Axe Tree Root [Trinity 8]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Jeremiah 23:16-29

• Romans 8:12-17

• St. Matthew 7:15-23

 

Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus, the Christ.

 

Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying: 

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

 

Jesus is throwing around metaphors today, as a teaching and a warning. First, just because you are “In” with Him now, does not mean you are frozen there. You must take heed lest you fall back into your sinful ways. Second, that same sin is what will have to be cleared away before you can see your Savior, offering Himself to you.

 

Regarding what the Gospel said to us:

When we see a tree cut, it usually falls down. This is why the English here in Matthew 7, says “cut down”, because we see a tree fall down after it is cut. But really the word in the Bible is more violent than that. Yes, we cut and it falls down, that is the effect, but the cause is that we have cut the tree off from its source of life. It has been cut off, unplugged, never going back.

 

When Moses is given the Law to give to the people, in Exodus and Deuteronomy, one of the punishments of transgressing the law of God is to be cut off. Not only cut off from God’s Covenant, but also cut off from family and friends. You are out. The metaphor of being “cut down” like a tree then comes in, for you might as well fall down, maybe even into your grave, because you are not coming back from that.

 

Both the spiritual and the physical causes and effects are here. A cut down tree does not come back. A new one may grow in its place, but it is not the same tree. Even worse, the sin in you that causes you to be cut off from God’s Covenant is more than just separations that can be mended or patched up. Jesus describes sin’s work as cutting off hand, foot, or eye if they offend you. We know those don’t grow back.

 

So when Jesus speaks in the Gospel sounding like metaphor, treating animals and trees as if they represented humans, we don’t want to be satisfied with just a parable-like understanding, telling us how to act right. Why? Because it could cost us our spot in the kingdom of heaven! Though it seems that Jesus is using parabolic language, He is placing immense importance on them which puts an immense burden on us to be sure and get it right.

 

And yet, it is the very fact that we struggle with God’s Word that is most of the lesson today. For, as sure and as certain as these examples are reproducible ourselves with tree and animal, such is the reality of sin that our Lord is teaching to us. Its corruption reaches so far inside us and outside, that even nature is affected. In the Gospel reading, Jesus mentions wolves. And He can, because corruption has made them ravenous, willing to tear and rend foe and friend alike. That’s not right.

 

Jesus also brings up thorns, thistles, and bad trees. Finally, He brings out demons. This is all to illustrate His point about the truth of this world. There is good and evil, and there is a war inside you at this very moment. 

 

Thus, the Two-Spirit Battle rages, as St. Paul describes in Romans 7, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (v. 21-23).

 

St. Paul knows about that other law, the law of sin and death, because it spills out from inside into his life outside, even into his body. Though we often separate body and soul in our language, what happens to one affects the other. People these days may not believe in sin or that they are sinful, but the state of the world and the state of their bodies and souls, beg to differ.

 

Repent. When you think life is fine, that is when you are in danger. When you think you are the ones in the right, that is the trial God puts to you. When you think you are standing on solid ground, it is only sand, which constantly threatens to wash away and reveal all that’s hidden underneath, especially those roots of that diseased tree you don’t want anyone to see.

 

It was John the Baptist, after having announced the “Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world”, who warned that “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees” (Matt 3:10) and the Pharisees and Jews listening were so full of pride and so sure that they had no sin in the matter, since they were chosen, that they thought John was talking about them. 

 

These words struck a nerve, because they also knew of the punishments God laid out, which threatened being cut-off. But in their heads, they are in the right, they are the true descendants of Moses. How could they possibly be wrong? How could any of that sin, that diseased tree, infect any of what they are doing? They alone are doing God’s Will and He alone is their “Lord, Lord”.

 

It turns out, the axe is laid at the Root, not the tree, as John the Baptist said. And none of us are the Root, that is the Source. The root of all kinds of evils is the love of money (1 Tim 6:10), but money can’t buy you understanding. What we are to understand is there is a root which feeds and nourishes sin and corruption. We would call that Original Sin.

 

And, there is a second Root, the Root of the Good tree, the Source that leads to eternal life. This Root is the Root that is responsible for all of Creation. The Source, the Chosen, the Messiah come to save and to forgive. Jesus is the shoot that comes forth from the stump of Jesse. He is the branch that bears fruit from His Root, which is God. He stands as a signal for the peoples—of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place shall be glorious (Isa 11:1, 10). 

 

The Root stands on the Tree of the cross, a signal for the peoples that the End is near. Not just the end of all things, but the end of the reign of sin, death, and the devil. Everyone does something with Jesus, they have no choice. They either believe or reject. 

 

And His glorious resting place is first the Cross, then the Tomb. For it is in His descent into hell that He frees the prisoners (1 Pet 3:19). In His Resurrection, Jesus opens the gate to heaven, through His Body and Blood, redeeming all, even those who came before Him.

 

In His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus steps in front of the axe, for even the Tree of God must be cut down until it bears the Fruit of Resurrection. Yes, God let the axe, the blame for everything, fall to Him and He was cut down and cut off (Isa 53:8), stricken that He might forgive the transgression of His people.

 

Though the Tree of God was the ultimate Good, in Christ He willingly and joyfully absorbed all sin and death, until He was diseased with your sin. This disease, that was not His own, then affected His whole life. Until finally He was sent to prison and not let out until He had paid the last penny (Mt 5:26) of the debt of sin, in blood.

 

And it was only the Blood of God, the Fruit of God that could accomplish such a thing, That in death, He remined the Lord of Life. That in the midst of sin, He remained holy. That in the jaws of ravenous wolves, He retained innocence. And it was this pure, innocent suffering that produced eternal life for sinners.

 

Christ is the Root, Christ is the Fruit (1 Cor 15:20), and Christ is the Tree. He purchases and wins a true vine, full of everlasting life. He grafts you in. He cuts you off from sin, death, and the power of the devil. He drags you to Himself in Word and Sacrament, kicking and screaming, and declares you justified before Him.

