ preaching of the Word.

What was really surprising, though, was that Jesus has specifically called him, a tax collector, to be one of his twelve chosen disciples. We may not like people from the IRS very much today, but most Jews hated tax collectors, because they worked for the evil Roman occupiers of their land and helped support their evil, pagan ways, and raised money for them.

There was a Jewish scholar in the 1800s, Alfred Edersheim, who became a Christian through his own study of the Scriptures, but also knew what ancient Jewish writings said about many things and about tax collectors. The Jewish Talmud put tax collectors alongside “murderers and robbers” and other notorious sinners, because they so often charged people more than they should and kept the extra money for themselves and became rich. Jewish rabbis taught that tax collectors were so dishonest that they should never be allowed to be witnesses in court. You couldn’t trust them. Rabbis removed, excommunicated, tax collectors from their synagogues. That would be equivalent to being kicked out of a local church today. The rabbis even considered it lawful for Jews to lie in almost any conceivable way to avoid paying tax collectors.

But here is Jesus, choosing one of these tax collectors to be one of His closest disciples. And as our text goes on, it is no surprise that when Matthew soon sponsored a dinner at his home and many tax collector friends and other “sinners” and Jesus came, too, that Jewish religious leaders, Pharisees this time, saw this and said to Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Note that they don’t attack Jesus directly, because He always has answers they have trouble dealing with, but they want to confuse and draw away His own followers. After all, Jesus should have known better than to associate with such lowlife people.

Jesus heard what was said, though, and He answers the Pharisees. He said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Imagine if you had a doctor who would only see you if you were perfectly well. He or she said, “I won’t see you if you are sick, because I don’t want to be contaminated by you.” We actually need a doctor most when we are sick, don’t we?

And Jesus is speaking here about a spiritual sickness, a sickness from sin, that separates us from God and from one another, whom God calls us to care about. And the Scriptures are clear: “All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It is a sickness of the heart. The Scriptures say, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9)? We all have a sense of that. Our hearts struggle, at least at times, about knowing what is right and wrong, and even if we know what is right, we have trouble doing it all too often. That’s why Jesus, in our text, also tells the Pharisees and all those gathered that day, and all of us, still today, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’” (Hosea 6:6).

Jesus is quoting from the Old Testament book of Hosea, where God Himself says through the prophet, “I desire mercy and not (your) sacrifices, the knowledge of God rather than (your) offerings.” God knows our sins and struggles, and yet He still loves us and cares about us. And later on in Hosea, God says, I shall give mercy to people, “I shall ransom them. I shall redeem them, from (sin) and death” (Hosea 13:14). And that’s why God the Father sent His only Son, our Lord Jesus, into this world, not just to preach and teach, but to do all things necessary to rescue us, living a perfect life in our place and paying the penalty for all of our sins by His suffering and death on the cross, and by rising again in victory over death, so that we might have forgiveness and eternal life, through faith in Him, as a gift from God. That’s why Jesus ended this passage by saying, “For I came not to call the righteous (since none of us are righteous, by ourselves). I came to call sinners," like Matthew, and like you and me, pastors, too.

Matthew knew that he was a forgiven sinner, as he left his tax office and his old life and followed Jesus, in faith in Him. Matthew did so in a humble way, too. Two of the other Gospels identify him by his Jewish name, “Levi, son of Alphaeus.” But he uses the name “Matthew” in this passage and “Matthew the tax collector” in a listing of the disciples in Matthew 10:3. Otherwise, he never mentions himself anywhere else in his own Gospel. Some think that Jesus may have given him this name, as Jesus gave the name “Peter” to Simon (Matthew 16:18), and later on, Saul received the name “Paul” (Acts 13:9). The name “Matthew” means “Gift of God,” and Matthew had received God’s greatest gifts of forgiveness and new life and salvation, and Matthew certainly became a "Gift of God” to so many other people, as well.

The one thing that we know for certain about him is that early Christians unanimously said that he was the writer of this Gospel that we are looking at, as he was guided and inspired by God the Holy Spirit. Early Christian witnesses also agreed that this was the first Gospel written, maybe in the early 50s AD. (Liberal scholars often want to make Mark first, with very critical ideas, but the early Christians said that the order was Matthew, then Luke, then Mark, and then John. Mathew’s Gospel was very helpful to Jews (and to us all), as it has many quotations from the Old Testament, showing that Jesus truly was the One predicted to be the Savior. As a tax collector, Matthew had to be organized and skilled not only in financial matters, but in knowing his own native languages, Aramaic and Hebrew, and also the most widely used language of his day (not Latin but Greek) in which his Gospel of Matthew appears, as we have it today.

