A Famine Not of Bread

  Click here to listen to this sermon.

"St. John the Baptist in Prison Sends His Disciples to Question Jesus" by Ermenegildo Lodi Click here to listen to this sermon. “And John, calling two of His disciples to Him, sent them to the Lord, saying, ‘Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” (Luke 7:18-19). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Elizabeth, Gabriel, John, Mary, Zechariah—these are the usual names we hear each Advent. Their inclusion in the story by name makes our understanding of the Incarnation inseparable from their particular parts in the story.” [i] But there are others in Scripture who, even though they had a significant role to play in relation to Jesus, remain unnamed. I am thinking, for example, of the shepherds keeping watch by night, the thieves crucified with Jesus on Golgotha, and the owners of the colt Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The biblical authors did not feel compelled to tell us their names, but this does not diminish the signi...

Click here to listen. “Then [Jesus] came up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother” (Luke 7:14-15). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Our readings for today are full of miracles. We begin in the little town of Zarephath, where the prophet Elijah dwells with a widow and her son. This is Old Testament time, famine and all, where mortality rates are terribly high and death is all too common. In this case, the widow’s son becomes sick and dies. He was all that she had left—both for family and for her livelihood. Now, he’s gone. So the widow cries out to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” (1 Kings 17:18). The widow’s anger is understandable. She has just lost her only son! She instinctively lashes out at someone just to seek s...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!’” (2 Samuel 12:5-7). Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Psychologists say you’re only as sick as your worst secret. No wonder King David isn’t feeling so hot. He has a doozy of a secret; but he’s managed somehow to keep it under wraps for about nine months. At least he thinks so. But it’s taking a toll on him spiritually, mentally, and physically. Later, he will describe the experience in one of his psalms: “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer” (Psalm 32:3–4). But for now he is in a state of den...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then [Jesus] came up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother” (Luke 7:14-15). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Our readings for today are full of miracles. We begin in the little town of Zarephath, where the prophet Elijah dwells with a widow and her son. This is Old Testament time, famine and all, where mortality rates are terribly high and death is all too common. In this case, the widow’s son becomes sick and dies. He was all that she had left—both for family and for her livelihood. Now, he’s gone. So the widow cries out to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” (1 Kings 17:18). The widow’s anger is understandable. She has just lost her only son! She instinctively lashes out at someone...

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Luke 7:36-50. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.   One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.   And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.   Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more? The answer is obvious, at least to Simon the Pharisee: “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”   But though he gives the right answer, Simon completely misses the point.   As we often do!   For this certain creditor does not keep his books according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).   And we are so oblivious to the extent of the great debt that we have piled up over the years that we can take this forgiveness for granted.   So maybe we should modify the parable a little bit.   There was a certain creditor who had ...