 

All this He happily does for you, not because you caught a wolf in sheep’s clothing, not because you are a grape on a thorn bush, a good fruit on a bad tree, or an invaluable “Yes man”. He does it only out of Fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness within you. In spite of you, He is cut off for you.

 

This because it is the way Jesus chose to rescue from a corruption such as sin. This is His way to renew. It is only in God’s obedience, God’s sacrifice, and God’s blood that we find cleansing. A most powerful cleansing able to redeem all of creation, in the resurrection.

 

And the resurrection is key. Jesus shows us our sin and corruption in order that we see and hear His resurrection. For He does not just raise Himself from the dead, but leaves teachings and warnings about it everywhere.

 

We can consider, beloved, how the Master shows to us continually the resurrection that is about to be, of which He has made our Lord Jesus Christ the first fruit, having raised him from the dead.

Let us look at the resurrection that is ever taking place right in front of us.

Day and night show to us the resurrection; the night is lulled to rest, the day arises; the day departs, the night comes on.

Let us consider the fruits, in what way a grain of corn is sown.

The sower goes forth and casts it into the ground, and when the seeds are cast into the ground, they that fell into the ground dry and naked are dissolved; then after their dissolution, the mighty power of the providence of the Lord raises them up, and from one seed many grow up and bring forth fruits. (St. Clement of Rome; First Epistle to the Corinthians)

 

If you are approaching Jesus by metaphor, He will give you His resurrection. If you are approaching Jesus really and truly, He will give you His Resurrection. The answer to the corruption and sin we see around us and in us is the Resurrection. 

 

Daniel 9 says, “after the sixty-two weeks, [the Messiah] shall be cut off and shall have nothing” and in three days rise again. In that Resurrection, “there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease” (Job 14:7). Hope that God-made-man has ordered all things under His feet, even our diseased root, and works forgiveness through the Resurrected Tree, His Body, the Church.

 

 

On Compassion [Trinity 7]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Genesis 2:7-17

• Romans 6:19-23

• St. Mark 8:1-9

 

Dear Saints, Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
 
Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying: 

“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat”

 
 Today, Jesus talks about His compassion. And in that compassion, we understand three things: 1) that God has feelings like us, 2) that He has genuine affection for us, and 3) that He not only shows compassion, but He embodies compassion, such that, when Jesus shows compassion, there is no longer a need for compassion, because He has perfected it, even in us.
 
 In that perfected compassion, we show compassion.
 
On our compassion, our synodical president has said:
The Church and individual Christians who are forgiven show mercy and compassion to each other and to their neighbor near them. Christians show mercy to others because Christ has first loved them. The ancient pagans remarked of Christians, “See how they love one another.” The love and concern Christians showed to each other also extended to their neighbors in need. The acts of mercy individual Christians show to their neighbor is a powerful witness to the world about the love of Jesus. (M. Harrison. Journal of Lutheran Mission: Feb 2015. Vol. 2. No. 1)
 
And yet your compassion is limited. It is limited by who you like and who you look down upon. Those are the only two groups who receive your compassion.
In the compassion of God, which He gives to us, you do not give your own compassion, but His. When that happens, then you show true compassion.
 
On the Compassion of God we can say that:
Very little is given when we give compassion, but knowledge of salvation is given when God has compassion, in the forgiveness of sins. And when Zechariah sang the Benedictus about his son, John the Baptist in St. Luke 1, he was prophesying that this knowledge and compassion would be given and shown through a man: first through Himself in Jesus and then through the men He chose, the Apostles. In other words, when God has compassion, things happen.
 
First God has compassion on us. We were languishing in our sin and death, having unmerciful compassion (Prov 12:10). At the right time, He took a body and reasonable soul, to show true compassion, and then purchased and created godly compassion, for man, to be accomplished through men. 
 
But what is compassion? We surely hear about it every day. In the word itself, you can hear “passion”, as in passion of the Christ, another word mis-defined all the time. Compassion means to suffer together.
But for us sinners, all it is is a feeling that arises when you are confronted with another's suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering, maybe.
 
How nice, but also how very condescending. Especially when done from a state of privilege, such as if you were God or something. In fact, this is one of the world’s main accusations against God: if He is such a compassionate God and feels motivated to relieve suffering, why not do it? Just end all suffering and show Your compassion, now.
 
But He doesn’t, so either He is an incompetent god, not worth worshiping, or He doesn’t really want to show compassion and still not worth worshipping. James 5:11, however, tells us that the Lord was compassionate and merciful to Job, restoring him to a greater position than before. You know, after everything, even family members taken away, stolen, murdered. Compassion after something like that isn’t much, don’t you think?
 
Likewise, in today’s Gospel: sure Jesus feeds the crowds miraculously, but didn’t He allow them to get hungry in the first place? Not just by leading them around by the nose with His fancy words for three days, but also being God and in charge of their bodies and souls, which He promised to take care of!
 
Repent! Suddenly Jesus is not the compassionate God we thought He was or claimed to be. When we looked for relief in our lives, it was FEMA to the rescue. When we looked for compassion, it was feelings that saved the day. Yes, this world does not need a God Who has compassion after causing suffering. Therefore, should God show up in any form, lets kick Him out and give Him a taste of His own medicine.
 
You trust your gut feeling, that what God is doing is very wrong and how He is doing it is wrong, but your guts are what restrict you, says St. Paul (2 Cor 6:12). The true meaning of compassion is literally spilling ones guts out for someone. May be a bit vulgar, but what is the use of abstract compassion? None. In fact, your god is your belly (Phil 3:19) and what comes out of it is what defiles you (Mt 7:19).
 