Matthew ends his Gospel with the call from Jesus to him and the other apostles and to all God’s people to be helping to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew was surely sent out to other places, too, but as one respected Lutheran scholar says, “The traditions about Matthew’s travels are very late, long after the time Matthew lived, and tend to be fantastic and legendary, and mix Matthew up with other people, and offer little basis for a reliable later history of Matthew the Evangelist” (Martin Franzmann, The Word of the Lord Grows).

That’s why we need to keep going back to the Scriptures themselves, including the Gospel of Matthew, as the firm basis for what we believe. As our Lutheran Confessions say, “The writing of the Old and New Testaments are the only rule and norm according to which all doctrines and teachers alike must be appraised and judged… Other writings of ancient and modern teachers, whatever their names, should not be put on a par with Holy Scripture" (Formula of Concord, Epitome, 1). So, keep reading the Gospel of Matthew and other parts of Scripture, for then you are on a firm foundation as forgiven sinners, trusting in Jesus Christ and his saving Word and work for you and for us all.

Let us pray: “Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds safe, only where they are safe, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen (Philippians 4:7).

Preparing for Worship - September 21, 2025

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 113, calling upon us all to “praise the Lord” and “bless” and honor His Name. He is high above all nations and sees what is going on in the heavens and on the earth. He cares about all people, including the “poor and needy” in lowly circumstances, and can lift them up, even as He cares for “the princes of His people.” He can even help “barren women” and bring them joy and even the gift of children, at times, as he did with Sarah (Genesis 21:1-7) and Hannah (1 Samual 1-2) and Elizabeth (Luke 1), who were important in the history of God’s people, leading up to the coming of our Savior, Jesus.

As God cares for people in varied circumstances, He calls upon His own people to care for the poor and needy, too. In Amos 8:4-7, He speaks to His people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, through the prophet Amos, condemning them for “trampling on the needy,” hardly able to wait for the Sabbath to be over, so that they could cheat them in transactions, giving them less than they deserved with false scales, and mixing in chaff with wheat that they sold to them. The Lord “does not forget their evil deeds,” and the end is coming soon for this very sinful people (Amos 8:2).

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 16:1-15, Jesus gives a similar warning to His people and to us, with a very unusual parable - a story of a dishonest manager, who has been wasting his owner’s possessions. He is caught and is about to be fired. He doesn’t want to do manual labor or become a beggar, so he changes the records and lowers what people actually owed the master, hoping that they, in turn, would be grateful and help out the manager when he lost his job. The owner then complimented the dishonest manager for his shrewdness in his bad situation in an evil generation. Jesus then says that “the sons of light,” His own followers, should be wise and prudent in the right way, using the gifts God has given them to be a blessing for themselves, but also for the sake of others and their physical and spiritual needs, as well. Three times, Jesus uses the word “mammon,” in verses 9,11, and 13. The word means not just our money, but all that we are and possess. We can use our “mammon” in the wrong way, so that it becomes our “god” and we serve it instead of our Lord and other people, to whom we can be a blessing. The Pharisees themselves tended to be “lovers of money” and their possessions, and used them for the wrong reasons, to justify themselves before men and make themselves look good in the eyes of others. That will never work for us, as God knows and sees us and what we are really thinking about our money and possessions.

What God really wishes is described in our Epistle lesson, continuing readings from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, 1 Timothy 2:1-15. “God our Savior desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” - the truth that Christ Jesus came into this world to be the only “Mediator between God and us” and “gave Himself as a ransom for us all,” that we might be forgiven and counted right and acceptable before God, “in faith and truth” and trust in Him. Therefore, we are called to “pray and give thanks for all people” - that as many as possible might come to faith in Christ. Our gifts can help with sharing Christ, too. We pray for kings and others in authority, as well, so that they may lead wisely and we might therefore be able to “lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified.” Paul goes on to speak of the role of men and women, too. Men are to be spiritual leaders in the family and in the church. Women are to learn quietly with submissiveness and are not to teach or exercise spiritual authority over men. That means only male pastors, as we have in our conservative Lutheran churches. Women can teach other women and children and serve in many other ways, of course, and women have unique abilities that only women have - bearing children, for example, as Paul mentions. God chose to create a male and female, in His own divine plan; and we try to listen to what He says about all this in His Word, in spite of what culture and society and human opinions are, at any given time.

