Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

The end seemed to be on the horizon for those disciples. Jesus, who has been their leader for some time now, He was starting to talk a lot about being delivered into the hands of sinful men and being killed. Secretly, they must have all hoped that the government would be overthrown and the Roman scourge would finally leave their Holy Land. But the way Jesus was talking, it didn’t sound like that would be the way it would turn out. The followers were faced with the inevitable fact that their leader would no longer be with them. Though they were told He was the Son of God and that He would rise from the grave three days after being killed, it just didn’t sink in for them. They were slow of heart to believe, they had doubts, their faith was weak.

And so, when some of the disciples were faced with the reality that Jesus was going to leave them, they began to struggle and argue and position themselves to take over as the new leader of their movement. They fell for the very temptations that James spoke about in his warnings to fellow pastors and preachers of God’s Word. They were in love with the world, and in danger of being at enmity with God. The questions that matter most to the world were the questions that swirled in their heads: Who of them was going to be the greatest? Who would receive the mantle of leadership and take over for the Christ?

But hold on a minute– what kind of honor would that be anyway? Already they were going about from place to place hoping for a meal and a place to sleep. Jesus Himself said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Even the greatest among the disciples was still going to be no better off than a beggar. And yet they argued over it as if some lucrative political position were up for grabs. Imagine: the creator of heaven and earth, living in human flesh, was walking with them on the road teaching them, saying He will give His very life for them, and they were preoccupied about who would be at the top of their little totem pole!

This was one of the disciples’ lowest moments. Not long ago three of them experienced the mountaintop experience of Jesus’ transfiguration. They got to see their Teacher lit up like a flash of lightning, talking to Moses and Elijah in a glimpse of heaven on earth. It seemed like they had all the proof they would need to believe that this Jesus truly is the Son of God and they would take Him at His Word. He would be killed, and then He would rise on the third day. Instead, they did not understand, and more than that, they turned their back on the way of humility and lowliness, and immediately they rubbed Jesus out of the picture and fought with one another about who would take over as the greatest.

And so, fears, doubts and trials in your life leave you dumbfounded just like they were. Perhaps for a little while you had the great, grand experience where you felt the Lord had really reached out to you. It was great during that time to be a Christian and fervently on fire for the Lord. And then, probably something happened that you didn’t expect. A sudden change in your income may have set you back, or maybe it was increasing tension in your family, or a close friend could have betrayed you. Now what would happen? Where was God when you needed Him the most? It was something you couldn’t understand, and yet you were afraid to admit it.

It’s easy to listen to the words of Jesus here and then turn around and beat yourself with them. You could take what He says as an impossible standard that you have failed to meet over and over again. You think, So many times I have dropped the ball–no, I’m not always acting like the servant of everyone I deal with on a daily basis. I could be more helpful to my neighbor than I am. I am in greater friendship with this sinful world than I am with my merciful Savior who has rescued me precisely from this world. I tend to argue with my loved ones and try to make myself to be the greatest. And to tell the truth, your conscience that condemns you with these things would be absolutely right in doing so. For you are a sinner, and you have a habit of doing the things sinners do.

But you would have also missed the point of Jesus’ Word here for you today. Your Lord Christ is not here just to remind you of your shortcomings and then turn His back on you. In fact, His talk about being a servant isn’t really about you at all. Jesus is giving you Himself in what He says. It was He who made Himself the least, the Almighty God who became a lowly servant, so that you could have the greatest honor of life forever in the arms of your heavenly Father.

You see, this was the very message that Christ was giving to His followers and they wouldn’t understand it. You wouldn’t understand it either if you preoccupy yourself solely in making this present life better or more comfortable for you. Your Lord has a reason for talking so much about His own death and resurrection. This is the source of true life for you; it is yours as a gift. This is the source of true greatness in God’s eyes. For Jesus became the least not merely when He was born into a poor carpenter’s home and walked about Galilee without a place to call home. He truly became the least for you when He took the load of sins from your back and laid it on His own. He served you in all humility when He was nailed to the cross and when He died for you in order for your sins and shortcomings to be wiped out.

Then He was raised in all glory to the greatest position in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus humbled Himself to the utmost and then He was exalted to the highest place. And since you are baptized into Christ and forever connected with Him, you as a sinner were also killed with Him, dead and buried; and you as a new creation are raised to life as well along with Him. He rules and reigns to all eternity, and because you belong to Him, you reign forever with Him. Christ the least has become Christ the greatest and the benefits are all yours. You have the privilege to eat and drink this Godly greatness when you kneel before this altar. For the body and blood of Jesus who was made the least for you is the very food that gives you the true life. This gift of forgiveness and life from God conquers all the worldly distractions that cause you concern every day.

Once you are filled with Jesus and His Holy Spirit, all those things that this world considers as great become worthless in comparison to Him. Providing for yourself and your family moves from your responsibility to God’s responsibility, where it belongs. Arguing with your neighbor and scraping against others to get earthly greatness seems absolutely silly in comparison to the wonderful gift your Lord is handing out to you. Worrying about the future of the church is displaced with confidence that God will reap His harvest as He pleases. Receive your Lord Jesus and the Father who sent Him. Be forgiven, washed clean by your lowly servant and highly exalted King, Jesus. He can remove the doubts and fears that shake your faith. He won’t remove the cross nor the trials from you, but He will strengthen you to withstand them and lay hold of His victory. He has promised never to leave you. Finally, at your last hour of death, your Lord has promised that He will take you into His arms as His little child. And you, who have been considered last in the eyes of this sinful world, will be first as you enjoy the presence of God in His heavenly kingdom.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Jer. 11:18–20 Oh LORD of hosts, You who judge righteously, Testing the mind and the heart
Ps. 54 Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.
James 3:13—4:10 the wisdom that is from above is first pure… Submit to God, resist the devil
Mark 9:30–37 Whoever receives one of these little children in My name…

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Welcome aboard! For centuries, the Church has been described in terms of a boat or ship. So much so, that you even hear nautical terms being used from time to time. The area in which you are seated is called the nave, from the Latin for ship. The pulpit was the point where the navigator steered the ship with the wheel. Speaking of the Church in this way was first of all inspired by the writers of the Bible themselves. In chapter three of the Epistle of James, the brother of our Lord Jesus speaks to his fellow teachers of doctrine, that is, to fellow pastors. Of course, the words James writes by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit specifically for the vocation of his brothers in the ministry can also be applied in a general way by all Christians as they pursue their various callings in life. Now, the part of the ship that James is concerned with here is not something large and obvious like the mast or mainsail, nor even something that would look important like the captain or the charts and compass. No, for this miniature parable, we need to go below the water’s surface, sweep away all the muck and algae, and focus attention on the rudder.

Such a small instrument, notes James, that can turn such a massive vessel. In the same way that bit and bridle, small as they are, can exert control upon a powerful horse. In terms of something more common today, thanks to electronics and hydraulics, a little tap of the foot on the brake pedal stops a whole car! We just expect it work that way, but it is still impressive. Well, the small, yet mighty instrument that moves the ship of the Church is the tongue of the preacher that proclaims God’s Word for all in the nave to hear it. And to speak rightly without stumbling, that preacher is to be completely trained. Here in the Epistle, the phrase “perfect man” should not be taken to mean “one without sin,” but rather a “fully prepared preacher.” The course must be set on the one hand with the righteous Law of God, given to us in summary form in the Ten Commandments. This Law directs us in our life, but it also always accuses and condemns our sin and leaves us no option but to plead to Christ for help. On the other hand, proper steering of the ship comes from the preaching tongue’s proclamation of the Gospel, namely, the gracious works of God for our sake leading to and including the holy death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

While the tongue of the preacher is the small, yet mighty rudder that directs the course of the Church according to God’s Word, your own tongues in a similar way have important roles. Whatever callings that your heavenly Father has bestowed upon you, He who was the first ever to speak, has also given you your tongue to proclaim and teach His Word in the context that is appropriate for you. What you say is immensely important, perhaps more now than ever. They don’t call this the “information age” for nothing. Messages can go to millions of people, all around the world, in seconds. Communication must be preserved pure and pristine, or else business would falter, relationships would crumble, and nations would erupt into chaos. Quick, convenient information can really help us, yet now, we can’t afford not to be careful over what other people may know about us.

Whatever can do a world of good, can also in this fallen world of ours be implemented to wreak a staggering blow of evil. The Apostle takes great pains to warn the Church of the evil capability of the tongue. Perhaps your life has suffered damage at one time or another, thanks to the raging fire set ablaze by the tongue. Your own tongue could easily have hurt another, even when you had no idea you were doing it. Sticks and stones, contrary to what the rhyme may say, have nothing on how hurtful the words of the tongue can be. And what makes the whole thing a lot worse is that the fire of the tongue is a chief instrument of the devil’s terror regime. The Holy Spirit warns us that our sinful tongues are set on fire by hell. That means Satan wants brothers and sisters in Christ setting off verbal grenades against each other. Nothing would bring a more swift demise to a congregation and sink the ship completely.

