Sermon for 4/19/26: Third Sunday of Easter (a)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

The Breaking of the Bread
Luke 24:13-35

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
 

          The past two weeks, we have watched people who should have known better as they’ve finally come to see the truth about the Lord. First it was Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter and John at the empty tomb. Then last week it was Thomas in the room where the disciples were hiding.

          This week we follow two disciples on the road to Emmaus. One is named Cleopas, and the other is unnamed. However, they count themselves in the company of the disciples. They were witnesses to the work and words of Jesus, and ultimately they were witnesses to His death. They were even around to hear the women, who told them that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. But they didn’t believe the women, so they were heading back to Emmaus, presumably to move on with their lives.

          Jesus joined them on the road, but they were prevented from recognizing Him. We aren’t told how, but that doesn’t matter. What follows is important. The disciples give their interpretation of the events surrounding Christ’s death and resurrection. They said to Him, “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” When they finished, He rebuked them for not seeing what was before their eyes, and He gave them the true meaning of the events. Using Moses and the prophets, He explained to them why it was necessary for the Christ to die as He did.

          So now they know the good news, but they are still prevented from recognizing Him as the very Christ of whom they spoke. Anyway, they finally reach Emmaus, and Jesus acts as though He will continue on. They invite Him in, and He accepts. And then something odd happens. Although He is their guest, He takes the initiative. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. At that moment, they recognized Him, and He departed from them. After they marvel at how they could have failed to recognize Him, they return to Jerusalem to share with the disciples how Jesus revealed Himself to them in the breaking of the bread.

          The account of Christ’s appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the most fascinating Bible stories. It has all the aspects of a story you’d tell your children: the hero; the people the hero saves; an adventure or journey; a feast; even a hint of the supernatural; and, of course, the happy ending. There’s no violence. And the story grows with the child, as every story should.

          But this is no mere story. It is one of the pivotal events in human history. It is the first time a follower of Jesus comes to recognize by faith that Jesus is the suffering and rising Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. It shows Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise to Adam and Eve and to all their descendants.

          But the best part of all this is that the Lord teaches us how He would have us worship Him. Today we have followed the pattern He set in this text, as the Church has for 2000 years. We hear about the person and work of Christ, and then we partake of His body and blood. We’ve added more ritual, but the form is still the same as Jesus used with these two dispirited followers. The risen Lord intends for the Church to continue to gather at table: in remembrance of Him and in anticipation of the eternal Banquet. The Emmaus meal reminds us of that: it reminds us that Christ is present at the meal, and that He reveals Himself to us there.

          So where do you look for Jesus? We often look in the wrong places. We look in Bible Studies. We look on crosses that sit on bookcases and nails in walls and chains around our necks. We look for Him at Lutheran Laymen’s League and Lutheran Women’s Missionary League and Youth Group meetings. Now, before you stone me as a heretic, let me say that He is present in all these places. But we don’t see Him there by our own reason or strength.

          We can’t see Him there, because He reveals Himself first and foremost in the Divine Service. When He reveals Himself to us in the liturgy of the Word and Sacraments, we can then see Him in Bible studies, on crosses, and in meetings. He reveals Himself there as well, but we recognize Him through the breaking of the bread, even as the Emmaus disciples recognized Him so long ago.

          Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: we are on our own Emmaus road today, and it ends at the Communion rail. So I ask you now: What are you looking for as you come to the altar? Comfort? Assurance? If that’s all you want, then you’ve come to the wrong place. When you come to the altar, you come to the cross, where our Lord and Savior hung in pain and suffering to His death. Christ died, not that you would have assurance, but that you would have the forgiveness of sins and life in His name. If you need comfort apart from that, you don’t realize the importance of the gift you are being given. The body and blood of Christ are brought to you and given to you, and you receive them, and in them you receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. And most importantly, when you come to the altar, you see the Savior revealed to you in the breaking of the bread. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia
         

The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hears and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 4/12/26: Second Sunday of Easter (a)

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Doubt and Faith

John 20:19-31
 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

          Thomas the disciple doesn’t deserve all the acrimony, the shade we throw at him. Well, maybe he does deserve it, but Thomas is not alone in his doubt. All the disciples doubted. All of them were frightened. All of them thought that they were seeing a ghost. And all of them falsely believed that Jesus was not standing before them in a real, tangible resurrected body, but that He had discarded our flesh in favor of some unreal apparition. It is Thomas in his questioning who makes them bold to confess, and in doing so, he lets us see, too, what they at first did not see, and he helps us believe through their testimony what they at first could not believe.

