Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Old Testament lesson.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Have you ever thought that something was impossible, only to learn latter you were wrong? It happens all the time in our world. Even when we look back on history, we see this type of thing happen. 200 years ago, people thought it was impossible to fly, but now airliners fill the sky. 600 years ago, people thought it was impossible to sail around the world, but now there are thousands of ships circling the globe. The list of the seemingly impossible things that happen all the time could go on and on, but we still struggle to believe some of these things an actually happen. We still have doubts. For example, we struggle to believe that a man could rise from the dead, because it seems impossible. We struggle to believe that pouring water on a babies head can actually distribute forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, it seems impossible.
Today’s scripture lesson is about a man who had similar doubts, a man who didn’t believe that something seemingly impossible could happen to him.
Today’s lesson is about a man named Naaman. Naaman was a great man in his day and age. He had everything that he could possibly want. He had a wife, a home, servants and he even had a good job. He was the leader of the army’s of Syria. He had even defeated Israel, and given power to Syria. Naaman’s life should have been a good one. He should have had a lot of prestige among his people and lived an easy life. But he didn’t. Instead he had another problem. He was sick with Leprosy.
Leprosy is a disease that attacks your flesh, slowly eating it down to the bone. It leaves you crippled and disfigured. Your face would have huge scars covering it. You were more likely to injure your fingers and hands, and they healed slower. Leprosy was a life changing disease, not only because of your illness, but because you became an outcast of society. You had to leave your home and family to live in a leper’s colony with other lepers. This was not the way it was supposed to be for a great man like Naaman. He was supposed to have a big house, not be forced to live on his own.
Instead, he was sick with leprosy, and waiting a slow painful death. He was separated from his family and friends. He had no where to turn to be healed. Lepers fates were sealed, there was nothing at that time that could heal him. There were no hospitals or Antibiotics. If you had leprosy, you would die. Naaman was doomed. It was impossible for him to be healed.
You and I also are suffering from a disease. Not a flesh eating bacteria, but a much more deadly disease, sin. Sin infects our entire life and body. Our disease has a 100 percent death rate. Every single person who has it will die, and every person alive on earth has it. We have all inherited it from our parents and grandparents all the way back to Adam and Eve. Sin infects us all.
And just as Naaman’s illness meant separation for him, ours means the same for us, only our separation is also from God. With our sin sick souls, we are no longer worthy to stand in the presence of a Holy God. We are unworthy to be before him. Instead, on our own, we are only worthy to be cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And this sickness shows forth its symptoms in every aspect of our lives. We are disfigured by our hate for others. We are desensitized to sexual immorality that we see on T.V. We always put ourselves ahead of others. And we, just like Naaman doubt that there is a God who loves us and will take care of us. As Lutherans we confess that God has given us “everything we need to sustain this body and life,” but we don’t always believe it. Like Naaman, we doubt God’s promises, we doubt that he is there taking care of us. Instead all we focus on is the symptoms of our illness.
Our lives are full of the pain of loved ones suffering in illness and dying. Friends get divorced and families fall apart around us. Why would God allow these things to happen to us? Why would God allow so much suffering? In these questions, we begin to doubt that God exists. We no longer trust His word. Instead we only trust our sinful selves, and trust Satan’s lies to us instead. And Satan is good at what he says. He tells us there is no hope, that we are doomed to die in our sin, and that we cannot be rescued. It is impossible.
But there are other voices speaking.
At a time in his life when he could easily fall into and wallow in his own self pity, Naaman hears a message of hope. Verse 3 tells us that an Israelite slave girl working for Naaman tells him that the prophet in Israel can heal him of his leprosy. He is told that the impossible is actually possible, that he can be healed and resume his regular life again, and he believes it. Through hearing of this promise he believes that he will be saved from his sickness.
We too hear of a different promise. We too are told of a way out of our sickness, we too are told that we can be rescued. We too can be healed.
In verse 10 of our text, Naaman finally comes to the prophet Elisha, to hear how he will be healed. He is so eager that has brought thousands of dollars in gold and silver, and the finest clothing he can find. He wants to pay to be healed. HE wants to earn it for himself, but he can’t. No, God doesn’t take payment, instead He gives free gifts. God will heal him and it won’t cost Naaman a thing. God will do the impossible. To be healed, Naaman is told something that doesn’t make sense. “wash 7 times in the Jordan river, and you will be healed.” It sounds impossible, how will washing in the dirty water of a muddy river heal leprosy? It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t seem plausible. But it is what God says.
That is the key, it isn’t anything that Naaman is doing, it isn’t the gifts he brought, it isn’t the effort he puts forth climbing in the Jordan river, it isn’t saying some magical words like hocus pocus. It is the promise of God that heals Naaman. IT is the words that came from the mouth of God, the same voice that spoke, “Let there be light” and there was. This voice speaks things, and it spoke that Naaman would be healed from his leprosy.
It is the same promise that we also see when a tiny helpless baby is brought to the waters of baptism. God speaks through a fumbling pastor saying, “You are mine, you are healed from sin, baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.” IN those words, everyone who is baptized is connected to the bloody death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In those words, we are nailed to a cross with Christ, and our sickness dies with him. IN those words we are raised to a glorious new life, free from sin, free from pain and suffering, Free to live as God’s children.
And that promise is for each of us. Though it seems impossible that we might be saved from our sickness of sin, the blood of Christ heals us. Just as Naaman washed in the Jordan River, we are washed in the Baptismal font. We don’t earn it, we don’t pay for it, we don’t even do anything. Instead we are freely saved by God’s declaration. Through God’s word and the water, we are given life and Salvation. There, sin death and the devil no longer have power over us.
Now we are given comfort in our sickness. We are now God’s precious possession. We no longer worry about death, because washed in Christ’s blood, we are promised eternal life. We no longer worry about pain, because Washed in Christ’s blood, we have the promise of no more suffering. Yes here on Earth we will have struggles, yes here on Earth we will experience suffering, but one day that will all pass away into glorious eternity.
