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

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

This is the Day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Today is the day of great celebration! Today is the day of completion. The two great festivals of the Church’s year go hand-in-hand as they both commemorate Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done. Christmas celebrates our Lord’s coming to this sinful world in human flesh. Easter rejoices that Christ’s crucified flesh is alive and will never die again! Because of today, the Apostle Paul can be so bold as to wag his finger and talk to two of our most fearful enemies as though they were nothing but squashed insects. For he says, O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, who has given us the Victory in our Lord Jesus Christ! You could almost imagine him dropping the pen on the table for a moment here and raising his arms high like he’s the first runner to cross the finish line. Yeah! We won! That kind of boldness is also yours, courtesy of Easter Day.

There is another boldness that God bestows upon you, thanks to our Lord’s Easter triumph. That boldness is none other than the privilege to call upon your heavenly Father in prayer. The Resurrection makes that possible, too. Every part of the holy prayer that Jesus taught to His disciples, the prayer that we are blessed to say every Sunday, indeed, every day of our lives, all the gifts contained in the Lord’s Prayer become our own directly from the crucified Savior, who is dead no more! All through Lent we turned our attention to every petition of the Lord’s Prayer, so now at Easter we can see the Lord’s gracious answer to each request.

Think about how it begins: Our Father who art in heaven. We have access not to a god of our making or choosing, but to the One true God, the Eternal Father who raised His Son on the third day. Since He fulfilled His unchanging promise to Jesus, whom He gave up for the sins of all people, there’s nothing to keep Him from honoring His promise to you to hear your prayer, that is simultaneously prayed along with Jesus and all who believe in Him. How are you sure of that? You’ve been baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I know that my Redeemer lives, says Job. Surely the same living Redeemer who restored Job from all his misery and pain can listen to you when you pray.

Then there’s Hallowed be Thy name. Easter proclaims the mighty name of the Lord in no uncertain way. Because Jesus triumphed in His saving mission, He urges you to call upon His name in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks. Sinners such as you and I are warned in the commandments not to take the name of the Lord our God in vain. But if we’re told not to misuse His name, then there must be a proper way to use it and keep it holy. The power of the Resurrection is granted to you to hear and believe the Word of God that is taught in its truth and purity, and then to lead a holy life according to it. Without this power, you were lost in sin, but because of Christ’s forgiveness setting you free and continuing to work in your life, God’s name is kept holy for you also.

When you say, Thy Kingdom Come, then rejoice especially on this Holy Day because the promised Holy Spirit comes straight to you from the comforting breath of the Risen Savior! All Jesus had to say there in the garden that early morning was “Mary,” and the weeping woman exulted and embraced her Teacher. When He likewise lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you peace, then you can know for certain that you will never be left forsaken. He lives to wipe away your tears and calm your troubled heart. You have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, as the guarantee of membership in His heavenly kingdom, the kingdom that has come among us now and will endure to all eternity.

During Lent, we recalled how difficult it is sometimes to pray in all truth and honesty, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It often seems like such an impossible task for a sinful Christian to live up to, when you get down to it. Our selfish will so frequently each day gets in the way of allowing God’s will to take over. The world around us entices our weakness by what only looks good and sometimes it frightens us to look at the blowing wind and pounding waves rather than our glorious risen Redeemer right in front of us, walking on the water. What about in your life? Where have you let your will take over in thought, word or deed, instead of making your will subordinate to God’s? Those ten commandments teach you your Father’s perfect will, but they also condemn you for rejecting Him and His way. Sin and death was all your lot until you got to this Day, because the Savior you witnessed on Good Friday suffering and dying for you, is on the third day risen and breathing the breath of life back into you, His perfectly renewed creation! In your forgiveness on this Day, God’s Will is most certainly done, even here on our sinful earth, when you hear the absolution from the Lord’s servant, the pastor.

Most of the time, when we think of asking for something in prayer, we are likely thinking of something that falls within the Catechism’s category of Daily Bread. And when the Lord’s Prayer turns to, Give Us this Day our Daily Bread, you can think of Easter as well! Jesus Christ, who is risen today, is indeed the Son of God who has always granted you your Daily Bread, even when you weren’t praying for it! He has granted you the support and needs of your body because He has granted you physical life. You are not a wandering soul trapped in a body. There are a lot of versions of ignorant human religion that is built on that very shaky foundation. No, God the Holy Trinity created you unique, body and soul and He will provide out of His richness every blessing that you have today at hand. He will also at the last day raise up your sin-destroyed body (think again of Job’s words, 19:26). You will be changed incorruptible, and the body you once knew with all its warts will be rather like unto His glorious Body, the Body in which He appeared to the women and the Apostles. It is this Body that serves you as the highest and most important Daily Bread, the Body and Blood of the Lord’s Supper, which is also the greatest seal of His promise to the whole of you, that is, body and soul.

Forgive us our Trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Even if we had to do without some of those items of Daily Bread from time to time, we couldn’t live a day or even a moment of our lives without Forgiveness. We heard from the Apostle Paul again in his “Resurrection Chapter,” 1 Corinthians chapter 15, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. …If for this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” Because we daily sin much and daily deserve only punishment, our prayer, including the Lord’s Prayer, would have been simply impossible for us without the assurance that our Heavenly Father would grant all He gives to us solely by grace. But what is even more of an Easter miracle is that now we have the ability to perform our own impossible task, and that is to forgive our neighbor who trespasses against us. Peace with God, won for us by our Savior Jesus Christ, also brings us peace with one another.

Soon, the euphoria of Easter’s jubilation will fade. The lilies will start drooping. The eggs will crack and the chocolate bunnies will get to their work of putting on those pounds. Honestly, even worse attacks than these will come your way sooner rather than later, and you are going to feel that all this talk of triumph has been just empty talk. Maybe sitting here (whether you are a regular church-goer or not) still isn’t exactly what you feel like doing every Sunday morning, possibly because you just don’t see the Lord living up to what you thought He promised you. I’ve been there, too, and we pastors have to be here and tell you differently! What is there for you when you don’t “feel” Easter anymore? You have the real promise granted to you in the petition, Lead us not into Temptation. See, you are not alone, there’s an “us” in that prayer, just like in “Our Father.” While some days you simply have to take it on faith that God actually tempts no one, you can certainly rely on the Word of the Resurrected Lord that He will guard and keep you from the temptation that you do face.

Finally, as the sum of all, you pray Deliver us from Evil. Though the Evil One, Satan, has been crushed in the head by the cross and his dominion over you is demolished, you’re still going to need rescue from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, property and honor. If Jesus’ glorious return does not happen to take place before your death, you will have to face your own end on this earth. And whether it’s sudden or painful and drawn-out, what better way to go than with the Living Lord Christ standing by your side? And that’s Who you have, in the flesh, not only here as you worship Him, but He’s constantly with you, breathing into you His Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Every time you go to sleep, think of this: whether you wake to the natural light of a new day, or to the brilliant light of heavenly Paradise, the blessing is all the same, all because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, ahead of you!

What a gift and treasure is here in the prayer that He taught His disciples, and that He has granted also to you! It is too much to believe, and yet by a faith that has been planted in your heart by the Holy Spirit, you can believe it! And that God-given faith is ready to claim even more blessings than these whenever you pray. Why in the Lord’s name does somebody neglect prayer? We all do it. And we’re still not saving any time, either! But with God’s Word showering us today with joyous news of Easter victory, we can see that proclamation in a new way, with renewed eyes of faith, brimming over with our Father’s love and grace and forgiveness. You are bold once again before the Lord, with not a self-centered confidence but Christ-centered, because as a child of God, washed clean in baptismal water every day, you can live and pray the Lord’s Prayer, and all prayer for that matter, knowing year-round that there is in Him the Easter answer. The kingdom, power and glory belong to Him alone!

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

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

Readings:
Is. 65:17–25 I create new heavens and a new earth…the wolf and the lamb shall feed together
Psalm 16 You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption
1 Cor. 15:19–26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
Luke 24:1–12 The women at the tomb

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

You know the words: He “was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,… suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.” That is quite a skip through Jesus’ visible, earthly life, right? When you come to think about it, there’s nothing in between as the Creed confesses our Lord and Savior. You only take a single step and you’ve gone directly from Christmas to Good Friday, do not pass Go. What about the teaching of Jesus? What about His miracles? His Baptism even?

Though it may look odd when you ask those kinds of questions, you should rest assured that simply because these ancient confessions omitted those key events in Christ’s life, it doesn’t mean at all that their saintly authors did not value them. They knew and they rejoiced that our Lord showed compassion and taught the truth. But the creeds intend to make a point when they move directly from Jesus’ birth to His Passion, that is, His suffering mixed together with love. They point to the fact that the Son of God who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary came specifically to suffer and to die.