This is why we find Jesus in two places today. The first place, of course, is His compassion not only in feeding the crowds, but in opening Himself up, literally, in compassion, in His wounds of His suffering and death. 
The second place we find Jesus is in the guts, or in the belly of His mother, St. Mary. The Mother of God becomes the point at which Jesus redeems us from our sinful compassion by participating in the same thing we do, only without sin.
 
It is not enough to suffer together with someone. They still have to suffer. It is not enough to want to relieve their suffering, either. God does not just say He will have gut-wrenching compassion for you, but He comes to give it Himself both abstractly and concretely.
 
Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He heads straight to the place that makes you unclean, uncompassionate, and unable to do anything about it. He enters into the guts of humanity and sanctifies it with His very presence. He does not just “appear on the scene”, He gets there and contorts His own guts out of compassion.
 
As He matures, offers miracles, and finally is crucified, He goes through all of life to make it holy, to make it worthwhile, eternally worthwhile. If you are maturing as a human, it is not a waste of your time. If you are serving others, it is not a waste of your time. If you are suffering and dying for your faith, it is not a waste.
 
Jesus, in His infinite mercy, came to do all of that. And He does so to show compassion to you. God’s compassion matters. It matters that He suffered and died on the cross to purchase and win redemption, reconciliation, and holiness for you. 
 
On your own, you had none, but because of the work of Christ, you can now find forgiveness for the uncleanness that comes from your compassion. In Christ, when your own guts are wrenched and twisted at the suffering of others, you now get to rush to their aid, providing all you can, because now even two pennies worth of aid is a holy and righteous work. 
 
The Compassion of Jesus brings about compassion. Most importantly, it brings about the compassion that He is searching for. At His Word, compassion works where and when He wills. That same Word we possess, for He has given it to us. Thus, we have the same power of compassion our Lord does and yet, even moreso now. For if we cannot relieve the suffering of our neighbor in this life, eternity has been secured for all, where there is no more suffering.
 
In the perfection of Compassion, suffering is defeated. In the perfection of compassion, God gives His compassion by allowing His saving Word to be heard by whoever may speak it and it still save. In the perfection of compassion, that perfect compassion is placed in us and nurtured by Christ’s own compassionate Body and Blood, which continues to cleanse our sinful guts.
 
If we give Christ’s compassion, what comes out of us is no longer sinful and unclean, but holy and righteous, even faith-giving! Because what comes out is no longer from us, but from God. And to be sure that we are giving the correct compassion, we return often to the Word and Sacrament which strengthens and preserves compassion in us.
 
In other words, Christ comes for the uncompassionate, in order that He may make them compassionate, in His Body and Blood.
 

Keep your prosperity [Trinity 6]

 

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 20:1-17

• Romans 6:3-11

• St. Matthew 5:20-26

Dear Saints, Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
 
Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying: 

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 
But Jesus immediately puts up a road block in your way of attaining that righteousness, when He says, “I have not come to abolish [the Law or the Prophets] but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). This means that when you come to the Law or the Prophets, seeking to live by them, in order to exceed the scribes and the Pharisees, as was commanded, you will find nothing. This is why St. Paul says, “no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Gal 3:11). 
 
“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham” (Rom 4:16).
 
If there were no roadblock. If everyone did what was right in their own eyes; whatever to church, whatever to communion. If God’s own, complete freedom had been given to man, we would always choose sin and always declare ourselves our own savior and god. 100%. No deviation to the left or to the right. If absolute freedom were given to man, absolute hell would be his choice, each and every time. This is why the Tree of Life was denied to Adam and Eve after they had eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
 
The confusion our sin creates in us is this: that we hear God speak with a forked tongue. We hear Him say, “So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do” (Deut 29:9), but also things like: “For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Ps 73:3).
 
Well which is it? Does prosperity go to the righteous or does prosperity go to the wicked? Following God’s commands is supposed to bring prosperity, but those who despise God prosper also or instead. This hits way too close to home: when we prosper is it because God is approving what we are doing or because God is disapproving? How can you tell?
 
Repent. You can’t. It is impossible. The Commands and Demands of God lock you in prison, but also they kill you, as Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death”. In our sinfulness, we then conclude that God is impossible to please, as He is not happy with anything, and therefore we quit Him and recreate Him as whatever we want, usually a god to fit our private preferences, destroying faith and church on the way.
 
And our private preferences are only 1), for us and no one else and 2) excuses for whatever behavior we choose whether or not it follows God’s Law and Order. And when God becomes this private enabler in our pocket, he becomes a false god and you must once again defend your private preferences, that you think are approved, as either being righteous prosperity or wicked prosperity.
 
Dear Christians, our God and Lord, Jesus Christ does not leave you out in the wilderness to gain entertainment by watching you struggle and then laugh when you try to follow Him. He speaks. And He speaks as the Good Shepherd and His sheep hear His voice, know Him, and follow Him into His Sheep-pen, His Sheep fold.
 
Now a Sheep fold is hemmed in for two reasons. One, to keep lies, wolves and false shepherds, out and Two, to keep the sheep in the right place; to show them where the right place is. In essence, the Sheep Pen is the place where the righteous prosper all. the. time. 
 
All the time. Why? Because that is where the Shepherd is and that is where He declares is meet and right so to be and that is where He stays. So while our sinfulness is debating and arguing over which of us shows the most Christ-like love in Church, Christ is showing His own Christ-like love, Himself.
 
And the Commands of God are the beginning of that show. As in, while we navel gaze, God is out here declaring, “I am the Lord your God”. This is Who I am and this is how I act and I will name ten ways, or commands, for you to understand that: 
 
There is only one of ME, I should know. 
I have not only given you my Word, but my Name also, so much do I love you, in Christ. 
I have an ultimate rest planned for you, which you can begin to see in this Sabbath Day. 
I honor father and mother. 
I do not murder. 
I am chaste and faithful. 
I do not steal. 
I am not false.
I do not covet house or home, for all things are mine, but Am also the Giver of all things. 
 