With God, nothing is impossible. He healed Naaman from leprosy, and he can heal us from sin and death. In his words, impossible things happen all the time.
Amen.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Series A-Reformation-2008-"Centered on Christ"
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Text today is the Epistle Lesson, with special emphasis on verse 24. “For all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”
Brothers and Sisters in Christ. 491 years ago, on October 31st, 1517, an unimportant monk in Wittenberg Germany nailed 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg Germany. These theses were about 95 problems that this monk saw in the church. Now today, because of this monk’s actions, we along with thousands of others are looking back to the beginning of the protestant reformation. We are looking back to the beginning of the Lutheran Church. But in our look back, we have to ask, why is this even really that important? Why does it really matter that almost 500 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther, nailed this list of churchly problems to a door? What difference does it make for us here today?
To know the answer to that, we have to know what the Reformation was about: theology. The reformation was about how we people can stand in the presence of God. It is about how sin is atoned for and how we can know for sure that we are saved. The reformation is about Christ. Christ is the center of the holiday that we celebrate today, just as Christ is the center of all our theology.
Just because today Christ is the center of our theology doesn’t mean that is the way it always was. In fact, people throughout the ages have struggled to keep Christ as the most important part of their faith. Because of our sin, other things often take Christ’s place in our lives. Instead we focus on our own feelings, or on our own works. We trust that we can save ourselves. We don’t look at the cross; in fact we don’t look outside ourselves.
This problem was also the problem 491 years ago when young Martin Luther nailed up the 95 theses on the church door. There was a problem in that was removing Christ from being the reason for our salvation. The problem was indulgences. Another monk named John Tetzel was selling these indulgences. These indulgences were small pieces of paper which claimed that they would forgive all the sins of whoever bought them. People were buying them by the hundreds and can we blame them? Which is easier, to live your entire life trying to be holy, or to spend a few dollars to get an official document that says you are?
These indulgences came directly from the papal offices in Rome. They claimed that, under the authority of the Pope, the bearer of the indulgence would be granted full and complete pardon. The money that was raised by the selling of these indulgences was used to build St. Peter’s basilica in the Vatican City. The problem with these indulgences was that they bypassed Christ. The people were not pointed to the cross of Christ for forgiveness of sins; instead they were pointed to a piece of paper signed by the pope. They were told that each and every sin they committed would be forgiven by this piece of paper, apart from Christ. Once you bought an indulgence, you were free to commit any sin you wanted, and not worry about the consequences.
Don’t we often times try these “get forgiveness easily” schemes in our everyday lives? Don’t we try to bypass Christ in our lives? We don’t like to think about Christ on the cross, so instead we look to ourselves to get forgiveness. For example, I am sure that all of us at one time or another have read a book about how to be a really good person and to stay completely away from sin. For example, when I was in Junior High, all my “good” friends read the book, “I kissed dating goodbye,” so I did also. It is a book which has good intentions, to keep people from premarital sexual sin, but in the end it requires you to trust in yourself. You are supposed to keep yourself away from sin. Just like an indulgence, it takes our eyes from the cross of Christ, and instead focuses them upon something else. We don’t look for forgiveness of sins, but instead trust that we are sin-free in ourselves.
There are hundreds of other self help books, some about how we need to be Christian with our money, or how we need to be intentional in our faith lives. Each and every one has good intentions, but almost all of them take our eyes off of Christ on the cross. We look at ourselves instead of Christ who forgives our sins.
Even if we don’t take our eyes off of Christ in self help books, there are other ways that we can do it. For example, in this day and age, many churches require you to accept Jesus to be a member. In other words, Jesus did 90% of the work, and you have to do the other 10% to earn forgiveness. We like to trust that we can do things to earn our own salvation. Just as people in the reformation time went and earned money to buy an indulgence, so too we believe we can earn forgiveness of sin. In all of these ways we take our eyes off of Christ and put them on other things. When we do this, we show our own sin.
Today’s text tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We see this clearly when look at our works. Everything we do shows our sin. We read the self help books and try to do what they say, but we fall terribly short of their ideals. We might accept Jesus into our lives, but then an hour after church we have already broken several of the Ten Commandments. This is the way everything in our life goes, sin. This sin leads to death. We are guilty before God, and we cannot stand in his presence. There is not an indulgence that we can buy or anything we can do that will put us right before God’s eyes.
Martin Luther knew this also. He had tried everything imaginable. He had become a monk to try and take away his sin. He had tried all the latest self help ideas from his day and age. He prayed to the saints, he made a pilgrimage to Rome, he even beat himself when he thought about sinning, but in all of these attempts to earn indulgence from God, he failed. There was nothing he could do to take away his own sin. He could not follow the law to earn salvation.
That is where today’s text comes in. Verses 19-20 say “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” The law does not save. There is not a way that we can buy or earn our salvation. There is not a way that we can do it on our own. The law only condemns, the law only tells us that we are guilty. We need something else to be made righteous. And when our eyes are kept on Christ, we see that other way to be made righteous.
“Now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known to you and to me. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” It is not earned by what we do. It is not bought by our money. Instead it is earned by Christ. He lived a perfect life where we couldn’t. He did not sin in anything that he did. It is earned not with gold or silver, but with Christ’s holy and precious blood, by His innocent suffering and death. That is what earns forgiveness for me and for you. Christ crucified for the sins of the entire world.
God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. That means that where we fall short, where we cannot earn anything for ourselves, Christ instead does. His blood washes over each and every one of us, and makes us holy before God. Martin Luther realized this, which is why on that fateful day 491 years ago he nailed those 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church. Not to bring attention to himself, but rather to refocus the attention upon Christ crucified.