Preparing for Worship - September 14, 2025

The theme of the readings this week could be called “the Lord reaching out to rescue His lost sheep.” The Psalm is Psalm 119:169-176. In this longest psalm of the Bible, the psalmist has spoken again and again of the importance of God’s Word and how much he “delights” in it and “does not forget it” and seeks to follow it, in all it says to him. In these final verses, the psalmist uses six different words for God’s message - three times “Your Word,” two times “Your commandments,” and once each “Your statutes,” “Your precepts,” “Your law,” and “Your rules.” He “sings of” and “praises” all that the Lord has said, but he also prays for “understanding,” “help,” “deliverance,” and “salvation,” for as he studies, he also has to admit and confess, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep” too often myself. He prays that at those times, the Lord would always seek His servant and rescue him.

The Old Testament lesson is from Ezekiel 34:11-24. The Lord knows that His shepherds have not always faithfully cared for their sheep and that the sheep themselves have become “lost” and “scattered” in times of “clouds and thick darkness.” He Himself will have to “seek out His sheep and rescue them,” as the psalmist in Psalm 119 cried out for Him to do, and He will feed them in “good pasture” and “bind up" their wounds and “strengthen” them, as some sheep sometimes hurt other sheep, too. Finally, the Lord promises to set up a new David as the one Shepherd of the sheep, and He will be Prince among them. Other Scriptures make it clear that this new David would be our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, and a true human man, as well, born from the family line of King David. See other Old Testament prophecies such as 2 Samuel 7:8-16, Ezekiel 37:25-26, Isaiah 9:5-6, Isaiah 11:1ff, and Jeremiah 30:9. And see, for example, in Revelation 19 the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus as the victorious “Lamb” of God, sacrificed for us and yet raised to glory, with His bride, the church, all believers, and who is also “The Word of God” (see John 1:1ff.) and “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 15:1-10, we see Jesus in His public ministry, reaching out to rescue lost sheep, tax collectors, and sinners, and being criticized for doing so. (See also Luke 7:34,37, Mark 2:13-17, and Matthew 9:11-13.) Note that “eating with people” was a sign of care and fellowship (see also Peter in Acts 11:3 and then in Galatians 2:11-12) and the Biblical fact that we are all sinners, who fall short of what God wishes (Romans 3:23, along with Romans 3:9-20). Jesus then tells the parable of a shepherd who has lost one sheep and goes after and finds it and carries it back to the flock, rejoicing. In the spiritual realm, angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who has been brought to repentance and faith - and remember, we are all sinners needing to be rescued. And Scripture says we cannot rescue ourselves by our own efforts and good works. The next parable emphasizes that truth, with the example of a woman who has lost one coin and searches until she finds it. Coins are inanimate objects and are helpless in trying to find and rescue themselves. The woman “lights a lamp” to help her in her search. Jesus and His Word are that Lamp, “the Light of the world” and the “Light of life” (John 8:12) for us all.

That is made clear by Paul in the Epistle lesson, 1 Timothy 1:(5-11) 12-17. Paul writes, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Paul had been strongly anti-Christian and a persecutor of Christians until Jesus came to him and brought him to faith. The “mercy” and “grace” and the “faith and love” that are “in Christ Jesus” were given to Paul as a gift and are “an example” to all of us who have been brought “to believe in Jesus for eternal life.” The “honor and glory” are entirely God’s for rescuing us lost sheep. This was the truly good news, the Gospel, of salvation by God’s grace through “sincere faith” in the saving work of Jesus - a message entrusted to Paul. Earlier in this passage, Paul had used the Law of God in its good and proper way to show that all people on their own are “ungodly and sinners.” Note that v. 9-10 follow the pattern of the 10 Commandments, which condemn us all, in one way or another. Our only hope is in the “trustworthy Word of God, deserving of full acceptance,” and giving us faith and “strength in Christ Jesus our Lord” and only Savior, through His suffering and death on the cross in payment for our sins and His forgiveness for all our sins.

