A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. Click here to watch sermon video. “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 ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you.’ Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near” (Luke 10:9-11). Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Like many farm kids, my brother and I learned to be resourceful. String doesn’t grow on trees, and we certainly weren’t going to ask Mom or Dad to go buy us some when there was a perfectly good supply in the barn left over from the twine cut off the hay bales. The hardest part was untangling it. There were always a bunch of threads you had to follow to get each individual piece of twine free. Sometimes you would get so frustrated with a particular knot that you’d end up cutting...