In the very first place, Jesus’s Commands and Demands describe Who He is. They are not simply basic instructions before leaving earth, and if you would have ears to hear, then you would hear, believe, and find salvation in Him. For He ends Exodus 20 in just such a manner, describing the Sheep-fold, His Church, saying, “You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven...An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my Name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you” (v. 22-24).
 
In every place He causes remembrance. He does that work and He does it by connecting this Word in Exodus with His Word in St. Luke 22:19, “This do in remembrance of me”!!
 
This do in Remembrance of me bringing you out of the house of slavery of Egypt. The Egypt of sin, death, and the power of the devil, by My Hand. This do in remembrance of me baptizing you into My death, freeing you from the Law, as it is written, “you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God” (Rom 7:4).
 
This do in remembrance of Me exceeding the righteousness of the Pharisees on your behalf, freeing you from the prison of your private preference, to live a new, public, universal life in front of God for all eternity. And this life is offered and lived out wherever God causes His Name to be remembered. For us Word-made-flesh believers, that sheep fold is His Word and Sacrament.
 
In the very first place, prosperity that is righteous and God pleasing, is having the Word and sacraments preached and administered in front of you. True, Godly prosperity is the communing presence of God among you and that you find yourself within His Sheep-fold which is walled in by faith in Him, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.
 
You hear them, by grace you believe them, and in that trust or faith in God’s Promise, have exactly what He promises you. In that God given prosperity, purchased by the crucifixion of Jesus our God and Lord, you begin to see all your prosperity as coming from Him. Not only in prosperity, but even in your tribulations.
 
It is in your tribulations, that you find out just how invincible God’s Prosperity is. That it can withstand tribulation, the hour of death, and the Day of Judgement. In Faith, all of life is prosperous. In the suffering, dying, and resurrection of Jesus, even all of death is prosperous, for in death, we immediately are transferred to our Lord’s side for all eternity. There is no losing!
 
If you measure life and eternal life by earthly prosperity or by how much or how many commands of God you can keep, then there is no point, because, “He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Rom 9:18). 
 
Thank God our measuring stick is Crucifix shaped. For it is Christ Who is the full revelation of God and His plans of prosperity for us. In Christ, He promises, “it depends not on human will or exertion, but on [the] God, who has mercy” (Rom 9:16). Find all your prosperity in Christ and in His Bride, the Church, for true prosperity is in and from the Lord and He has plans for your prosperity, in His Son, for all eternity. He is the God Who gives. It is just Who He is.
 

Give up your nets [Trinity 5]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• 1 Kings 19:11-21

• 1 Peter 3:8-15

• St. Luke 5:1-11

 

"We are the little fishes of Christ"

In the Name…

Dear Saints, Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus, the Christ.

 

Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying: 

“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

 

But catching men is the hard part. Not just because no one seems interested in Church these days, and not just because we fumble at trying to talk to people about Church these days, but because most of the time we can’t catch anyone or they don’t want to be caught. Fortunately, the nets of Christ’s Gospel do not ask for permission or consent, but rescue at His Word, as St. Peter teaches today.

 

That is the Truth and the hope we find in any of our speaking to anyone. That the Word of God’s cross is the power of salvation and not our words. We can talk or argue until we are blue in the face, but if we are not using the Word, our persuasion is in vain.

 

For, we must fight spiritual powers without the supernatural ability to see into the hearts of men. So, if we are honest, we must admit that we prefer to just give up on our sin-loving brothers and sisters. Not only do we prefer it, in our sin, but we can find Scripture to support us.

 

God’s Word tells us things like, “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,” or we can substitute sinner, there, “for he will despise the good sense of your words” from Proverbs 23:9. We also hear St. Paul getting in on the tolerance in 1 Corinthians 5, “you are to deliver this man [who has sinned] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.”

 

Yikes. 

 

This is the kind of stuff our sinful nature loves to be a part of. We are sore losers. If we don’t get our way, win the day, or win the argument we take personal offense. And when we take personal offense, we shut down. No more Mr. nice guy. No more patience. No more 8th Commandment. 

 

Good news everyone. You are not God! You don’t have all the right answers! When you give up on your neighbor, you do not consign him to anywhere except back to his own life without you in it. Thinking you have such authority over your neighbor is a sin and does the opposite of “catching them” as Jesus said.

 

But, there is another way to “give up” on your neighbor, that does not involve your sin or you sinning. “Giving up” does not have to mean you act as big a fool as your sin-loving neighbor. As usual, when dealing with your sinful nature, simply turn things around. Don’t give up on your neighbor. Give up on yourself.

 

Yes, give up on yourself being the one to “save” them! In your sin, you declare with Elijah, “God. I am the last one.” God says, “Easy bro. There are 7000 others that you missed.” 

 

Repent. When it comes to loving your neighbor, you are only interested in them as far as they take your side. And no one is safe from this, not friends, not family, not even your pastor. How dare he try to change my thinking.

 

When Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light, He meant it. Salvation is not found in your zeal or your anger: “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God”, reminds St. James (1:20). Instead, “a gentle Word turns away wrath” (Prov 15:1) and Jesus says, “I am gentle” (Matt 11:29).

 

Jesus is the Gentle Word that turns away God’s Wrath from us, onto Himself and He is the net.

 

First of all, the entire Gospel reading is one big action that presents Jesus’ death and resurrection to us, which is the true net of the Gospel. Look at it again. He has come down from heaven and His preaching and teaching are His words He has already given in the Old Testament, as He speaks from the boat, or Ark. 

 

Pausing that Word, He takes action Himself in a second Word, the New Testament. That is, he demands that St. Peter hover the Ark over the face of the depths of sin, death, and the devil and let Him down for a catch. In other words, throw Him in. “At your Word”.