We too have our eyes on Christ. In the waters of Holy Baptism, we were washed in the very blood the spilled from Christ’s side on the cross. That washing opens our eyes to the life giving grace which Christ freely pours out upon us. We also partake in the very body and blood that was nailed to a cross for the forgiveness of all our sin. In these sacraments, and in the hearing of God’s Word, God places our eyes upon Christ crucified. With our eyes upon the cross, we are given the gifts of forgiveness of sin, life eternal, and salvation. These gifts are not something earned, but they are given.
This is the message that the reformation is all about. Martin Luther fought against indulgences so that the message of Christ would return to the forefront. That is the main reason for the reformation. That is why we celebrate it today. Even today we have to fight to keep Christ in the forefront. All sorts of challenges present themselves, trying to make us trust things other than Christ. But the message of Christ crucified overcomes all of these challenges.
491 years ago, a lowly monk nailed 95 theses to the door of a church for the very purpose of putting the Son of God back in the forefront of people’s hearts. Today that fight is continuously being fought through the church and world. While sin tries to take our eyes off of Christ, the Holy Spirit is pointing back to Christ. But while we fight, we know what the end outcome is. Christ has risen, and the victory is won.
Amen
Brothers and Sisters in Christ. 491 years ago, on October 31st, 1517, an unimportant monk in Wittenberg Germany nailed 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg Germany. These theses were about 95 problems that this monk saw in the church. Now today, because of this monk’s actions, we along with thousands of others are looking back to the beginning of the protestant reformation. We are looking back to the beginning of the Lutheran Church. But in our look back, we have to ask, why is this even really that important? Why does it really matter that almost 500 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther, nailed this list of churchly problems to a door? What difference does it make for us here today?
To know the answer to that, we have to know what the Reformation was about: theology. The reformation was about how we people can stand in the presence of God. It is about how sin is atoned for and how we can know for sure that we are saved. The reformation is about Christ. Christ is the center of the holiday that we celebrate today, just as Christ is the center of all our theology.
Just because today Christ is the center of our theology doesn’t mean that is the way it always was. In fact, people throughout the ages have struggled to keep Christ as the most important part of their faith. Because of our sin, other things often take Christ’s place in our lives. Instead we focus on our own feelings, or on our own works. We trust that we can save ourselves. We don’t look at the cross; in fact we don’t look outside ourselves.
This problem was also the problem 491 years ago when young Martin Luther nailed up the 95 theses on the church door. There was a problem in that was removing Christ from being the reason for our salvation. The problem was indulgences. Another monk named John Tetzel was selling these indulgences. These indulgences were small pieces of paper which claimed that they would forgive all the sins of whoever bought them. People were buying them by the hundreds and can we blame them? Which is easier, to live your entire life trying to be holy, or to spend a few dollars to get an official document that says you are?
These indulgences came directly from the papal offices in Rome. They claimed that, under the authority of the Pope, the bearer of the indulgence would be granted full and complete pardon. The money that was raised by the selling of these indulgences was used to build St. Peter’s basilica in the Vatican City. The problem with these indulgences was that they bypassed Christ. The people were not pointed to the cross of Christ for forgiveness of sins; instead they were pointed to a piece of paper signed by the pope. They were told that each and every sin they committed would be forgiven by this piece of paper, apart from Christ. Once you bought an indulgence, you were free to commit any sin you wanted, and not worry about the consequences.
Don’t we often times try these “get forgiveness easily” schemes in our everyday lives? Don’t we try to bypass Christ in our lives? We don’t like to think about Christ on the cross, so instead we look to ourselves to get forgiveness. For example, I am sure that all of us at one time or another have read a book about how to be a really good person and to stay completely away from sin. For example, when I was in Junior High, all my “good” friends read the book, “I kissed dating goodbye,” so I did also. It is a book which has good intentions, to keep people from premarital sexual sin, but in the end it requires you to trust in yourself. You are supposed to keep yourself away from sin. Just like an indulgence, it takes our eyes from the cross of Christ, and instead focuses them upon something else. We don’t look for forgiveness of sins, but instead trust that we are sin-free in ourselves.
There are hundreds of other self help books, some about how we need to be Christian with our money, or how we need to be intentional in our faith lives. Each and every one has good intentions, but almost all of them take our eyes off of Christ on the cross. We look at ourselves instead of Christ who forgives our sins.
Even if we don’t take our eyes off of Christ in self help books, there are other ways that we can do it. For example, in this day and age, many churches require you to accept Jesus to be a member. In other words, Jesus did 90% of the work, and you have to do the other 10% to earn forgiveness. We like to trust that we can do things to earn our own salvation. Just as people in the reformation time went and earned money to buy an indulgence, so too we believe we can earn forgiveness of sin. In all of these ways we take our eyes off of Christ and put them on other things. When we do this, we show our own sin.
Today’s text tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We see this clearly when look at our works. Everything we do shows our sin. We read the self help books and try to do what they say, but we fall terribly short of their ideals. We might accept Jesus into our lives, but then an hour after church we have already broken several of the Ten Commandments. This is the way everything in our life goes, sin. This sin leads to death. We are guilty before God, and we cannot stand in his presence. There is not an indulgence that we can buy or anything we can do that will put us right before God’s eyes.
Martin Luther knew this also. He had tried everything imaginable. He had become a monk to try and take away his sin. He had tried all the latest self help ideas from his day and age. He prayed to the saints, he made a pilgrimage to Rome, he even beat himself when he thought about sinning, but in all of these attempts to earn indulgence from God, he failed. There was nothing he could do to take away his own sin. He could not follow the law to earn salvation.
That is where today’s text comes in. Verses 19-20 say “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” The law does not save. There is not a way that we can buy or earn our salvation. There is not a way that we can do it on our own. The law only condemns, the law only tells us that we are guilty. We need something else to be made righteous. And when our eyes are kept on Christ, we see that other way to be made righteous.
“Now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known to you and to me. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” It is not earned by what we do. It is not bought by our money. Instead it is earned by Christ. He lived a perfect life where we couldn’t. He did not sin in anything that he did. It is earned not with gold or silver, but with Christ’s holy and precious blood, by His innocent suffering and death. That is what earns forgiveness for me and for you. Christ crucified for the sins of the entire world.