The fire is especially dangerous when it is kindled by the tongue of a pastor who takes away the clear teaching of the Word of God and substitutes his own opinion or simply spews out meaningless garbage. Doesn’t a ship run aground when it sails in shallow water? Doctrine that does not measure up to the Truth of the Bible is false doctrine, no matter how good it may sound. And when a church is burning due to falsehood proclaimed from the pulpit, the first things to be destroyed are the forgiveness of sins, the comfort of the Gospel and the certainty of heaven. In midst of the ashes arises a hideous, man-made phoenix of trust not in the Lord and what He has done, but trust in yourself. Have I done enough good? Have I made enough promises or had a clear purpose to drive my life? You might recover the Bible from all the damage, but under the influence of an evil tongue, the Bible is turned into a mere book of rules; Jesus turns from gracious Savior into the impossible example that you could never follow perfectly.

James gives us a chilling dose of reality. No one can tame the tongue. We all stumble in many ways. The winds of fad and worldly desire blow us to and fro and, by ourselves, we cannot reset the proper bearing. Our sins will cast us into the whirlpool abyss of eternal punishment. The storms we face continually threaten to capsize the entire ship. So we need our Captain, Jesus Christ, to be aboard. We need His calming word of peace for our tempest-tossed souls. His death, the shedding of His blood, and His glorious resurrection from the dead are exactly the thing that bring the clear skies of forgiveness for our sins. You have heard this Gospel comfort from my tongue already; you will receive more words of grace from our Captain Himself before our time of worship together is complete. The galley, if you will, is set for the perfect Supper of our voyage, namely His holy Body and Blood given and shed for you.

Oftentimes passengers of a ship are “tendered” to shore for a short visit. But while they are on land, these people always keep in the back of their minds that they need to return to their ship so that the voyage may continue. I remember on the one cruise my whole family took together, we had lots of fun racing from one site to the other, but I was constantly looking at my watch so that I made sure the last tender to the ship wouldn’t leave without us! We’ve gotta get back to the ship! Likewise, your vocation, your various callings in your life “tender” you, so to speak, to the land of this world. And as St. John reminds you, we are in this world, but not of it. Indeed, while you are on land, there are works which God prepared in advance for you to do to help one another and to help your neighbor as His holy instrument. Prayer is needed both on the ship in church and on land in your daily life and work. But the land of this world is not home for you. For your spiritual strength and sustenance, you’ve gotta get back to the ship, here in the nave, back to your Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let the other passengers you know who don’t think they need to get on board, that it would be abundantly beneficial for them to hear the Word of the Lord from the rudder-tongue who is called and ordained to proclaim that Word.

You may have been burned by the hellish fire of an evil tongue. Perhaps you have used your own tongue to devastate an entire forest of your own. The winds and currents may buffet you in your life, in your family, at work or school. A great fire of false teachings may from time to time set ablaze the Church gathered in one place or another. Do not fear when you come across these terrible pitfalls in your voyage.

You already know from other readings in the Bible that a boat that has Jesus in it will be just fine, no matter what the storm does. That’s exactly what you have here, in this nave, this ship of Christ’s holy Church. Our heavenly port of call awaits! And the Captain has promised to ensure safe passage straight to the Father’s waiting arms.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Is. 50:4–10 I gave My back to those who struck me … I have set My face like a flint.
Ps. 116:1–9 I found trouble and sorrow Then I called upon name of the LORD…
James 3:1–12 let not many of you become teachers … the tongue is a fire
Mark 9:14–29 LOrd, I believe; help my unbelief

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

It may at first sound strange when you think of it. You have just last weekend celebrated the gift and fruits of work and labor, by taking a day off from working and laboring. God Himself thought of that idea, for when His days of creative labor were completed, He “sabbathed,” that is, stopped what He was doing and rested, admiring the work that was done and pronounced it, “indeed very good.” So it really isn’t that strange when a day is set aside to commemorate work by not working, even though that day may have lost its intended meaning, at least according to the average person you may ask. If Memorial Day and all it stands for gets drowned out by the opening of pools and the beginning of summer vacations, then Labor Day doesn’t seem to have a chance at all when it typically comes to a screeching halt. One time I was out with the police, and they caught some kids up to no good, and when they were asked why they had the itch to be destructive to the property of a complete stranger, all they could come up with was a shrug and, “I guess because it was Labor Day and there was nothing to do.”

Lest we forget, labor, that is, our diverse God-given vocations through which He provides for ourselves and our families, is itself a gift that is showered upon us by our heavenly Father. Times of increased unemployment seem to make such a gift seem a bit more precious due to its scarcity, but like all gifts, the more it’s in abundance, the more that it tends to get ignored. We come across this problem around Thanksgiving time, too. Perhaps you’re familiar with an attitude like: For what should I be thankful? I have what I have due to my own hard work. This attitude can even claim the support of the Bible verse, “He who will not work, will not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10) And although King Solomon found himself in despair of anything here on this earth “under the sun” having any meaning at all, at least he could say amid all the pessimism that you find in the book of Ecclesiastes, this observation that he writes about one’s particular labor is definitely more cheerful: “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18)

Yet even this can leave us focused on what we have done, on the results and fruits of our own labor. Even in our thanksgiving to God for His gift of labor, we can become self-centered. Daily we all come under the Apostle James’ chastisement which is none other than God’s law condemning us, for we neglect that brother or sister who is in a true physical need and we merely say, “Go in peace,” and, “Hope you have a good life. I just can’t help you right now.” Indeed, you or I could boast about keeping the whole law, yet we would fail in one point, and we would be no better off than any other sinner. I couldn’t presume myself in my heart to be any purer than those juvenile delinquents I met, even if I could reason with myself saying I would never do such a thing, and they deserve whatever punishment they got. No matter how hard you try, your own labor is going to fall short. The work you do will be tainted with the self-serving sinful nature that you inherited from Adam at birth. To be sure, it will not always look sinful to you or to others, but that’s part of the deception. Even the things you do that earn high praise from your fellow men, the Lord still knows your heart, and considering it all on its own, He is not pleased. There is nothing in God’s law to fall back on. Your work, your labor that is done from a heart dead and opposed to its Creator, is worthless and laboring for nothing.

You’re not alone, and that’s part of the good news. For there are two individuals who also were dead to God and opposed to Him, yet they were blessed. Here in the Gospel coming from Mark 7, there is not the woman who pleaded to Jesus, but rather her daughter who had the demon, and the deaf man, who didn’t come himself, who couldn’t even speak for himself, and was brought by others to Jesus for healing. Who did the work? Who exerted the labor? The woman who prayed? The friends who begged? No, on all counts! It was all Jesus. It was Jesus from beginning to end, Jesus the source of healing, Jesus the sole Savior and Helper. Meditate on these words from the Gospel, each one of them, this week: “He has done all things well.” I repeat, All things! That’s the rest of the Good News!

It was by His labor, which took Him the bitter way all the way to the cross, that the sins our labor caused were all forgiven. By His work, and His work alone, the trash heap that is your work and mine is converted into a glorious, laudable accomplishment over which the Father will say to you, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant! Enter in the joy I have prepared for you!” He has done all things well. Just as by His perfect and powerful Word He created the world, gave His blessing, then rested, so also by His Word that carries with it the power of the Resurrection, He declares you, no more a sinner, but a saint washed in the blood of Christ, and blessed with the promise of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

Though your ears were stopped to His Word, His personal touch and “Ephphatha” opened them along with your lips, so that your mouth could declare His praise. Though the demons of this world attacked you and led you astray to follow your own desires, He dismissed them, perhaps even upon the prayer and pleading of others asking in your place. He has done all things well. His labor is what counts because His labor alone is perfect. He once did a miracle here and there and could hardly find a place to hide Himself. Now He hides Himself in the Word of Scripture, the Water of Baptism, and the Bread and Wine of Communion, and in those hiding places He’s doing even greater work than before, yet He’s often ignored even worse than the true meaning of any particular holiday.

But ignored or not, your Lord Jesus Christ continues to do all things well. He continues to give you the fruits of His labor. By humble faith, you are now content to be a dog under the table eating crumbs, yet by magnificent grace, you are invited as a precious child to be fed richly from the Father’s own hand. You don’t have any work to do to gain that privilege, because it is already yours. Yet it pleased the Lord nevertheless to give you work to do while it is day, to labor while your life lasts on this earth “under the sun.” This too is not a contradiction, because even though the heavy yoke of your sin has been taken off, Jesus still says, Take My yoke and learn of me, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” He has taken on Himself the task of salvation, and has given you other, much smaller tasks, but nonetheless still important ones that He works through you.