There is a lot to observe this week! But when we observe these holy events, we don’t make note of them as a sad conclusion to an otherwise triumphant and well-lived life. Don’t be sorry for Jesus that His ministry came to this kind of end. The cross always was intended to be the very heart of who Jesus is and what He came to do in order to reconcile the entire sin-sick world to God the Father. There is no tragedy, no defeat here. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a Lutheran imprisoned and killed under Hitler’s rule, wrote, “It is no small matter, that God allowed Himself to be pushed out of the world on a cross.” To take his statement further, it is no small matter that the Son of God came into the world that He had made, and that world rejected Him. It is no small matter that Jesus rode triumphantly into the holy city of Jerusalem for the specific purpose to suffer and die as the Passover Lamb whose blood brings forgiveness into the world. Reflect and pray over all that takes place this week, because the Son of God did it all for you and for your salvation.

Today we notice that Jesus is at the head of a parade—well, everybody loves a parade, right? It goes without saying. The Romans didn’t love this parade, though. In fact, this parade looked more like the beginnings of a riot. With a hint of nervousness the Roman troops look on as the crowds chant something or other about a King of Israel, and He’s fulfilling a prophecy about riding a donkey’s colt. Whatever could that mean? they wonder. Was this humble-looking man some revolutionary like Mr. Judas Maccabeus, who stirred up the people a century or two before? It’s already bad enough that all these visitors are filling the city beyond capacity for their annual Passover. Will they start forming themselves into a restless mob? They’re already worked up when they conjure those ancient memories about slavery in Egypt. There already was a rebellion recently in Jerusalem, and among one of the arrests was a nasty murderer named Barabbas. The Romans however were not going to witness the rebellion they were bracing for. Jesus is not that kind of king.

There’s somebody else who doesn’t love this parade, either. The Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem—they had already learned that Jesus was not the Messiah they had in mind. He was not some weak-spined rabbi that they could control with their works-oriented teachings. Jesus was a threat to their deceitful power games, since His popularity was ever-growing. If He were allowed to go on doing those things He did, and teaching those doctrines He was teaching, then their version of religion would be ruined. No wonder they stand by looking at this parade and say: “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the whole world has gone out after Him!”

Satan really did not like this parade, at all! In fact, this is a parade that Satan had tried to prevent. Three years before, He had tried to offer Jesus another way when he tempted the baptized Lord to bow down and worship him. All these kingdoms I will give to you, but Christ wouldn’t fall for it. The cross is up ahead, and the devil knows it. The cross would mean suffering and shame for Jesus, but for Satan it would spell his own eternal defeat. The cross would spoil the spoiler of his prey, as the hymn sings. Christ crucified would judge Satan forever condemned and stripped of his power. No wonder Satan attempted to dissuade Jesus by speaking through Simon Peter, “Never Lord! This suffering and death shall never happen to you!” Satan hated the sight of this parade as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the late afternoon humbly ascends the hill of Jerusalem, getting ever closer to the place of sacrifice.

I’ll tell you who loves this parade! Jesus does! Yes, the people who shout Hosanna today will change their tune on Friday and cry out, Crucify Him! He all-too-well knows that their fickle lips will scream for His execution. And His own disciples, even, they too will run away from Him, one will deny Him, and one is already preparing to betray Him. Jesus loves this parade not because of a momentary boost in His popularity ratings, but because He is getting closer to the cross, to the completion of His holy mission. He is fulfilling Zechariah’s prediction of long ago on the one hand, and predicting His own final glorious coming at the end of the world on the other hand. Here is the King parading to ascend His throne, a Bridegroom about to be united to His radiant Bride, clothed in the wedding clothes of His forgiveness. For this joy that is set before Him, Christ endured the cross, scorning its shame.

What do we want in our lives? We try so hard to avoid suffering! Our culture even stoops so low as to suggest that it would be better to destroy the life of someone who is suffering if it doesn’t seem expedient to end that suffering in any other way. To those who think that the supreme good in life is to avoid pain at all costs, the image of our Lord, our Suffering Servant, is an embarrassment—totally ludicrous!

Buddhism claims that suffering was a feature built-in to life, so we best train ourselves to be detached and distant from the pains we encounter in our existence. Even though pain is unavoidable as a force in the world, a devout Buddhist hopes to come to the point where he or she no longer feels, weeps, or grieves. Other similar viewpoints attempted to live one’s life as an other-worldly hero, serenely detached from both good and bad in this world. You can’t blame these people for trying. Don’t attach yourself to anything in this world—you’re just going to be disappointed, hurt, grieved. Cut yourself off from anything that would bring you pain. But that is not the way of Jesus.

Jesus is not a hero who detaches Himself from suffering. If He were, He would be running away from Jerusalem! He took a path very different from the Buddha. Jesus rode toward Calvary; He walked the way to the cross. Even when He was abandoned, deserted, betrayed and denied, He held to the holy work that was His alone to accomplish. He drank down the cup of suffering. When the parade was over and the cheering crowds fell silent, and the palm branches wilted in the dust, the Lamb of God kept up His march that would end in pain, shame and death.

This week, you will see Him as He goes from the upper room to Gethsemane’s garden, from Pilate’s judgment hall to the cross. He is not detached like some Zen master floating above the earth; He’s driven by the Passion, the love and pain together, for you to be with Him in His kingdom for all eternity. His pain is real, it’s raw and unabridged. The death He dies is dark and cold. And He does it all for you. It is no small thing that God allows Himself to be pushed out of the world on a cross.

It is also no small thing that the same God who went the way of the cross still comes to you today. He does not come to let you in on some secret of success or to show you the way out of suffering, or to find a cheat to get you around suffering. He leads you on the way through suffering. He wants you to follow Him on His parade! He skips all the other stuff in His life and heads straight to the suffering, like the Creed proclaims. It is the way of His cross and resurrection, and it becomes a pattern for your Christian life. It is the way of His Gospel. It’s how He gives salvation to you into your hurt-filled life. It is the way of His Body and Blood that He gives you to eat and drink for forgiveness and life from this altar. Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest!

Now you are in the parade, too! Don’t you love a parade?

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

Readings:
Deut. 32:36–39 I am He, and there is no God besides me
Psalm 118:19–29 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
or Psalm 31:9–16 Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD, for I have called upon You
Phil. 2:5–11 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus
Luke 22:1—23:56 The Last Supper
or Luke 23:1–56 The crucifixion and burial
or John 12:20–43 We wish to see Jesus

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

It’s unfair! The rich, the powerful, the privileged. They use their advantage to get ahead of the second-class, the unfortunate, the victims. College administrators bribed. Businesses in their lust for profits cut corners that cost lives. By now you have probably heard plenty about this ongoing story in many forms, including the outsiders versus the establishment. It’s a constant drama that feeds on lots of energy, outrage, roaring crowds and tricky questions from journalists. It’s the height of unfairness, as anyone can plainly see, when the elite few take control by means of force and deceit away from the will of the many. The power-brokers meet secretly in smoke-filled rooms, while the mobs mobilize on behalf of the “little guy” who never receives the square deal. Well, now that’s going to change! Those know-it-alls, elites and big-wigs are going to be turned out on their ears when justice knocks on their door! Fairness will be restored!

The whole politics of the in-crowd looking down in scorn and disgust upon those ignorant masses can be seen in many playgrounds, families and corporate offices. It’s downright shameful when it happens in a church. It happens nonetheless, and every time it does, it retells the story of the greatest act of unfairness of the world’s history, and that was the rejection of God’s Son the Savior. He was rejected by the very religious teachers and leaders who were commanded to proclaim Him. Instead, this religious elite establishment preferred to solidify their miserable power cabal and remove the threat from His adoring, cheering crowds before He ruined their political future.

All the images that Jesus used in His version of the story had a connection to the one and only Divine plan of salvation. The vineyard is the church, the spiritual and unseen kingdom of God that truly exists in the form of faith—that is, all those who trust and believe in Christ the Savior of sinners are members of the universal, whole, catholic church. All who repent of their sins and receive the nourishment of our Lord’s gifts then bear fruit for Him, like vines produce grapes in a vineyard. As Jesus continues, this vineyard is leased out to tenants, who stand for the Old Testament kings and religious leaders, who with only a handful of exceptions, were responsible for a nation that rebelled against the Lord, who was their true owner and ruler. The three servants sent to the vineyard to gather in the harvest fruits of repentance were not three specific prophets, but they stand for all the prophets and preachers who had urged the people over centuries of history to stop their idolatrous ways, get rid of the false gods and beliefs of the other nations, and stay faithful and ready for the advent of the Messiah to arrive. Those prophets were despised, humiliated, persecuted, and several were martyred at the hands of the religious establishment. Time to call for some term limits, right?