God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. That means that where we fall short, where we cannot earn anything for ourselves, Christ instead does. His blood washes over each and every one of us, and makes us holy before God. Martin Luther realized this, which is why on that fateful day 491 years ago he nailed those 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church. Not to bring attention to himself, but rather to refocus the attention upon Christ crucified.
We too have our eyes on Christ. In the waters of Holy Baptism, we were washed in the very blood the spilled from Christ’s side on the cross. That washing opens our eyes to the life giving grace which Christ freely pours out upon us. We also partake in the very body and blood that was nailed to a cross for the forgiveness of all our sin. In these sacraments, and in the hearing of God’s Word, God places our eyes upon Christ crucified. With our eyes upon the cross, we are given the gifts of forgiveness of sin, life eternal, and salvation. These gifts are not something earned, but they are given.
This is the message that the reformation is all about. Martin Luther fought against indulgences so that the message of Christ would return to the forefront. That is the main reason for the reformation. That is why we celebrate it today. Even today we have to fight to keep Christ in the forefront. All sorts of challenges present themselves, trying to make us trust things other than Christ. But the message of Christ crucified overcomes all of these challenges.
491 years ago, a lowly monk nailed 95 theses to the door of a church for the very purpose of putting the Son of God back in the forefront of people’s hearts. Today that fight is continuously being fought through the church and world. While sin tries to take our eyes off of Christ, the Holy Spirit is pointing back to Christ. But while we fight, we know what the end outcome is. Christ has risen, and the victory is won.
Amen
Series A-Proper 29-2008-"Sheep of the Shepherd"
When you were a child, did you ever pretend to be an animal? What kind of animal did you want to pretend to be? I know that we did, my brothers and I would play games and pretend to be Elephants, or talk like parrots, or maybe we would chase each other around the yard while barking at each other. Sometimes we would argue about which animal was the coolest, you know how it goes. I would say to my one brother, “You pretend to be a cat, and I will pretend to be a dog.” Woo ha ha ha. Then my brother would of course argue back, because no one wants to be one of the wimpy animals, we always wanted to be the cool animals, you know with sleek coats and fangs. Well in our Old Testament lesson today, God compares us to a group of animals. And unfortunately, the animal that God tells us we are like is not one that my brothers and I would have considered very cool to play. God compares people in our lesson to Sheep. That’s right, God compares us to sheep, not very smart, stinky, furry sheep. However, sometimes we truly are lost sheep in need of a shepherd.
Lost sheep with out a shepherd? What does this mean? I mean, first off I am not lost, am I? And I am obviously a little smarter than a sheep, at least better looking. So the question is then, how am I a lost sheep? How can God even compare me to a lost sheep?
Well, the answer to that is pretty easy if we stop and think about it, isn’t it? We all know that sheep are herd animals, they go around in flocks, right? Sheep follow other sheep around. But they don’t always stay where they are supposed to. Sometimes, sheep get separated from the flock. Perhaps they see some nice new green grass over the hill, and they pursue it. Or perhaps they stop paying attention as the rest of the flock moves ahead to new grazing ground. Sometimes, sheep get scared. Whatever the case, at times sheep can become separated from the flock.
When Ezekiel was writing our Old Testament Lesson, Israel was straying from God, and instead trusting in other Gods. At this time, Ezekiel and the rest of his country had been taken into exile in Babylon. It was easy for them to lose faith. God had given them a land flowing with Milk and Honey, and now they were forcibly taken from that land. They lost faith, because what kind of a God would allow them to suffer? What kind of God would inflict this much pain on his chosen people? The people had lost everything, including hope. They strayed because they no longer believed the words of God to be truth. They were leaving the flock of the church and being scattered throughout the world. What’s more, they began to trust in other things. They began to trust other Gods, and they began to trust in themselves.
Well, what about you and me? Do we always stick close to our flock, the Church? Unfortunately, the answer is no. At times we too lose hope in the words of God. Perhaps we too do not trust God’s Word. No, I know that we have not lost everything as those in Ezekiel’s time had. No, we are not being carried away into exile, as the people in Ezekiel’s time had. But don’t we lose hope anyway? Don’t we become complacent in our lives, and lose the hope we have in the Gospel, trusting instead in ourselves? We are a lot like one of those sheep, who see the nicer grass over the hill and wander off to eat it, because we feel like it. That is how we are, people who are so inwardly focused on ourselves, that we don’t care about others. We don’t do our best caring for the weak and sick of the church. We don’t do these things because we are sinners. In our sin, we daily stray from the one true faith, leaving behind the comfort of the flock, all because we are only concerned with ourselves.
In a way, we too act like “herd animals.” We sometimes do things, not because we want to, but because other people are. I’m sure you have heard the question asked, “If everyone was jumping off a cliff because it was cool, would you too?” Sad to say, it appears that way occasionally. We become more interested in what other people think than what the truth is. This happens in our faith when we become obsessed with fads. Whether it is the latest self help book, or the latest growth program, we get caught up in what everyone else is doing.
When this happens, we are like sheep, going astray. We are blindly wandering about, not knowing which way to turn or where to go. We call our wandering “freedom”, but in the end we are slaves to ourselves, and little more than dead men walking.
How else are we like Sheep? As we know from fables and other children’s stories, sheep have an enemy, the big bad wolf. The big bad wolf is always sneaking into the flock, trying to devour one of the sheep. Aesop’s fables tell of a wolf who even dressed as a sheep, just so he could get into the flock and have a nice tasty snack of a lamb. Sheep are always in danger of being eaten by some sort of enemy.
The people in Ezekiel’s day also had an enemy. The enemy that they faced was made manifest in the nation of Babylon. Babylon had come and oppressed the people, and then defeated them in battle and led them away into exile. Their enemy was very easy to see.
