Month: August 2011

Text: Matthew 16:21-28
Date: Pentecost XI + Proper 17 + 8/28/11

Before entering into the third and most crucial part of his Gospel account St. Matthew gives us a seminar on the topic of faith. It began with Peter walking to Jesus on the water and, when he almost drowned, Jesus addressed him as “you of little faith” (14:31). Then we witnessed Jesus addressing a Canaanite woman, whom we would assume is as far away from the family of faith as you could get, saying, “O woman, great is your faith!” (15:28). Whether “little” or “great” we are to discover that faith is far more than mere human positive thinking and, in fact, is not something anyone can even conjure up or produce by their own “reason or strength.” At Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” Peter gives the mighty confession of faith that can only be revealed by God working through His Word (16:16), namely, accurately identifying who Jesus is. Last Sunday we all hoped that we are as bold and inspired as St. Peter. Today, however, we are reminded that if you are going to take Simon Peter as your example you must take all of him. And we are to know that, like Peter, as long as we walk by faith we are in a constant struggle. Today Jesus announces for the first time the necessity of His sacrificial death on a cross. Peter doesn’t like that talk. He rejects it with what he thinks is loud and proud loyalty. But Jesus rebukes Peter. His once great faith and confession of who Jesus is has suddenly failed him when it comes to what Jesus came to do. Today we learn that as Jesus’ mission must include the cross, so a great faith and confession must go the same way and include the denial of self, taking up your cross and continual following of Jesus wherever He leads. Continue reading “When Faith and Confession are Not So Great”

Text: Matthew 16:13-20
Occasion: 50^th Anniversary of Trinity Lutheran School
Date: Pentecost X + Proper 16 + 8/21/11
Trinity Lutheran Church, Jackson, Michigan

“Who do you say that I am?” asked Jesus of His disciples. Peter answered, “The Christ, the Son of the living God.” “Good for you, Pete!” “Blessed are you” responded Jesus. “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

This is the heart, the hidden part, the real wisdom behind a Lutheran school and of our Trinity Lutheran School for the past fifty years. Only things that are somehow hidden in the first place need to be revealed, revealed to us by someone else. Whether that means pulling away or removing those things that are covering up that “something” or just opening our eyes to see what should be, after all, plainly visible is the task of those sent to bring that “something” to change people’s perspective, worldview, vision and life. Thus it was that God sent His only Son into this world not to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:17). In Jesus alone a person can clearly see God, the God of grace and glory. So also in Jesus’ sending of His apostolic ministers to preach and teach people God’s truth. Such has been the heart of our Lutheran schools ever since Lutherans first set foot in our land. Of course certain things of life in this world can be taught and learned by (almost) anyone, “reading, writing, arithmetic.” But the things of God, the eternal things must be revealed, revealed by God working through His Word the gift of faith in the heart. And this, above all, is what we are celebrating this year as we mark fifty years of God’s blessing of our beloved Trinity Lutheran School of Jackson, Michigan. Continue reading “50 Years of Revealing Faith”

Text: Matthew 15:21-28
Date: Pentecost IX + Proper 15 + 8/14/11

It is interesting how St. Matthew contrasts the “little-faith” of water-walking Peter in our reading last week with the “great faith” of a Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel. It is interesting, for one thing, because while Peter and those to whom the promise of the Messiah belong are slow to believe, mysteriously a woman who is not only a Gentile but even of the ancient hated religious and idolatrous enemies of Israel, the Canaanites, is pronounced by Jesus as demonstrating an exemplary faith that is “great.” This, of course, serves as another hint at God’s complete plan of salvation through the Jews to all nations reflected in today’s Old Testament reading (Isaiah 56). The woman is already, ahead of time, one of those foretold by the original promise to Abraham, “and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:2). She is among those of whom the hymn sings, “A multitude comes from the east and the west To sit at the feast of salvation” (LSB 510). That God’s mercy came through the disobedience of the Jews to embrace both them and all nations is the concern of Paul’s words in today’s Epistle. This dynamic is behind Jesus’ statement, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It is in the woman’s further response that the greatness of her faith is shown. Continue reading “When Faith is Great”

Text: Matthew 14:22-33
Date: Pentecost VIII + Proper 14 + 8/7/11

What is frightening you of late? What is it that causes your deepest fears? Is it the state of the economy and your sincere doubt that those currently in control of it have the first clue as to how to turn it around? What makes you afraid these days? What is so unsettling? Maybe it’s your physical wellness and worry over what the doctor might find after a battery of tests. What do you fear most? What sends you into a panic? Unemployment numbers keep rising. And you wonder if there is anything to the dire predictions of whether or not Social Security checks will continue or if the program itself will even survive. I like it a lot when the doctor smiles and says, “You’re in good shape” because he ought to know what he’s talking about. I’m quite a bit less confident when a politician tries to reassure me that things will improve if we only first insure his or her reelection. Everything depends on who’s talking. Is it just a spin of encouragement to a blind faith in some nebulous hope of a better tomorrow? Or is there something more certain than that? Continue reading “Do Not Be Afraid”