Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marias, MN
On the way to Jerusalem he 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, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“As [Jesus] was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance…” they were unclean, it was all they could do… stand at a distance. No one would tolerate their presence any other way. The disease that plagued them, leprosy, was plain for all to see. You could only cover up so much… but, hands showed, and faces… you couldn’t hide the white glossy skin or the black rotting spots, you couldn’t hide the missing fingers and swollen feet. Leprosy was obvious, and it made them unclean. All they could do was stand at a distance and shout hoping that Jesus would hear them. All they could do was believe that if he heard them, he would do what he had done for others. “Jesus, Master, have pity on us! Heal us. Take away these awful spots… remove this uncleanness.” Jesus had done it before. He could do it again.
Annabelle felt dirty, and nothing seemed to take it away. She showered five or six times a day, but nothing helped. In her mind she knew that it wasn’t her fault, she had been careful, she had followed all the rules… she never walked at night alone, she avoided dark places, she was always alert to the danger, but it caught her by surprise. It was a public place, but still no one seemed to notice. No one came to help her. The rape made her feel dirty. And even now, months later it made here feel sick. She just couldn’t get over the shameful feelings that overwhelmed her. Her attacker had been caught, he was convicted, he was guilty not her. She knew it. “So why do I feel guilty?” she asked herself. “Other people must feel it, too.” She saw how friends avoided her. Somehow she was ‘tainted.’ They never knew what to say, it was easier to just keep a distance. It just felt better that way. Annabelle felt abandoned, outcast and alone. And she called out to God too, from a distance. How could he love her? How could she come into his presence? She was dirty. She was unclean.
We know what it means to be unclean. It is a violation of what should be. We are repulsed by rotten food, blood, and skin diseases. All we want to do is turn away from it and put as much distance as possible between ourselves and the ‘unclean’ thing.
These feelings are only a small window into the uncleanness that all people have in God’s sight.
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48, ESV)
“Be perfectly clean, without spot or blemish!” It’s a demand we can’t abide. We know the uncleanness that plagues all people. We know dirt, and filth. We know we are tainted, unclean, and polluted; we’ve seen it in others… “He sure got his hands dirty on that deal.” We say about a shady business. We see it in ourselves. It is there just below the surface; lurking about… thoughts of selfishness, greed, and desire. We know ‘unclean’ and we know we are it.
God is holy and perfect. If we are not perfectly perfect, completely clean, we are offensive to him. If we are unclean, He cannot tolerate our presence. We cannot have access to him; he will not come near us, as long as we remain contaminated. We cannot scrub ourselves clean.
Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord GOD.” (Jeremiah 2:22, ESV)
Our uncleanness leaves us abandoned, outcast and alone.
But God has come near to us. "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" the Lepers shouted. Jesus saw them, and he healed them. He made them clean. He removed their disease and he sent them to the priests to have them declared ‘clean.’ They would offer a sacrifice to God. A blood offering, to announce that they were free from the disease, they were clean. Jesus drew near to them by healing them.
Jesus drew near to us when He entered our contaminated world. He came to us, perfectly clean, perfectly holy, perfectly human, perfectly God. And he came to wash us clean. He didn’t come only to clean diseases of the skin he came to clean the disease of the heart. The inner uncleanness that lies just below the surface. The dirt that we can’t clean, he washes clean by shedding his holy and precious blood, and his innocent suffering and death. His blood does what we cannot.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (Psalm 51:2, ESV)
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7, ESV)
We cry for mercy. “Oh Lord, have pity… I am unclean… I have sinned against you, in thought word and deed.” He answers our prayers. “I forgive you. I make you clean.”
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, ESV)
God no longer recoils from us. He comes near to us. Where two or three are gathered in my name, I promise you my presence.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13, ESV)
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,” (Ephesians 5:25–26, ESV)
This was the verse Annabelle clung to. “… washing with water through the word.” Whenever, she felt dirty and defiled, she turned to what God had done for her in Baptism. God had cleaned her, he had accepted her, and he had drawn near to her. “…wash me and I will be clean.” She would say to herself as she made the sign of the cross. She remembered that she had been saved by the blood of Christ, and washed clean, even if she didn’t always feel clean. She knew it was true because God had promised it. “Thank you Jesus for making me clean.” She prayed. “Rise and go, your faith has made you clean.” God says to her.
As the ten men walked down the road toward the temple the suddenly began to realize that each one of them had been healed. Gone were the sores. Gone were the dark rotting spots… they were clean, totally, utterly clean. The looked at one another in amazement, and they began to run… to the temple… to the presence of God. But one of them stopped, “to the presence of God?!?” He said. He knew were God was. He knew who had cleansed him. He knew where he had to go. He turned around and ran even faster. “Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!” he said with each step louder and louder as he approached the presence of Jesus. He threw himself at Jesus feet, wrapped his arms around him. “Thank you! Jesus. Praise God!” he shouted. “I’m clean!” “Arise and go, your faith has made you clean.” Jesus said to him.