Your first task is to pray. You’ve been given access to the Father, now exercise that privilege and use that access and bring your needs, and bring those others who need Him, just like the foreign woman brought her daughter in prayer, and the friends who literally brought the deaf man. That’s your most important labor for others, because you are still leaving it in the hands of Jesus to do the actual work. In praying for others, there’s the least likelihood for your sinful nature to creep in and screw it up. And just like the woman didn’t know if her prayers did any good until after she went back home, your prayers and the people for whom you pray are left in the hands of the Lord, who has done what is best already before you ask. Remember, He has done all things well.

And finally, along with your prayers, remember to enjoy first the fruits of your Savior’s labor, relish His abundant forgiveness for you and your fellow sinners, and then to take delight in the labor He has given you to do for the sake of your family and others. Faith without works is dead, and because of Jesus, you have been given both faith and works together as His gift to you. Everything you do for others becomes by faith a holy task, a Christian labor of love that you could not do on your own, but rather that your Lord does through you. Do not remain left in despair and meaningless vanity, even when you’ve had, as we all have had, “one of those days.” He has already healed you of the illnesses of sin, selfishness, partiality and idleness. The law’s condemnation and the terrors of your past cannot touch you. He has done all things well. And because He has done all things well, you may rejoice this day, this “sabbath day” of rest and for the rest of your life, thanking God for the gift of Christian labor.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Is. 35:4–7a then the eyes of the blind shall be opened
Ps. 146 Do not put your trust in princes
James 2:1–10, 14–18 but if you show partiality … I will show you my faith by my works.
Mark 7:24–37 Syro-Phoenician woman; healing of the deaf man

Watch out for “Emergents”!

If, after the hot, dry summer that we have had, you are still persuaded to keep taking care of your lawn, then you are probably very familiar with the term, “emergent.” When you apply a “pre-emergent” fertilizer and weed killer, you are making a pre-emptive strike against those nasty weeds before they sprout up and start causing a real problem on your prized, green turf!

The Emergent Church is a phenomenon, especially occurring in America, that seems to have some similarity to weeds in a garden. This is not a new church body or denomination. The Emergent Church is more of a way of thinking that is influencing large church bodies and in some cases, taking over the whole “yard” of religious expression. You could try to write it off as a passing fad (and it might end up to be just a fad) but people who espouse the Emergent philosophy are causing confusion in an already theologically weak society.

While the Emergent Church does not claim to have a leader, there are several authorities who have written books that have been very influential, even among some District Presidents of the Missouri Synod. While there are varieties and differences among these theologians, and in spite of the fact that they shy away from an expressed statement of belief, there are still some common themes that identify Emergents.

It is claimed that the Christian Church in our world today needs to change. The Internet, cell phones, 24-hour news channels, and post-modern thought are all cited as threats to the traditional concept of going to church, listening to a sermon, believing all the same thing, and learning from the same, old Bible of long ago. People today are more prone to pick and choose what they believe. Someone else may have a different way of getting to know God than I do, so I can’t tell them that they are wrong if they don’t agree with me. Churches are discouraged from taking a stand on moral issues like homosexuality or assisted suicide because that just makes people upset and they go somewhere else to worship.

If something challenges what Church was all about in the past, then that is what the Emergent Church wants to embrace with open arms. What makes Lutheran leaders fall for them is that their principles seem to be taking over in the popular “leadership conferences” that promise boosted church attendance and giving, especially if they emphasize not just “joining a church” but “becoming disciples,” which tends to overemphasize the Law against the Gospel. Absolutes like “heaven” and “hell” are replaced with terminology that touts a sort of “faith journey” in which someone discovers for themselves what God feels like to them. The concept of God the Father punishing Jesus on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins (as clearly described in Isaiah 53:4-6; Matthew 27:46; 1 John 2:2 and Romans 3:25) is denounced as “divine child abuse”! What is so deceptive about the Emergent Church is that to untrained ears, their message sounds so affirming and welcoming, easy to incorporate with open-minded contemporary thought, without any ancient doctrinal details to bog one down.

When Emergent theology first broke on the scene in the 1990s, the Bible took a back seat to a believer’s personal experience and discipleship, because these subjective sources of truth were held as more important than an authoritative text. This is what an Emergent theologian named Rob Bell wrote in the book, Velvet Elvis: “The Bible is a very holy and sacred book… one can make the Bible say anything she or he wants it to. …An accurate guideline to assist you in your interpretation is to ask yourself for the meaning. …When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true.” (Note the intentional reversal in the phrase, “she or he”- it’s another favorite practice of these teachers.)

Yet as the movement takes hold of a greater percentage of church thought, the Bible itself has become a means by which Emergent leaders promote their thinking. They have rewritten the Bible so that it matches the pattern of their theology and renamed it, The Voice. It was not based on a translation of the Greek and Hebrew, but rather a recipe of chopped up Scripture with interpretive comments mixed in. They are taking away key words like “Christ” and “forgiveness” and replacing them with what they say are easy-to-grasp terms like “Liberator” and “acceptance.” Their advertising says that The Voice is “the easiest Bible in print to understand.” The problem is, though, it is no longer the Bible!

Just like the weeds in the lawn, the Emergent Church needs our attention, so that its way of thinking does not lead us astray from our God who has revealed Himself in Jesus as we know Him from the ancient, historical Scriptures, rather than from our personal feelings. People need to know the truth, especially because if you look into your own heart, you will not find God but your own sinful nature instead. Even in our ever-changing world, the unchangeable doctrine of the Gospel of forgiveness is exactly what poor, miserable sinners like you and I need.

Yours, in Christ’s service,

Pastor Stirdivant

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

You have probably heard, Seeing is believing. In practice, I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard the phrase more often employed using the negative, as in: if you don’t see it, then you shouldn’t believe it. Granted, it is essential for us even in everyday life to seek out diligently for ourselves what is actually true, before we can count on it. When a bill comes in the mail and you are overcharged, then you have that immediate instinct and urge to get on the phone and demand that they give you proof that you absolutely have no choice but to pay the increase. Until you receive a sufficient demonstration of fact, merely taking someone’s word for it simply will not convince you. You need to see it before you’ll believe it. I lived about a third of my life in the Show-Me State, Missouri—and the people there come by their state motto honestly.

You aren’t alone in thinking that way. Elijah found it hard to believe in God’s mission for him. This mighty prophet of the Lord scored a major victory over the prophets of the false god that Israel worshiped. But he also earned permanent status as evil Queen Jezebel’s public enemy #1. She would stop at nothing to search for Elijah and destroy him immediately. He would then, just after today’s Old Testament reading leaves off, complain to the Lord that he alone was the only believer left in the whole land, at least that’s what he felt. God answered him, though, with the shocking fact that He personally knew of seven thousand people in Israel who had never worshiped anyone but the Lord God Almighty. That’s what you would call a “sleeping giant,” which, by the way, I think we still have something similar in our country. Such a multitude of faithful believers would never have occurred to Elijah, because he simply didn’t see them for himself.

You may remember also that Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch the wounds of the resurrected Lord, I will never believe.” Now, of course, since Thomas was called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ, it was essential for him especially to see Jesus risen from the dead. Otherwise, he would not have been qualified for that particular vocation in the Church. However our Lord wanted to make it clear for you and me and all believers that the true blessing is found in hearing the Gospel Word of forgiveness, paid for by His precious blood, rather than in demanding proof and seeing it in order to believe it.

In our Gospel for today, just after He fed the 5000 and walked on the stormy Sea of Galilee, Jesus here takes an unexpected turn from the idea of seeing is believing and He says instead: believing is eating and drinking! This portion of the Gospel of John needs a few moments of our reflection because there are two basic ideas, two streams you could say, flowing side by side, and soon they are about to converge together into one thought.

The first one is about seeing. Our Lord is eager to have you think differently about what it means to look upon Him, and therefore believe in Him. As I said before, our idea of seeing Jesus involves obtaining some proof that will satisfy the occasional weaknesses in our faith. That would be seeing Him, and yet not believing in Him-same problem Thomas had. Perhaps you think you’ll finally “see” Him when all that the Bible teaches starts making perfect sense in your mind and all your questions are answered. You also hope for the time when you can completely and convincingly share your faith with others and they will have nothing to reply that will make you feel embarrassed. We are right there with that one disciple who later asked Jesus, Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us. You have a Show Me state? Here’s your Show-Me disciple!