 

Here Jesus is repeating what He told Jonah to say, some 700 years earlier, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you” (1:12). Only with Christ it is the cross.

 

And as the net is raised, so too is the Son of Man. And on the third day, having drawn all men to Himself being lifted up on the cross (Jn 12:32), He produces an hundred-fold, fulfilling His own saying from John 12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (v.24).

 

Being sinful and corrupt means being against everything that God is or does or wants. This is why men are often described as “hardening their hearts” towards God. St. Peter confesses this for us here in saying, “We already went fishing, Jesus, don’t you have anything new?”

 

So, when Jesus shows up, the same reactions take place. Hearts are hardened and its depths, which house sin, death, and the devil are stirred up to a tempest. And St. Peter is right. It is at Jesus’ Word that the storms are calmed. It is at Jesus’ Word that the fish show up and are caught. It is at the Gentle Word that St. Peter falls on his face in the bottom of his boat to worship God, standing right in front of him.

 

What is the Gentle Word? “Do not be afraid”? “Peace be with you”? No. The Gentle Word is “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). The Gentle Word is “He joyfully and willingly endured the cross” (Heb 12:2). The Gentle Word is “we preach Christ crucified…the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24).

 

The Gentle Word is not very gentle towards sin, but is very gentle towards those whom He rescues and forgives. He is not gentle in that He takes sin, judgement, and God’s wrath into Himself, absorbing it, making it His own transgression, for you, in your place. This violence is easy to see as it manifests itself in the beatings, suffering, and crucifixion of Jesus.

 

But, in this action of the Word made flesh, the Word of the Cross is the power of God for salvation (1 Cor 1:18, Rom 1:16). The Gentleness of the Word is that the payment has been made. You are no longer required to pay the price for your sins. Not through any work you did, but simply because Christ wills it for your life.

 

He wills that you hear and believe in His Work. He wills that you be caught alive in His net of His Body and Blood. He wills that you be brought into His boat, His Ark of the Church, to be cared for and nurtured by Him and His Sacraments. 

 

In the case of us “catching men”, He wills that the plan and purpose for each one of us is the same. That He break and hinder every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature and that He strengthen and keep us in the one true faith until we die.

 

In this sense, the saving of each and every person has been accomplished. The payment for their transgressions has been offered in full. In the most perfect way, Jesus has secured forgiveness, faith, and eternal life for all. No one is left out.

 

That is the belief you need to go into when debating, arguing, or discussing. Jesus does not need you to win. He has already won. Jesus does not need you to expand the Kingdom, His Word accomplishes its purpose. Jesus does not need you to burn bridges, by telling people they’re going to hell.

 

Is it ever acceptable to talk to the people for whom Christ died like this: "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness"? Is that really necessary, or the way of biblical discourse? I don’t think so. Unless we want God to talk to us that way, we will believe in the Gospel. And part of that means we trust that God can do His work of salvation, with or without our prayers.

 

Instead, we should be content with being invited. We should be content with becoming weak, that we may win the weak (1 Cor 9:22). “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things”, says St. Paul in Philippians 3, “and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” But wait, there’s more: “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (3:8-9).

 

To catch men alive is the job of the Gospel of Christ. To botch it up, but still be invited to the party, is our job. It is our duty to witness that goodness of Christ and His free forgiveness of sins. It is our duty to confess our weakness and believe in the strength of God to accomplish all things for us, even using our speech to expand His kingdom.

 

For it is the Lord Who catches, it is the Lord Who spreads the net and properly so, in His Church. There were nets decorating the Temple (Ex 27:4-5; 1 Ki 7:17), there were nets used by Jesus, thus today those same nets are cast on you in Word and Sacrament.

 

 

Duty and affection [Trinity 4]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Genesis 50:15-23

• Romans 8:18-23

• St. Luke 6:36-42

 

Dear Saints, Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus, the Christ.

 

Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying: 

“For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is more than loyal to God and His creation. He shows us the measure of the duties of the Christ of God combined with affection for our heavenly Father. Jesus, both God and man, knows God’s will perfectly and perfects it perfectly in His suffering, death, and resurrection. Duty and affection? Yes. Loyalty? Maybe…

 

You see, Loyalty is a double-edged sword. So much so, that loyalty was left out of the lists of ancient virtues, the main four being prudence, justice, temperance, and courage. And is not in the theological list of faith, hope, and charity either. This is because being loyal for loyalty’s sake can lead to conflict with other moral demands. Does being a loyal friend include murdering someone for them?

 

Loyalty can also be a good thing. You may not always have the gist of every questionable situation and so you rely on a leader to guide you through. As long as you do what you’re told, you’ll get through better, than if you were on your own. Parenting is a good example.

 

But we do not want loyalty, in faith, we want duty and affection. Those two are things Scripture does talk about. Instead, our sinful nature wants to be loyal, why? Because we can shut off our brain. If we are loyal, someone else does the thinking. If we are loyal, someone else takes responsibility, allegedly. 

 

This is why St. Paul describes loyalty in this way, in 2 Corinthians 11, “For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!” (v. 19-21)

 

Loyalty will excuse abuse, yet will follow. Some even use this as an argument against believing in Jesus. They think that Jesus only wants loyal dogs following Him. You must be rabidly legalistic, draw hard lines, and never ever think for yourself. “Follow me”, Jesus says, “no questions”.

 

Be merciful, we hear. Although, for us sinners, it doesn’t become us to be merciful. For us loyalists, it becomes, “you’re not being merciful enough” or “you’re not as merciful as I am”. Likewise for judging, condemning, forgiving, giving, and measuring. 

 

For us sinners to show our loyalty to Jesus, it is more important that we enforce these values than to practice them. Oh we do them every once in a while and that’s good enough, but when someone isn’t towing the line, they need to be brought in order. That’s when we bring out the big guns and start consigning people to hell, left and right, who don’t do just as we do.