The leper was made clean. Annabelle was made clean. We have been made clean. No longer are we abandoned, outcast and alone. No longer do we shrink from God’s presence, nor does he recoil at ours. He came to us in Jesus Christ to cleanse us from our sins. He comes to us with his presence as we gather here in this place. “Thank you, Jesus, for making us clean.” We say.
And there is just one more thing. Just as Jesus is present with us now, he is present with us always… just as he promised. But he will be present with us in an even greater and more mysterious way in just a few moments. He will come to us again with his blood to cleanse us again… “This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” for your cleansing. Jesus says. “Take and eat, take and drink, you have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.” We approach his presence at this rail and kneel at his feet. And we eat and drink and his blood purifies. We draw near to him because he has drawn near to us.
Did you know that often the Lord’s Supper is called the “Eucharist.” It’s a Greek word that means “Thanksgiving.” Because of Jesus, because of the shedding of his blood, because of his death, because of his resurrection, we are no longer ‘at a distance’ from God; we are in his very presence. We are clean. “He recalls his promises and leads his people forth in joy, with shouts of thanksgiving. Alleluia.” Thank you, Jesus, for making us clean.
We give thanks to you, almighty God, that you have refreshed us thorough this salutary gift, and we implore you that of your mercy you would strengthen us through the same in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, you Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
Sunday, October 12, 2025
Sunday, October 05, 2025
Luke 17:1-2; The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost; October 5, 2025;
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;
Σκάνδαλον, a scandal. The English just isn’t strong enough. It uses “temptations to sin” when the Greek word is “scandal”. A scandal is a trap, a snare. It is used particularly to trap a small animal, like a bird. In ancient times a scandal trap was made to look safe. An easy place to get food for shelter. The hunter would smear a glue, called bird lime, on branches where the bird perched. When it does it is stuck by its feet or feathers and can’t get free. Or a snare would loop around a foot or neck to trap it. The scandal traps the unsuspecting. Jesus says, scandals are sure to come! He’s talking about anything that lures someone into sin or shakes faith. He is blunt. You are going to have to deal with these. I always talk about how false doctrine is always dangerous. It causes “stumbling”. It is a snare. A trap. Jesus gives us warning. They will always be there, in the church. He’s talking about a careless words, moral failures, hypocrisy, and false teaching. It especially applies to pastors. The congregation is called to be on alert. False doctrine can sound convincing, but it is a stumbling block, especially when proclaimed in false authority from the pulpit, souls are in danger. When a child hears an adult Christian lie, when a pastor covers up sin, when teaching is twisted to accommodate the culture, it causes a stumbling block for people. We need to be especially vigilant. CFW Walther, the first president of the Missouri Synod, often said the sheep are to judge the shepherd. In other words, the church has a duty and responsibility to assure that what is preached is strict accordance with God’s Word. They are responsible for the voices they follow. A sermon is a life and death issue. If a pastor errors in that setting, the sheep may perish. Jesus issues fair warning. Be on alert, the scandals will come.
Causing God’s little ones scandal is serious. And although it is about children, it isn’t only children he is speaking about. He is certainly talking about children, but also those who are weak and vulnerable. Those who have already been led down the dangerous path of false doctrine. In other words, those who are easily led astray. Think about new converts, or socially insignificant members. Even those who are shaky, still learning, or have issues with their conscience. Jesus identifies with these. Whatever you do to the least of these… you did it to me. (Matt 25).
Sometimes the scandal doesn’t come from false doctrine outright, but from a pastor who forgets the purpose of preaching. The pulpit is not given for ranting against the latest actions of the government, or for pushing personal opinions, or for entertaining the people with stories and jokes. When a sermon becomes little more than a political tirade or a personal soapbox, it ceases to deliver Law and Gospel, and the sheep are left unfed. That is a stumbling block. Christ gave His Church pastors to proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His name — not to thunder about Washington or St. Paul. If I preach my politics instead of Christ crucified, I lay a snare in front of the little ones. And Jesus’ warning is clear: woe to the one by whom such scandals come.
And it isn’t just pastors. And how easily scandals come! Think of the member who gossips about others, leaving the new believer confused about whether love really rules in Christ’s church. Think of the long-time Christian who treats worship casually, teaching by example that the gifts of Word and Sacrament are optional. Think of the parent who mocks the pastor’s sermon at the dinner table, undermining the faith of a child. Think of the church leader who excuses sin or teaches something contrary to God’s Word, and others follow him into error. All of these become stumbling blocks, snares to the “little ones” for whom Christ died.