But notice how difficult it is for him—and for us—to believe. First, we must believe against what we think is reasonable; we must discard what we are sure is true; we must suppress what we feel is good and right. Thomas had to do that because he was absent when Jesus first appeared to the apostles. And when he returned, the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas refused to believe what he heard from his brethren, even if a living Jesus is what he desperately wanted. He instead believed what made sense to him, what seemed real to him, what felt right. Because even after seeing Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, none of them would believe that Jesus would Himself rise from the dead.

And so, for the sake of Thomas—and also for your sake—the Lord comes again as He came before. The doors are againbarred shut. Yet Jesus stands in their midst and says to them, “Peace to you.” The resurrected Lord shows Thomas the nails wounds on His hands, and invites Thomas to touch those wounds and the wound in His side. Don’t think that any of this was an accident. None of this happened by chance. Our Lord’s compassion exposed the doubt of Thomas so that we might believe. For when the doubting disciple was invited to touch the wounds in His Master’s body, Our Blessed Lord then cures the wounds of our unbelief and soothes the aches of our doubts and fears.

So the disciple’s unbelief was of more advantage to your faith than the faith of the other ten. For when Thomas is led back to faith by seeing and touching Jesus in the flesh, you too are made firm in your faith. You are taught to believe that our Lord truly does rise from the dead; He really can convert your dying body into a glorified, resurrected body by the same power that enabled Him to overwhelm death. You believe in and confess the resurrection not just of the soul or spirit, but also of the body—the same body you live in now, only perfected to match your redeemed state as a child of God. You believe in and confess “the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” You bring your infants and children to the font of Holy Baptism with the bold confidence that, if they hold to the one true faith, the Holy Spirit will raise them in their bodies and give them and all believers in Christ the eternal life Jesus died to win for them. You come forward to this altar, where He gives you His holy Body and precious Blood, even if what you see appears to be mere bread and wine; and in this mystery He invites you to put away your doubts and fears, and instead invites you to trust and rely and depend completely and absolutely on Him for all that you need “to support this body and life.”

“Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” That is what Our Lord says, not only to Thomas, but also to you. Do not doubt what you cannot see with your eyes. Do not fear what man can do to you. Do not let your heart be troubled. Christ has already overcome everything that frightens and troubles you. And in the waters of Holy Baptism, He has given you His victory. No longer will fear run your life. No longer can sin control you. Flee from your fears, resist your sinful urges, confess your sins, and be reconciled to both God and man. Believe what your eyes cannot see. For the same Jesus who showed Thomas His hands and side has gained for you the victory over sin and death, and He will raise you up in your body. “Faith shall cry as fails each sense: Jesus is my confidence!” ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.   

 

HYMN: View Now the Cross with Ponderous Grief

Once again I found myself inspired by one of Pastor Anderson's sermons, this time his Good Friday sermon on John 19 for the Chief Service. He was talking about Good Friday piety: how some view the day with a somber tone while others view the day with great joy. The thought sent a kernel of an idea into my head, and this is what developed, with help from thoughts from his sermon and the readings for Easter Day. 

This one still needs some work, but it's a good start, and your help could make it even better. I think there is a stanza still missing, but I'm not sure quite what it is. 

Right now the tune is WINDHAM, which is the tune for the hymn "We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died," hymn 429 in Lutheran Service Book. Feedback is love.

View Now the Cross with Ponderous Grief

1. View now the cross with pond'rous grief;

View now the cross with radiant joy;

But see the cross with great relief.

Praise Christ, whose death did death destroy.

2. Behold the scandal of the cross!

See here the foolishness of God.

Look at Christ's hands by nails embossed

His torso striped by cruel rod.

3. See Him suspended, crucified,

His love a banner, on the tree

See Him, your Savior, glorified,

Hanging in mighty victory!