But when Jesus talks about seeing, or looking upon Him, there’s something different going on. When you look to your Savior as he describes to the crowds here in John 6, you are actually trusting in Him as your Savior. You look to your Lord, because you have become convinced that all other lords, including the lord you make of yourself, will miserably fail and you will be worse off instead of better. The psalmist had this spiritual seeing in mind when he wrote, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” You lift up your eyes, not in an imaginary way, like some people assume this verse means, but in order to see, fully see with great confidence in your heart, that the Maker of heaven and earth, the One who long ago sent ravens to feed Elijah in the desert, is the very same God who came to you, the Father who through the work of the Holy Spirit draws you to Christ His Son. Jesus is not a mere thought, nor a clever churchly concept of love just to mimic Him and try your best. He is a God who at one time in world history came to be seen, touched, heard. And even though now your eyes cannot physically see Jesus and demonstrate with proof for yourself right here in front of you, nevertheless you may still, even today, look to Him, believe and be raised up from death on the last day.

Here is where we join this together with a new meaning of eating and drinking, our Savior’s second stream of thought. Keep in mind the recent miracle of multiplied bread and fish, and note how the crowd of 5000 so enthusiastically follows Jesus, but all they are looking for is someone to feed them some more food. You may have met some little guy I know who is all about getting more and more to eat. It might seem, at first, that most of the crowd got it wrong. They were not following Jesus for the right reasons. And while that’s true, you still need to take a deeper look at it. There is something here actually that they didn’t get wrong, something that Jesus wants to encourage in them and fan into greater flame for their eternal good.

For the whole reason why Jesus desires to call Himself the bread that gives life to the world, is so that believers may diligently, maybe even desperately, search Him out and seek their complete nourishment from Him. You have to commend this multitude for so quickly catching up to Jesus and the disciples. It took a very long time for everyone to get into boats and sail directly across to the other side of the lake. But there they are, back in the city of Capernaum, and no longer out in the vast, open, grassy hillsides where they ate their miraculous meal. For these few days, this crowd has set everything in their lives aside and wrapped their entire attention around this one Man who is teaching them these words.

That’s what Jesus is talking about when He says our faith is eating and drinking. When the Holy Spirit plants faith in our hearts through Baptism, that same desperate hunger emerges within us, longing for Jesus to fill us up. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness? Yes! That’s not only about constantly wanting to do good things for others, but first and foremost our hunger and thirst is for Jesus, who gives us His righteousness. That’s what the Bible calls a status of perfection and full acceptance to God as a replacement for our sins that had kept us away from Him. We were far away in rebellion; now we’ve been brought near. And we know only Jesus can give those great gifts to us. That’s what makes it the same as looking to Him to provide for me forgiveness, all my earthly daily bread needs, and peaceful reconciliation with my neighbor who sinned against me.

Seeing is eating and drinking! And both of these, as Jesus talks about them in this Gospel, mean your faith as it was planted in you in Baptism. When you look to Jesus and see Him as the one and only Savior in whom you may trust for ultimate resurrection and victory, then at the very same time, you are eating and drinking Him into yourself, along with the promise He will not lose you, nor leave you behind when the final day arrives. Though your eyes themselves now do not see Him in the way you had hoped, there will come the time when He will appear and you will see Him face-to-face, faith will give way completely to renewed and perfected sight, and all questions, if there are still any, will be fully answered. Until that time, you believe in Him, which is to say you look to Him, which is also to say you eat and drink Him, and thus live forever.

Not the thought of Jesus, not even the example of Jesus, but the flesh of Jesus, His real, true God and Man in one person, flesh is our bread that gives us this life. Totally for free. The real flesh-and-blood Jesus is the One to whom we look, the One true bread and drink for whom we continually hunger and thirst. In this new way, a spiritual way that only Christ can grant you as you are drawn in by the Father, you are eating His flesh and drinking His blood whenever you hear or read His Word, whenever you pray or lead your life in the calling that He has given you. And to seal that eating and drinking of His flesh as a guarantee of life within you, Jesus adds yet another way for you, this time a Sacramental way, in which He miraculously puts His Body and Blood in blest reality, under bread and wine, into your mouth, and that is at Holy Communion. Yes, eating His flesh and blood is the same as looking to Him in faith at all times, but here at this Altar you also come at our Lord’s invitation for yet another opportunity to have His resurrection and life life joined to your body, and yours to His Body the Church.

Seeing is believing? That may be needed for the things of this dead world that are sure to fail you. But with Jesus, it can be better said, for those who believe, seeing is eating and drinking—Him.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
1 Kings 19:1–8 Elijah’s flight into the wilderness
Ps. 34:1–8 The Angel of the LORD encamps
Eph. 4:17—5:2 be renewed in the spirit of your mind
John 6:35–51 the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes…

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

You heard the Israelites grumble about two things they so dearly missed: meat and bread. Barely a month and a half had passed, according to Moses’ record, since the Passover night when they escaped Egypt. What a miracle that was that night when over two million men, women, children and animals picked up and walked toward the desert. Then on another evening that multitude walked across the Red Sea floor as though it were dry ground, with towering walls of water standing up on either side in the moonlight. The best chariot cavalry of Egypt? God drowned them when He made the waters of the sea flow back to normal. Then the Hebrews ran out of water, and the water they found was undrinkable, only then God commanded Moses to throw a tree into the spring to make the water wholesome and even sweet tasting. But all those miracles weren’t good enough for the children of Israel.

Instead they grumble, they murmur; it’s fairly obvious that they have thrown out all faith in the one, true and living God. They groan after meat and bread, pots of flesh, all you can eat while they were living in servitude to their Egyptian overlords. Never mind that while they were in Egypt, they all complained about being in slavery, too. Evidently, freedom wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for these tribes of Israel, because now all they can think about is to go straight back to their pagan taskmasters. Of course, they must have wanted freedom, even though they wanted it their own way. Only at this point, out there in the wilderness with their stomachs growling, freedom or no freedom, we just need our meat and bread, meat and bread. Moses and Aaron, give us our meat and bread!

That’s hardly the model prayer for us to emulate, would you think? Making demands and driving the appointed servants of the Lord to the brink of exasperation. But it sounds just as demanding when we pray the words “give us this day our daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer. Now that’s simply because Jesus gave us these words to pray so that we would sound like the desperate beggars that we really are. We already know from personal experience that not everything seems to happen on earth the way it does in heaven, at least not until Christ comes. Why is that? In reality, Evil is all around us and we urgently pray every day so that we would be delivered from it. Therefore we need this bread right away, emphasis on this day, or else we would wither away and die.

So what’s the bread that we need? What is so urgent for our sustenance that we are forced to plead for it and demand an immediate response? The Israelites thought it was meat and bread that they desperately needed. The multitude of 5000 who received meat and bread in one of Jesus’ most spectacular of miracles wanted more. What’s on your mind right now that you would need so badly that your very existence is threatened if you don’t have it? Is it that job or that raise? A little extra to pay off that debt? Is it another couple of weeks’ breathing time before you have to go back to school? Could it be that you desperately crave peace in your home and family or at the work place or at church?

Martin Luther started a list in the catechism that seems to go on and on explaining what could be meant by daily bread. But even he noticed that there is more to it than the material blessings that he could think of.

For Jesus Himself encourages you to think past all those worldly things, even if all you’re doing is giving thanks to God for His providence. But don’t excessively dwell on blessings by themselves, just as you are not to concentrate on your problems. Listen to how Jesus says it: Do not labor for the bread that perishes. It would help you understand this if you right away thought about the manna in the wilderness for those Israelites. It was considered work and labor for them to gather that gift bread each morning. But when the Sabbath came around each week, God gave double on Friday so that they could still enjoy the day of rest and observe it as the Lord commanded. And you know there’s at least one rebel in any group, and someone in that huge crowd in the desert tried to gather more to last into the next day, but it didn’t work. Do you remember what happened to the extra manna? It spoiled and stank and was creeping with bugs. That bread perished because of the faithless response of disobedience to the commandment.

Do not labor for the bread that perishes. That is a command from Jesus that puts faith in your heart and makes it strong. For when you hear these very words from Jesus, just like you are doing right now, your Savior is assuring you that He has already given the worldly blessings to you, according to what you need. You will not need to labor, that is, bear an impossible burden, for that temporary bread. Why? Because those blessings come free from the hand of your heavenly Father, even if they look to you as if they were wages due. And as you receive these gifts, remind yourself constantly that they will not last forever. Remember that above and beyond all of this, there is something more important, something that will last forever.

That something is Jesus. “The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world,” writes John the Evangelist, quoting Christ. He is the full and final answer to your prayer that asks for daily bread. What do you do to receive this bread? Do you perform some feat worthy of the Peace Prize? Do you pray a “sinner’s prayer” that asks Him to come into your heart? Do you clean up your act and promise never to smack your brother ever again? No, these things don’t give you Jesus the bread of life. Not even your act of coming to church faithfully, strictly speaking that is still something you do, and it never is good enough. Rather, you get this heavenly bread because by God’s grace He enabled your stone cold and unbelieving heart to believe in Him, and so all He has to give will come to you as well. This explains the strange and seemingly contradictory words in John where Jesus says, “[Labor instead] for the food that endures to eternal life,” and then immediately adds, “[this food] the Son of Man will give to you.” This means the labor you are to do for God is, “believe in Him whom He has sent.”