Instead, the owner in the story, who stands for God the Father, acts totally contrary to the accepted conventional wisdom. Who would in their right mind send his beloved son into a situation which can only end in certain death for him? But forgoing every right He had to punish and destroy His wicked servants, God sent His Son anyway, as John 3:17 says: God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “Perhaps they will respect him.” You know, that sounds so naïve to us hearing it. We almost try to reach out our hands and shout out at Jesus—no, don’t do it! Just like the crowds themselves, who were so wrapped up in the story, we’re exclaiming with them “Surely not!” But you can’t shake the unbroken, determined gaze of Jesus looking right at you. He affirms this trip to the cross absolutely must happen, rejection, pain, suffering and all, for it has been God’s plan from the very beginning. It’s exactly how the psalm’s words will come true: The Stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. Jesus is the only Way: either He will welcome you, broken and then restored, into the everlasting kingdom of the Father, or He will send you away crushed into pieces, saying, “I never knew you.” But first, before any of that could have happened for you, He must be rejected.

A week from now, we will unfold here once again the Great Story of which this parable of Jesus was a foreshadow. Judas will cross the aisle into the opposing party and betray the Lord, not with a tweet, a wild Facebook rant, or an annoying political commercial, but with a kiss outside the garden. The powerful few will get their way over against the many, under the cover of night, and evil will seem to triumph. A murderer they save, the Prince of Life they slay. This religious establishment knows the Scriptures very well; what they cannot stomach is that their way of trust in self, their way of unrepentance is doomed. Their fathers rejected the prophets, as Jesus said before, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to it. They are going to reject Jesus, so in this way, Jesus is like the prophets, but in another way, He is unlike them. His rejection will lead to something different than their rejection did.

The wall of the Old Testament side of the building is going to meet up with the New Testament side, which is the wall that you and I are part of in God’s church. At this critical meeting point of the two walls, there is Jesus Christ the chief Cornerstone. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that was set before Him for all time and history, He endured the cross, willingly took up the punishment you and I deserved, and drank the cup of God’s grapes of wrath. He poured out His lifeblood like wine on the ground, so that His very rejection and defeat on the cross would be ultimate victory for the entire church. For all believers before Him and for you now living after this momentous occasion, Christ the Cornerstone is exalted above all as our One Savior who fully completed His salvation mission. This coming Holy Week, we will hear the details yet again of that victory, it is marvelous in our eyes. We need to hear it, as often as we can, because this is not just the story of Jesus showing up those nasty enemies of His who plotted His death. It’s not going to be about darlings of the media getting away with outright crimes or a corrupt politician getting caught. This is the story of your very rescue from everything that holds you down, from Satan who attacks you with temptations, from your own human nature that loves to follow your own path. The truth that you hear from Palm Sunday to Easter, that is the very truth that sets you free. This is the only truth that matters for your life now and forevermore.

Jesus’ question remains, and it’s meant for you, for your family, for this congregation at Good Shepherd, too: “What shall the owner do about His vineyard?” How will your heart respond to this grand story that is about to be retold at Holy Week? Will you ignore your Savior’s pleas to renew your heart and plant a good vine that produces good fruit of faith in your life? Or will you prefer to make your faith into an excuse to get your way and impose your version of judgment against others whom you should have forgiven? Jesus told this parable toward the end of His ministry because the time was getting close and soon the opportunity window to repent and believe in Jesus would shut. Will you allow instead for Christ the Cornerstone to break your sinful will and shatter your sinful, self-centered urges? Will you resist the temptation to shy away from your Lord simply because you see that there will be nothing else but rejection, persecution, and humiliation ahead of you as you hold to the true Christian faith? Everyone around you is scorning God’s design of marriage. The scientific establishment says a Creator couldn’t have spoken this world into existence. Misguided Christians say your pastor is too legalistic because certain songs aren’t sung in worship or visitors who aren’t currently under the care of a true Lutheran pastor need to wait before they’re allowed to participate in Communion at this altar.

What will your vineyard owner do about you? Will He see your fruits of faith and love extend out to benefit your neighbor? Without Christ your Cornerstone, that will be impossible. On your own, you will seek to serve only yourself, and Jesus warns in that case, you will be crushed. His judgment in the case of the faithless will be decisive, and devastating. But with Him, with His Holy Spirit cleansing your heart, pruning your vines to be faithful to Him, and mobilizing you to be energetically fruitful in good works, you will prevail even through those times of suffering you will endure. Count those temporary, fleeting earthly things as rubbish and as loss, because with what you have to gain in Christ, beginning with forgiveness and ending with your own resurrection from the dead, you have every reason instead to strain forward as you run the Christian race. Break that tape away in triumph and claim the prize that Jesus won for you. He stood up to the evil establishment, and though they killed Him for the inheritance, He became the Cornerstone anyway. Don’t be distracted when establishments of evil play their tricks on you. Press on to that upward call of God that was given you when you were baptized. Jesus has reserved His inheritance for you, not to lease, but to own, and sealed it in His Body and Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. May His life, death and resurrection be and forever continue as the Cornerstone and foundation of your life until the Day He calls you forth from the grave to enjoy with utter glory the blessed vineyard of your God.

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

Readings:
Is. 43:16–21 I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret
Psalm 126 When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream
Phil. 3:4b–14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call
Luke 20:9–20 A certain man planted a vineyard … leased … and went into a far country

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

There are some outsiders who from time to time look in on all of you gathered here this morning, and all they can say is that you’re just a bunch of sinners. Is that a big surprise? Anyway, if they ever bring this up to me, I think my response to them should be something like this: “I know. They are a terrible bunch. Their sins include the most heinous and disgusting known to man. And their pastor is no better.” Sometimes others might make an accusation like this: “Those people act good on Sunday morning, but they don’t act ‘Christian’ during the rest of the week.” And now we see what people like that really mean and what they really believe. They follow the misconception that Christianity is about good works, about being nice.

Dearly Beloved, as you may already know, Christianity is not centered on good works. To be a Christian is not to be good all the time, to seem nice, or never to sin. After all, Jesus received and ate with sinners. If He was to eat with men, he had no choice. The Pharisees who stood off at a distance and were shocked by the terrible sinners that make up Jesus’ congregation, they were sinners too. It is just that those sick men, in their vanity and to their peril, mistook their illness for health. They thought that they did not need a physician. They thought that they did not need to hear God’s Word. They thought they already knew it. But, they were sinners, too, and they were really on their deathbeds. But there was no rejoicing in heaven over them. Angels do not rejoice over good works. They do not even rejoice over men keeping the Law. What causes angels to rejoice is repentance.

To be a Christian – and not simply to act like one for the sake of reputation – is to be gathered by Our Lord to Himself. It is to bask in His forgiving presence, in His gracious Words and the holy Sacrament. It is to listen as He speaks, and to eat and drink as He gives nourishment and peace in His Body and Blood. It’s all about being undeservedly welcomed back like the younger son, and not to stay defiantly outside like the elder son, trusting in your own works. To be a Christian is not necessarily to be a pillar of the community. For one thing, that may not be your vocation. It is not to have perfect children who never get in trouble. Or to be always and perfectly above reproach. Nor does it mean you get a free pass to keep sinning, either. To be a Christian is to hear the Shepherd’s voice. Being a Christian means being forgiven, living humbly in that confidence. Christians reside in the presence of Christ at the Meal He provides.

In short, to be a Christian is to listen to, and eat with, Jesus. And it is in just such a context, that is, a Meal with Jesus teaching sinners, under attack from the Pharisees, that Our Lord tells three parables: one of a lost sheep, one of a lost coin, and one of a lost son. The last one – popularly known as the prodigal son – is what makes up today’s Gospel. The purpose of all three parables is the same: To show forgiven sinners and unbelievers alike how precious you are in God’s sight. You are the sheep, the coin, and the son, all of which were lost and which God found.

Now, why would God bother to save such as us? Why suffer as He did? Simply because He loves us. He did not need us. And yet, He has created us for this: His Love. He loves to love us. He will not be thwarted from this. He came for no other reason than to seek and to save sinners, that is, you. And every time you bow your head and whisper heartfelt sorrow over your sin, confessing your sincere desire to not do it again, and place all your hope and trust in His Grace and Mercy – what I’m saying is, every time you repent – the angels in heaven rejoice! Because then you are a Christian, doing what Christians do.

Do not be fooled by Satanic delusions. Death is all around you. Your growling stomach, your hunger pangs – those are marks of death. They signal that you must eat or you will die. Without hunger men waste away. In hospitals all across this country, sick people who have lost their appetite are fed intravenously or gently convinced that they must eat. Outside of the hospitals, they would die. The prodigal son got so hungry that he longed to eat the slop of pigs, and pigs were something that Jews couldn’t have anything to do with in the first place. Likewise, your hunger for righteousness, a gnawing in your empty soul that longs to be filled and to know peace, a regret over your selfish actions and mean-spirited behavior, a desire for goodness, is a mark of death and is not pleasant. But without it, men simply waste away, either in ignorance, or, like the Pharisees, in obstinate defiance.