Preparing for Worship - September 7, 2025

The Old Testament lesson for this Sunday is Deuteronomy 30:15-20. The Lord begins with His blessings - life and good - that He is bringing to His people, as He guides them into the Promised Land by Joshua. He has already promised, just before this passage, that “the Word (of God) is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” The Lord calls His people then to love Him and walk in His ways and commandments, for that is the way to life and blessing. The Lord also gives a strong warning from His Law not to turn away and refuse to hear His Word and worship other gods and serve them. That is the way of death and curses. God repeats again the way of life - loving Him and obeying His voice and holding fast to Him alone because of His love first for them. (This is the consistent way and message of our Lord. He forgave and clothed Adam and Eve after their sin. He called Abraham to be the father of a nation from whom our Savior Jesus would come. He raised up Moses and then Joshua to lead and guide His people with His Word. Before He gave the 10 Commandments, He spoke of His mercy for His people: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Only then did he give His root Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:1-3). He had said much the same thing before, too. See Deuteronomy 11:26-28. “To go after other gods” was the root problem. And Moses prays to a merciful God who had “redeemed” this people. Deuteronomy 9:26ff.)

The psalm is Psalm 1. “Blessed is the man whose delight is in the Law, the Word of God.” He is like a tree planted by the Lord with plenty of nourishing water, and not like the wicked, those apart from the Lord, who eventually are like “chaff” and driven away. “The Lord knows the way of the righteous” who worship the true God and trust Him and hope for the coming Savior, Jesus.

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 14:25-35, Jesus sees great crowds following Him and calls them to what one commentator, William Arndt, calls “total dedication.” Jesus is to be more important than our own family or our own lives. He uses the word “hating” our family and ourselves. In the context of other Scriptures, Arndt says that “hate” simply means to “love less.” Jesus says in Matthew 10:37, “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy  of Me.” (See Matthew 10:34-39 and Genesis 29:31,33, for example.) “Bearing our own cross" does not mean suffering in general but suffering because we are followers of Jesus. Jesus also calls us to realize the possible cost of following Him in this way. There can be a constant struggle against the forces of evil and a willingness to lose everything for the sake of our Lord. Jesus also calls His disciples “salt” here and in Matthew 5:13 and Mark 9:50. As followers of Jesus, we are intended to be useful for the sake of others, too, and not to become followers in name only and worthless to others. (Ideas here come largely from Arndt’s Commentary on Luke.)

Paul teaches a practical application of these words of Jesus, as he writes in his letter to Philemon, in our Epistle, Philemon 1-21. (Philemon lived in Colossi, and this letter was delivered to him at the same time as the letter to the Colossians. See Colossians 4:1, 7-9.) Paul was “bearing his own cross” for Christ, being in prison in Rome because of his Christian faith and witness. While in prison, Paul had met and become “a father in faith” for Onesimus, a runaway servant of Philemon, who had come to Rome and now had also become a Christian believer. The name “Onesimus” means “useful,” but Onesimus had not been useful to his master, Philemon, but had run away and maybe had done some damage to Philemon in the process. Now, as a believer in Rome, though, Onesimus had been a valuable help to Paul. Paul does the right thing, though, and sends Onesimus back to his master, Philemon, along with this letter. Philemon could do whatever he wanted with his runaway servant - punish him severely, or worse. Paul appeals, though, to Philemon’s own Christian faith and valuable service to Paul and others in the church in Colossi. Paul describes this in Philemon 1-7. Paul then appeals to Philemon to send Onesimus back to him in Rome to continue to help him there while he was still in prison. Onesimus had been useless as a runaway slave, but now he had become very useful to Paul, and above all, had become a brother in Christ to both Paul and Philemon. Onesimus could be of real “use,” real “benefit” to Paul, if he was allowed to return to Paul in Rome as a free man, not a “bond servant.” (Paul still works through the ancient systems of his time, but shows how slavery could be broken down by Christian faith and love and unity in Christ, who died for all and cares about all. See other passages, such as Galatians 3:26-29, 1 Corinthians 7:21-23, and Romans 15:3-7.) Finally, know that our Lord calls for “total dedication” on our part, but He also knows who we are, with a sinful nature in a very sin-filled world. We try to do His will, but we too often fail. We don’t go running after false answers and ideas and false gods, though, but confess our sins and trust our merciful God, through Jesus our Savior. In His mercy is our hope.

Sermon from August 27, 2025

Sermon Based on Hebrews 12:18-24, 28

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen (Psalm 19:14).