More important than feeding the hungry, more important than telling the good news, way beyond any priorities that the world around you may impose, most important above all is to have faith in Christ. Now, all other good and loving works, like feeding the hungry, telling the good news and giving offerings, proceed from faith. That means, once you believe, God creates you anew in the image of His Son and He has placed the desire in your heart to serve Him by providing help to your neighbor and enabling you in your individual calling to follow faithfully what He commands. You couldn’t do this by yourself, but now you have the Holy Spirit doing such good things through you. Jesus gave Himself to you to the point of utter sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of all your sins. You see that plain as day pictured for you on the crucifix. It is that tree of sacrifice that makes sweet the water of salvation that refreshes your soul. You now get the opportunity to sacrifice yourself, whether it’s in the realm of time that you spend, or money, or anything else that would be of help and service to your neighbor.

Jesus gives Himself to you in the Word of God that you hear and read. He first joined Himself to you at your baptism, then He offered His body and blood that (often) stands here on the altar ready and waiting to strengthen you in body and in soul to life everlasting. He is the bread of life sent straight to you and for you directly from heaven. Since you have received Him in faith, all the words about daily bread come into clear focus. For once you have Jesus, then you also have all the blessings that He brings, including forgiveness and eternal life, as well as worldly and temporary blessings. And you will see all these gifts in their proper perspective, just as Matthew records Jesus saying the ever-popular proverb: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (Mt. 6:33)

You may have done your share of grumbling recently, perhaps though not specifically for meat and bread. Like God’s people of old, you will still have your sinful flesh that doesn’t appreciate the blessings of God, or at times rejects them outright. Don’t kid yourself into believing that you don’t face these temptations or as if you can control them when they do come. Difficult times will certainly come every once in a while that test the firmness of our trust in Jesus. It will sometimes be hard to determine that you have all you need. But whether you think you have your daily material needs adequately supplied or not, know this for certain, that by faith you most assuredly have daily bread already, for you have Christ the bread of life. You shall not hunger, nor shall you thirst for anything else.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Ex. 16:2–15 What is it? The manna in the wilderness
Ps. 145:10–21 All your works shall praise you, O LORD
Eph. 4:1–16 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all
John 6:22–35 I am the bread of life.

How dull and plain life would be if the seasons never changed! No matter how much you might prefer one particular season of the year, you probably would get tired of it if it never ended. Most of us like to see variety in one way or another, and the changing seasons of the year offer that variety to us, and at least give us something start up a conversation. Each season has its own attraction and charm and, by the time you get tired of one season, there’s always another one coming sooner than you think.

Not only our world around us, but also the Church has changing seasons of the year. As we gather to worship, we notice the Church moving through one season into another, each with its own unique message, and each with its own mood. As a result, worship is not monotonous, but vibrant and always renewing from week to week. As one season draws to a close, the next one comes in its own special way.

The Church Calendar informs us of the different seasons in the Church’s liturgical year. The seasons of the Church Year are closely related to the seasons of nature, but sometimes they are independent of each other. A Calendar like the one in the very front of the hymnal tells us when each season of the Church Year is to begin and how long it is to last.

The Church Year is divided into two main parts. The first part is focused on the life and ministry of Christ while He was still visible in the flesh on this earth. During this part of the Church Year we partake of the important events surrounding our Lord, from His birth in Bethlehem, till the time He ascended into heaven and gave His disciples the Holy Spirit. Since significant days like Christmas, Good Friday and Easter happen during this part of the Church Year, it is commonly called the Festival Half. In the non-Festival half, which covers most of the summer into the fall, the festivals are not as big, but no less important. It is also known as the Time of the Church. This is usually the time when the Church focuses on how the life, the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus feed and strengthen us as the Body of Christ.

In response to the various moods expressed throughout the liturgical year, the Church has chosen over the years to use color, among other things, to help bring out the special mood of each season. The paraments that decorate the altar, pulpit and lectern in the front of the Church change colors from season to season. This excursion will take a brief look at each liturgical season and the unique features that it offers us as God’s gathered people.

Other customs also reflect the mood of the season. For instance, during the solemn, penitential season of Lent, some churches do not include many flowers and the congregation does not sing or say the word Alleluia, only then at Easter they pack the place with lilies and sing 10 alleluias with every hymn! Of course, there is a different message from God’s Word for each season, and each Sunday has its own Scripture readings, hymns, prayers and so forth.

If we become aware of these different seasons and what they are all about, our participation in the Church Service will carry more interest and lead to a greater understanding of God’s mysteries.

As this special service explores each season, look especially for its associated color. That will be the color you find draped on the altar, pulpit, lectern and on the stole that the pastor wears. Today, a reading, collect prayer and hymn selection from each season will lead us through each of the Church’s seasons.

Advent

The Church Year begins with the season of Advent, which means “coming.” It includes the four Sundays that precede Christmas in which we prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. As we look forward to the day of His birth there is, of course, much cause for joy and gladness. But there is also shame and penitence. John the Baptist, who was the last great prophet who pointed to the coming of the Savior, says each Advent to us what he said to his disciples: Repent! The Son of God comes to humble Himself and take on your sins, shortcomings, and sicknesses. Turn from your wicked ways and believe in His forgiveness! The royal and penitential color blue reminds us of our need to be sorry for our sins, but also to look forward in expectation to the second coming of our King, this time not as a baby in a manger, but as the Lord of heaven and earth receiving His children into eternal life.

Zechariah 9:9, 16-17

Advent 1: Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

LSB 357 1, 3, 7

Christmas

Christmas is one of the greatest days in the entire Church Year. It is the birthday celebration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. At Christmas we set aside the restraints and penitence of Advent as we burst forth with holy joy. God has kept His Old Testament promise. The Son has entered time and space in the form of a lowly newborn child. This Baby of Bethlehem will do for us what we could never do for ourselves—He will set us free from sin and bring us back into communion with God. The wonder and the thrill of God’s love at Christmas is everywhere. The color white, which is always used in connection with Jesus, reflects His radiant glory and testifies to the holy joy that He inspires into our hearts. Of course the chancel is specially decorated for Christmas—and it would seem like something’s missing if there were no greenery, Poinsettias and a Christmas tree up in front. Following the manner that days are reckoned in the Bible, every festival in the Church Year actually begins at sundown the evening before, and Christmas Eve is a perfect example. The Christmas season itself lasts for 12 days, from December 25th to January 5th.

Luke 2: 6-14

Christmas Eve O God, You make us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that as we joyfully receive Him as our Redeemer, we may with sure confidence behold Him when He comes to be our Judge; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord

LSB 380 all

Epiphany

Epiphany follows right after the Christmas season, beginning on the 6th of January. Epiphany means “revealing” or “showing forth.” During this season we ponder the different ways in which Christ was revealed to the world as God and Savior. The first showing forth was to the Wise Men, or Magi by means of a star which guided them to His manger-crib. Later on Christ revealed Himself through His Baptism, His miracles, especially when He changed the water into wine, and through His preaching. His most splendid revelation was at the Transfiguration. The day of Epiphany begins and ends using the dazzling color white from the Christmas season; but in between the color is green, the color of foliage, growth and life, suggesting our spiritual growth as a result of our Lord revealing Himself to us in His Word and the Sacraments.

Matthew 2: 10-11; Luke 9:28-33, 35

Transfig O God, in the glorious transfiguration of Your beloved Son You confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of Moses and Elijah. In the voice that came from the bright cloud You wonderfully foreshowed our adoption by grace. Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King in His glory and bring us to the fullness of our inheritance in heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord.

LSB 396 1-3

Lent

After Epiphany the mood of worship changes abruptly. Joy gives way to penitence as we begin to commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. The season reaches its climax on Good Friday and comes to an end at sundown on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. As we recall the depth of Christ’s agony at the hands of Pontius Pilate and on the Cross, we are compelled to remember that He went through it all out of His love for us and His desire to free us from our sins. As we especially humble our hearts and gather for worship more often during Lent, the color purple signifies our penitent mood.

Philippians 2:4-8

Lent 3 O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

LSB 430 1-3, 5

Good Friday

On Good Friday, we commemorate the day God in human flesh gave up His life for us. The altar is either covered in black or it is stripped bare. Our every word and action focuses on the cross, on our bleeding Lord and the events of that all-important day of the world’s history. But there is nothing morbid about this concentration on our guilt and our Lord’s suffering. For that suffering and death is the source of great relief and strength to us. Through His bitter agony and death Christ removed our guilt and paid for the forgiveness of our sins. As we see Him as pictured on the crucifix bleeding and dying, we are looking at the price of our salvation.