A gnawing pain that can double men over, a bother to enjoying our sins, a burning of the conscience, an emptiness that if not filled can lead to despair, this is the hunger for righteousness, the beginning of repentance. So that Jesus says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” To be here this morning is to come as a sinner, as a hungry one, to eat with Jesus – to be filled by Him. If not, if you are here for any other purpose, then you have come for nothing. Thank God for the hunger that has driven you to your knees where God awaits with a cool, refreshing drink and good, nutritious food! This is the banquet that your loving Father has set in order to welcome you back home! The Holy Scriptures clearly state that the Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, that He desires all men to turn and be saved, even cocky Pharisees, jealous older brothers, or militant scoffers. But for this saving you need the food of forgiveness and life. You need sustenance for the pilgrimage. And here it is. The satisfaction for your hunger, the fulfillment of your longing desire is here. Look no further. Jesus receives and eats with sinners! You need this heavenly food, this banquet of salvation, and He has provided it for you.

Turn from those wicked ways of yours, repent, and in Christ your soul will be satisfied. As you kneel at Jesus’ table, hear the words: “Given and shed.” See that His Body and Blood are given and shed “for you!” Join in with your fellow outcasts and sinners, with those of ill-repute and shaky dealings, with hurting and broken people, and with terrible and notorious sinners like you, who come together unified in confession and faith, returning to Jesus for forgiveness! You have been found. You have been restored to your Father’s house. The angels rejoice. By the loving and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection from the dead, you live.

As He abides in you – no matter what your horrid actions this past week, no matter how sinful you were, or how loud those modern day Pharisees, the scoffers and skeptics, might mock your weaknesses and appearance- as He abides in you through His Word and Sacrament you abide in Him. And you will never die. You are declared righteous by God’s royal decree and made an heir of His Kingdom. Thank God for the hunger pangs! Thank God for the struggle He has given us. And praise God for the Food that satisfies and soothes our souls. All this He provides out of His mercy and steadfast kindness! He receives and eats with sinners – and thank the Lord, that means you!

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

Readings:
Is. 12 with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation
Psalm 32 I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”
2 Cor. 5:16–21 if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation
Luke 15:1–3, 11–32 This Man receives sinners and eats with them … prodigal son

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

The Church right now is in an extremely critical time. Any day could possibly be your last. The judgment of God is ever nearer. Don’t think that you’ve got plenty of time, because the return of Christ and the end of the world could happen at any time now. John the Baptist has already told you that the ax is aimed at the root of the trees, but you look at his crazy clothes and diet, so who wants to take him seriously? “That’s my Sunday morning make-believe life, not the real world I live in.” You don’t say it, but you do act like it, as do I. You fall to the temptations of your sinful nature. If you don’t lie and deceive your family and loved ones or lash out in frustration against them, you still at least think improper and sinful thoughts about them. Jesus goes one step further than John and says God is about to cut you down because as a rotten sinful tree, you have not borne for Him any fruit. If it weren’t for Christ pleading to spare you just a while longer, you would have been thrown a long time ago into the everlasting fire and burned.

It is not a pleasant thought, but you must realize that, on your own, standing before God’s judgment throne, you are destined for certain punishment. None of the good works that you have done, none of the fruit you say you have produced, even if you’ve been a real help to others, none of it would be pleasing to the Father in heaven. It’s all tainted with the sin disease that you had in you ever since you were conceived in your mother’s womb. In your heart you find yourself opposed to God, doubting His mercy, relying on yourself instead, and only you know the specific ways that you do this. Because you are a sinner, like a dead tree you have cut yourself off from your Lord’s nourishment.

Sure enough, you could say that you could repent of your sins at any time and you would be forgiven and everything would be right. Of course, that is the Gospel, the Good News that Christ has given you new life and freed you from bondage. But were you to say that it’s OK to continue sinning because you could repent of your sins at any time, you would then be sucked right into the devil’s lie that it is better to stay in bondage than to walk in the freedom that is your gift from Jesus. I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Those who think they can become a believer at the eleventh hour are the ones who die at 10:30!” Our Lord’s parable of the landowner and the tree drives the point home that your time is precious. It would be dangerous for you to play with the fire of hell when the opportunity to repent and be forgiven is only for a limited time.

Which is why your Savior pleads so sincerely in two different directions. First He pleads to the Father. Like the caretaker who pleads to the owner to spare the tree, the blood of Jesus, who was sacrificed for you, pleads to the Father in your place. The punishment of eternal death and separation from God was aimed at you, but Jesus got Himself in the way and took that severe punishment for you on the cross. In the parable, the servant agrees to do all the hard work for yet another year, just so he could spare that fig tree. In the same way Jesus committed Himself to doing all the hard work of living a perfect life in your place, suffering for your sins, and dying the death of your punishment, just so He could save you. And you already know that He has followed through on His commitment for your sake. He has pleaded successfully to his—and your—heavenly Father.

Secondly, Jesus pleads to you. You hear His voice through His chosen watchman. Every pastor is in the same position that Ezekiel was (in our Old Testament reading) when he was called to sound forth the call to repentance to the people of Israel. Every pastor has to answer to God whether or not he has been faithful in delivering that message to his people and in delivering the Divine gifts of forgiveness that he has been sent to deliver. So hear the voice of Jesus pleading: Repent. Take stock of your life as the Ten Commandments measure you and come clean honestly before the Lord for your disobedience. The time is short. Take God’s warning seriously. Do not refuse the grace of Christ that makes you God’s own beloved child. Allow your Lord to dig around your roots and prune your branches in the sufferings you endure in this life, so that you are no longer a dead tree. Be reconciled to those you have hurt and forgive those who have hurt you, before it’s too late.

Now, it should be said that Jesus’ call to you is not like one of those sign-holders or apocalyptic survival bloggers endlessly chattering on the Internet that “the end is near.” To be perfectly honest, that kind of preaching is useless. It does nothing for you to remedy your heart because you still cannot do anything by yourself to get yourself right with God. Instead, Jesus, the Son of God who did all the work in order to save you, He gives you something more than just a simple warning about the end of the world.

For not only does your Lord continually plead for you to the Father, not only does He strengthen you in the trials that you face, but most importantly, He grafts Himself right into you. He who said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches,” desires to enter right into your body, because the Life that He is, can and does destroy the death and doubt that afflicts your body and soul every day. This close connection you have with Jesus is not just something you feel emotionally or try to imagine. It actually and really happens; it began when you were baptized. It is renewed every time you hear the word of absolution from your pastor: Your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ. He gives you His own Body and Blood, which was nailed to the tree of the cross for you, and is now raised from the dead in full glory, and (this very day/often) it is right here sitting on this altar, waiting to enter into your mouth so that you would be joined intimately with God your Savior. If you don’t believe this, then don’t eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ to your judgment, for then Holy Communion will kill you. If you do believe and have publicly confessed that this is true, then this Sacrament is life itself entering into you.

With this living, Divine Vine nourishing and energizing you, then you can be sure that you are no longer a dead tree destined for the fire of hell. Jesus your vineyard caretaker has saved you. All His hard work has paid off. There’s no doubt any longer as to where you will be going. As far as you’re concerned, the judgment at the end of the world has already happened, in fact, it’s already happening every week right here. God’s innocent verdict of “I forgive you all your sins…” has been spoken into your ears and placed into your mouth from this holy altar. No need to remain in fear of that ax of God’s Law. Your debt to Him has already been paid.

With the life of the crucified and risen Jesus grafted into you and growing in your renewed heart, you are able to bear fruit. God the Father, who is pleased with you because of Jesus, is especially pleased with you as you live out your calling in life. Whether you are a full-time church worker, a devoted volunteer, a parent, a student, a professional, a spouse, a toddler, self-employed or unemployed, you are serving God, not just because you are doing certain helpful things, but because the Christ who gave Himself for you, is the same Christ who is living within you by faith. His forgiveness can repair the damage that sin brought between you and your family and friends. And it is something you now consider a privilege to sacrifice yourself in order to help others. You pray for each other, give offerings, share with those in need not because you have to but because you were created to do those things in the first place, just like a fig tree was planted to produce figs.

The Church remains in a critical time. But the Church is not alone. You don’t have to fend for yourself. In spite of all the temptations and attacks that you may still have to endure, you have Jesus always with you, the Jesus who did all the work in order to save you, the Jesus who makes Himself one with you and you are one with Him. And though all this is taking place right now in a way that is hidden to your eyes, God is nevertheless preparing you for the eternal life that you have already inherited. At the Last Day, at the end of the world, your resurrected eyes will see the tree of life that your Lord has brought to you concealed here in bread and wine, and your mouth will finally taste its fruit forever.