4. Sinless, the King with greatest care

Cries for forgiveness, mercy sweet,

For all whose sins have nailed Him there.

And then He dies, His work complete.

5. Mourn your own sin with woe and shame,

Putting the spotless Lamb to death.

Worship the Christ, who bears your blame,

Breathing for you His final breath.

6. View now the cross with pond'rous grief;

View now the cross with radiant joy;

But see the cross with great relief.

Praise Christ, whose death did death destroy.

Alan Kornacki, Jr., 1974

LM (88 88)

WINDHAM (LSB 429)

Good Friday; John 19

Sermon for 3/15/26: Fourth Sunday in Lent (A)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio. 

Now I See
John 9 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

It is vital understand that blindness and sight in this passage are analogies for faith and unbelief. So it might sound contrary to reason, but it is not blindness that requires the greater measure of courage. Unbelief is easy; it is easy to doubt, to question, to ignore what is as plain as day. But faith takes some guts. Although unbelief may encounter various “dangers, toils, and snares,” faith is an on-going life of valor. Life in the Light of Christ is not a place for the fainthearted. But thanks be to God that He strengthens your feeble arms and weak knees. Thanks be to God that the very faith that demands your courage also supplies to you the courage it demands, so that you will never be overcome.

Perhaps there was a time when the man in this Gospel might have argued. Having been born blind, this fellow never knew anything but darkness. There were no modern conveniences to make his life more comfortable; he was just a man with a stick. So maybe he would have argued that blindness is the harder part.

But then Jesus comes along and heals the man. Making mud of His own spittle and dabbing it onto the man’s eyes, Jesus tells him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. “So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.” Yet as this man steps out from the darkness and into the Light of Christ, he learns that this bright, sighted place in the light is not the place for the fainthearted.

Unlike the woman at the well from last week, there is no indication that this newly healed man told anyone about Jesus. In fact, John gives the impression that the man simply began living as a child of the light. Yet his neighbors could not help but notice his life-changing transformation: “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” And they demanded of him, “How were your eyes opened?” And soon the trouble begins, because the man’s friends and neighbors dragged him off to the Pharisees for their judgment. Life here in the light certainly is not a place for the fainthearted.

So now that this man has his sight, he can see dangers that never touched him in the dark. The man sees that the Pharisees are ready to hate him for no other reason than because God-in-flesh had intervened in this man’s life. He sees that human ideas and opinions about religion are more important to most people than an eyewitness testimony to God’s Word. The man had simply confessed, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” And the Pharisees responded, “This Jesus cannot possibly be from God!” The blind man now sees that others suddenly consider him a lowlife, an unworthy member of their community simply because He would dare to tell them about the promised Christ. And then, to make matters worse, this man had to watch his own parents disown him because of their fainthearted fear of the Jews.

But maybe you don’t need this man to tell you that life in the Light is no place for the faint of heart. Maybe you have already seen the dangers of having the blindness of sin washed away in Baptism. Maybe you have come to see the great courage that faith requires. It takes courage in the face of rejection to speak the Gospel to people who hate God, who would rather rely on their own self-made religious opinions than upon God’s life-giving Word. But anything less than a full, clear testimony to Christ is sin! It takes courage for you to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness. But anything less is sin!

Unbelief is easy; sin is easy. But faith takes some guts. Although unbelief may daily encounter various dangers, toils and snares, your God-given faith amounts to an on-going life of valor. Life in the Light of Christ is not a place for the fainthearted.

But this Gospel also demonstrates to you the source of your courage and strength. After the newly healed man had been thrown out of the synagogue, Jesus came to him. The man does not go in search of Jesus; Jesus found him. But the Lord does not merely encourage him; He does not warn him to be ready for tough times; Jesus does not tell this man that he will need to find courage to face his life in the Light. No. His Lord strengthens him in this new sight and faith he has been given. Life in Christ may be no place for the faint of heart. But He gives you the courage you need.