Luke 23:33-46

Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord.

LSB 451 1-3

Easter

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Though every Sunday is in its own way a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, on Easter Day, Christian hope and joy reach their highest point, for this is the day on which our Lord rose from the dead. Easter is the only Church festival that is not on any fixed day, but rather it occurs on a certain Sunday each year between March 22 and April 25. The color changes to white, which remains during the entire seven-week Easter season. As we stand before the empty tomb we discover along with the faithful women and the disciples that Christ’s death was not a tragic failure but rather a glorious success. We realize that He entered suffering and death as an Innocent Victim, but He fought as a mighty warrior who has gained the victory over death and Satan. Faith in the Christ who is risen brings us tremendous joy because the victory that He won on this great day is also our victory. His resurrection paved the way for our resurrection into eternal life hereafter.

Matthew 28:1-7 (please stand)

Almighty God the Father, through Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, You have overcome death and opened the gate of everlasting life to us. Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of our Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

LSB 457 all

Ascension

Forty days after Easter, Christ concluded His visible ministry on earth when He ascended into heaven, where He as true God and true Man sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Prior to His ascension He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Though we no longer see His physical body, He is still here in a hidden, mysterious way—through His Holy Spirit in the preached Word and in the Holy Sacraments. Ascension is a day of triumph and joy as Christ, our Redeemer and the conqueror of sin, leads the grand procession to heaven, a procession that we follow also to our true home.

Acts 1:9-11

Almighty God, as Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ascended into the heavens, so may we also ascend in heart and mind and continually dwell there with Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

LSB 494 1, 3, 4

Pentecost Day

The fiery color red belongs to Pentecost, which means “the fiftieth day.” On the fiftieth day after Easter, Jesus Christ sent His Holy Spirit upon His disciples, just as He had promised. Appearing in tongues of fire that rested upon them, the Spirit filled these first preachers with courage and strength. Immediately, Jesus began to preach through their many mouths, and thousands from all nations who had waited for their promised Savior believed. The Holy Spirit has never left Christ’s people, and He has been the constant intercessor for us before our Lord, and our never-failing source of inspiration and zeal. God the Holy Spirit uses the called and ordained ministers of Jesus Christ to preach the powerful Word to His chosen people. For this reason, the red color of Pentecost is also reserved for the ordination and installation of a man into the Office of the Holy Ministry.

Acts 2:1-4

O God, on this day You once taught the hearts of Your faithful people by sending them the light of Your Holy Spirit. Grant us in our day by the same Spirit to have a right understanding in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy consolation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord.

LSB 498 1-3, 6

Trinity

After the celebration of Pentecost, the Festival half of the Church Year comes to a close. The very next Sunday after Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Trinity, or Trinity Sunday. The words Trinity and Triune both mean “three-in-one,” and this all-important doctrine of God we confess especially in the Athanasian Creed. On this day we remember that the God who revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ is the same God who created us and all things, and who dwells in our hearts. The one God is worshiped in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as
represented in the triangle icon. The color white is the symbol of Christ and the divine glory revealed in the Holy Trinity. The Trinity reading from Matthew is AKA the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:16-20

Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever.

LSB 507 1, 2, 4

Season of Pentecost

The last and longest season in the Church Year includes all the Sundays after Pentecost. Some local churches number the Sundays after Trinity because they follow the one-year cycle. In either case, the color is green to signify the new life and growth that Christ has achieved for us and continues to work in us through His Word and the activity of the Holy Spirit. This is the time of the Church, and the time in which we are reminded to be rooted in our Lord so that we may bear fruits of service for the benefit of our neighbor. In the late fall, as the Church Year draws to a close and the farmer looks to the gathering of the harvest, the Church proclaims the Last Things: the saints who have gone before us on All Saints’ Day, the Return of Christ, the Last Judgment, and the life everlasting.

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

LSB 644 all

Offering

Church Festivals

Scattered throughout the seasons of the Church’s liturgical year there are also single days and dates that she does well to observe, especially if they happen to occur on a Sunday. Most of these special days commemorate certain Saints. They recall to our minds some of the great Christians of the past. Many of these days borrow the red color of Pentecost to signify the work of the Holy Spirit in their words and deeds as well as the color of their blood that was shed while they lived out the suffering and persecution of Jesus in their own bodies. We in the Lutheran Church follow the correct understanding of the Holy Scriptures when we teach that we do not worship these saints or pray to them. However, we do praise the Lord for the wonderful works He had allowed them to do by His grace, and we pray that God would likewise give us a bold faith.

Revelation 7:9-10

LSB 517 (stanza 4)

Kyrie & Lord’s Prayer

Almighty and most merciful God, the protector of all who trust in You, strengthen our faith and give us courage to believe that in Your love You will rescue us from all adversities; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Father in heaven, in mercy You have given us Your revealed will and counsel in the Holy Scriptures. Grant that as we hear and proclaim Your Word throughout the Church Year, we may be led to repent of our sins against You and receive forgiveness and Your gift of eternal life. Dwell within us in the flesh and blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and by the power of the Holy Spirit may we dwell in You now and forever.

O Father of mercies and God of all comfort our only help in time of need. Look with favor upon Your servants… Assure them of your Mercy, deliver them from the temptations of the evil one, and give the patience and comfort in their illness. If it please You restore them to health, or give them grace to accept their affliction.

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Once I attended a graduation ceremony when I was a student at the Seminary. Many lay people from the surrounding community often attend this celebration, and I figured the two women seated in front of me were long-time regular attendees of Seminary festivities like this. When the doctoral degrees were being awarded, there was one in which the graduate’s thesis was announced that it had proposed to study the role of women in the church. One woman snickered to her friend in my hearing, “Must have been a short paper!”

Okay, despite all of today’s useless noise about the subject, the Bible’s teaching stays the same: women can’t be pastors. As Confessional Lutheran church bodies like the Missouri Synod, the Lutheran Church of Latvia, Siberia, Madagascar, Ghana, Australia, Argentina and others teach, women shouldn’t take roles of spiritual leadership that God has already assigned for certain qualified men to do. God’s Word is abundantly clear about that. But, Holy Scripture, as well as God-given reason and good sense, together state just as clearly that women are precious in God’s sight, and their unique gifts and service for the church and for their neighbors are irreplaceable. The Book of Proverbs ends with an excellent chapter that praises and exalts “a woman who fears the Lord,” making special mention of those to whom God has given the blessed and holy vocation of wife and mother. By dark contrast, societies around the world that have rejected the light of Jesus Christ tend also to demean and debase women. Churches like the ELCA and the Church of Sweden and most other Lutheran state-controlled churches, those that have adopted the heretical practice of female clergy, have also eventually ventured into paganism, earth-goddesses, and using the word “She” in reference to an ever-changing and, in their mind, self-improving God.

And then there’s the fascination with Mary Magdalene. Andrew Lloyd Webber writes a big role for her in the Broadway hit “Jesus Christ, Superstar.” She figures quite prominently in the story of the fictional and anti-Christian book and movie, The Da Vinci Code. Some unbelieving scholars go so far as to suggest the fantasy that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife or girlfriend; others only are bold enough to say Jesus regarded her as the leader among His disciples. None of these things about her grasp even a shred of reality as it has been revealed to us in the Bible, and all of them do this holy woman a great disservice.

According to the Gospels in the New Testament, Mary Magdalene had seven demons. She was under total domination by the forces of darkness, as the number seven depicts in other parts of the Bible. At the hearing of Jesus’ powerful, Divine Word, those seven spirits were released from her, and she followed Jesus along with other women, a few of whom had some wealth to share, as they accompanied the disciples whom Jesus later called to be His preachers.

In the Gospel reading you just heard, Mary Magdalene was specially listed as one who came to the tomb of Jesus, even though the other Gospel writers tell us that other people had accompanied her at first. Due to this account that has been preserved for us in God’s Holy Word, Mary Magdalene is given the honor of being the first among believers to see Jesus risen. She was also entrusted to relay the good news to the disciples, which she announced joyfully, having the dawn of forgiveness shining anew in her heart.

But that early morning, as you know, did not begin with joy and expectation, the smell of flowers and blinding sunshine cascading through stained glass, like we are accustomed to here at Easter. It began with unfinished work to do, with the cloud of death choking every glimmer of hope. Mary and her female companions were risking their lives to perform what they thought was one last tender gesture of respect and love for Jesus—to bury His body properly with the traditional spices, and perhaps say a few appropriate prayers. Then when the tomb was discovered empty, with the stone rolled away, sorrow must have turned even darker, to utter dread and a downward spiral of bewilderment. Not only has she lost her Teacher and Friend, but as a good student she knows that with a dead Lord, she is a goner. It means to Mary that she would still be dead in her sins. Those demons will soon be back with a vengeance. Could you imagine what you would feel if you knew such a horrible existence was just waiting to pounce on you yet again?

