A Famine Not of Bread

"The Revelation of St. John" from woodcut Biblical illustrations by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld. They were copied from the book "Das Buch der Bücher in Bilden." Used with permission of Multi-Language Publications - WELS The text for today is Revelation 7:9-10: “ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”   Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. St. John gives us a glimpse of the other side of glory.   But be careful.   Don’t miss this brief opportunity by focusing on the wrong thing.     Look beyond the great multitude to the object of their focus.   Notice how they are all staring in th...

The text for this morning is our Gospel, Matthew 22:34-46, which has already been read. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m sure you’ve heard speakers or teachers who are trying to encourage discussion say: “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.”   I must disagree.   Just try asking one of them a stupid question, and watch their reaction.   If not by their words, you’ll see by their facial expression or body language how even they don’t believe such nonsense.   No, not all questions are created equal.   If you’ve sat in on enough question and answer sessions, you know this is true.   Most people won’t ask any questions in a large group setting for fear of looking foolish.   So when someone asks a good question, there is an almost audible sigh: “I was hoping someone would ask that question!”     Or “I’m glad they asked that question!   I had never considered that id...

The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Matthew 22:15-22, which has already been read. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They say that politics makes for strange bedfellows.   That’s certainly the case here.   The Pharisees—ardent nationalists who opposed Roman rule—team up with the Herodians whom they despised for their cooperation with the Roman government.   This would be kind of like the Tea Party movement suddenly aligning itself with the campaign to re-elect President Obama.   You know that something fishy is going on here. The Pharisees try to trap Jesus between a political hard place and a religious rock.   “Teacher, we know that You are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and You do not care about anyone’s opinion, for You are not swayed by appearance.”   Anyone who starts off a sentence like that can’t be trusted with the keys to the house, much less the tenets of theology. ...

"Paul's Farewell to the Elders at Ephesus" a woodcut Biblical illustrations by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, copied from the book "Das Buch der Bücher in Bilden" and made available by World Mission Collection: http://www.wmcwels.com/cgi-bin/home.pl?/ClipArt#volumetwo   The text for today is our Epistle, Ephesians 3:13-20, which has already been read. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Here’s a key to properly interpreting passages of Scripture: context.   Look for what is happening and being said before and after the passage.   And consider the time in which it was originally written.   Understanding the literary, cultural, and historical contexts will help you to better understand the author’s intent.   Permit me to illustrate.   Suppose your seven-year-old son walks up to you when your back is turned and asks, “Mom, can I kill this?”   What’s the first thing you must find out b...