A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our Gospel, Luke 4:16-30, which has already been read. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In our assigned readings for today, we have examples of one of the longest sermons in Scripture and the shortest. Ezra reads the Book of the Law of Moses “from early morning until mid-day”—about six hours. Jesus reads two verses of Isaiah and preaches a one-sentence sermon. When Ezra finishes, the people bow their heads and worship the Lord with their faces to the ground. When the people in the synagogue hear all Jesus has to say, they are filled with wrath, rise up, and drive Him out of town, so that they can throw Him down the cliff. It would seem that in ancient days the longer the sermon, the better it is received by the hearers. But I somehow suspect that would not be the case today, so this one will fall somewhere in between. So, what is going on here? The Old Testament Reading takes us to a...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!  We pray in The Litany: “From all sin, from all error, from all evil; From the crafts and assaults of the devil; from sudden and evil death; From pestilence and famine; from war and bloodshed; from sedition and from rebellion; From lightning and tempest; from all calamity by fire and water; and from everlasting death; Good Lord, deliver us.” In one of our funeral hymns we sing: “All trials and all griefs are past, A blessed end has come at last, Christ’s yoke was borne with ready will; Who dieth thus is living still” (LSB #759). There is such a thing as an “evil death” and such a thing as a “blessed death.” What makes the difference? ...

"The Pharisees' Question" by James Tissott To listen to this sermon click here. Or here. The text for today is our Gospel lesson, Matthew 21:23-27. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Let’s set the context first: The Lord Jesus, with Palm Sunday praises still echoing in His ears, has entered the temple and toppled the tables of the moneychangers, driving out the droves of buyers and sellers. After lodging overnight in Bethany, He returns to Jerusalem, curses a fruitless fig tree, and begins teaching again in the temple. It’s no wonder that the leaders of the Jews come and challenge Jesus: “By what authority are you doing these things?” Jesus either has an ironic sense of timing or He doesn’t have a clue. With all the pilgrims in town for Passover, this would normally be a busy and profitable week for the moneychangers and the merchants. Disrupting business at the temple would be something akin to shutting down a Walmart Super...