A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life” (Revelation 22:1-2a). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Each of the last three weeks, our Epistle from Revelation has shown us a vision of the new Heaven and Earth. In chapter 21, we heard of “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (v 1-2). Last week, John saw “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” and went on to describe her beauty and radiance in detail (21:9 ff). Today, the depiction of the new Heaven and Earth is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. To better understand this depiction, we go back to Genesis 2, “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of t...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A curious question from the Apostles sets up the Ascension event, its meaning, and implications. They ask the risen Christ: “Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” Jesus does not answer the question directly but tells them to remain in Jerusalem (praying and keeping watch) until they receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Then, as they are looking on, Jesus ascends before their eyes, tipping us off to a double transition for Jesus: enthronement in Heaven but also His abiding Word-and-Sacrament presence with His people and the giving of the Holy Spirit who reveals this same Jesus is present with and for His people. Now, if Easter is about Jesus as the prototype of the New Creation, then the Ascension is about His coronation as the One who rules forevermore on Earth as it is in Heaven. Easter tells us Jesus stands as the firstborn of the New Creation. His Asc...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb’” ( Revelation 21:9). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! As I read our text, I was reminded of the wedding announcements we used to read in our local paper. For those who don’t have such memories, here is an example from the Mitchell Daily Republic a little over 40 years ago: “[The bride] wore a gown of white satin and mandel rose galloon lace. The gown was styled with an empire waist and the bodice and bishop sleeves were of lace. The sleeves were caught in a satin cuff. Lace edged the rounded neckline. The gown featured a full-length detachable train of satin and lace… Her veil was attached to a cap trimmed with lace, satin appliques, and scalloped lace edging. She carried red roses, cushion mums, and baby’s breath tied with red and white rib...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A few years ago (more than 15), we were headed to Gillette, Wyoming for a wedding. My grandson Abbott started fussing, so I just said: “Ten more minutes and then we’ll stop.” Much to my surprise, he quieted down. And in ten minutes, I kept my promise. After a quick diaper change and a bottle of formula he was good to go for another 200 miles. Then he started fussing again. Since it worked the first time, I decided to try the same line again: “Ten more minutes.” It seemed to work so well that I used it over and over again the whole trip. Now as biased as I may be about my grandchildren’s advanced abilities, I realize Abbott didn’t actually understand what I was saying. He was only four months old at the time. But still that voice seemed to reassure him. And the running joke seemed to pass the time more quickly for us adults than a crying baby. At the same time, it was a reminde...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! No image of the Lord and His relationship with us strikes closer to the core of our being than the one we see as our theme for today: the image of the Lord as our Shepherd and us as His sheep. We sing about this relationship in our hymns for today: “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” and “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” We hear it in the 23rd Psalm: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” In Revelation: “The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd” (7:17). And in our text for today, John 10:27, Jesus tells us, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”   Shepherd and sheep: Why do you suppose this image has such power for us? Perhaps it’s because we link them together with peace and quiet. “He makes me lie down in green pastures… He leads me beside still waters.” Or maybe it’s because of how we think of sheep. Some people have ...