Month: August 2013

Sermon with Hymn of the Day following: Henry V. Gerike, Guest Organist
LSB 510 – A Multitude Comes from the East and the West

Text: Luke 13:22-30
Date: Pentecost XIV (Proper 16) + 8/25/13

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Or so say some of us…a few of us? “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” A good Jewish question proposed by a good Jewish resident of a town through which Jesus was teaching and journeying. When we quote the crowds of Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes,” we are emphasizing the Lord’s goal, purpose and destiny, which is why St. Luke reminds us today saying that Jesus was “journeying toward Jerusalem.” Only if we keep that goal and destination in mind as we journey with Jesus will we be able to ask the right questions. Our good Jewish man’s question, “will those who are saved be few?” is the wrong question. So Jesus doesn’t talk speak directly about how many or how few will be saved, but he speaks to the man about the master of the house answering “YOU,” saying, “I do not know where YOU come from.” “Then YOU will say….” “Then he will say, “I tell YOU, I do not know where YOU come from.” In other words the only important question has nothing to do with the synodically required statistical report of active and inactive members of your congregation. The only important question is “What about YOU? Will YOU be saved?” Theoretical questions make for a bad Bible study class or sermon and have the effect of deflecting and avoiding the call to repentance and faith. Continue reading “Faith Strives”

Text: Luke 12:49-56
Date: Pentecost XIII (Proper 15) + 8/18/13

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, for He comes to deliver us from the wrath of God by taking it to Himself thus making for us peace with God. Continue reading “Time for Faith”

Text: Luke 12:22-34
Date: Pentecost XII (Proper 14) + 8/11/13

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, He whom we address in today’s Collect as the almighty and merciful God. For He is the almighty God, the creator of the universe, the One who orders time and change aright. Such might and power, however, would and should be a fearful thing to know and confess had it not been that He has also harnessed His might with His love. In might and love He is also the merciful God, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex 34:6-7). Because God is both almighty and merciful we pray to Him today to help us to be faithful to Him as our Savior and life especially amid the distractions and temptations of life in a world still disordered by sin. By His might alone, through the Word of God, He creates and sustains faith in our hearts, minds and souls. And by His mercy alone He guides us in the way that leads to eternal life. Continue reading “What Faith Seeks”

Text: Luke 12:13-21
Date: Pentecost XI (Proper 13) + 8/4/13

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, unless, that is, all He has to say to us is judgment and bad news! Did you notice the oxymoron [pronounced by William F. Buckley, Jr, “awk-sim-er-on”], the seeming contradiction after reading today’s Gospel to then proclaim, “this is the Gospel of the Lord”? There seems to be very little if any “gospel” in today’s Gospel! In fact, taken together with the accompanying reading from Ecclesiastes—“All is vanity,” “unhappy business,” “I hated all my toil”—this has turned into a rather depressing day. Continue reading “On Eating, Drinking and Merriment”