Beloved in Christ, there is nowhere the Children of Light can go that their Lord Jesus, the Light of the world, has not already gone. The man in today’s Gospel may have watched his loved ones turn their backs on Him, but this suffering is also shared by Jesus, whose dearest followers all fled during His time of greatest need. The Light of the world may have seemed to be momentarily extinguished in the darkness of the cross, but the darkness could not overcome the Light that is Christ. Christ’s resurrection light now shines upon you. Life in the Light of Christ is no place for the fainthearted, but by His own suffering, resurrection, and abiding presence, your Lord faithfully strengthens your feeble arms and weak knees. He makes the fainthearted stalwart; He gives the fearful courage; He makes the blind to see. “You have now seen Him,” says Jesus. And how else shall we respond, except with the courageous confession, “Lord, I believe!” In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 3/8/26: Third Sunday in Lent (A)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

The Well Is Deep
John 4:5-26

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Without water, nothing can live. Two-thirds of the earth is made up of water. 75% of the human body is water. Ultimately, even the desert camel must drink water, or it will die. Water is essential to life. Some might even say that water is life.

One can surely understand why Jesus sat down by the well. He was tired after traveling through Samaria. In the warm, dry climate, Jesus was tired and undoubtedly thirsty. The sun was no doubt high in the sky, beating down on Him. While He sat by the well, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. This is unusual. It was about 12 noon, the sixth hour. Water was usually drawn from the village wells in the cool of the early morning, and again in the evening. Seldom did someone come to the well in the heat of the day to draw water.

Nevertheless, this woman comes to get water; and there sits Jesus. Certainly, it would have been out of place for a woman to initiate conversation. She was also a Samaritan, whom the Jews regarded as “half-breeds” and held in contempt. In the eyes of the culture, this woman was to be disregarded. Yet, Jesus ignores all of that. He says to this woman, “Will you give me a drink?” The woman replies, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” In effect, she wanted to know what was wrong with this guy.

But the Samaritan woman is thirsty, too. Jesus wanted her to recognize her spiritual thirst, to see Him as the One who is the Giver of living water, eternal life. As we encounter Jesus in His Word today, we also must consider our own thirst—not thirst for earthly water, but for living water. Jesus says, “If you knew the gift of God, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” As Christians, we’d like to think that we do know God’s gift and who it is that is the Giver of those gifts. We’d like to think we ask that Giver for living water.

But we don’t always. How can that be true? It is true because of sin. Sin clouds our spiritual thinking. Sin separates us from God and from desiring the gifts of God. Sin has left us spiritually parched, dead in trespasses. We were dead to God. There was no desire for the gifts of God, no longing for God. This estrangement from God accounts for all the griefs and sorrows, worries and heartaches, the restlessness and unhappiness, the despondency and despair of the human heart.

Sin causes us to thirst for the things of this world that please our sinful nature. We thirst for that which can satisfy our sinful cravings. We desire wealth and power, money and popularity, advancement at work, success in school, thinking these things can make us truly happy. We desire to better ourselves by any means possible, whether that means speaking lies against a co-worker or classmate, cheating on a test in school, or being lazy at work. Do we know the gift of God? Do we ask Jesus for living water?

Left to ourselves, our sinful nature does not let us understand and know the gift of God. Satan and the world influence us not to ask Jesus for His gift of living water. So we thirst. We are spiritually thirsty people. God in His mercy does not want us to die of spiritual thirst because of our sins. So out of His great love for sinners, God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, into our sin-filled world. Jesus became subject to human need, even to thirst.

As our Lord hung on the cross, bleeding and dying, John tells us that Jesus said, “I thirst.” Jesus became thirsty for you so that you would never thirst again. The very living water, Jesus Christ, thirsted as He hung on the cross, bearing our sin and enduring our death. Burdened with our sin, Jesus became sin for us. We can certainly say that on the cross, Jesus became spiritually thirsty too, as our sins were upon Him.

Jesus gave us His life on the cross so that you would have life forever with God. This life was for not only for the Jews; it was for the the Samaritans and the Gentiles—indeed, it is for all who are spiritually thirsting because of sin. That life is for you. By God’s grace alone, your sins are forgiven because of Jesus. You have new life through the living of Holy Baptism. As a Baptized child of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you are given faith which trusts Jesus as your Savior. Because of that faith, Christ has become a spring of water welling up in you to eternal life.