Yes, we too, just like sheep, and just like the people from Ezekiel’s day, have an enemy. Our enemy is death and the devil. And just like sheep have the enemy of a wolf waiting to devour them, St. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that “our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” In fact our enemy has us right where he wants us. He is always lurking around us telling us one of several lies. He is either saying to us, “You haven’t done anything wrong,” or “Your sin is too great, you will never be saved.” Both of these lies he whispers into our ears. And we believe them, because we want to. We want to believe both of them, because when we believe either one of them, we are once again in charge of our own life, and able to leave the fold of the flock.
But things are not hopeless. For just as sheep have a shepherd who walks amongst them and leads them to safe pasture, so too do we. We have a shepherd who walked in our midst. We have a shepherd who comes to us when we have strayed and carries us on his shoulders back to the flock. We have a shepherd who would rather die than let enemies steal us from his flock. Ezekiel tells us about our shepherd, saying “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.” Our shepherd is this one, the shepherd king, Jesus Christ.
Though we were scattered, and without hope, alone in the utter darkness of our sin, Christ came and rescued us. It is told here in our Old Testament Lesson, “I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness” (v. 12). Here is the promise for us, rescue from our sin. How are we rescued? The Shepherd lays down his life for us. (John 10:11) He is the one who was without sin, the one who fulfilled God’s will completely, willingly suffered, and died for you. Jesus, though He had not sinned, “became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!” as Paul says in Philippians 2:8. Jesus was crucified, dying a criminal’s death. He came to rescue his sheep from slaughter, and instead was slaughtered himself. Isaiah 53:7 tells us that Christ was led like a lamb to the slaughter. The blood of the shepherd cleansed the sheep. The blood of the shepherd cleanses you.
Where does this happen? In the waters of Holy Baptism, He puts His name upon us. In the waters of baptism, He washes away all of our sin with His very own blood, and makes us a part of the flock of God. At the font, Christ claims you for His own flock. Ezekiel said in our lesson that we will lie down in good grazing land, and there we will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. This means that the best food available will be ours. We already get a taste of that glorious food, here at the Altar where we receive Christ’s own body and blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins into our very mouths. In these gifts we receive the priceless treasures of heaven. In these holy sacraments, the Lord becomes our shepherd, as it says in Psalm 23, and he leads us beside still waters, and prepares us a feast before our enemies.
Shepherds are interesting people, because they lead their flock while standing in the middle of the sheep. They walk with sheep before them, and behind them, sheep to the right and to the left. This is how they lead them. This is how Christ leads us, from among us. As He promises in Matthew 28, “Surely I am with you, always, even unto the end of the age.” So he is. Christ, our Good Shepherd, has walked among us. Christ walks with us, through the valley of the shadow of death, and we fear no evil. Not because we are special. Not because of anything we have done. Not because we are without sin, but because we are His flock, and He is our shepherd who died and rose again. Now that we are a part of his flock, we too will rise from the dead. We too will share in eternal life, and we too, will live in heaven forever. The hymn “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb” puts it well when it says:
"Who’s so happy as I am?
Even now the Shepherd’s lamb,
And when my short life is ended,
by His angel hosts attended,
He shall fold me to His breast,
there within His arms to rest."
Revelation 7:17 says, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” This is our promise: Jesus our Shepherd ever leading us, and God the Father wiping all tears away from our eyes. This is our promise in Christ.
Amen.
Lost sheep with out a shepherd? What does this mean? I mean, first off I am not lost, am I? And I am obviously a little smarter than a sheep, at least better looking. So the question is then, how am I a lost sheep? How can God even compare me to a lost sheep?
Well, the answer to that is pretty easy if we stop and think about it, isn’t it? We all know that sheep are herd animals, they go around in flocks, right? Sheep follow other sheep around. But they don’t always stay where they are supposed to. Sometimes, sheep get separated from the flock. Perhaps they see some nice new green grass over the hill, and they pursue it. Or perhaps they stop paying attention as the rest of the flock moves ahead to new grazing ground. Sometimes, sheep get scared. Whatever the case, at times sheep can become separated from the flock.
When Ezekiel was writing our Old Testament Lesson, Israel was straying from God, and instead trusting in other Gods. At this time, Ezekiel and the rest of his country had been taken into exile in Babylon. It was easy for them to lose faith. God had given them a land flowing with Milk and Honey, and now they were forcibly taken from that land. They lost faith, because what kind of a God would allow them to suffer? What kind of God would inflict this much pain on his chosen people? The people had lost everything, including hope. They strayed because they no longer believed the words of God to be truth. They were leaving the flock of the church and being scattered throughout the world. What’s more, they began to trust in other things. They began to trust other Gods, and they began to trust in themselves.
Well, what about you and me? Do we always stick close to our flock, the Church? Unfortunately, the answer is no. At times we too lose hope in the words of God. Perhaps we too do not trust God’s Word. No, I know that we have not lost everything as those in Ezekiel’s time had. No, we are not being carried away into exile, as the people in Ezekiel’s time had. But don’t we lose hope anyway? Don’t we become complacent in our lives, and lose the hope we have in the Gospel, trusting instead in ourselves? We are a lot like one of those sheep, who see the nicer grass over the hill and wander off to eat it, because we feel like it. That is how we are, people who are so inwardly focused on ourselves, that we don’t care about others. We don’t do our best caring for the weak and sick of the church. We don’t do these things because we are sinners. In our sin, we daily stray from the one true faith, leaving behind the comfort of the flock, all because we are only concerned with ourselves.
In a way, we too act like “herd animals.” We sometimes do things, not because we want to, but because other people are. I’m sure you have heard the question asked, “If everyone was jumping off a cliff because it was cool, would you too?” Sad to say, it appears that way occasionally. We become more interested in what other people think than what the truth is. This happens in our faith when we become obsessed with fads. Whether it is the latest self help book, or the latest growth program, we get caught up in what everyone else is doing.