Woe! (οὐαί). Small word strong consequences. It expresses deep sorrow and grief. It isn’t only a threat, but also a lament. And then he describes the least of the consequences.
But Woe! isn’t when Jesus says woe! it isn’t a gleeful threat but a sorrowful cry. The prophet make this clear.
But the shocking this isn’t that preachers cause scandal, through hypocrisy, or false teaching, or moral failure. The greatest scandal is Jesus himself, on the cross. St. Paul says We preach Christ crucified, a scandal to the Jews and folly to the Greeks (1 Cor 1:23). It looks like failure and defeat to the whole world. But the bloody death of God on the cross is the trap, the scandal that traps the devil. Jesus walks into the scandal of the cross. He allowed himself to be mocked and beaten, condemned and cursed. He bore every useless word, every false doctrine, every pastoral failure, every stumbling block. He did it so that none of his little ones would be lost.
The cross is the ultimate millstone. It is judgment, drowning and death, not for you, but for another, in our place. He became the least, the smallest, the weakest, the most despised. He did it to redeem the least, the smallest, the weakest, the most despised. You and me, are those for whom he died. His death shows us just how precious every single one of us is.
And just as scandals can harm the little ones, the love of Christ seen in a congregation does the opposite. A kind word of encouragement to another member that builds them up. A parent who takes the time to explain the sermon to a young one. A member who visits the member who temporarily can’t attend worship bringing companionship and comfort. These are examples of faith that strengthen instead of scandalizing.
Remember that you are connected to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus reverses everything through the cross. He carried it into the depths and left it buried there. What dragged us down now lifts us up. What meant our death has become our life. What was judgment has become salvation.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
And [Jesus] said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. (Luke 17:1–2, ESV)Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Σκάνδαλον, a scandal. The English just isn’t strong enough. It uses “temptations to sin” when the Greek word is “scandal”. A scandal is a trap, a snare. It is used particularly to trap a small animal, like a bird. In ancient times a scandal trap was made to look safe. An easy place to get food for shelter. The hunter would smear a glue, called bird lime, on branches where the bird perched. When it does it is stuck by its feet or feathers and can’t get free. Or a snare would loop around a foot or neck to trap it. The scandal traps the unsuspecting. Jesus says, scandals are sure to come! He’s talking about anything that lures someone into sin or shakes faith. He is blunt. You are going to have to deal with these. I always talk about how false doctrine is always dangerous. It causes “stumbling”. It is a snare. A trap. Jesus gives us warning. They will always be there, in the church. He’s talking about a careless words, moral failures, hypocrisy, and false teaching. It especially applies to pastors. The congregation is called to be on alert. False doctrine can sound convincing, but it is a stumbling block, especially when proclaimed in false authority from the pulpit, souls are in danger. When a child hears an adult Christian lie, when a pastor covers up sin, when teaching is twisted to accommodate the culture, it causes a stumbling block for people. We need to be especially vigilant. CFW Walther, the first president of the Missouri Synod, often said the sheep are to judge the shepherd. In other words, the church has a duty and responsibility to assure that what is preached is strict accordance with God’s Word. They are responsible for the voices they follow. A sermon is a life and death issue. If a pastor errors in that setting, the sheep may perish. Jesus issues fair warning. Be on alert, the scandals will come.
Causing God’s little ones scandal is serious. And although it is about children, it isn’t only children he is speaking about. He is certainly talking about children, but also those who are weak and vulnerable. Those who have already been led down the dangerous path of false doctrine. In other words, those who are easily led astray. Think about new converts, or socially insignificant members. Even those who are shaky, still learning, or have issues with their conscience. Jesus identifies with these. Whatever you do to the least of these… you did it to me. (Matt 25).
Sometimes the scandal doesn’t come from false doctrine outright, but from a pastor who forgets the purpose of preaching. The pulpit is not given for ranting against the latest actions of the government, or for pushing personal opinions, or for entertaining the people with stories and jokes. When a sermon becomes little more than a political tirade or a personal soapbox, it ceases to deliver Law and Gospel, and the sheep are left unfed. That is a stumbling block. Christ gave His Church pastors to proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His name — not to thunder about Washington or St. Paul. If I preach my politics instead of Christ crucified, I lay a snare in front of the little ones. And Jesus’ warning is clear: woe to the one by whom such scandals come.
And it isn’t just pastors. And how easily scandals come! Think of the member who gossips about others, leaving the new believer confused about whether love really rules in Christ’s church. Think of the long-time Christian who treats worship casually, teaching by example that the gifts of Word and Sacrament are optional. Think of the parent who mocks the pastor’s sermon at the dinner table, undermining the faith of a child. Think of the church leader who excuses sin or teaches something contrary to God’s Word, and others follow him into error. All of these become stumbling blocks, snares to the “little ones” for whom Christ died.
