Author Archives: Pastor

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Jesus opens the ears of the deaf and looses the tongue of the mute, and He does so in a glorious way. When some … Continue reading →

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The Pharisee in today’s parable is a pretty good guy. He is not like other men. He’s not an extortioner.  He hasn’t gotten his … Continue reading →

On Palm Sunday Jesus rides toward Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He began in Bethany and Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and processes nearly two miles to Jerusalem. As He drew near the city He sees and weeps over it. What brings Jesus to tears? He says, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Jesus foresees the destruction of Jerusalem. Nearly forty years after this, in 70 A.D., around the time of Passover, the Roman general Titus will besiege Jerusalem. They will surround it, cut off supplies to the city, and drive the Jews to starvation. In August of that year the Romans will have breached the city, massacred the Jews who hadn’t starved in the siege, and destroy the second temple. This would have been around the same time when, six hundred and fifty years earlier, Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem in a similar fashion, burned Solomon’s temple to the ground, and carried away captive those who remained in the city. For these reasons the church hears Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem every year on the Tenth Sunday after Trinity, because this Sunday typically falls mid-August. We hear of Jesus’ tears and His prophecy so that we may heed the warning the Jews of Jesus’ day failed to heed. Continue reading →

All of Jesus’ parables invite us to think about ourselves in light of His word and kingdom. A sower sows seed that falls on four different types of soil, inviting us to ask, “What kind of soil am I? Do I receive God’s word in faith, or do temptations and persecutions make me reluctant to let the word bear fruit in me?” A man hires workers for his vineyard throughout the workday but at the end of the day each laborer, regardless of how long they worked, get the same wage, causing the labors who were hired first to grumble and be sent away. This invites us to ask, “Do I think I deserve more from God that the person who is new to the faith, or am I grateful for God’s graciousness to me and my fellow workers? Ten virgins wait for the Bridegroom, five are prepared with oil, five are foolish and unprepared, inviting us to ask, “Am I prepared for Christ’s return? Do I replenish the oil of faith in my lamp each day?” A widow brings her cause to a wicked judge who refuses it for a while, but she doesn’t lose heart, she continually brings her petition before him, and he eventually gives her justice, inviting us to ask ourselves, “Do I continue to pray confidently even when it seems my heavenly Father doesn’t answer immediately, or do I lose heart and give up praying?” Then there’s today’s parable. A wealthy man’s steward is caught wasting his master’s possessions on serving himself, but before he gives up the ledger, he rips off his master even more so that he can be welcomed into the homes of the people he helped in his final day as the rich man’s steward. This invites us to ask . . .. What does this parable invite us to ask of ourselves? Continue reading →

In our age it is generally accepted that all Christians basically believe the same thing and all ministers basically teach the same thing. The assumption is that anything with the name “Christian” is actually Christian and anything calling itself “Biblical” is just that. Many assume that if someone is prophesying, that is, preaching, in Jesus’ name, casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and working miracles in Jesus’ name, then they’re a true prophet and preacher of God. In today’s gospel lesson Jesus demolishes the assumptions of our age. Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen For three days this multitude—about four thousand—listened to Jesus’ teaching. For three days they heard Christ’s teaching about who He is, true God and true … Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. If you want to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must be more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus seems to set the … Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Today the church celebrates Mary’s visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. It is not usually worth celebrating a pregnant woman’s visit to another pregnant woman. But … Continue reading →

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.” Who are these folks and why are they flocking to hear … Continue reading →