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

Readings:
Ezek. 33:7–20 you son of man: I have made you a watchman
Psalm 85 Show us Your mercy, LORD, and grant us Your salvation.
1 Cor. 10:1–13 our fathers…were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea
Luke 13:1–9 a fig tree in a vineyard

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

Sometimes even the smallest, most insignificant words can carry the most weight. That’s especially true when Jesus speaks those words and they’re recorded in Scripture. Some Pharisees had come to Jesus to warn Him that Herod was seeking His life. We’re never told why they came to tell Jesus these things, but whatever the reason, it only matters to see how Jesus answered them. He said: “Go tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish [or perfect] my course.’

“Nevertheless,” then says Jesus, “I must” continue my journey onward to Jerusalem – a journey whose end would spell a hideous, horrific death by whipping, scourging and crucifixion. This little word, “must,” means that ultimately even King Herod, with all his scary power and might, would not be able to turn Jesus away from His chosen path. Even Jesus’ own devoted followers – who cringed with fright at the very thought of what Jesus had told them was about to happen – would not be able to deter or sway Him, just think of Peter who heard Jesus rebuke Satan who was standing behind him as it were. And, as you may recall from last week’s Gospel lesson, not even forty days of starvation in the wilderness followed by more of Satan’s trickery and wiles, could get in the way of what Jesus knew He “must” do.

Jesus alone is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And this Lamb cannot be sacrificed just anywhere. It was necessary that He travel up to Jerusalem to present Himself for this sacrifice. It was necessary, and so He had no choice but to continue on toward that ancient, notorious city, the city of sacrifice and worship – the city that “kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her” by God. This journey is a Divine necessity for Jesus, and the reason He gives? “It cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.” It was necessary. And because it was necessary, it all had to come to pass exactly as it had been written about Him in Holy Scripture!

Remember that word, “must,” dear friends. Contemplate the depth of its meaning, and meditate on it throughout this coming week – for as hard as it might seem, this one little word tells the entire story of our relationship with God. It speaks of who we are, what we’ve done, and of course, what we’ve failed to do. It tells of God’s love and compassion even in the face of our dismal failures – and it directs our gaze to the amazingly high price Jesus willingly and gladly paid on the cross to redeem us from our sinful condition. To be sure, all of salvation history is bound up quite simply in this tiny, divinely-inspired word “must.”

Just consider for a moment how easy it is for us to abuse and twist the meaning of this word on account of our own sin. You children, whatever your age, doesn’t it aggravate you to think that God wants you to honor and obey your father and mother? When they speak, you must listen to it as though God Himself is speaking! But no matter how much it goes against what you want, even when you know that sometimes they sin and misuse their authority to exasperate you, the truth of the matter is that you have no other option! You must obey because God demands it in His Law – and because a Godly punishment awaits you if you refuse to do it.

You wives, how often have you failed to fully comprehend what it means when the Scriptures speak of how you must submit yourself to your husband? You’re tempted to condemn those Bible verses as obsolete that refer to a woman as the “weaker vessel.” Life in a self-centered, pagan American culture would like to teach you that you’re answerable to no one – and thanks to the sinful nature, you’d like to believe it. The word “must” at times has to be a heavy vocational burden for you to carry.

But we husbands haven’t escaped the weight of God’s Law either. Perhaps we’re the most miserable, and self-centered of all, for God tells us for our vocation that we must love our wives and families in the very same way Christ loved the Church – even to the point of giving up His own life to save Her! This means that we husbands are to spend every moment of our lives in the service of another, that is, our wife and our family, that we must be willing to sacrifice our entire self – our selfish desires, hopes, dreams and ambitions, all for the sake of the family which God has seen fit to give us, and this we must do, even if no one takes notice – or much less, shows us in return their undying love and devotion. No wonder so many men are tempted to take the easy way out of this weighty and apparently thankless responsibility.

You see, according to the Law, each of us must live our life with complete, undivided devotion to our Lord. We’re to love no one and no thing more than we love Him. We must be content with the life, the income, and the position God has given us. And woe to him who casts the green eye of envy at their neighbor’s possessions! We must speak well of our neighbor, no matter how badly he speaks about us! We must defend him against slander and gossip, no matter what kind of low-life he might really be! We must forgive him and do good to him, no matter what he’s done, or hasn’t done, for us. Under the scourge and rod of the Ten Commandments, the list of what we must do goes on and on, and each requirement God throws upon us preaches an entire sermon about how miserably we’ve failed to do what God has said we must do. But like children, we have no other option! We must obey because God demands it, and because punishment awaits all who refuse. In all this the word “must” becomes for us a saddle which cannot be shaken off – a bit in our mouths that can’t be spit out.

But what you also need to know is that precisely because you cannot do what God has said you must do, Christ, then, “must” do it for you. That’s why Jesus said: “I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.” Our Lord Christ “must” go up to Jerusalem because you and I need Him to go there. Everything Jesus does, from the moment of His birth, He does it out of necessity – our necessity. Do not be mistaken, dear children of God, Christ came, and still comes, to save you for one reason and one reason only – because He loves you. And it’s due to the fact that He loves you that the Scriptures can then ascribe to Him great joy as He busies Himself with the terrible work of crucifixion. And this He must do of necessity. He must do it because we are not able – and because there is no one else in all of heaven and earth who can do it!

Jesus had no choice other than to keep going because it was necessary for the Son of God to draw our humanity into Himself, to make us one with Him, and to take our place. We separated ourselves from Him, and have continued doing so right up to this very moment. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer the temptations of the devil in the wilderness, He must be tempted in all ways even as we are, because we so easily and willingly give in to temptation. Unlike us, however, Jesus remained without sin through it all. And this, too, was of greatest necessity, because He was living life in our place. He had to live a life of perfect obedience to the Father because our lives are so riddled through and through with imperfection and willful disobedience.

And so, in today’s Gospel you see Jesus enduring yet one more temptation for your sake. He’s tempted to turn from His course and abandon the work the Father had sent Him to do. Some Pharisees came to Him, saying: “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.’ Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” Jesus is tempted, but He doesn’t fall or falter. In all of this He remains faithful and flint-faced as He continues His journey toward the goal of the cross. Jesus is again preaching to us, saying, “Do not fear those who can destroy the body, but fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Make it your concern to obey God above all things – to fear Him more than you do the threats and plots of man.” Saint Patrick was captured and enslaved as a young Englishman. He escaped, then went back as a missionary to the Irish people who had captured him. Why would he risk his life for people who treated him like that? Because he was convinced that’s what he must do.

“I must keep going,” says Jesus, and that’s exactly what He did. He did everything necessary to procure your salvation. Reaching the goal at Golgotha, He willingly paid the price to redeem you from your sin. With His very own body and blood Christ fully and completely appeased the wrath of God in our place. So, as a Christian, when someone asks you if you have hope of being saved, you can and must give a positive answer. You can and you must say, “Yes, I am saved! Yes, I am an heir of heaven! Yes, I belong to God through the life and work of my Savior – who knew that if I was to be saved He must be the One to do it.” And do it He did – because He knew. He must do it for you!

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

Readings:
Jer. 26:8–15 amend your ways … obey the voice of the LORD … then the LORD will relent
Psalm 4 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD
Phil. 3:17—4:1 our citizenship is in heaven
Luke 13:31–35 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

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

Sin is not just a theological topic. It’s your mortal enemy. Sin is always on the attack against you, an attack mounted by the father of lies, the devil himself. You were promised that your Lord Jesus Christ dwells in you ever since your baptism, but His protection from this attack seems weak at times. It’s very distressing. No one is above sin and temptation, we have a sinful nature, and we are descended from the first sinners, Adam and Eve – but that isn’t much comfort. Wouldn’t you rather be rid of sin for good? Isn’t that why you came here today? You know there’s sin in your life – and you don’t like it one bit.

You’re never going to be freed from sin’s assaults until that day when God takes you to Himself. Daily you have to struggle with it. You live in this fallen world. Your “Old Adam” who clings to you inside will never let go. And the old evil foe will expend all his energy trying to trap and devour any who might try to escape his grip. So you struggle Should it come as a surprise then, that when Jesus determined to take upon Himself the full weight of your sin, He had to struggle too?

When the prince of darkness confronted Jesus in the wilderness, right after His baptism, you might notice that he tempted our Lord with the very same unholy trinity of evil that you and I daily struggle with. Those three temptations try to cast doubt on your heavenly Father’s ability to provide for your body, to value the praise and wealth of the world rather than God’s love, and to place one’s self over and above the Lord.

He was in the wilderness forty days without food, and so Satan was able to tempt Him first with bread – and not just any bread, but bread that would tempt Jesus to obtain it in a most unholy way. How strong was this first temptation? Imagine how great the struggle would be for you if you hadn’t eaten for forty days! Then add the full force of all the temptations arising from your old, sinful nature – the gluttony, the lust and the desire for all kinds of things that could easily bring you into harm’s way. It’s not only an unhealthy desire for food, but this temptation affects those who destroy themselves and their families by lust – who daily face the reality of addiction of any kind – and daily give in to it. These are the very same temptations of the body which our Lord Jesus Christ fully resisted when He stood fast against the devil’s enticement that He feed Himself through a misuse of His own creative power. And when He refused to satisfy His hungry body in this way, that made His body become the righteous payment for all the sin you’ve ever committed with your body.

When it comes to the second temptation, you yearn for the pleasures you could enjoy if only you weren’t a Christian – when you reach out to take something that God has not seen fit to give you – when you disregard the boundaries God has set about you – the authority He’s set over you – and the dignity of the neighbor with whom you live and work – in all these ways Satan is busy tempting you. Satan came to Jesus with the false promise that if He would only yield to him, all the wealth of all the kingdoms of all the world would be His. Think how that temptation must have felt to His human nature – how wonderful the palaces of the world must have seemed, even to this Man who is God, after forty days in a barren wilderness, struggling to survive. Think how you struggle to improve your earthly life – to get a better job, a bigger house, a nicer car, anything pleasing or more secure – and then consider how Satan promised Jesus He could have far more than that by taking the deceptive shortcut he offered Him. But Jesus willingly set aside His own desires, interests, and even His own gain, submitting it all to the authority and will of His Father so that you might receive it all in His place.

You know well the struggles you daily face from the Devil, who comes to reinforce the temptation that’s already in you by reason of your own sinful nature and this fallen world, who makes sure the thing you’re most likely to fall for, that’s exactly what’s placed there before you. He takes perverse pleasure in causing the fall of those who seem highest and holiest – and that through the most sordid, cheap means at his disposal – because the seedier and cheaper the temptation that causes a person to fall, the harder it’ll be for others to make God’s voice heard in this world which already refuses to believe that there is a loving heavenly Father.

Every decent civic leader is besmirched by the person who would sell his vote or judgment for a few dollars – and soon all politicians and judges become derided as fools – in spite of the fact that God is the One who established them in their office for peace and good order. Every honorable, hard-working businessman is hurt by the person who sells shoddy wares at inflated prices and preys on the gullibility of the public – even though God is the One who gives everyone a vocation to see that their neighbor is well-served. Every decent, loving, mother and father is hurt by those parents who abuse and neglect their own children – so that soon every mom and dad become the object of society’s scorn – though in truth mothers and fathers have been called by God to serve in an office that’s higher and holier than any other on earth. Even pastors are robbed of their voice and effect upon the hearts of people by that pastor or priest who falls into scandal – so that after awhile, to many people, all pastors become suspect. Consider who it is that’s able to plant such an evil image in your heart. Consider who it is who wants to destroy the blessed work of all good and helpful vocations – and of every upright and honest leader, parent, teacher, or pastor.

Satan’s the one who wants all authority, all offices, all vocations, and every avenue for Godly love, wisdom, and service to be degraded, scorned, ridiculed, and abandoned. Satan would like nothing better than if you would disregard everyone but yourself. He’d love you to overthrow your family, Church, society, and government in the false belief that you could then be in charge of it all by yourself. He’d like nothing better than to convince you that you can actually be like God. It’s the breath of the Evil One which causes you to believe that ultimately you alone know what’s best. It’s a Satanic will which thinks it has the right to put itself before the needs of others. And this is what Jesus faced when He was taken to the pinnacle of the Temple and tempted to throw Himself down so that the angels of God could swoop down to catch Him. This is the temptation you face in your darkest hour – when destruction, rebellion, suicide, and all forms of lashing out against your self try to seep into your consciousness.

Make no mistake about it, dear children of God – it’s in moments like this when you come face to face with the Evil One himself – and against such power, you, in your sin, on your own, are entirely helpless to defend yourself – no matter how strong you think you are. The old Evil Foe does mean deadly woe. Deep guile and great might are his dread arms in fight. On earth is not his equal. And if you try to stand on your own in opposition to such might and power, soon you’ll find yourself defeated. Yet, sadly, that’s exactly what oftentimes happens. You try to stand on your own – and soon you find yourself caving in – helpless, hopeless, and powerless before the might of the devil’s temptation which attacks through our flesh, our world, and our own evil lusts and desires. But know this for certain, Jesus has already – once and for all – stood where you yourself have often fallen! He was tempted, just as you are daily – and yet, He fully and completely overcame your mortal enemy. And, even though you may think you’re all alone in this world and struggle, the Good News is the exact opposite!

The Valiant One, whom God himself elected, is there with you – fighting alongside of you – fighting for you. This Jesus Christ, the Lord of hosts – this One who carries within Himself the very power and might of heaven – this One who alone is God – alongside whom there is no other God – who was tempted by Satan in every possible way – this is the selfsame One who overcame it all for you – as Satan lost, and Jesus won. And now, because Jesus has won, you’ve been freely given His life and victory forever to claim as your own. Daily He gives you the prize of forgiveness from your own defeat under sin and temptation. Even in the midst of all this He has made you the victor. The kingdom of God is near as Jesus calls you again to repent and believe the Good News – to come to Him with your sin so that you might leave this place today with His righteousness, assured of His forgiveness!

Once, you were alone and without hope – helpless before the threefold enemies of your old sinful nature, this fallen world, and the devil. But now, with all the hosts of God’s kingdom, you too are able to sing with joy the words Martin Luther penned so long ago in celebration of the awareness God had given him concerning the blessed victory of the Savior for us all: “Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us. This world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will. He can harm us none, he’s judged; the deed is done; one little word can fell him. The Word they (our enemies) still shall let remain, nor any thanks have for it. He’s by our side upon the plain (of our battle) with His good gifts and Spirit. And take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, though these all be gone, our victory has been won. The kingdom ours remaineth.”

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

Readings:
Deut. 26:1–11 first of all the produce … put it in a basket
Psalm 91:1–13 a thousand may fall at your side … they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot…
Rom. 10:8b–13 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
Luke 4:1–13 You shall not tempt the LORD your God Dt. 6:16

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

The cloud, the light, the mountain, Moses, Elijah: all these things show us that the Son of Mary, the Rabbi of Peter, James, and John, His disciples, He truly is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. One and the same. He is the God of Sinai, the God of creation and redemption, living in ordinary human flesh. It is not His Divine nature which changes form on that mountain, but His human nature. The magnificent Divine qualities or attributes have been communicated, that is, transferred to His visible flesh and blood and are shown forth full force in the transfiguration. This is the high point of Epiphany, where His disciples see Him as He is in Divine glory and not hidden. To be sure, for all sinners like you and me, He must be hidden so that He could save us. But it is also true that apart from the Flesh of Jesus there is no Son of God, no Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He who placed the stars, who cast Satan out of heaven, formed the mountains, set the course of rivers, and crafts each snowflake, is forever joined to the stuff of Mary’s womb, made one of us for us. He is one of us in order to be the sacrifice, the guilt offering, the atoning death in our place.

And that is the conversation of heaven. Moses and Elijah, the great representatives of the law and the prophets, the council of God’s ambassadors of Grace, are gathered together to talk about this. They talk about the only thing that matters, the only thing that counts, the only thing that endures into eternity: they speak about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. St. Luke says their topic is his coming exodus or departure, that is, they speak about his execution and vindicating resurrection, about His leading us out of this valley of sorrow, out of death, sin, and even Hell, and leading us to Himself in heaven!

Would this conversation make those stern prophets sad, or guilty, or afraid? Quite the opposite, in fact. In perfect bliss, as they are by this time gathered to Abraham’s bosom, rejoicing in the reward of God’s intervening mercy on their behalf, they are glad to talk about the death of Jesus Christ. For they see the Day that the Lord has made, they rejoice and are glad in it. Moses is no longer barred from the Promised Land. Elijah’s fiery chariot taxi transported him to his destination! They behold the Day when the builders rejected the Stone that God established as the chief Cornerstone. They see the real Day of Atonement, the actual Day of the Lord. They see Good Friday, the Day that the sun refused to shine, the earth shook, the graves opened, the angels wept, and a pagan Centurion wet His spear in Jesus’ side and was converted by that Holy Spirit so that he boldly confessed, “Surely this Man was the Son of God!” They see that Day from on high, and they are glad in it. This is the Day they prophesied, the Day that returns mankind to God’s possession, the Day that the Lord purchased and won for them, the day He made to bring joy to the human race.

But Peter is not yet there. He sees. He hears. He knows. And with three tents ready to stick into the ground, he wants to stay there on the mountain. He must be ready to leave behind wife and children, in-laws and employment, friends and neighbors. But Peter’s work is not done. He has, at this point, already done some good things as fruits of his faith, by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. He has confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And he had even been given a holy interpretation, from God Himself, of what his name means. But, then, Peter tried to take it back. Selfishly, sinfully, he tried to stop the sacrifice of Christ from happening and was rebuked with the stern response, Get thee behind me Satan! Again, now that he’s here on the mountaintop, he sees what is good. He desires it. But it is not time for him. His shame was not yet full, and I’ll explain what that means later.

