A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Fear not, I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! In our First Reading, an angel of the Lord opens the doors of the prison that hold all the apostles, not with the guards’ keys, but miraculously. In fact, the guards aren’t even disturbed. When the religious officials arrive, they find the jail fully secure, but completely empty. The Gospel has free course that can’t be held back by prison doors. God’s saving purposes are not frustrated by locks. In our Gospel, the apostles are gathered behind locked doors for fear of the Jews and what they might do to them. But there is one whom the locked doors did not keep out—the resurrected Jesus. We don’t know much about Jesus’ resurrected body, but we do know He left a sealed tomb with even the grave clothes still intact and ...

  Click here to listen to this sermon. “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:19–26). Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Many of you may remember Ron Popeil, an American inventor and marketer of various products, including the Popeil Pocket Fisherman...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him” (John 12:12-16). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Palm Sunday processions come in many shapes and sizes. In some churches, they gather in the parking lot. Palms are distributed and blessed and then the crucifer leads then up the doors of the church. There, the crucifer lifts up the processional cross like a javelin and pounds th...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others” (Luke 20:13-15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The key to understanding any of the parables is to look for the point where it departs from everyday life. Well, good luck with this one! No one behaves in the way that we would normally expect them to behave. I mean, what landowner would keep sending his servants to collect the rent when they’re being so mistreated? Couldn’t he send a couple of big guys with swords? Maybe the sheriff? Or the militia? And then he’s even so naïve as to send his...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! We’ve been rejoicing in the great benefits of our Lord’s Body and Blood given in the Sacrament. Forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. A soothing medicine. A precious remedy against the poison in our systems. The medicine of immortality. The antidote that we should not die, but live forever in Jesus Christ. Food that strengthens us for the journey to the promised land of heaven. How can this be? How do these great things happen? What works such magnificent benefits for you? Is it your eating and drinking? Maybe the way you chew the host? How about whether you receive it in your hand or mouth? Perhaps the way you swish around the wine in your mouth? And then the way you swallow both? Not letting the host touch your teeth. Not letting the wine hit your cheeks. Common cup or individual cup? And if not that, then maybe it’s the kind of bread and wine that you use. Moist bread? Swee...