The Scripture passage just read gives us two picture images. The first is of God’s Old Testament people at Mt. Sinai, where there was blazing fire and darkness and gloom, and the sound of a very loud trumpet and the voice of God Himself speaking His Law, His 10 Commandments. The people were so fearful that they begged that no further messages be spoken to them. They asked Moses to go up on the mountain and hear the message of God for them. And that whole experience and the rebellion of the people at Sinai was so terrifying that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”

We don’t have quite that experience today, but as we look around our world, even now, we see so many troubles and difficulties and so much rebellion against God and His Word. Just before our text, the writer to the Hebrews spoke of people with “drooping hands and weak knees” (Hebrews 12:12). That’s sometimes the way we feel, physically, too, as we get older, when there are many more aches and pains, and our bodies just don’t work the way they used to. That can be so discouraging. Or when we begin to get forgetful, and there’s a name we know, but just can’t bring it to mind, at first. So frustrating!

But in context, drooping hands and weak knees can also refer to spiritual weaknesses in our lives, where we are getting off track from God’s Word and will in some ways. Right before this text, the writer to the Hebrews also speaks about the need for discipline - discipline even from God, precisely because He loves us and wants us to know the difference between right and wrong, and to realize when we are falling short before God (Hebrews 12:5:11). That’s what the Law, represented by the picture image of Mt. Sinai, in our text, does for us, primarily.

Paul put it this way, in Romans 3:19-20: “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the Law, no human being will be justified in His (in God’s) sight, since through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

The Law of God, in the Scriptures, shows us our sins and where God wants us to go instead in our lives, but it doesn’t get us there. Primarily, it condemns us and shows us our need for help beyond ourselves.

That is why we also need, so desperately, the second picture image in our text, that of Mt. Zion and the city of the living God. Mt. Zion was located on earth in the city of Jerusalem, in the land of Israel, and it is there, through the Scriptures, we meet Jesus, God’s own Son, sent into this world to be the Mediator, the only One who could and would go between us and God to fulfill a New Covenant with God.

God’s Old Testament people failed miserably in following Him and His will and His Old Covenant. That is represented in our text by Cain killing his brother, Abel, and Abel’s blood crying out for vengeance and judgment for sin. There were then, later, the Old Testament sacrifices, including sacrifices of animals, but these only prepared the way for a much, much greater sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus and His shed blood in His suffering and death on the cross. His sprinkled blood, our text says, speaks a much better Word, a Word of the Gospel and the forgiveness of our sins and peace and new life with our Lord and God.

Jesus earned all of that for us by taking the judgment for our sins upon Himself and paying the penalty for them all, in our place. That forgiveness has come to us personally through the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God, and the Word connected with water in our baptism, and the great promises of God that are ours by the gift of faith in Christ.

Our text also speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly Mt. Zion, and the blessings that are guaranteed to us in Christ. We struggle with sin. We try, but we never overcome it all in this life. Yet we are counted as “the righteous made perfect” in God’s eyes, through the perfect work of Jesus.

Our text also speaks of the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. That includes all believers who have died in faith, including all of our loved ones who have lived and died in faith. And we hear that innumerable angels are there, as well. And guess who else is extolled, whose names are written in the Book of Life? Your name and my name - not because we are so great, but because God is so great in His love for us and in giving us the gift of His only Son, Jesus, who has already accomplished everything we need for our eternal future, as we hang onto and trust in Him and His Word.

All this keeps us going in difficult days in a very troubled world. Paul writes again, in Romans 8:18, 24-25: “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us…” “In this hope we were saved… and we wait for (that heavenly home) in patience.”

And as Hebrews 12 ends, we hear that heaven and earth will be shaken and pass away, as we know it, but God’s Word will never pass away, and our heavenly home will never be shaken (Hebrews 12:26-28, Mark 13:31, 1 Peter 1:23-25).

And we have the promise from the Lord that we’ll hear in next week’s lesson, Hebrews 13:5: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” And Jesus says to us, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And we even have, in a few moments here, a taste of that heavenly home, as Christ Himself comes personally to us, with His very Body and Blood, in and with and under the bread and wine, in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 10:16, 11:23-26). May the Lord continue to bless and strengthen us with these amazing gifts and promises. Amen.

Preparing for Worship - August 31, 2025

The Scriptures this week might be described as a call for humility toward others, but above all, toward God. The Old Testament Lesson is from Proverbs 25:2-10. Proverbs are wise but practical sayings for people and their lives. These proverbs originate with King Solomon (see Proverbs 25:1) and his advice for dealing with kings and with other people. Solomon says that God chooses to reveal only what He knows is best for us, as our Lord and God. Kings like Solomon liked to search out things on their own, which sometimes got them in trouble, as we know from the life story of Solomon. He gives an example of this in this passage, using the image of taking away the impurities from silver, so that the silver can be used for making a nice vessel. In the same way, a king needs to avoid wicked people and their influence in order to serve in a righteous way. (Solomon did not always take his own advice on this, sadly.) People around us can influence us, also, for good or for evil. Solomon also says to be humble and respectful in the presence of a king or other leaders. Likewise, if you have a problem with someone, seek to deal with that person privately, without revealing secrets or acting in a public way, as in a court. You might be wrong and be the person ultimately shamed.