 

If we are in a group, its even worse. Then there is self-justifying all around and only in-group accountability. We are not responsible for “them”. If they would just do as we do, then their lives would be so much better. Its for the greater good, after all.

 

“Theirs not to make reply; Theirs not to reason why; Theirs but to do and die”

 

How could loyalty go so wrong? How could loyalty to Jesus go so wrong? We were only doing as told. “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” (St. Matt 7:22).

 

Yes. You probably did. But did you do it in the Faith that you were given? Were you following orders in a way that pleased God? Your loyalty lies in places like some past, perfect world that will never come back. It lies in past values or culture that you voluntarily gave up to “get with the times”. 

 

The answer is no. It is no, because without faith there is no pleasing God. And the answer is no, because true loyalty does not begin and end with your “love” for God. It begins and ends with your repentance.

 

That is the very first thing that Jesus preaches: “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). The blessed Dr. Luther also began his reformation preaching using similar words in his 95 theses: “The whole Christian life should be one of repentance”.

 

Repent, because your loyalty is just as corrupt as you are. Jesus comes to show and to give true loyalty, that is duty and affection, or love.

 

It is only Jesus who performs God’s duties perfectly and in a God-pleasing way. In Deuteronomy 28 He says, “If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you heed the voice of the Lord your God” (v. 1-2).

 

Yes. Jesus does His loyal duty to love God with all His heart. And He is rewarded. He is set high above all the nations of the earth. In a glorified way, to be sure, but first in an obedient way. “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15).

 

Your disloyalty comes with a price. Your sin is not just swept under a rug and winked at. What kind of justice is that? Further on in Deuteronomy 28 are listed the curses and they are as bad as you can imagine, because the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), this is the reason Jesus is high and lifted up…on the cross.

 

This is the promise God made to His people in the Old Testament. They thought their loyalty would gain them power on earth, when being “high and lifted up” means “crucified”. In His filial duties, accomplished and completed perfectly, Jesus suffers and dies for the sins you committed and continue to love.

 

Jesus also shows perfect love towards the Father. God is love. Jesus is God and man. We should expect no less and hear and believe no less. At Christ’s baptism, the Father declares, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). He says the same at the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matt 17), but adding a “hearken unto Him” at the end, just as from Deuteronomy 28.

 

The Father also responds to Jesus at the Last Supper when He prays, “’Father, glorify thy name.’ Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.’” (John 12:28)

 

Finally, God the Father speaks up at the death of His Son in the incomprehensible language of grief and joy. “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Matt 27:51-52).

 

Grief that sin had so thoroughly corrupted His creation and joy that His True Son had both heard His Father and accomplished what He asked, that is salvation for sinners.

 

What kind of loyalty is this? Truly, loyalty of a son to his father, but since “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23), this loyalty is Jesus’ loyalty towards you. Yes! Jesus does not abandon His duty towards you, whom He created, neither does He love you less than anything else. His perfect duty and affection, given to you, set the perfect stage for perfect loyalty.

 

This He gives to you, just as He forgives your sins and gives you faith. He gives you His loyalty which, as we said, begins with repentance of the sins of not loving God and not loving our neighbor and makes it so that we are able to love God and love our neighbor, in Christ.

 

This loyalty Jesus shows to us, allows us to properly be “loyal”, that is through love. In your attempts to be merciful, love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). In your attempts to not judge, love covers a multitude of sins. In your attempts to be loyal, Jesus says turn from your wicked ways and live (Eze 33:11).

 

In the Word and Sacrament, we are fully trained to be little Christs, and so suffer as He did. We suffer and struggle through this life of gray areas and moral ambiguities, of lies told to us and manipulations aimed at us. And our temptations in those things are what Jesus endured for us, not just so that we do them right, but that we have victory over them.

 

Meaning, that in the duties of this new life in Christ, given by the Holy Spirit, our loyalty lies in remaining faithful. It is remembering our sins and remembering our Savior. It is showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Him by keeping the pure Gospel in our communities. 

 

Let our measure be love, as the God Who is Love comes to Commune with us and offer us His loyalty and love once again, in our hands and on our lips. Let our measure be love, as the Crucified is proclaimed and in faith gives freely the forgiveness of sins, faith in Him, and eternal life. 

 

Let our measure be love, such that, when Christ returns at the day of doom, and The Judge takes His seat and motions for us to step forward, the measure held up to us is His cross; His death; His burial; His pure Gospel and His sacraments administered according to it. No higher honor is to be gained than that.

 

Presentation of Augsburg 1530

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Genesis 15:1-6

• 1 John 4:16-21

• St. Luke 16:19-31

Dear Saints, Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
 
Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying: 

“What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops”

 
As we commemorate the presentation of our Augsburg Confession to the Emperor today, in 1530, we remember the purpose is unity, not division. Let this phrase continuously roll around in your head: “Our Churches, with common consent, do teach” (AC I:1).
 
From there, in true godly fashion, Jesus scares the pants off of us in threatening to deny us before the Father if we deny Him. And, in true sinner fashion, we hear this condemnation only, taking this verse out of context. The true context in St. Matthew chapter 10 is that this “threat” is sandwiched between “you are of more value than many sparrows” and “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (v. 31, 39).
 
Thus, the Gospel is to far outweigh the Law. Sin and evil are real and have dire consequences. But, the Good News is that we have life and salvation given to us, by God, in and through Jesus Christ and that surpasses God’s denial of sinners, in eternal glory. Meaning, when we hear God speak these hard sayings, we need to first remember our value in Christ and then cling to the promises of God in trying to understand them.
 
This is part of the importance of our Lutheran Confessions. That it is a help when we try to understand, for it faithfully interprets God’s Word for us, Lutherans.
 
Speaking of, Denominationalism among Christians in America is sickening in that it is so divisive and contrary to God’s Word and will of unity for us. And when we think of that and the family and friends involved, we get even more sick because now Jesus’s words of denial are real. Someone is denying God. Who is it?
 