Woe! (οὐαί). Small word strong consequences. It expresses deep sorrow and grief. It isn’t only a threat, but also a lament. And then he describes the least of the consequences.
It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. (v2)The millstone is a large one. A “donkey-millstone”. It was enormous, pushed by animals to grind the wheat. Not some small handheld millstone. If you were thrown into the water with a huge donkey-millstone around your neck you would have no hope of being saved. And the word sin is, you guessed it, causing a scandal, a stumbling block, for the little ones. The causing of a stumbling block for the little ones is sin that is not small matter. The drowning with a donkey-millstone is the just punishment.
But Woe! isn’t when Jesus says woe! it isn’t a gleeful threat but a sorrowful cry. The prophet make this clear.
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ezekiel 18:23, ESV)God’s justice demands punishment for sin. But he delights in showing mercy. Punishment is God’s “strange work” (opus alienum). Mercy is his “proper work” (opus proprium). The cross is the proof of that. He sent Jesus to suffer the punishment of sin for all people. He even punished his own son, to avoid punishing sinful people.
But the shocking this isn’t that preachers cause scandal, through hypocrisy, or false teaching, or moral failure. The greatest scandal is Jesus himself, on the cross. St. Paul says We preach Christ crucified, a scandal to the Jews and folly to the Greeks (1 Cor 1:23). It looks like failure and defeat to the whole world. But the bloody death of God on the cross is the trap, the scandal that traps the devil. Jesus walks into the scandal of the cross. He allowed himself to be mocked and beaten, condemned and cursed. He bore every useless word, every false doctrine, every pastoral failure, every stumbling block. He did it so that none of his little ones would be lost.
The cross is the ultimate millstone. It is judgment, drowning and death, not for you, but for another, in our place. He became the least, the smallest, the weakest, the most despised. He did it to redeem the least, the smallest, the weakest, the most despised. You and me, are those for whom he died. His death shows us just how precious every single one of us is.
but [Jesus] emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:7–8, ESV)He became a servant, in the eyes of the world, the least of all. He humbled himself to take on your sin and death, and rose again to bring you, the least, new life. The scandal that destroys faith is real — but the scandal that saves faith is greater. Christ crucified.
And just as scandals can harm the little ones, the love of Christ seen in a congregation does the opposite. A kind word of encouragement to another member that builds them up. A parent who takes the time to explain the sermon to a young one. A member who visits the member who temporarily can’t attend worship bringing companionship and comfort. These are examples of faith that strengthen instead of scandalizing.
Remember that you are connected to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus reverses everything through the cross. He carried it into the depths and left it buried there. What dragged us down now lifts us up. What meant our death has become our life. What was judgment has become salvation.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3–4, ESV)So, lift up your heads, you who were once little ones. The scandal of the cross is your safety. The drowning is already done; you have died with Christ. The resurrection has already happened; you have been raised with him also. You are his—redeemed, forgiven and raised to walk in newness of life. The millstone is gone. The scandal is buried. The cross has triumphed. You belong to Jesus. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Sunday, September 28, 2025
1 Timothy 3:1-15; The Sixteenth after Pentecost; September 28, 2025;
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;
We live in a world of Job Descriptions. Everyone who is looking for a job wants to know if they qualify. St Paul, here in our text, gives one such list. It isn’t a job description for a CEO, but for Overseers and Deacons. These words are used in the New Testament to describe pastors.
I’ll be honest with you. This is a daunting list. I often find myself asking, “Am I really qualified?” I know my own weaknesses. I know my own faults. Both are numerous. I am indeed a sinner who needs Jesus. I know how easy it would be to make this sermon self-serving. All Pastors are a bit narcissistic.
But Paul isn’t hand us a pastors checklist for perfection. He is showing us, as a congregation, what it looks like when Christ shapes his servants to reflect his care.
I (and every pastor I know) look for God’s grace often, to endeavor to live out these qualifications, not for myself (ourselves) but in service of the church, in service of this congregation. God doesn’t give us this list to feed our pride. He gives it to say how Christ himself provides shepherds and servants so his people can benefit.
Paul says, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer (pastor), he desires a noble task.” I can testify, it doesn’t always feel so noble. But what the world sees a noble is not what God sees. Luther says, this “noble task” isn’t about prestige, but it is about the cross—hard labor, humility and suffering for the Word of God. It isn’t a career ladder to a better job, or a better church. It is Christ’s way of feeding his sheep his Word and Sacraments.
CFW Walther, the first president of the LCMS said, “The ministry is no human arrangement but God’s own institution.” (Kirche und Amt, Thesis I). What he means is that God describes what the ministry is, not us. So, we have Paul’s list.