When this happens, we are like sheep, going astray. We are blindly wandering about, not knowing which way to turn or where to go. We call our wandering “freedom”, but in the end we are slaves to ourselves, and little more than dead men walking.
How else are we like Sheep? As we know from fables and other children’s stories, sheep have an enemy, the big bad wolf. The big bad wolf is always sneaking into the flock, trying to devour one of the sheep. Aesop’s fables tell of a wolf who even dressed as a sheep, just so he could get into the flock and have a nice tasty snack of a lamb. Sheep are always in danger of being eaten by some sort of enemy.
The people in Ezekiel’s day also had an enemy. The enemy that they faced was made manifest in the nation of Babylon. Babylon had come and oppressed the people, and then defeated them in battle and led them away into exile. Their enemy was very easy to see.
Yes, we too, just like sheep, and just like the people from Ezekiel’s day, have an enemy. Our enemy is death and the devil. And just like sheep have the enemy of a wolf waiting to devour them, St. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that “our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” In fact our enemy has us right where he wants us. He is always lurking around us telling us one of several lies. He is either saying to us, “You haven’t done anything wrong,” or “Your sin is too great, you will never be saved.” Both of these lies he whispers into our ears. And we believe them, because we want to. We want to believe both of them, because when we believe either one of them, we are once again in charge of our own life, and able to leave the fold of the flock.
But things are not hopeless. For just as sheep have a shepherd who walks amongst them and leads them to safe pasture, so too do we. We have a shepherd who walked in our midst. We have a shepherd who comes to us when we have strayed and carries us on his shoulders back to the flock. We have a shepherd who would rather die than let enemies steal us from his flock. Ezekiel tells us about our shepherd, saying “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.” Our shepherd is this one, the shepherd king, Jesus Christ.
Though we were scattered, and without hope, alone in the utter darkness of our sin, Christ came and rescued us. It is told here in our Old Testament Lesson, “I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness” (v. 12). Here is the promise for us, rescue from our sin. How are we rescued? The Shepherd lays down his life for us. (John 10:11) He is the one who was without sin, the one who fulfilled God’s will completely, willingly suffered, and died for you. Jesus, though He had not sinned, “became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!” as Paul says in Philippians 2:8. Jesus was crucified, dying a criminal’s death. He came to rescue his sheep from slaughter, and instead was slaughtered himself. Isaiah 53:7 tells us that Christ was led like a lamb to the slaughter. The blood of the shepherd cleansed the sheep. The blood of the shepherd cleanses you.
Where does this happen? In the waters of Holy Baptism, He puts His name upon us. In the waters of baptism, He washes away all of our sin with His very own blood, and makes us a part of the flock of God. At the font, Christ claims you for His own flock. Ezekiel said in our lesson that we will lie down in good grazing land, and there we will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. This means that the best food available will be ours. We already get a taste of that glorious food, here at the Altar where we receive Christ’s own body and blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins into our very mouths. In these gifts we receive the priceless treasures of heaven. In these holy sacraments, the Lord becomes our shepherd, as it says in Psalm 23, and he leads us beside still waters, and prepares us a feast before our enemies.
Shepherds are interesting people, because they lead their flock while standing in the middle of the sheep. They walk with sheep before them, and behind them, sheep to the right and to the left. This is how they lead them. This is how Christ leads us, from among us. As He promises in Matthew 28, “Surely I am with you, always, even unto the end of the age.” So he is. Christ, our Good Shepherd, has walked among us. Christ walks with us, through the valley of the shadow of death, and we fear no evil. Not because we are special. Not because of anything we have done. Not because we are without sin, but because we are His flock, and He is our shepherd who died and rose again. Now that we are a part of his flock, we too will rise from the dead. We too will share in eternal life, and we too, will live in heaven forever. The hymn “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb” puts it well when it says:
"Who’s so happy as I am?
Even now the Shepherd’s lamb,
And when my short life is ended,
by His angel hosts attended,
He shall fold me to His breast,
there within His arms to rest."
Revelation 7:17 says, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” This is our promise: Jesus our Shepherd ever leading us, and God the Father wiping all tears away from our eyes. This is our promise in Christ.
Amen.
Series A-Proper 13-2008-OT "A Free Lunch"
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Today’s text is from the Old Testament Lesson. “Come, everyone who thirsts,come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Several weeks ago, we had the annual Arts Festival here in Brookings. At the festival, there were hundreds of different booths, some selling paintings, some selling wood carvings, and the ones that I really enjoyed, some selling food. There were booths selling roasted ears of corn. There were booths selling smoked turkey legs. There were booths selling… the absolute best apple crisp ever with SDSU ice cream.
At each of these booths there were people yelling out what they were selling, trying to get people to come in. Calls of “Hot onion rings, right here,” or “World’s best apple crisp” could be heard throughout the entire park. It was a wonderful place to be, but there was one problem. None of the food from any of the booths was free. All of it had a cost of some kind. Be it apple crisp and ice cream at $3 or a root beer floats for 2, all the foods had a price. Being a person on a budget, this sort of limits how many of the booths you can visit.
Today’s text is similar. God is the one who is calling out to all who hear, “Come if you’re Thirsty, and drink, come if you are hungry and eat.” And God’s invitation is not for junk food like funnel cakes or even fried cheese curds and doughnuts. Instead, He invites us to participate in the marriage feast of the Lamb. This meal comes complete with the best milk, the best bread and (my favorite) the best wine, followed by a dessert of life everlasting. Yes, the feast that God invites us to lasts for eternity, and will satisfy you beyond belief. As hard as it is to believe, it will even be better than Mount Calvary Apple Crisp and SDSU ice cream.
Once again, there is just one catch; as there is with the booths at the Arts Festival, there is a cost for admittance, and it is not a cheap price. To pay for the meal, you have to live an absolutely perfect life. That is the payment for participating in God’s feast. There is no way around it, perfection is demanded at the door. Without the required payment, entrance is denied, and you are forced to wait outside while those who can afford the price feast. The question I have for you is this, can you afford to pay the cost?