So Peter, thus strengthened, descended from that mountain. He had been nurtured there by God, heard His Word. He had seen glory. But when Good Friday finally came He again denied the Christ, his Lord, until that rooster crowed the awful Law that cut into his heart, opened his tears, and brought him back again to repentance and faith. But after that, and even after seeing the risen Lord for himself, he still hid behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, until the Lord came bringing peace and absolution and opened up His side to the probing, proving hands of Thomas. After that, at Pentecost, Peter was anointed with fire by the Holy Spirit. He spoke miraculously in unlearned languages and God has built his Church upon that confession that he gave when he said, You are the Christ, Son of the living God. Peter has been the instrument of conversion, bringing the Word of God, the consolation of the Spirit, to many.

But still, even after all of that, even after Peter had a dream where the unclean foods of the Old Testament are pronounced acceptable to heaven, he, the chief of the Apostles, preached heresy in his actions! He committed hypocrisy, and added shame upon shame. For after that dream, and with clear knowledge that the old ceremonial Law had been fulfilled, he tried to hold men to that Law again. Early in the history of the Christian Church there were Gentiles mixing in with Jews, and some of the latter were insisting on keeping the religious purity laws. Peter suddenly separated himself from the Gentiles in Antioch, with whom he had been eating in full fellowship, and in so doing harmed the young faith of many Christians who looked up to him as an example. Paul was also there, and fortunately, he spoke up in public to call Peter on his error, to save him from causing further damage. (Galatians 2:11-16) Peter, who was directed by Jesus to feed God’s sheep, was binding the hearts of men with the law. His high office and great honor, his heritage and learning, his special place in history and extraordinary circumstances, were not enough to save him from his fallen flesh. There is no excuse for blaspheming God, for violating His Word, for selling out. And even one as zealous as Peter, with all his experience and promise, can possibly cave in to the political pressures of men.

But God’s grace was enough. It restored him again, the way it always did. God brought Peter back by Paul’s rebuke, by the power of His true Word which cuts to the heart and binds up again in perfect love. As the shame of his sin increased, God’s grace increased toward him all the more. Peter was humbled under God’s Grace, which makes men free. In God’s mercy, he was not allowed to pretend his lies were pious or devout. In God’s mercy, he was chastised and brought low. In God’s mercy, he wept, confessed, and believed. In God’s mercy, he repented and the angels rejoiced.

Peter’s glory came. But only after his shame was full and completely forgiven. He did feed God’s sheep, even us. And he did glorify God by stretching out his hands to die, by the strength of the Spirit he finished the race and did not forsake the Lord even at pains of death. Thanks be to God. For His mercy endureth forever!

Now, may the life of Peter instruct all of us. For no one who still resides in the fallen flesh in this life can act above God’s Word. No one is incapable of error or is without sin; nobody lacks the pride, lust, greed, and ambition that marks us as sinful. Our shame is not yet full. Every day we must repent. We must submit to God’s Word. It alone is the truth, the judge, the rule, and the norm. And thus the Father’s ever stern, and yet always gentle voice comes to us from heaven: Listen to Him! He is the Word appearing in our Flesh. And listen to this exchange: He became what He was not in order that we would also become what we were not! That is, He became the Sinner standing in our place, so that by His death and resurrection we are guaranteed to be ourselves resplendent, holy, innocent, just, beloved, and transfigured!

God strengthened Peter for the long journey ahead of him by giving him a glimpse of His glory on the mountain. That experience did not keep Peter from stumbling from time to time. Nor did it take away all of Peter’s troubles. But neither did Peter’s stumbling keep God from loving and saving him. Again and again, despite Peter’s sin, God intervened and welcomed him back. And what, too, of Moses, that cowardly murderer, and Elijah, that despondent unbeliever? Their faith wasn’t perfect, either. But the Grace of God, the exodus, the mission if you will, of Jesus Christ was enough to perfect them and their faith in the end. And so it is also true for you. Listen to Him! Behold His glory in His Word. Behold His welcoming, inviting, absolving Word. Behold, His mercy.

Come, and eat, hidden under bread and wine, that glorious body of Christ that Peter saw on the Mountain. Be strengthened by that eating, by being joined to the Flesh of Mary’s womb shining with God’s true love, united to Divine majesty. Be consoled and comforted by the God who has gone before you to bring you to Him, by the God who desires to be merciful to you. And rejoice in the company of Moses, Elijah, Peter, and the whole cloud of witnesses already at rest. For there on the mountain Peter saw his future – and you see yours.

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

Readings:
Deut. 34:1–12 This is the land…I have caused you to see it with your eyes
Psalm 99 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar
Heb. 3:1–6 Christ as the Son over His own house, whose house we are…
Luke 9:28–36 behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah

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

Will the real Jesus please step forward? I say this because there’s one Jesus who is doing all the miraculous healing, feeding, driving out demons and attracting huge crowds of followers, while the other Jesus, so it seems, is telling you that life as you know it right now is not going to be all that good, and yet you’re supposed to be somehow happy about that? And to top it all off, this second Jesus says that it’s wrong to laugh and be well fed and to have a good reputation! I don’t know about you, but from the sound of it all, the two Jesus-es are at odds with each other. Look over the reading from Luke 6 again real quick. One Jesus acts like the victorious Son of God taking over the world He made and He has come to flex His powerful God-in-flesh muscles over the devil and the sinful world. But the other speaks like He’s sadistically obsessed with pain and suffering, like that’s the proper response to His loyal followers, and He’s a fanatic who is opposed to the enjoyment of all life’s simple pleasures. How could these two different characters be one and the same Jesus?

To be sure, most of the people who first listened to Jesus and watched His miracles had the same confusion. Crowds were streaming in from all over the place, some traveling for days just to spend a few moments with this Man, who is the Son of God. Of course, the crowds got bigger when a free meal was being handed out, or when a dangerous demon-possessed person is healed. Sure, there were those who rejected Him and accused Him of various nit-picky things like healing on a Sabbath day when, according to the Pharisees’ law, absolutely no work was supposed to be done on the Sabbath. But that bit of opposition certainly wasn’t keeping the crowds away.

The disciples who were with Jesus all the time were in on the excitement too. Sometimes these were just the Twelve whose names we have recorded. Other times the disciples of Jesus included others, especially when He sent seventy or so of them to go ahead of Him and preach and perform the same miracles He was doing: healing the sick, feeding the poor and hungry and so on. All of this popularity of Jesus might have gotten to them, too. Perhaps these disciples were beginning to think that following Jesus would mean a life constantly in the praise and adoration of a forever grateful public.

And then you hear what Jesus says especially to those disciples. “Blessed are you who are poor, who hunger now. Blessed are you when men hate you and exclude you and insult you.” How could He say such things at the height of His popularity? Come on, Jesus! Being a Christian is going to be great! Sins are forgiven, the dead are raised up, you’re doing wonderful things for my life! I don’t have to do anything to be saved—it’s all by your grace! If there were a choice those disciples had to make between the miracle working Jesus and the Jesus who preaches about suffering, it would be the first one hands down.

No doubt that would be the choice you would make, too. After all, it’s this miracle-working Jesus that you pray to when you want your loved ones who are sick to be made well. When problems and crises come up in your family or in the church, you pray for a quick fix to end the conflict, right? After you’ve come to the point that you can’t help yourself, you turn to this miracle-working, magic Jesus to pick you up and help you. You completely forget or even avoid the other things Jesus says, that following your Lord will include hardship. That you might not see any fringe benefits to being a Christian. That you might pray and pray for the specific answer that you want and either nothing happens or the opposite thing happens.

Then you fall into the devil’s trap that plants doubt in your mind, that suggests to you that God is not seeing to your best interest, or that the Father has turned His back on you. It becomes easy to believe that He is somehow pleased with seeing you squirm with uneasiness because things just don’t seem to work out right for your life. Armed with this complacent attitude, you throw up your hands in despair and say there’s nothing you can do for God’s kingdom either because you’ve done plenty enough in the past, or because you’re just too busy, or worse, it just doesn’t do any good for you anyway, so why bother? Brothers and sisters! Avoid this attitude! Listen to what Jesus says, along with the miracles that He does. Do not think you are here today to get richer or to attract a record-breaking crowd in here or to get along better with any other aspect of our fallen, sinful world.

For the apparent difference between those two Jesus-es is solved when you understand the cross. It is one and the same Jesus. This Jesus who performed all those wonderful miracles was Himself rejected, beaten, excluded, left hungry, and full of sorrow, all the way to His bloody crucifixion and death. When He speaks these words of blessing to those who are poor in spirit, who are slandered and afflicted, Jesus is saying you are going to go through the very same things that He went through. Yet He says rejoice and leap for joy because you’ll get the reward for all that suffering that Jesus endured in your place, when He suffered and died for your sins.