The Psalm is also written by a king, King David. He has learned, in his relationship with God, to seek to be humble and not to try to search out the things of God that are too great and marvelous for him. He pictures himself as a little child, compared with God, and just weaned from nursing and not making demands to be fed and cared for. He seeks to be calm and quiet, and just hope and trust in the Lord, who always knows what is best. David encourages His people of Israel to do the same and is calling us, also, to be humble before our Lord. As he says in Psalm 37:7, we are to be still before the Lord and listen to Him and His Word and trust Him and wait patiently for Him.

The Gospel lesson is Luke 14:1-14. Jesus is invited to a dinner at the house of a prominent Pharisee, and others are there, too, watching Him. A man is there with dropsy (Luke, as a physician, knows the right medical term to use) and comes before Jesus. (Many think the man was planted there to see what Jesus would do, as Jesus had done healings previously on the Sabbath, and many Pharisees condemned that as “work” on the day of rest.) Jesus realizes what they are doing and simply asks them if a healing is lawful on the Sabbath. They don’t answer. So, Jesus heals the man and sends him away.
He then asks the religious leaders, “If a son or an ox fell into a well on a Sabbath, would they not immediately pull him out?” Again, no one replies, showing that they would not always follow their own rules in certain circumstances. It was then time for the meal, and Jesus noticed how people scrambled to get the best seats of honor for themselves. He then tells a parable, reflecting the advice of Solomon in our Old Testament lesson. People should take lower places and not be embarrassed by taking too high a place and having to move lower. But Jesus is not simply teaching about proper etiquette. He is teaching about our relationship with God, above all, and to be humble before Him. He will then lift us up, as He chooses. Jesus then speaks to the man who invited Him to the dinner and encourages him not just to invite people who will pay him back in return. The man is called to care also about the poor and needy who could never pay him back. Jesus is teaching a humble, servant love - the way He was going, as He finally went to the cross to rescue us poor and needy people, who could never pay Him back.

The Epistle lesson continues readings from Hebrews 13:1-17. The writer also talks about humble servant love toward others in many situations: hospitality to strangers, remembering those in prison or being mistreated, a husband and wife honoring their marriage commitment to each other, using money wisely, respect for leaders, and on and on. The focus, as always, then turns to our Lord and His promises to us: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear.” And the faithfulness of Jesus our Savior "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” and the need to be “strengthened by His grace” and not other diverse and strange teachings.” For “Jesus also suffered outside the gate” ( of Jerusalem on the cross) in order to sanctify the people through His own blood.” We are called to bear reproach for Him and His Name in this life, knowing we have an eternal city to come in heaven through Christ, and we are called to seek to do good and share what we have, reflecting Christ’s great sacrifice for us. Finally, we are called to respect our leaders, who have a responsibility for our spiritual welfare, and praise God with joy for His goodness to all in Christ. And may we all continue to listen to the Word of God, together with them, in humility to our Lord.

Preparing for Worship - August 24, 2025

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 50:1-15. The psalmist is Asaph, chosen by King David to serve in the tabernacle in Jerusalem, along with his sons. (See 1 Chronicles 15:16ff and 25:1-2.) Asaph speaks the Word of the Mighty One, God the Lord, coming from the heavenly Zion to the earth and especially to His chosen, covenant people of Israel. He comes to testify against His people for their wickedness (see v. 16 ff.) even while they are offering continual sacrifices to Him. He is not hungry and in need of what they offer. The whole world is His. What He wishes is that they would come to Him with genuine thanksgiving for His goodness and mercy and wishing to keep their vows and promises to Him and others. He also wishes that His people would trust Him enough to call upon Him when they have troubles and believe that He will deliver them, for their good and His glory.