You no longer thirst, for Jesus has given you His living water. His death on the cross has quenched your spiritual thirst. While we were still sinners, when we didn’t deserve forgiveness, Jesus died to save us. It is by grace, through faith, that you have been saved. His living water is truly a gift of God.

As we continue our Lenten journey to the cross, remember the living water of forgiveness and life which has been given to you. Because of Jesus, we no longer thirst. His love and mercy as He gave up His life for us has quenched our thirst better than any earthly water. The living water Jesus has given to you is a spring of water welling up to eternal life…and the well is deep. In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

HYMN: Born from Above into the Kingdom

One of the few benefits of being a pastor without a congregation to serve is that I get to hear other pastors preach from time to time. That can be a mixed blessing, because pastors often make the worst listeners when it comes to sermons. (I'm no exception. It's not so much that I critique; it's more that I find my mind wandering.) That being said, when I find a good preacher to listen to, not only is it edifying for the soul; as a writer, I find good sermons inspire me to write hymn texts. Pastor Rick Stuckwisch affects me that way, for example, so I find myself on his blog when I’m in a dry spell. 

I’ve been attending Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where God has placed the Reverend Paul Anderson. Pastor Anderson is a brilliant man and an excellent preacher. This past Sunday and then again this evening, he preached on John 3:1-17. Fed by the words and the Supper, I was inspired to write. The suggested tune is ICH WILL DICH LIEBEN, which is the tune for Lutheran Service Book hymn 694, “Thee Will I Love, My Strength, My Tower.” 

And yes, I committed the cliche, the cardinal hymn writer's sin of rhyming "love" and "above." I do my best to avoid that when possible; we'll see if I can eliminate that in the next draft.

This is a rough first draft. As always, feedback is love.

Born from Above into the Kingdom

1. Born from above into the Kingdom;

Born from above: I’m God’s own child. 

I’m born of water and the Spirit,

No more my soul by sin defiled. 

Through faith in what I cannot see

Christ gives new life to me. 

2. Born from above in worded water,

Made new in that baptismal flood;

In bread and wine new life I’m given:

Christ’s perfect flesh and holy blood. 

These gifts the Father’s love reveal:

Christ’s blood the sign and seal. 

3. Born from above in absolution:

My pastor speaks Christ’s grace to me.

Born from above in Gospel preaching:

The Word in flesh has made me free. 

I’m born again, born from above,

Through my Redeemer’s love. 

4. Lord, grant that I may come in daylight,

And may my faith be unashamed. 

Help me to make a good confession

And praise the Christ for whom I’m named. 

Now, newly born, dear Lord, I pray,

Renew me every day. 

98 98 86

ICH WILL DICH LIEBEN (LSB 694)

Lent 2a; John 3:1-17; New Life in Christ

HYMN: How Long, O Lord, Will You Forget

I am not particularly good at judging the merit of my own work. This is true across most aspects of my work as a writer. Or any of my work, for that matter, considering how I seem to be received by those whose responsibility it has been to be my greatest sources of feedback and support...but that's another matter. Anyway, I was thinking about my most recent hymn text, "How Long Will You Forget," which I posted not too long ago. It's not a bad text, as far as it goes, but it could be better. I decided to start over with the same base text, Psalm 13, and try a different meter. So I moved from a 66 77 77 scheme to Long Meter, which is 88 88. I went from 18 lines to 16, but it enabled me to emphasize some thoughts in a different way. The new text uses the tune WINDHAM, which is hymn 429 in Lutheran Service Book, "We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died."

Compare the two and let me know what you think. Feedback is love.

How Long, O Lord, Will You Forget

1. How long, O Lord, will You forget?

Your servant is by grief beset.

Your face from me is turned away.

My heart is anguished all the day.

2. As vengeful enemies rejoice, 

I long to hear Your wondrous voice.

In boundless grace be near to me.

Consider, Lord, and answer me.

3. Oh, silence every fearsome foe.

Preserve my life from death and woe.

I trust Your steadfast love, O Lord,

Revealed through Your most holy Word.

4. My Savior dear, Lord Jesus Christ,

Who for my sake was sacrificed,

Forever I will sing Your praise

For blessings shown through endless days. 

LM (88 88)

WINDHAM (LSB 429)

Psalm 13; Tribulation