John, in his divinely inspired telling of the Easter story, notes that there was a time when Mary was alone, weeping, speaking first to the angels stationed in the tomb, then to the mysterious gardener. Could any light pierce or penetrate this complete darkness that had suddenly returned to a woman who had been so captured before?

Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ That’s it! That’s what needed to happen to bring light into the hopeless darkness! Jesus called her by her name and that makes all the difference. Mary knew the Voice of the Good Shepherd when He called her by her name. Good Friday grief is fully replaced by Easter Sunday joy. Jesus said to her, ‘Mary’ and Death’s sadness gives way to Life’s gladness. In this way, Mary Magdalene properly stands according to the Bible as the flesh and blood symbol for you, the church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For you have been rescued from the utter darkness of your sins, and lifted up from your dreadful weeping, all because Jesus called you by name. For you, along with Mary, rejoice at this comforting Voice of Jesus, and you confess who He is, as Savior and Teacher, calling out to Him in prayer.

The Christ who died on the cross for you, to pay the price to save you from eternal darkness, rose from the dead so that He could impart His eternal light of forgiveness upon you. When you were baptized, heaven was opened, clouds were parted, God called your name, and so His face began to shine with the love He had for you from the very beginning. As you heard His Word, whether it was all your life, or only just recently, His countenance was lifted up in a new dawn and your demons were put to flight, never to return in domination ever again.

Even though the disciples would be the chosen Apostles sent to all the world, and they would be the ones who would preach and proclaim the Good News, Jesus specifically chose this woman, Mary from Magdala on the Sea of Galilee, to help and support them. They really needed her, not for her to preach to her own congregation, but to provide assistance for the church according to her own God-given gifts. To be sure, Mary’s help and support probably

was better at the time than if Jesus had sent twelve male messengers from the empty garden tomb. Yes, she was doubted; the men thought she was telling tales or the grief was making her delusional, but that’s how the Gospel is still treated with disdain in our world. We heard a few weeks ago God’s own reminder, My power is made perfect in weakness. In her former demon-possessed life, Mary Magdalene most likely was marked and avoided in her community. Yet this time, armed by a Spirit-filled boldness, she would proceed undeterred.

Such a thing could happen to this day. Very well-respected church leaders could throw out the Bible’s message for their own pet projects. Nevertheless, the humble, unassuming yet powerful message of forgiveness will not be darkened. Sometimes, a godly lay woman’s kindness and baptismal faith is what the Church needs to remember who the true Lord, the Bridegroom, the Good Shepherd, really is. The light of Christ still will shine, even when many reject it for what their itching ears would rather hear. Rejoice, all you who are baptized into the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Rejoice along with Mary Magdalene who first saw the Savior alive, because your demons are gone, your sinful darkness is past, and the light of Christ has risen upon you.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Proverbs 31:10-31 A woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Acts: 13:26-31 In him we have obtained an inheritance
John 20:1-2, 10-18 to Mary Magdalene: go to my brothers and say to them ‘I am ascending…’

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

If there was one thing that would have frightened King Herod, it was that John the Baptist was somehow raised from the dead. Thanks to a drunken stupor while entertaining both political friends and foes, a dance that was likely pleasing to the male eye, and thanks to a sinister plot of a vindictive woman, Herod woke up one morning with a headache, a dead prophet and a head staring at him from a bloody platter. The memory of John was still haunting Herod enough as it was. Now it seems this Baptizing preacher is miraculously raised from death, and bound to come by the palace for another round of guilt-inducing sermons. King Herod knew John was right about his sinful, adulterous marriage. He was told to repent, just as John told everyone, but this politician under the spell of Queen Herodias had allowed Satan to pluck up the seeds of the Word that God had planted in his heart. He was glad to hear about the Gospel of God’s kingdom, and the coming of the Savior, but he just loved his lifestyle, which is to say, he loved sinning, way too much. So instead, he pacified his wife and tried to keep John as safe as he could in a prison near the Dead Sea.

We live in a world of false comfort. We are clothed with fine, soft clothing and fare sumptuously every day. Our mutual funds may fluctuate more than we want, but such wealth would be unimaginable a generation ago: think of the cell phones, laptop computers, and air conditioning, of course, but then you go into the kitchen: there you find popcorn poppers, computerized refrigerators, waffle irons, double boilers, cappuccino machines. The pioneers who settled this land were lucky if they didn’t have to share forks! Anyway, John is a good man for us in our luxurious existence. He is a man obsessed. He cares for almost nothing, least of all gadgets and convenience. He cares not even for decent food or clothing. He cares only for the Savior to come, the One whose sandals he is not fit to untie, but Whom he will anoint by Divine Command. He will anoint Him for a crown of thorns, for a throne erected between two thieves, for a Kingdom whose glory is found in the death of its Prince. In the anointing, in that Holy and first of all Baptisms, heaven opens to sinners, the Father speaks, the Spirit descends, and the Son begins His journey toward our redemption.

Nonetheless, John’s message sounds mean to our sensitive, modern ears even as it did to Herod’s. It is harsh because he will not waste your time to be nice. He will not coddle you. He has not come to try out his flawless rhetoric to “make a point” but he gets right to the point. He won’t tell cute stories or show you funny videos, or promise more money in your pocket. He is not trying merely to “make you think.” He is not being clever or poetic. He will not manipulate your emotions or “set the mood.” He is not a reed blown about in the wind of human opinion. He despises the urge to be interesting or engaging. He’d even fail the Seminary preaching classes! But on Jordan’s bank stands a man obsessed. He cares only for the wrath and judgment to come, doing the work he has been given to do before the night comes when no man can work. He wags that bony finger of his in your face, stands too close, breathes his nasty locust breath upon you, fixes his steely gaze,
eyeball to eyeball, and says, “Repent! Repent now, before it is too late. Turn from yourself and your worries. Cease your self-obsession, your concern for your rights and honor. Don’t let the thoughts that try to condemn you have the last word. Be filled with the Spirit, die and rise again with Christ, hear the Father’s adopting words. Be Baptized and live!”

John is the ultimate preacher of the Law. And that is so often our excuse for ignoring him. Our fallen flesh tends to think, “Well, he preaches Law but I need to focus on the Gospel. John was all about ‘fire and brimstone’ and calling people out when it’s none of his business how people live, but I am a nice, gentle, kind person. I want to help people. I am not like John. I am like Jesus.” Okay, but then you should actually try reading the Gospels and pay attention to what Jesus says. There is a reason that the Gospels summarize both John’s and Our Lord’s preaching with the same sentence, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” They may have done similar actions, but of the two, Jesus is more stern, more fierce, more demanding. He is not some wimpy little do-gooder. He is bold and brazen. He even got angry! He is not afraid to pick up a towel and water and wash His disciples’ feet. He is not afraid to defy the priests and the governor. He keeps awake to pray. He does not fall into temptation or excuse sin. He is not afraid to look weak or to suffer. Finally, He is clearly the only One ever not afraid to die. If John is obsessed, Jesus then must be a maniac.

Like it or not, the Law is God’s Word. It is His revealed will for man but man cannot obtain it. False law, not the kind John preached, is actually quite nice. False law takes many forms, but at its most popular it is a guide for good living or secret hints on how we might please God, earn His favor, and get ahead. False law says there can be other definitions of marriage. The real Law came from John’s mouth, and also ultimately from Jesus. It is damning. It hurts; it kills. It drives us to our knees. But it is it is good. It needs to be preached, so it would open our eyes to the reality of how helpless we are. The Law made even King Herod stop and think for a while.

John preaches the Law because he is a prophet of the Most High. That does not mean that God sent him to make the people feel guilty and sad or to scare them. He was sent to tell the Truth. And that Truth can only comfort those who own up to their smelly feet and let Jesus wash them. John comforted them. In repentance, Jesus Christ, the Salvation of mankind, is known. John delivers forgiveness through preaching and baptizing into Jesus. The Law he preaches is not the goal. It sets our hearts up to hear the Gospel, the Good News of God’s intervening love that caused Him to take up our flesh.

The tender mercy of our God is not in removing the Law, but in fulfilling it. It accuses us. It drives us to the edge of despair. With Isaiah we cry out, “Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips.” With Peter we beg, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” We acknowledge the goodness, the holiness of the Law and our abject failure regarding it. But then, at the Word of Christ, the Law, which hounded us, departs. It is satisfied in the perfect life and death that Jesus lived and died in our place. Suddenly, there is no one to accuse you. The Lord helps you up, embraces and kisses you, and bids you come and be a guest at His Table, to sit down next to John and all the others who believe and testified until death. Your sins are removed. Your past, your shame, your guilt are no more.