The Old Testament lesson is Isaiah 66:18-23. In these closing verses of Isaiah’s prophecy, the Lord promised that in a coming time, He would reach out to gather people from many “nations and tongues,” even those “far away, who have not heard His fame or seen His glory.” People of many nations would be brought to faith “as an offering to the Lord” and be His servants, as the Jewish Priests and Levites of past days were. (See 1 Peter 2:5-6,9-10.)  And when a whole new existence comes, “new heavens and a new earth,” all flesh, all believers in heaven, will come to worship before the Lord.” This whole new existence “shall remain” forever. (See Hebrews 12:26, 2 Peter 3:13, and Revelation 21.)

The Epistle lesson is Hebrews 12:4-24 (25-29). Times of trouble and persecution were coming for God’s people in the early church, and temptations also to abandon the faith in those difficult days. Still today, there will be struggles with sin and temptation, and the Lord may have to discipline us because He loves us. Earthly fathers discipline as seems best, but our spiritual Father always disciplines us for our good, though it may be painful, that he may “train us” in His ways. The Lord can strengthen our “drooping hands” and “weak knees,” so that we can carry on, even in hard times. We can also “strive for peace” with fellow believers and watch out for “roots of bitterness” that can be very harmful. (See Deuteronomy 29:18-20.) Especially, we encourage one with the promises of the Gospel and not with the fear of the Law, though we need both. We are confident of the “heavenly Jerusalem” that God has prepared for us. We have been “born again” to faith and a new life through our baptism and the Word of God, and we are counted “righteous” and “perfect” in God’s eyes through our continuing faith in Jesus and His blood shed for us to give us the “better Word” of his forgiveness for us. The things of this existence can be “shaken” and will not remain. But we are receiving an everlasting kingdom that cannot be shaken, in Christ.

The Gospel lesson is Luke 13:22-30. Someone asked Jesus a theoretical question about how many people would be saved. Jesus is more concerned about each of us and that we may be saved by entering “the narrow door.” (See also Matthew 7:13-14.) The door is narrow because it is Jesus and only Jesus through whom we may be saved. Jesus clearly says this in John 10:7-9 and John 14:6. God Himself brings people into His Kingdom through the gift of baptism and the Word of God. People can resist and reject this gift, though, and there are many temptations to question it or leave it behind. There are those who question whether Jesus can exclusively be the Savior. They would prefer to say that there are many ways and roads to eternal life, though Jesus and the Scriptures say that there is salvation in no one else but Jesus. (See Acts 4:12 and 5:28-32.) Some also think that if they know of Jesus and have had some casual contact with Him and His teachings, that is enough. The Holy Spirit wishes to bring us to repentance, genuine sorrow for our sins, and faith and trust in Jesus and what He has done for us. He wants us to battle sin as we follow Christ, and not to continue to be workers of evil without continual repentance. Some also think they will get serious about spiritual matters later in life and wait too long, till the door is shut by death, or just never get around to thinking about these things. Jesus gives the sober warning of the alternative, “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in hell and eternal separation from Him. (See also the last verse of Isaiah 66:24, right after our OT reading for today.) All this is why Jesus uses the Word He does in v.24: “Strive” to enter the narrow door. The Greek word here is the one from which we get the English word “to agonize.” It is also in the present tense, which means it is to be an ongoing action. It could be translated something like “Keep on agonizing in entering the narrow door.” We can never get through that door on our own or through our own effort. We have faith and are saved only by God’s grace and through the Holy Spirit. But it can be an agonizing struggle, at times, to stay in the faith and confidence in Christ. (The same basic word is used in our Epistle lesson, Hebrews 12:4, in describing our continuing struggle against sin.) That’s where we need continuing help through the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God and the Sacraments, to stay where we need to be, in faith and trust, in this life. The Lord will bless and strengthen us as we continue in Him and His Word. We will recline with Him one day in the heavenly Kingdom. But as Jesus warns, there are those, like too many of God’s chosen people, the Jews, who were first in God’s eyes, but will be last, separated, by rejecting or forgetting the only Savior, Jesus. As for us, as believers, we keep trusting that God will be with us and give us strength to continue in our struggles of the faith. As we hear in Philippians 2:12, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” To God be the glory! He alone is our Savior!

Preparing for Worship - August 17, 2025

Jesus is “The Prince of Peace” and is the source of our eternal life and of our salvation and peace, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, many people resist and reject Him, and His Words and coming can also bring division. Our Scriptures this week speak of this reality, and yet of the great hope and peace we have in Christ.