No of course not. The fact of the matter is that we cannot pay the price, it is too expensive for us to afford. We have not lived a perfect life, but instead have been infested with sin from birth. Each and every one of us is sinful, as Paul tells us in the book of Romans chapter 3 “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” There is not one who is righteous, not one.
But we don’t believe this either. The voice in our head says, “How can I be sinful if I am so nice? How can I be sinful if I do so many good things? At the very least I am better than some other people; I haven’t done as many bad things as they have. That has to count for something. That will get me in.” We trust that we can earn our own way in. That we can do enough good things to cancel out the bad things that we have done.
And that is how the sinful world tells us things work. How often have you heard the idea that if you are “good” that you will get into heaven? And we want to believe that. We want to think, “I can do it,” or “If I try hard enough, I can do whatever I want.” But we know that is not the case. We know that our works do not earn us a place in heaven. Nothing we can do can actually earn us a seat at the heavenly banquet. As St. Paul tells the Ephesians, it is not by works that you have been saved. but by faith. In fact, in a different place, Isaiah himself tells us that “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”
What can we afford with our good works? Today’s text tells us we spend our money on that which is not bread, and labor for that which does not satisfy. The things that we labor for with our works cannot really satisfy us. They cannot feed us the same way that the eternal feast of God can. Why not? Because they are not things that last forever. The best meal you can buy will only feed you for one day. The very best car you could afford will break someday. The things we earn for ourselves last only as long as we last. Some day we will die because of sin, some day we will be unable to take our works with us. Who then will provide for you?
We see that we cannot earn ourselves a place at the heavenly banquet. We cannot pay for an entrance into the heavenly feast. We are left outside longing to get in. If it doesn’t seem like a big deal being on the outside, we need to look at what Christ says about those not in the heavenly feast. In Matthew 22:13, Jesus says that the one not included in the feast will be bound and thrown outside where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There are two options, the feast, or the fires of hell. And we cannot pay to get into the feast.
But thankfully for us, the text tells us more about entering the kingdom. “Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The invitation is there, come with out cost. It is not that the banquet is free, the cost is still the same, but someone else has paid for it. Some one else has footed the bill for our entrance to the heavenly feast.
Several years ago, my wife and I were eating with my parents at a nice Italian restaurant called Vincenzo’s in Lincoln, NE. We had enjoyed an excellent bottle of wine, and some of the best Italian food in the City. It was a pricey meal, it was going to cost a lot. Shortly after we had finished eating, the waiter came over and pointed at a table across the room saying “Those people over there paid for your meal.” We looked, and sure enough some friends of my parents were over there. We had eaten the best food, and had the best wine, and they had paid the price, and we had done nothing to deserve it.
This is the same thing that is being described in our text today. We are invited to come and participate in the heavenly feast, and Christ pays the bill. We could not afford the bill of being perfect, we have sinned and sinned in life, but Christ had not. Christ pays for your entrance. He foots the bill which you have earned in your sin. Every little tiny thing you have done has been paid for. Perhaps the Catechism says it best when it says, “He has redeemed me, not with gold or silver, but with His precious blood, and with His holy innocent suffering and death.”
The debt of your sin, the guilt that would keep you out of the heavenly kingdom has been paid for on a bloody cross. Baptism has attached you to Christ. In baptism you share now in Christ’s perfection, not on your own, but in Christ. Now when Christ comes into the heavenly feast, he ushers you in as a dear friend. In fact, scripture describes the relationship not as just a dear friend, but as a dear brother. Now you will be able to come in, “buy and eat the finest breads, the freshest milk, and my favorite, the finest wines.
This promise is one that is not just reserved for the time when we will finally come to our heavenly rest. This very morning we will participate in the marriage feast of the Lamb. It is not a far off event that we are waiting and waiting for.
You see the meal that Isaiah invites all to come to, the heavenly feast, is the same feast that has been shared throughout history. The Israelite Passover meal was a sharing in the heavenly feast of life. The feast in the 23rd psalm is the heavenly feast of life. The Lord’s Supper is the heavenly feast of life. And you are invited, here today, you can participate in the same feast that you will participate in for all eternity.
Today, Christ himself invites you to the altar, saying “Take eat, this is my body, given for you. Take Drink, this is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Here today we have a foretaste of the marriage feast of the lamb. The book of Revelation says “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Today’s text is that invitation, “Come and eat.”
What’s more, as today’s text says, today’s participation in the Lord’s Supper is a satisfying meal. The Lord’s Supper is not a feast where we leave and grow hungry all over again. This feast is Satisfying. It will strengthen us to life everlasting. That means we eat it, and we are filled.
We can “eat what is good, and delight ourselves in the rich food.” This rich food is Christ. In the book of John, Jesus says “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” This is the food of the heavenly kingdom, right here before you today. This food is the free gift of God given to us, for Life and Salvation. It is a free feast of all the best you can imagine.
Christ’s voice calls now, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Come I have paid the price. Come and I will give to you to eat. Amen.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Several weeks ago, we had the annual Arts Festival here in Brookings. At the festival, there were hundreds of different booths, some selling paintings, some selling wood carvings, and the ones that I really enjoyed, some selling food. There were booths selling roasted ears of corn. There were booths selling smoked turkey legs. There were booths selling… the absolute best apple crisp ever with SDSU ice cream.
At each of these booths there were people yelling out what they were selling, trying to get people to come in. Calls of “Hot onion rings, right here,” or “World’s best apple crisp” could be heard throughout the entire park. It was a wonderful place to be, but there was one problem. None of the food from any of the booths was free. All of it had a cost of some kind. Be it apple crisp and ice cream at $3 or a root beer floats for 2, all the foods had a price. Being a person on a budget, this sort of limits how many of the booths you can visit.