Jesus was the one who truly deserved the blessings of heaven and had every right to bask in heavenly glory, not only because He is the Son of God, but because He lived a perfect, sinless, holy life while He was visible in the flesh here on earth. That bloody death, being nailed to a criminal’s cross, suffering the insults, the cuts, bruises, and crown of thorns, and most of all, when He suffocated under the punishment of God the Father against the sin of the whole world on the Son’s shoulders—that very suffering and death is the reason for you to rejoice. That is the reason you are blessed even in the middle of your own trials and griefs. And to seal that blessing as your very own, and to destroy all doubt and selfish attitude in your heart, your alive and victorious Lord Jesus miraculously takes His own Body and Blood and sticks it into your own mouth, so that your sins are forgiven and you are strengthened in body and soul to life everlasting. You also have the assurance that the very moment you hear God’s Word of forgiveness, you are not just reminded of some blessing that’s out there, you are truly blessed, right now, even though right now you don’t always feel like you’re being blessed.

Since you have such a blessing from this one and only Jesus, He invites you to stop looking for happiness and blessing from anyone or anything else. Compared to His precious gift of eternal life, you now look with scorn upon the things this present world values so highly. In light of Christ’s baptismal word of blessing spoken upon you today, who cares if those who reject Him say mean things about you? It won’t even matter. True, you may not laugh quite as you did before, especially if it meant laughing at something that hurt someone else, or laughing at something that angers God in breaking His commandments. However, the joy and laughter of heaven over a sinner who repents far outshines and drowns out the crass humor that you find on this earth.

And when you pray, you realize you cannot do anything on your own without Him. You look instead to the one Jesus who has power over heaven and earth, but who also for your sake said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, not my will, but Thy will be done.” In His own way, and in His time, your heavenly Father will answer your prayer, in fact, He has already answered it, in sending His Son Jesus Christ. And one day this same Jesus will gather you, along with believers from all over the world, to welcome you in His Paradise, where the blessings that are yours now, but hidden in suffering, you will finally see and experience those blessings fully, and without end.

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

Readings:
Jer. 17:5–8 Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
Psalm 1 Blessed is the man who walks not…
1 Cor. 15:1–20 I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you
Luke 6:17–26 Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

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

September 11th, Pearl Harbor, Auschwitz, Space Shuttle Challenger, Capture of Saddam Hussein. All I have to do is say a few words, and countless memories and images fill your head. You can’t help it. I don’t have to explain myself to say, for instance, the morning of the eleventh of September, 2001, in rural Pennsylvania, lower Manhattan, New York, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. You already know all the necessary details, and still, they can make your heart sink.

That is why Isaiah only said those few words, “In the year that King Uzziah died…” What a horrible experience for the kingdom of Judah that was! It was an event that everyone would probably want to forget. For Isaiah referred to an event after which the city of Jerusalem would never be the same. Uzziah began his long reign as king at the age of sixteen, as 2 Chronicles 26 has it. For 52 years he led the nation under God’s blessing and with relative peace. The Philistines were still around, but they were not nearly so powerful an army as in the older days when the young man David killed Goliath. King Uzziah was a famous and strong ruler, he set in motion a technologically advanced defense weapons program that designed some device that was a cross between a catapult and a crossbow, and because of him, Jerusalem was probably the safest it ever was, or ever will be in the Middle East, even to this day.

Then the horrible event happened. All the peace and favor of the Lord shattered to bits, as though it were wiped out by something as devastating as a terrorist attack. Uzziah was riding high on his fame as a powerful king and he thought he was invincible, even bigger than God Himself. So he took it upon himself to bend the rules a little bit and introduce an innovative new worship practice: he would offer the incense in the temple that only the priests were authorized to burn. He dared approach the presence of the Lord without the blood of sacrifice on him to take away his sins. King Uzziah deserved to suffer the full wrath of God and be instantly condemned to hell, but the Lord instead mercifully struck him with a skin disease and made him a shameful, lonely, unclean outcast until he finally died and the country was suddenly under the rule of a young, inexperienced king.

That was the horrible event that made Isaiah and everyone else in Jerusalem cringe at the very thought of it. Someone you thought was a righteous, upstanding, faithful ruler, living under the smiling face of God and then, boom, he enters into His holy presence and the guy suffers the drastic consequences. You don’t easily forget something like that if you were to live there at that time. Isaiah had a powerful image in his mind that spoke loud and clear that you don’t just walk in on the Lord unforgiven. Maybe the next person to do that wouldn’t be so lucky as King Uzziah.

But in that same temple where the king met his fateful doom, not far from the very spot where God’s fearful judgment took place, Isaiah was confronted with a vision of the Lord in His full glory. There He was on His throne and the perfect six-winged angels were covering themselves in reverence as they flew around before Him. And there poor Isaiah was, he was sure he was about to suffer punishment just like his king did. When God in all His power and might shows up, the only reaction you can have is, “I’m a goner. Woe is me, for I am lost! I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” The perfect, utter holiness of Almighty God can do nothing else but reveal the ugly, stained sinner that you are. And when the bright, pure light of the Law shines on your doubting heart, it cuts you down so that you despair of any possible way to escape the punishment you deserve.

Isaiah felt this, and so did Peter. Jesus finished His sermon from the boat and worked the miracle of catching all those fish. And anyone in the business can tell you it usually takes Divine intervention to have a successful day fishing in the first place. That’s why Peter finally got it that he was actually standing in the presence of Almighty God. Immediately, he feared for his stubborn, sinful soul, because the Lord who knows the thoughts of every heart had every right to rub him out once and for all. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” That guilty feeling has been in the heart of man ever since Adam, while chewing a mouthful of forbidden fruit, stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the sound of God walking in the garden.

It is a shame that you cannot ignore or explain away. Still, you try to turn attention away from your spiritual uncleanness. The class clown puts on a performance, the worker who gets caught slipping up just once points the finger to someone else who continually breaks the rules and gets away with it. You may have thought, I may have some flaws I have to work on, but someone else deserves more of the blame for what I’m going through. But the guilt of God’s law remains, it does not go away, and Isaiah and Peter at least admit that for themselves. You need that same law and God’s threat of punishment to bring you to your knees every day. You are no better, and yet here you are in the presence of the Lord Almighty. Do you dare refuse to admit your sin to the face of your all-powerful Judge? Repent.

Though Peter and Isaiah were crushed down low when they realized their sinfulness, the Lord raised them up again with His forgiveness. The fiery seraph flew to Isaiah with a hot coal straight from the altar of sacrifice. His lips were purified so that he could preach God’s Word as His holy prophet. Jesus comforted Peter with His Divine, forgiving Word, saying, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men.” And with that, Jesus created within Peter and the other disciples their desire to follow Him and begin their seminary education.

Whatever vocation God has given you to do His holy work, He forgives and strengthens you just like He did Isaiah and Peter. After His law has impressed upon you the fact that you are a poor, miserable sinner, Jesus speaks His loving, uplifting and forgiving Word of Gospel to restore you. He may not send an angel to burn your lips or fill your boat with fish, but He will drown your sinful nature as He brings you back to your baptism. Though you are crucified and killed along with Christ your Lord, you are also raised up to life with Him in order to live the way He originally planned for you. Right into your mouth He places the Body and Blood that He gave up on the cross in order to win you back for your heavenly Father. He admits you with open arms into His holy presence, you are no longer forbidden because the Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, covers you. You no longer have anything to fear, for your sin is taken away. As terrible as your past may have been, as far as your Lord is concerned, it is forgotten. That is what God’s forgiveness is all about.

It is a forgiveness that prepares you for eternal life. Beginning from the moment of your baptism, from that point onward you are declared innocent, no, actually perfect in God’s sight because of Jesus, while at the same time the Holy Spirit is helping you in your fight against Satan and even your old sinful self. While you are still on this earth you will continue fighting, you will continue confessing your sin and hearing the mighty Word of absolution. You always do that here in church, but you can also do it in private so that your pastor can announce that forgiveness especially to you. However you hear it, though, it still is the Word of Jesus for you to pick you up and send you on your way as you live out the calling in life that God has given you. Just as it did for Peter and Isaiah in the Bible, so that Word also strengthens you, for He is stronger, even stronger than any memorable tragedy of this world. And armed with His strength, you are able to rise from the destruction of sin and by His grace alone, move forward in fulfilling His mission.

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

Readings:
Is. 6:1–13 Holy, holy holy is the LORD of hosts
Psalm 138 You have magnified Your word above all your Name
1 Cor. 14:12b–20 do not be children in understanding … in understanding be mature
Luke 5:1–11 from now on you will catch men