Matthew 5:14-16 The parable of the Good Samaritan, which we heard in today’s Gospel from St. Luke, applies primarily to Jesus, and to the mercy he shows to us, who have been deeply wounded and left in the gutter by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Jesus is the Samaritan who picks us up…
Romans 10:5-17 We believe in a God who speaks. He is not a God who invites us to draw near to him through ecstatic experiences or feelings of enlightenment. We do not know God through emotions or mysticism. Rather, it is God who first draws near to us, by speaking to us. And he wants…
Genesis 4:1-15 Cain, the fratricidal son of Adam and Eve, is treated in Scripture as being among the most heinous of villains. St. John writes in his First Epistle: “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard…
Romans 9:30-10:4 What does it mean to “pursue righteousness”? That’s not a phrase that we hear very often. Does this mean that people today don’t pursue righteousness? Or does this mean that they describe and define this pursuit in different ways, with different terms? Well, to be righteous, or to have righteousness, means that things…
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 “Now let that be a lesson to you.” When you were young, you probably heard that from your parents, as a response to some blunder that you committed, or that someone else committed, resulting in a bad outcome. They wanted you to avoid this blunder in the future. In today’s reading from…
Romans 6:15-23 “For the wages of sin is death.” We all know what a wage is, especially in comparison to a gift. A wage is something you get as a consequence of your own work. A wage is something you earn. It is not given to you as a gift, with no strings attached. Rather,…
Exodus 20:1-17 “And God spoke all these words…” In this way, Moses introduces his recounting, in the Book of Exodus, of the text of the Ten Commandments that the Lord had revealed to him on Mount Sinai. We note as Moses tells us, that God spoke these words. The Ten Commandments were not the result of…
Sermon Text Luke 5:1-11 There are many in this world who think they are too smart to be a Christian. They know that it is necessary for Christians to believe in miracles: chiefly the miracle of the incarnation and the miracle of the resurrection; but also the many other miracles that took place during the…
Luke 1:39-56 – Visitation Quite often, important events look and feel like important events. They are witnessed by a lot of people, and they make a big impact on a lot of people. But sometimes, important events can go unnoticed by everyone except those few people who are participating in them. And maybe even those…
Presentation of the Augsburg Confession – Romans 10:4-11 Today is the anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession, which occurred on June 25th, 1530. This is a commemoration that does appear on Lutheran church calendars, even though it is seldom observed. Reformation Sunday – the Sunday closest to October 31st – marks the occasion…