Today’s text is similar. God is the one who is calling out to all who hear, “Come if you’re Thirsty, and drink, come if you are hungry and eat.” And God’s invitation is not for junk food like funnel cakes or even fried cheese curds and doughnuts. Instead, He invites us to participate in the marriage feast of the Lamb. This meal comes complete with the best milk, the best bread and (my favorite) the best wine, followed by a dessert of life everlasting. Yes, the feast that God invites us to lasts for eternity, and will satisfy you beyond belief. As hard as it is to believe, it will even be better than Mount Calvary Apple Crisp and SDSU ice cream.
Once again, there is just one catch; as there is with the booths at the Arts Festival, there is a cost for admittance, and it is not a cheap price. To pay for the meal, you have to live an absolutely perfect life. That is the payment for participating in God’s feast. There is no way around it, perfection is demanded at the door. Without the required payment, entrance is denied, and you are forced to wait outside while those who can afford the price feast. The question I have for you is this, can you afford to pay the cost?
No of course not. The fact of the matter is that we cannot pay the price, it is too expensive for us to afford. We have not lived a perfect life, but instead have been infested with sin from birth. Each and every one of us is sinful, as Paul tells us in the book of Romans chapter 3 “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” There is not one who is righteous, not one.
But we don’t believe this either. The voice in our head says, “How can I be sinful if I am so nice? How can I be sinful if I do so many good things? At the very least I am better than some other people; I haven’t done as many bad things as they have. That has to count for something. That will get me in.” We trust that we can earn our own way in. That we can do enough good things to cancel out the bad things that we have done.
And that is how the sinful world tells us things work. How often have you heard the idea that if you are “good” that you will get into heaven? And we want to believe that. We want to think, “I can do it,” or “If I try hard enough, I can do whatever I want.” But we know that is not the case. We know that our works do not earn us a place in heaven. Nothing we can do can actually earn us a seat at the heavenly banquet. As St. Paul tells the Ephesians, it is not by works that you have been saved. but by faith. In fact, in a different place, Isaiah himself tells us that “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”
What can we afford with our good works? Today’s text tells us we spend our money on that which is not bread, and labor for that which does not satisfy. The things that we labor for with our works cannot really satisfy us. They cannot feed us the same way that the eternal feast of God can. Why not? Because they are not things that last forever. The best meal you can buy will only feed you for one day. The very best car you could afford will break someday. The things we earn for ourselves last only as long as we last. Some day we will die because of sin, some day we will be unable to take our works with us. Who then will provide for you?
We see that we cannot earn ourselves a place at the heavenly banquet. We cannot pay for an entrance into the heavenly feast. We are left outside longing to get in. If it doesn’t seem like a big deal being on the outside, we need to look at what Christ says about those not in the heavenly feast. In Matthew 22:13, Jesus says that the one not included in the feast will be bound and thrown outside where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There are two options, the feast, or the fires of hell. And we cannot pay to get into the feast.
But thankfully for us, the text tells us more about entering the kingdom. “Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The invitation is there, come with out cost. It is not that the banquet is free, the cost is still the same, but someone else has paid for it. Some one else has footed the bill for our entrance to the heavenly feast.
Several years ago, my wife and I were eating with my parents at a nice Italian restaurant called Vincenzo’s in Lincoln, NE. We had enjoyed an excellent bottle of wine, and some of the best Italian food in the City. It was a pricey meal, it was going to cost a lot. Shortly after we had finished eating, the waiter came over and pointed at a table across the room saying “Those people over there paid for your meal.” We looked, and sure enough some friends of my parents were over there. We had eaten the best food, and had the best wine, and they had paid the price, and we had done nothing to deserve it.
This is the same thing that is being described in our text today. We are invited to come and participate in the heavenly feast, and Christ pays the bill. We could not afford the bill of being perfect, we have sinned and sinned in life, but Christ had not. Christ pays for your entrance. He foots the bill which you have earned in your sin. Every little tiny thing you have done has been paid for. Perhaps the Catechism says it best when it says, “He has redeemed me, not with gold or silver, but with His precious blood, and with His holy innocent suffering and death.”
The debt of your sin, the guilt that would keep you out of the heavenly kingdom has been paid for on a bloody cross. Baptism has attached you to Christ. In baptism you share now in Christ’s perfection, not on your own, but in Christ. Now when Christ comes into the heavenly feast, he ushers you in as a dear friend. In fact, scripture describes the relationship not as just a dear friend, but as a dear brother. Now you will be able to come in, “buy and eat the finest breads, the freshest milk, and my favorite, the finest wines.
This promise is one that is not just reserved for the time when we will finally come to our heavenly rest. This very morning we will participate in the marriage feast of the Lamb. It is not a far off event that we are waiting and waiting for.
You see the meal that Isaiah invites all to come to, the heavenly feast, is the same feast that has been shared throughout history. The Israelite Passover meal was a sharing in the heavenly feast of life. The feast in the 23rd psalm is the heavenly feast of life. The Lord’s Supper is the heavenly feast of life. And you are invited, here today, you can participate in the same feast that you will participate in for all eternity.
Today, Christ himself invites you to the altar, saying “Take eat, this is my body, given for you. Take Drink, this is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Here today we have a foretaste of the marriage feast of the lamb. The book of Revelation says “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Today’s text is that invitation, “Come and eat.”
What’s more, as today’s text says, today’s participation in the Lord’s Supper is a satisfying meal. The Lord’s Supper is not a feast where we leave and grow hungry all over again. This feast is Satisfying. It will strengthen us to life everlasting. That means we eat it, and we are filled.
We can “eat what is good, and delight ourselves in the rich food.” This rich food is Christ. In the book of John, Jesus says “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” This is the food of the heavenly kingdom, right here before you today. This food is the free gift of God given to us, for Life and Salvation. It is a free feast of all the best you can imagine.
Christ’s voice calls now, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Come I have paid the price. Come and I will give to you to eat. Amen.
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