Unlike John, Jesus really did rise from the dead, not to make you fearful like Herod was, but to set you free. He wipes away your tears and fills those places left empty and abandoned inside you with Himself. His hair, His skin, His bones, that Body pierced, dead and buried, back to life, with God’s judgment now satisfied, is placed into your once unclean lips and they are cleansed. You are healed. You are whole. The Blood of the Lamb is poured down your throat and into your heart. You are clean. You are one with Him. You abide in Him and He in you. You are His. You enjoy a Holy and perfect Communion.

That was what King Herod rejected. It was the blessed, sweet Gospel that came right along with John’s stern demands for repentance. He heard that he couldn’t have a wife who was also his sister-in-law as well as his niece. And the devil, using other people’s anger, incited him to kill John, since he can’t ever kill the Gospel. But when the guilt started coming back to the king’s conscience, just like it might be for you when you recall a sin you’ve done in the past, Herod felt helpless, like there was nothing by which he could undo this day of reckoning. The risen John the Baptist could pop in any day now and announce my condemnation, and I wouldn’t have an answer back.

Thanks to the Gospel Word that you hear today from your Lord and Savior Jesus, you need not face that helpless, condemned feeling that’s stronger than any normal feeling. You may have days where everything good that Jesus does for you sounds like it is tearing you down with shame instead of lifting you up. Like you are not good enough. But those thoughts need not haunt you anymore. You do have God’s unchanging Word that says Jesus was good enough and He took your place. He gave you His place. Really, you are not condemned—you are safe and secure in your heavenly Father’s arms. Because of this Good News, John leaped for joy in his mother’s womb at the presence of his Savior. He also died in joy too, even though it was also a sad, unjust tragedy. He was branded a fanatic, but it was the Word of God that kept him tied to the message of the Gospel and eternal life. Give no anxious thought to what tries to dominate you in the here and now. The persecution from the world is not worth comparing to what lies ahead. Your life, as well as your death, should it come before Christ returns, will in the same way as John the Baptist bear witness to your Lord who gave up His life in order to make you His own.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:

Isaiah 6:1-9 Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts
Luke 5:1-9 …a great number of fish, and their net was breaking…

Amos 7:7–15 the LORD took me as I followed the flock
Ps. 85 Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
Eph. 1:3–14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ….
Mark 6:14–29 Martyrdom of John the Baptist

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Jesus was the man to whom the prophet Isaiah refers when he writes: He was despised and rejected. (Isaiah 53) And Jesus was despised and rejected no more strongly than among His own people. In the very city of Nazareth, in which the Son of God grew up as Mary’s Son, He received one of the worst welcomes. They thought of Him as the “kid who lived down the block.” They could not accept the miraculous wonders that came from the Words of His mouth and the laying on of His hands. Only a few people, perhaps they were desperate for help, but they were the ones to whom God gave faith to receive His healing. So Jesus speaks His rebuke: “A Prophet is not without honor (‘not without’ means He is well-liked), except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

He says this not so that you’d feel sorry for Him. The Gospel according to Mark tells us Jesus marveled at His fellow Nazarenes’ unbelief, but this isn’t like it hit Him unawares. He knew, He even decreed through the ancient prophets that many would reject Him, even those people He might have thought He could trust for support. He was the one who told Ezekiel, I am sending you to the stubborn and obstinate people of Israel. They will refuse to hear you, but you are going to preach to them anyway. Although it won’t look like you’ll have success, you’re going to give them My Word. For Jesus, the Prophet above all other prophets, the One who gave the Holy Spirit to all the prophets of the Old Testament, He is still not without honor. This means that He will receive the honor that is rightfully due to Him, just not from the place you would think.

Instead, Jesus receives honor from the weak, the desperate, and the sinful. They are mentioned even in the Bible account merely as a parenthesis: as if it were to say, the whole population of Nazareth rejected Jesus, oh, and by the way, He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. Now, important people can give honor, but these people who barely get a mention have little more honor than a stray dog. But I tell you—these people are the ones we should pay attention to! Those who believe in Him are not the ones who think they can have it their own way. They understand that Christ came as a doctor not for those who pretend they are healthy, but for those who acknowledge that they are incurably sick. They’re desperate for healing and nothing else matters to them.

That is who you are. You regularly admit here in this place that you are a poor miserable sinner. You know you have no choice but to confess that you have the bad habit of lashing out in anger or frustration against your friends and the loved ones in your own family. Perhaps it’s just in your thoughts or online communications. You realize that, because of your sins, you have no claim on the Lord, no reason why He should love you as He does, except that the Lord Himself came to rescue you from your debilitating sin. And by that, He is honored.

For Jesus Christ, Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary, set aside all His heavenly honor and power and humbled Himself, but not just when He became a human being. For He could have come as a mighty king, arrayed in finer wealth than King Solomon and Bill Gates combined. All honor in heaven and earth could have been laid at His human feet while sitting in glory on every earthly throne—and it still would have been a humbling experience for the Eternal Son of God the Father. But, He humbled Himself further than just becoming a man—He became a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53) He became the lowliest of men, the miserable, suffering servant of all people. He not only set aside His eternal crown as King of the Universe, but He also replaced that crown with a crown of thorns.

And finally, it is on the cross that you see your Lord who is worthy of all honor. Christ crucified; this is your Lord in all His ironic glory. It is also the glory and honor that He chooses to give to you. It may not be His will that you are successful in earthly things. He may have other plans than for you to get that job or promotion that you’ve been hoping for, that big goal that you’re setting your heart on. But that doesn’t mean that you didn’t pray hard enough or that He doesn’t love you. He can say to you much like He said to the Apostle Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness. And His will is going to continue as it has in this dying world even if our magnificent plans never materialize, whether it’s a revived Sunday School or a standing-room-only church attendance, or offering plates overflowing. That doesn’t mean that our Lord would not bless these things and use them to do His will in spite of sinful people like all of us, myself included, who love to meddle and put in our two cents’ worth. Reports from the mission field in places like Madagascar amaze us at how God’s work is being done among millions of Lutherans in a whole different-looking way than it is over here, but it is no more and no less the will of God in either place. We also rejoice in the fact that the far-flung mission field has saved us the travel trouble and has come right here in our own area!

You see, Christ does not need us in order for Him to receive His honor. Following His death on the cross, by which He destroyed the devil and murdered death itself, He rose from the dead in magnificent glory and almighty power. And then, when He comes straight to you, the sinner, He holds out His nail-marked hand and says, Your sins and your rebellion against me are all forgiven! Be free, and allow me to fill you with my flesh and blood and make you my holy temple. I will revive and restore your sin-sick body and soul with my glorious and vibrant resurrected body and Spirit. And for you simply to receive such a gift from your Lord Jesus is really to give Him all honor in heaven and on earth. For it is not your holiness and good deeds nor your involvement in worship that renders Him honor, even if you were the holiest and most pious. Instead, He is truly honored when you say Amen, it shall be so, Amen, the gift is received.

And so, you too have the honor that belongs only to Jesus, because He dwells in you and you in Him. You have His honor because you have His Word, His all-powerful Word. It is the same Word that He gave to those disciples whom He sent out to teach right after the story of His rejection. You would think that those twelve preachers would be discouraged right after that negative encounter happened in Nazareth. And no doubt that those apostles faced plenty of rejection themselves. Many of them would suffer the ultimate persecution of martyrdom, not long after Jesus ascended into heaven. But they had God’s Word on their lips and in their hearts. And right away Christ was accomplishing through those men the same things He was doing Himself. So you, as God’s holy people, have that same powerful Word entering your ears this very day. And as you receive that Word and all the forgiveness, life and salvation that that Word brings, your Lord is honored and glorified.

God continues to give His Word into the mouths of His New Testament prophets and servants of the Word. Many new pastors are being ordained this summer. They too will learn that honor will come from the most unlikely of places, but most of all it springs from the Word that they will have no other choice but to preach and from the Holy Sacraments that they must administer following the commands of Jesus. Without this, they would have no honor, even from the poor souls they seem to help, because without the Word of God they would be no better than missionaries of the devil. But through all the trials, and despite the many and various “thorns in the flesh,” they may have to suffer, Christ’s honor and power will be made complete and perfect in the weakness of this world. As a despised and rejected Christian who boasts not in yourself but in the power of God hidden in weakness, you too will be not without honor.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:

Isaiah 53 Surely He has borne our griefs

Ezek. 2:1–5 you shall say to them ‘Thus says the LORD God!’
Ps. 123 as the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their masters, … So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
2 Cor. 12:1–10 a thorn in the flesh … My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.
Mark 6:1–13 A prophet is not without honor…out two by two