Overseers: Must be above reproach, sober-minded, faithful in their households. And Deacons: dignified, truthful, and merciful. Oh and, also a man. I know this is controversial in the church at large. But it is very clear here in God’s word.
In a society that had women priests around every corner, Paul states clearly a pastor must “be the husband of one wife.” He doesn’t say “having one spouse.” He is clearly counter-cultural. The two words husband and wife that are gender specific. Literally he says, “one-woman man”. He didn’t use the common word for a person which is general neutral ἄνθρωπος, he used ἄνδρα, meaning husband, not spouse. It isn’t just a principle; it is gender specific.
The idea is God’s. It isn’t about ability. It doesn't claim men are better that women. Many women have the skills to be a good pastor. God chooses differently. It is about his created order. Nothing else. The church isn’t free to change what God desires because it is culturally relevant. Walther again: “The call to the ministry belongs to those qualified by Scripture, not by human preference.”
The fact is, Jesus was a man. He uses men, just as his twelve apostles, as his stand-ins. The pastor stands in Christ’s stead (in persona Christi). It is never about lording over others but serving others as Christ has by preaching, baptizing, absolving and feeding his body and blood. And in case you hadn’t thought it through it is the only requirement for a pastor that isn’t personal. Not all men are qualified to be pastors either.
An aside. Pastors are men, sinful men. They are prone to all the temptations of all men. In fact, you don’t have to think very hard to see examples of pastors who have fallen into grievous sin, particularly sexual sins. It is a great tragedy to the church. It causes the world to cluck their tongues and say; they are no better than anyone else. It causes the church, and especially the individual congregations involved, to doubt God’s provision for the church. It causes anger at the man and even at God. CFW Walther, who had a lot to say on the topic of pastors, said: The treasure does not lose its value, even if carried in a poor vessel. The truth is all pastors are flawed, sinful, poor vessels. And sin is sin. There are some sins, though, that are disqualifying for the office of the ministry. Those include sexual sins. But remember, God doesn’t promise sinless pastors, he only promises that he works through sinful men. Despite the sin, and even unbelief, he still preaches God’s word, he still baptizes, he still delivers his gifts faithfully. It is never about the faithfulness of the pastor, but the faithfulness of God. Also, there is no sin that isn’t covered by Jesus’ death. Even if a man can no longer be a pastor, he can still be forgiven in Christ.
Let’s talk a little about the two words Paul uses for a pastor in our text. First deacon (Greek: Διακόνους). The word itself means servant. You may have heard that means “through the dust”. That’s a folksy breaking down of the word into two ideas that probably aren’t intended. But I kinda like the image. The servant runs through the dust to deliver what is needed. It is at the heart of the pastoral service. Jesus himself came into the dust of earth to serve. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve (διακονῆσαι) and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28). (by the way the word “serve” in Jesus words is the same root word!)
Just think of the times the pastor is called to run through the dust. Sitting at the hospital bed when a member is broken and afraid. Offering council when a member is angry with the church. Visiting shut-ins with the Word and the Sacraments. Pouring water on the head of an infant. And the many quiet hours alone with an open bible, wrestling with a text on behalf of the congregation he serves. Getting dusty for the people of God, according to God’s call.
But, why pastors? Why sinful men? If flows from the Gospel itself. Article IV of the Augsburg Confession tells us the CenterPoint of our faith.
In other words, God didn’t leave His promise floating in the air. He made sure it would reach you. He gave the ministry — pastors to preach it into your ears, to pour it on your head in Baptism, to place it on your tongue in the Supper. Or as Luther said, “The pastor is nothing more than Christ’s mouth and hands for his people.
It is God’s work. He has provided salvation to people. Jesus became a man, a human male, who preached and taught, ate and laughed, touched and cried. A true human being, whose death on the cross was for the sake of his people. All of it is very human, very physical. Of course he wasn’t only a man, he was God. So, his death on the cross was more than human. It stood for the sins of the whole world. And faith in Jesus is all that is required for salvation.
God not only provided salvation — He guaranteed that you would actually receive it. And the ways he does it, like always, in ways very physical. Words spoken, water poured, bread and wine given to eat and drink. That’s why the office matters. Not because pastors are perfect, but because God cares that nothing blocks His gifts from reaching His people. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:1–16, ESV)Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
We live in a world of Job Descriptions. Everyone who is looking for a job wants to know if they qualify. St Paul, here in our text, gives one such list. It isn’t a job description for a CEO, but for Overseers and Deacons. These words are used in the New Testament to describe pastors.
I’ll be honest with you. This is a daunting list. I often find myself asking, “Am I really qualified?” I know my own weaknesses. I know my own faults. Both are numerous. I am indeed a sinner who needs Jesus. I know how easy it would be to make this sermon self-serving. All Pastors are a bit narcissistic.
But Paul isn’t hand us a pastors checklist for perfection. He is showing us, as a congregation, what it looks like when Christ shapes his servants to reflect his care.
I (and every pastor I know) look for God’s grace often, to endeavor to live out these qualifications, not for myself (ourselves) but in service of the church, in service of this congregation. God doesn’t give us this list to feed our pride. He gives it to say how Christ himself provides shepherds and servants so his people can benefit.
Paul says, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer (pastor), he desires a noble task.” I can testify, it doesn’t always feel so noble. But what the world sees a noble is not what God sees. Luther says, this “noble task” isn’t about prestige, but it is about the cross—hard labor, humility and suffering for the Word of God. It isn’t a career ladder to a better job, or a better church. It is Christ’s way of feeding his sheep his Word and Sacraments.
CFW Walther, the first president of the LCMS said, “The ministry is no human arrangement but God’s own institution.” (Kirche und Amt, Thesis I). What he means is that God describes what the ministry is, not us. So, we have Paul’s list.
Overseers: Must be above reproach, sober-minded, faithful in their households. And Deacons: dignified, truthful, and merciful. Oh and, also a man. I know this is controversial in the church at large. But it is very clear here in God’s word.
In a society that had women priests around every corner, Paul states clearly a pastor must “be the husband of one wife.” He doesn’t say “having one spouse.” He is clearly counter-cultural. The two words husband and wife that are gender specific. Literally he says, “one-woman man”. He didn’t use the common word for a person which is general neutral ἄνθρωπος, he used ἄνδρα, meaning husband, not spouse. It isn’t just a principle; it is gender specific.
The idea is God’s. It isn’t about ability. It doesn't claim men are better that women. Many women have the skills to be a good pastor. God chooses differently. It is about his created order. Nothing else. The church isn’t free to change what God desires because it is culturally relevant. Walther again: “The call to the ministry belongs to those qualified by Scripture, not by human preference.”
The fact is, Jesus was a man. He uses men, just as his twelve apostles, as his stand-ins. The pastor stands in Christ’s stead (in persona Christi). It is never about lording over others but serving others as Christ has by preaching, baptizing, absolving and feeding his body and blood. And in case you hadn’t thought it through it is the only requirement for a pastor that isn’t personal. Not all men are qualified to be pastors either.
An aside. Pastors are men, sinful men. They are prone to all the temptations of all men. In fact, you don’t have to think very hard to see examples of pastors who have fallen into grievous sin, particularly sexual sins. It is a great tragedy to the church. It causes the world to cluck their tongues and say; they are no better than anyone else. It causes the church, and especially the individual congregations involved, to doubt God’s provision for the church. It causes anger at the man and even at God. CFW Walther, who had a lot to say on the topic of pastors, said: The treasure does not lose its value, even if carried in a poor vessel. The truth is all pastors are flawed, sinful, poor vessels. And sin is sin. There are some sins, though, that are disqualifying for the office of the ministry. Those include sexual sins. But remember, God doesn’t promise sinless pastors, he only promises that he works through sinful men. Despite the sin, and even unbelief, he still preaches God’s word, he still baptizes, he still delivers his gifts faithfully. It is never about the faithfulness of the pastor, but the faithfulness of God. Also, there is no sin that isn’t covered by Jesus’ death. Even if a man can no longer be a pastor, he can still be forgiven in Christ.
Let’s talk a little about the two words Paul uses for a pastor in our text. First deacon (Greek: Διακόνους). The word itself means servant. You may have heard that means “through the dust”. That’s a folksy breaking down of the word into two ideas that probably aren’t intended. But I kinda like the image. The servant runs through the dust to deliver what is needed. It is at the heart of the pastoral service. Jesus himself came into the dust of earth to serve. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve (διακονῆσαι) and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28). (by the way the word “serve” in Jesus words is the same root word!)
Just think of the times the pastor is called to run through the dust. Sitting at the hospital bed when a member is broken and afraid. Offering council when a member is angry with the church. Visiting shut-ins with the Word and the Sacraments. Pouring water on the head of an infant. And the many quiet hours alone with an open bible, wrestling with a text on behalf of the congregation he serves. Getting dusty for the people of God, according to God’s call.
But, why pastors? Why sinful men? If flows from the Gospel itself. Article IV of the Augsburg Confession tells us the CenterPoint of our faith.
Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight (Romans 3 and 4 [3:21–26; 4:5].The article tells how we become justified in God’s sight. Not by works, but by faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Nothing is more important in the Christian faith. The very next article V says this:
So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22]. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake.So that we may obtain this faith. God gives pastors to churches. In the words of my beloved professor, Norman Nagel. “God not only gives the goods, by he gives the way they can be got.” In other words, God provides what we need, at the time we need it, in a place where we can find, in a physical person. The question you may ask is “How do I know the promises of God are for me?” Well, the answer is “Because your head got wet in Holy Baptism.” God provided a means for you to be sure. He provided a pastor (normally) to do it.
In other words, God didn’t leave His promise floating in the air. He made sure it would reach you. He gave the ministry — pastors to preach it into your ears, to pour it on your head in Baptism, to place it on your tongue in the Supper. Or as Luther said, “The pastor is nothing more than Christ’s mouth and hands for his people.
It is God’s work. He has provided salvation to people. Jesus became a man, a human male, who preached and taught, ate and laughed, touched and cried. A true human being, whose death on the cross was for the sake of his people. All of it is very human, very physical. Of course he wasn’t only a man, he was God. So, his death on the cross was more than human. It stood for the sins of the whole world. And faith in Jesus is all that is required for salvation.
God not only provided salvation — He guaranteed that you would actually receive it. And the ways he does it, like always, in ways very physical. Words spoken, water poured, bread and wine given to eat and drink. That’s why the office matters. Not because pastors are perfect, but because God cares that nothing blocks His gifts from reaching His people. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Amos.8.4-7; The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost; September 21, 2025;
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;
Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. (Amos 8:4-7, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Oh, come, let us sin unto the Lord!” No, I didn’t forget the “g”. I really did say, “Come let us sin to the Lord.” Well, it’s what the prophet Amos is saying here. He tops his list of the sins of God’s people with not caring for the needy and preferring business to worship. “Let’s get church over with so we can get back to business. Let’s cut this stuff short so we can do what’s important. Let’s minimize our obligations to God, so we can spend our time doing what we want to do instead. Time is money. Let’s get back to what life is really all about… the pursuit of happiness!” And what’s worse the business practices they want to get back to are less than beneficial to the customers. Crooked scales and high prices combine for great profit margins, but poor customer service. They were coming to church, but it was the last place they wanted to be. Amos was point blunt. “You’re only here to get credit for being here. You want God to notice that you are doing your part, paying your fair share, but your mind is in the market. God’s Word is far from your heart when you are far from His house. You think that you are entitled to pursue happiness because you’ve parking in the pew.”
Well, it’s a good thing that Amos isn’t talking to us. This moldy old prophet couldn’t possibly have anything relevant to say. How could words scratched out 3,000 years ago mean anything to you and me? God really couldn’t be speaking to me. Could he? Oh come, let us sin unto the Lord! Watching your clock already? How long is the sermon going to be today? Week three Vikings vs Radiers. The roast is in the oven. I don’t want to spend my whole day here. Twice a month Communion would be better if it didn’t take so long. My time is valuable… Time is money… Ah, that’s what it’s about, isn’t it? We are not so far from God’s people who were hit between the eyes by Amos’ words. We do just what they did. We want put God in church and leave Him here. We grudgingly set aside this hour for God and no more. We pretend that God gets enough of us if we look like we are enjoying our time. If we fool the pastor, we must be fooling God too.
If Amos’ words are harsh, he means them to be. His hearers were confident in their place before God. We do our part and God will do his part. We give God his due and our businesses will grow and prosper. Our thoughts are not any different. If we put our time in at church on Sunday, we can live any way we want to for the rest of the week. God doesn’t belong out there.
But God says differently. He sends prophets and pastors to make it clear. You cannot serve God and money.
…this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me… (Isaiah 29:13, ESV)
Oh, come, let us sin to the Lord, is not something God will tolerate. Sin is serious business to Him. His beautiful creation is corrupted by it. His creature’s lives are set to ruin by it. Greed provokes God’s righteous anger. Amos speaks God’s law very clearly. “I will not forget their sin, ever! I will not forget your sin, ever!”
Well we are in trouble if God won’t forget. We have a difficult time on our own forgetting sin and the sins of others against us. But we count on God’s forgiveness. We cling to Jeremiah’s words as he speaks for God.
For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34b, ESV)
But Amos goes on to describe the consequences of God not forgetting our sin.
