A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon” (Matthew 15:22). The worried mother comes with a problem and lays it at Jesus’ feet. She makes no claim of worthiness. She is a Gentile, a Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter. What does she actually know? Is she simply mouthing words that she has heard others say, or is her plea coming from a heart that knows who Jesus is and what He can do for her and her daughter? She dares to approach Jesus and ask for His help because He is the Lord and Israel’s Messiah, the Son of David. The woman’s plea is not one of entitlement but of begging; not “I deserve,” but “Have mercy.” Mercy assumes need. Mercy assumes unworthiness. Mercy trusts the character of the giver. Mercy always implies that the recipient is undeserving. That certainly is our situation. And so we plead to God, “Give Your ...

  Click here to listen to this sermon. “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest’” (Matthew 9:35–38). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Seeing. Calling. Sending. That is the movement in the Gospel reading for today. It is also the movement of Jesus’ response to those who are harassed and helpless, of God’s interaction with His fractured and fallen creation, and of the sanctified Christian life as it lives by the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus sees. Jesus calls. Jesus sends. As He goes throughout the cities and villages, Jesus sees. This is not a minor detail. Many people go through life wondering if anyone sees, anyone notices. If you listen closely, that is at the heart of many of our cur...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and He shall speak peace to the nations; His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double” ( Zechariah 9:9–12). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! People caught in the despair of bondage have at least two questions. First, does God have the power to free us? Second, is God compassionate enough to free us? In Zechariah 9, the prophet answers both ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Matthew 9:9-13, which has already been read. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Most parents have felt the disappointment of having a carefully chosen gift spurned. You give a gift you hope will bond you together or re-create a particular joy of your own childhood—the thrill of your first fishing rod or the warm feeling you got from your Cabbage Patch doll—only to have the gift barely glanced at and quickly tossed aside. In such cases, even a polite “thank you” brings little comfort. On the other hand, few things delight parents as much as having a child so excited and thrilled with a particular gift that he abandons the remaining unopened gifts to start playing with it. I remember the year that Andersen got his first combine. The joy in his face and whole body said it all. No formal “thank you” was necessary. The gratitude was evident in the joy and excitement. So, ...

"The Healing of the Ten Lepers" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” ( Luke 17:11–19).  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Every year, the appointed Gospel reading for Thanksgiving is the cleansing of the...