We can play that game all day, but remember the Gospel. Do not seek out who is in and who is out. Be sure it is not you first, and that you believe the Gospel and so have eternal life in Christ. Believe that your value is more than sparrows and you find your life in Christ.
 
As Confessional Lutherans, that is those Lutherans who trust the Confessions because they are a correct interpretation of God’s Word, we view the Church more organically than others. We emphasize and acknowledge that in different times and places, the Church has faithfully confessed the one, biblical truth. Further, we seek to maintain that historic confession in our belief and practice since it transcends time, culture, and language.
 
All that to say, without creeds or confessions, the Church quickly loses its center and everyone does what is right in their own eyes, which then gives us one denomination per person. This is what divides American churches. Not Jesus, but the belief that each individual can decide for himself what Scripture means, with no accountability, and the oversimplified confession: the Bible is our only creed.
 
Repent. When you say “I only need Jesus” or “the Bible is my only creed”, what you really mean is “Jesus and the Bible are whatever I make of them”. They are mine and I don’t have to answer to anyone. God comes to me, speaks to me. And this makes sense, because we are all different and we all need different things. There cannot be a “one size fits all”, because, even though we look alike, I am not like you.
 
And if you disagree, even if you have facts and a good discussion ready, you are judging and disturbing the peace of the church. You cannot have the truth. You can only have your truth. In this way, we shut down debate, in our sin, favoring tolerance, whatever that means. We close our minds, in favor of ignorance. We stop chasing after the truth, and settle for a lie of our own making. The lie that “only I can understand what God wants for my life”.
 
You might as well expect a tiger cub to remain a tiger cub and not grow into a killer than to expect error to remain content with a subservient position in the church and in your heart. So I will declare to you right now, that we have a superior right for the truth. Bigotry, I know.
 
But we have to say that. Not only have we fought a losing battle to discover the truth in our own lives, but we have struggled to make that match up to what life is like outside of Sunday School. We have to say that, if only because Jesus calls Himself the Truth and if we would be followers of Jesus, then we must declare, and not deny, that we have the truth of the world and all things.
 
Repent again, because you are not supposed to pursue the Truth of Christ for your own personal gain, though you will gain by gaining the Truth. You are to pursue it for the sake of your neighbor who needs the saving grace of Christ and not the denial of Christ before the Father.
 
You see, Creation has persecuted its Creator and you can’t get much lower than that! “You will be hated for my Name’s sake”, Jesus said, not because everyone sees you as a meanie, but because Jesus was persecuted first and you are united with Him in baptism. 
 
What is revealed, as our Gospel said, is revealed in Christ Crucified. That God, in the flesh, has come to reconcile with His enemies: us sinners. What was hidden was God’s mighty work of salvation accomplished by the suffering and death of Jesus. What was in the dark, was whether or not God truly denied His creation and so was going to destroy it once again, like the Flood. 
Or was He going to have mercy?
 
When Jesus revealed that God was going to have mercy, sin could not stand it. It lashed out and when it found purchase on this Man, claiming to be God, it found purpose in killing Him and offering Him up to governors and kings, on the cross. “We have no king but Caesar”, they said.
 
Now if God had made war with earth, that would have been acceptable. Choosing sides, picking favorites, raising up campions and warriors. Those are all things sinners understand and can get behind. Anyone born after 2001 has not seen a day without the US at war.
 
Jesus acknowledges sin, death, and the devil on His cross. He gives them their say. He allows error and denial to rule the day. And what do they accomplish? Nothing. They cannot conquer the world, because everyone disagrees on how to do it. They cannot conquer creation, God’s Word upholds it. They cannot even create a different reality, they have no power.
 
They can’t even accomplish their name’s sake because Jesus undoes them. Sin He forgives, death He forces to produce life, and the devil He judges and condemns. They tried to charge Jesus with those crimes, but He simply rose again from the dead, vindicated in His Truth. The Truth.
 
In the Truth, we are reconciled to God and given the words to confess Christ properly. That is that we proclaim His mercy, not our party lines. We acknowledge His work, not our purging of the rolls. We deny the works and ways of our sin, death, and the devil and instead offer the good confession.
 
This is where the Augsburg Confession steps in. It gives us aid in that good confession. Those who say “the Bible only” are quick to turn to their favorite teachers to define their denomination. Finding the good confession is never for our own sake, though we benefit. The good confession is all for the sake of proclaiming the pure Gospel to a world that no longer shares basic Christian assumptions of the Bible, sin, and redemption.
 
Which includes our neighbor. He wants to know what you know. He wants the forgiveness you have in Christ. He wants the devotion, the Liturgy, and the Communion you have with God. He wants the truth and you have Him. Or rather, He permits you to have Him in His Word and Sacrament.
 
Yes, Jesus bows low to the earth and submits to your senses in the Divine Service in order to save you. He comes down to give free handouts of forgiveness, faith and eternal life in Him. As The Servant God, He chooses the lowly things to reveal His heavenly things. And since it is eternal life on the line, we need to be sure we have it right, or at least as right as we can.
 
Jesus is our right, our righteousness. How that is and why that is, is what our confessions and catechism and history teach us. Jesus leaves behind His Word which is to be told publicly. Nothing is secret. Nothing is private. Jesus saves everyone the same way and unites everyone to Him. One Lord. One union. One faith. One baptism.
 
Are Lutherans going to be the only ones in heaven? Absolutely not. Are we the ones taking this Salvation from God as serious as possible so that we are sure that we don’t deny Christ, in the end? I think so.
 
