Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2024

He who created the grassy mountainside upon which He sat, who directs you to consider the very birds and lilies which He made, went to another mountain, a barren and desolate mountain instead of one covered in flowers, a place where only bird of prey circled to feast on death; He went to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull. There, Christ Jesus—God, the Father’s only-begotten and beloved Son—there, He went: without anxiety, without complaint, bearing your sin and guilt, wrapped in all your doubt, worry, and unbelief. And there, upon the Cross, naked and exposed in your stead, taking upon Himself His Father’s wrath for all your sins, there, He died to deliver you from eternal death. He did so because you, Beloved, are worth far more than any bird or flower; you are worth the very life of Almighty God.

Readings:

• Old Testament: 1 Kings 17:8-16

• Epistle: Galatians 5:25–6:10

• Holy Gospel: Matthew 6:24-34

Sermon: