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Being baptized into Christ means that what He accomplished—His obedience and faithfulness—is credited to you. Yet it also means that you embark on a new life, a life of following Jesus, of imitating Him, of being conformed to Him. It is in this new life, this following, imitating, conformed life, this life in Christ, that you learn to place your trust not in bread, but rather to find your life in every word that proceeds from the mouth of God ; to trust patiently and not put

Tonight’s Gospel speaks of not disfiguring your faces on the very day when we disfigure our faces. What are we to make of that?  To answer that, there’s another question that must be asked: When Jesus said these words, did He mean to say that no one should ever use ashes? If so, what then of the king of Nineveh? You’ll recall that when the word of the prophet Jonah, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne and l

Jesus had to go up to Jerusalem, because this was written in advance. All things written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man were about to be accomplished . For generations upon generations, it was written down in many forms, in figures and images and direct prophecies, that these things must finally come to pass in the fullness of time. And the blind man knew it. All he was told was that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by , nothing more. And yet he knew, at once, who thi

So much of the seed is wasted, cast aside, thrown away. It never finds root, never grows, never yields a crop. And it dies. Yet not all of it. Some of it makes it. And why is that? Most certainly not because of the places where the seed is sown, not because of the ground, not because of the hearer. On the contrary, it’s because of the Sower, who keeps on sowing.  It’s instructive that, as Jesus spoke these words, He cried out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”  As He s

The last  laborers essentially received a gift. They received a denarius , a day’s wage, for work they had not done. The first  laborers were not truly complaining that the landowner had failed to keep his end of the bargain, because he did. They agreed with him for a denarius , and he gave them a denarius. He did exactly what he said he would do. How can they complain about that? That is not what troubles them.  What troubles them is how much the last  received. They are jea

Due to a technical issue, the sermon video did not record Readings: Old Testament: Exodus 34:29-35 Epistle: 2 Peter 1:16-21 Holy Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9 Sermon manuscript: download Sermon: Sermon based on Matthew 17:1-9 * In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Dearly beloved by the Lord:  Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. And there, He was transfigured before them.   His face shone {as} the sun, and His clothes became as white a

John tells us that, in this sign, “Jesus manifested His glory, and that His disciples believed in Him.”  And, Beloved, what this reveals is that belief does not come from understanding. No, rather, it arises from gift, from abundance where there once was lack, from mercy that does not announce itself as mercy. This sign, then, does not remain at Cana. It points toward the hour of which Christ speaks, when He will pour out His sacred blood upon the Cross, and later give that s

For you, Jesus, the Israel of God, repeats and completes the life of Moses. For you, this new and better Moses was born. For you, He fled from the sword of Herod. For you, He was called out of Egypt. For you, He was called to the Cross. For you, He suffered the whips, the thorns, and the nails: the bleeding and the dying. For you, He was called back to life. For you, He shatters the shackles of sin and death that once bound you by His grace. You, He carries out of Egypt, acro

So much we can learn from this in our dark days, in the midst of all our troubles, the troubles of our living circumstances, and the troubles of our lives. For there is great slaughter happening in our midst also, as countless children are ripped not from their mothers’ arms, but from their wombs. They are put to death, not because of some order by some despot. They are put to death by those who bear and are supposed to protect life, not take it.  Still, just like the Holy In

The Word became flesh . Nothing and no one can change this glorious truth. While the world hastens from one thing to another, while the generosity of friends and neighbors will dissipate, while store-bought presents will eventually end up in the same trash heap as their wrappings, even so, the Word shall yet remain. Through hardship and heartache, despite grief and sadness, the Word shall yet remain. Indeed, heaven and earth will pass away, and yet the Word, which created the