 

True Body, Full House [Trinity 2]

 [T E X T  O N L Y]

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. (Titus 1:4)

 

Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying: 

“When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, ‘Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’”

 

Blessed, blessed, God Blessed. We are overwhelmed with how much blessing God gives to us and that is as it should be. We should want, therefore, to be as sure as possible that we are receiving those blessings. So amidst all the “blessed are the poor”, “blessed are the peacemakers”, and today “blessed are the Kingdom-bread-eaters”, we find these blessings located only in Jesus, specifically, only in making physical contact with Him in His Body.

 

One way of physical contact is by His Word, for there would be no blessing in this eating of bread if the Lord did not say there was blessing in the eating of bread. Likewise, there would be no kingdom if the Lord did not say “Let there be a kingdom”. 

 

Many falsely believe that there are actually two kingdoms, though they will not admit it. There is a kingdom on earth and a kingdom in heaven. There has to be a kingdom on earth for two reasons, first Jesus says the kingdom is at hand, and second from everyone’s favorite book, Revelation, Jesus is going to reign on earth for 1000 years. He’s gotta do it from somewhere.

 

There also has to be a heavenly kingdom, one because Jesus says His kingdom is not of this world and two, there has to be a heavenly kingdom, because what’s on earth now absolutely cannot be the kingdom God has prepared for believers. There just has to be something better.

 

In this way, we all become good Jews and believe that the Kingdom of God is a literal, physical, and political body that will appear in front of us, on earth, just before the Last Day. “Thy kingdom come”, we pray and we cannot separate the physical image that conjures in our minds from the literal kingdom it promises.

 

And yet, we do separate them, in our sin. We separate them because we love to divide and conquer. It is our sinful nature. We want God’s Kingdom on earth so that we can be in it and others cannot. We want favor and blessing so that we can point out those who do not have it, but we rest assured, that for the most part, we do.

 

Jesus isn’t as sure as you are, in your sinfulness. In fact, whenever someone brings this subject up, He always proves them wrong. When someone told Him, “blessed are the breasts that nursed you” He shot back, “rather blessed are those who hear the Word” (Lk 11:27-28). 

 

Today’s Gospel is no different. Someone tries to say something nice about heaven and Jesus says, “when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed” (Lk14:13-14). 

 

And we’re like, whoa Jesus. That escalated quickly. We were just trying to say something nice, no need to get all bent out of shape about it. You shall not judge! Take your negativity elsewhere.

 

Repent! You do not have the right body for corrupted earth, much less do you have the right body for heaven. Before you even think about eating or the kingdom, you have to think about ability and it seems as if Jesus is saying, that since you have ability, you are not fit for the kingdom. The poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame get in before you are even thought of!

 

You don’t have the right body.

You want to be blessed? Better check your able-ist privilege at the door. Got money? Ain’t gettin in. Use of both legs? Rejected. Able to look around? Get outta here. Mental faculties intact? Keep movin pal. 

 

There is no blessing for the able and for those who have all their stuff together. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk 5:31-32).

 

I have come to call sinners to repentance. Where is the blessing in being a sinner? Sin makes you poor, crippled, blind, and lame. Where is the blessing in being a sinner?

Jesus has come for you.

 

Where is the blessing in being poor, crippled, blind, and lame? Jesus comes to give you His Body in exchange. He has come to regenerate and renew. “Born again” we call it. Given a new generation, a new life. A second Life. The first was a bust. The second is eternal salvation in Christ.

 

God came in His own body to redeem your lowly body. God was made man, in order to remake man in His Image once again, because that image was lost in Adam’s fall. Jesus Christ, God in man made manifest, took on flesh and bone in order to retake the blessings of God for man, and give them back to man.

 

“Truly I say to you,” Jesus says in St. Matthew 19, “that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (v.28). In the regeneration, you shall sit with Jesus. The regeneration of body and soul. 

 

For you are corrupted in your body in two ways. First, you cannot stand to be in the presence of sin, so much so that you get sick, grow old, and you will die. Second, Your body cannot withstand the kingdom of heaven. That Kingdom is brought in by the cross and you are too weak for the cross, much less its glory and holiness found therein.

 

Jesus takes the body, all our bodies, into Himself. He, as man, ascends to triumph on the very cross you cannot withstand and against the very sin that destroys body and soul, He emerges from the Tomb victorious, in His Body.

 

It is Jesus’ Bread. It is Jesus’ Kingdom. It is Jesus’ Feast. To Jesus, the Father says, “when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind [in sin], and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Lk 14:13-14).

 

And He does just that. He doesn’t call the righteous, He doesn’t call the holy. He calls the poor, wretched sinners to His banquet. Why? Because its not good enough for the others? No. Because, the blessing is not being in a fancy mansion, with fancy tables, and fancy manners. 

 

The blessing is: Jesus is regenerating bodies. He is making the Poor into princes. He is making the cripple sound of mind and body. He is making the lame into olympians. He is making the blind see. 

 

Why? Because the blessing is not ability. The blessing is that the Lord’s house must be full. “And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled’” (Lk 14:23).

 

In Christ, the blessing is: “blessed is everyone who fills the House of the Lord”. Do you take up space? You’re invited! Do you breathe, eat, drink, and grow? 

 

To you our Lord says, “Take and eat. The true Body of Christ, given for you!” 

The true Body of Christ, given for you. There is the right Body. There is the whole Body, the healthy Body, the Body that is able to save each and every person that has ever and will ever walk this earthly realm. Given for you.

 

Welcome to the Lord’s Body shop. He gives you His. No strings. No catch. You get it and you get in and you are blessed, in Christ. Blessed are you, dear Christian, for you do eat bread in the Kingdom of God, today, in the Body of Jesus Christ, your risen Lord and Savior.

 

Claim your true body in love, in the Word, in talk, in deed, and in the Truth. Your Lord comes to you to make physical contact with you in order to transfer His holiness to you. You want blessings? They are only located in the Body and Blood of Christ, no matter if you’re rich or poor, able or unable. All will be regenerated so that our lowly bodies will be like His Glorious Body, in Christ.