The Psalm is Psalm 119:81-88. In this longest psalm of the Scriptures, the psalmist rejoices in all that the Word of God can do and promises. In this section, though, the psalmist longs for God’s salvation and hopes in His Word and promises, but needs much comfort, because there are insolent persecutors who are saying falsehoods and digging pitfalls for him. They have almost made an end of him on earth. He is like a wineskin in great heat and smoke, by a fire,  shriveled and almost ready to burst. He cries out to the Lord: Help me! Yet he is sure that the Lord’s commands and precepts are sure, and he has not forsaken the testimonies from the Lord’s mouth. He still trusts that the Lord’s steadfast love would give him life. (Could these not be the Words of Jesus, too, when he faced so much opposition and persecution from His enemies? And He was doing all this and suffering for our sake and yet perfectly trusting His Father’s will and plan, where we so often fail. Think about this in terms of the Gospel lesson we will soon look at.)

The Old Testament lesson is from Jeremiah 23:16-29. Jeremiah had to speak a very hard Word of judgment against almost all the prophets and leaders in Judah at his time. They were despising the Word of the Lord and giving vain hopes and visions from their own minds and wishes, instead of speaking of the true anger of their Lord at their evil ways, and that they were making the people forget the true God’s name and leading them away to false gods like Baal. They were speaking lies and claiming dreams that were not true, and they were not speaking God’s Word faithfully. Their words were like worthless straw, and God’s Word through Jeremiah was like fire and like a hammer that breaks the false ideas into pieces. (Sadly, most people would not listen to Jeremiah, and they were carried away into captivity in Babylon, as God‘s judgment.)

The Epistle lesson continues a reading from last week about people of faith in the Old Testament, who did believe God’s Word, by God’s grace, with joy and blessing, but also with many challenges to their trust in the Lord. Abraham received his son, Isaac, but then was asked, as a test, to sacrifice his only son, until God provided an animal sacrifice to be offered instead of his son. (This was a prophecy of how God the Father would later allow the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus, to pay for our sins and bring us forgiveness and new life.) God’s line of promise continued through Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and, later on, Moses. Moses gave up his high position in Egypt and the treasures of Egypt by defending his own people and later serving them and helping them escape Egypt by God’s passover plan and the blood of lambs (another event prophetic of Jesus as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world). Moses led his people, even though they were often rebellious and gave him much trouble. They finally reached the Promised Land, with the help of a repentant and forgiven prostitute, Rahab. Verses 32-39 of this text may not be read by some churches, but tell of many other Old Testament people who lived by faith in God’s promises, but also faced terrible difficulties because of the opposition by others to God’s Word. Some even gave their lives in following the faith, trusting that they could rise again to a better life. All these did not see the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises, which came in Jesus as the promised Savior. Yet they, too, were saved by God’s grace, as they lived by faith in the promised one to come. The writer to the Hebrews calls them a great cloud of witnesses who help us live our lives in Christ and run our race with endurance, even as we also face many difficulties and opposition to what we believe. Christ Jesus is the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, enduring the worst of evil and hostility and a terrible death in our place. He endured and won victory and the gift of heaven for us, and He will help us, even on days when we grow weary and faint-hearted, as we seek to stay in faith in Him, in spite of struggles and opposition. By His grace, we persevere, knowing the joy and eternal promises ahead for us.

The Gospel lesson, Luke 12:49-56, takes us to the words of Jesus Himself. Jesus speaks of the fire of judgment and a baptism he would still have to be baptized with and wishes that it would come soon, horrible as it would be, so that it could be fully accomplished. He is talking about His own distress and suffering and death, with the opposition and ridicule of so many, where He would suffer the fire and judgment we deserve for our sins, in the God-forsakenness of hell on the cross, until He could say, “it is finished,” “it is accomplished,” in His death on the cross, and then His Easter victory over sin and Satan and death. Jesus did not come to bring peace to the earthly land of Israel, against their enemies, as many expected in the coming Messiah, but peace with God and eternal life. This would bring division, though. Some would trust in the saving work of Jesus, by God’s grace. But some would resist and reject all that, and look for a different way and plan not through Jesus. Even families could be divided in this way. Jesus would be and still is the Prince of Peace, the Savior of the world. (See Scriptures like Isaiah 9:6-7, John 14:27, and Philippians 4:7.) But many could also resist and reject Jesus, unable to interpret what was really going on with Him in His life, death, and resurrection for us. They could predict the weather, but miss out on God’s saving work in Christ. (Lord, help us to see and continue to believe always in the saving work of Jesus, according to God the Father’s plan, for our salvation and eternal life, in spite of the rejection by many. Amen.)