“And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. (Amos 8:9-10, ESV)
So how do we reconcile what Amos says? We know our lack of faithfulness in worship; we see our sin and know we need God’s forgiveness. Amos writes about a darkened day, a day when there will be mourning for an only son. It reminds us of a dark day we call “good”; Good Friday. That is a day when God does exactly has, He says, He doesn’t forget our sin. In fact, He remembers them in full, by placing them on His only Son. Jesus, on the cross, is the focus of God’s wrath and anger. God is true to His promise of not forgetting sin. All human sin is heaped on Jesus; everyone remembered; every lackluster worship service; every selfish thought; every time we watch the clock; every time our mind is somewhere else; every time we set out for our own gain at the expense of others. Jesus is nailed to the cross to carry them all, to suffer God’s punishment. Jesus dies with our sin, so we are dead to it, too. Jesus takes the curse of God remembering sin, so that we can receive God’s forgiveness. Oh, come, let us sin unto the Lord… let us place our sin on Him and receive from God the forgiveness He gives though faith in Jesus.
So, does that make a difference in our worship today and in the future? Shall we continue, Oh, come, let us sin unto the Lord? Saint Paul asked the question like this:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1, ESV)
He answers the question, too:
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4, ESV)
God remembers his promises. He places our sin and punishment on Jesus and gives us Jesus resurrection to new life. We walk in newness of life! We live and act and worship differently. What God has done for us in Jesus turns that turns our sin into sing. Oh, come let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the God of our salvation. He turns our sin into song. We rejoice. We celebrate. We sing about what God has done for us. From the hymn: Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness.
Jesus, be endless praise to Thee,
Whose boundless mercy hath for me,
For me, and all Thy hands have made,
An everlasting ransom paid. (LSB 563:6)
And not only that but it changes everything else, too. Worship becomes the center point of our lives. We receive from God, His wonderful gift of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus, in Word and Sacrament, and it bleeds through us to the world out there. Our lives become ways of serving others because God serves us. Our lives don’t need to be about gaining things for ourselves with crooked scales and false measures; instead our work becomes a way of giving God’s gifts to people who need them.
Now it won’t be to long and we’ll be thinking about stewardship in our church. Yes, I’m talking about the budget. God would not have us use the budget for the motivation we would work with. God gives to us so that we can give to and help others. God’s blessings to us are for our blessing other people. One way we do that is through the work of the church. We can do so much more than we do through our own congregation. But we’ve got to start with Oh, come let us sing unto the Lord.
Oh, come, let us sin to the Lord? No! We are forgiven sinners. We do not live in sin anymore. God will not punish us for our sin because of Our Savior Jesus Christ. Instead, Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. (Amos 8:4-7, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Oh, come, let us sin unto the Lord!” No, I didn’t forget the “g”. I really did say, “Come let us sin to the Lord.” Well, it’s what the prophet Amos is saying here. He tops his list of the sins of God’s people with not caring for the needy and preferring business to worship. “Let’s get church over with so we can get back to business. Let’s cut this stuff short so we can do what’s important. Let’s minimize our obligations to God, so we can spend our time doing what we want to do instead. Time is money. Let’s get back to what life is really all about… the pursuit of happiness!” And what’s worse the business practices they want to get back to are less than beneficial to the customers. Crooked scales and high prices combine for great profit margins, but poor customer service. They were coming to church, but it was the last place they wanted to be. Amos was point blunt. “You’re only here to get credit for being here. You want God to notice that you are doing your part, paying your fair share, but your mind is in the market. God’s Word is far from your heart when you are far from His house. You think that you are entitled to pursue happiness because you’ve parking in the pew.”
Well, it’s a good thing that Amos isn’t talking to us. This moldy old prophet couldn’t possibly have anything relevant to say. How could words scratched out 3,000 years ago mean anything to you and me? God really couldn’t be speaking to me. Could he? Oh come, let us sin unto the Lord! Watching your clock already? How long is the sermon going to be today? Week three Vikings vs Radiers. The roast is in the oven. I don’t want to spend my whole day here. Twice a month Communion would be better if it didn’t take so long. My time is valuable… Time is money… Ah, that’s what it’s about, isn’t it? We are not so far from God’s people who were hit between the eyes by Amos’ words. We do just what they did. We want put God in church and leave Him here. We grudgingly set aside this hour for God and no more. We pretend that God gets enough of us if we look like we are enjoying our time. If we fool the pastor, we must be fooling God too.
If Amos’ words are harsh, he means them to be. His hearers were confident in their place before God. We do our part and God will do his part. We give God his due and our businesses will grow and prosper. Our thoughts are not any different. If we put our time in at church on Sunday, we can live any way we want to for the rest of the week. God doesn’t belong out there.
But God says differently. He sends prophets and pastors to make it clear. You cannot serve God and money.
…this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me… (Isaiah 29:13, ESV)
Oh, come, let us sin to the Lord, is not something God will tolerate. Sin is serious business to Him. His beautiful creation is corrupted by it. His creature’s lives are set to ruin by it. Greed provokes God’s righteous anger. Amos speaks God’s law very clearly. “I will not forget their sin, ever! I will not forget your sin, ever!”
Well we are in trouble if God won’t forget. We have a difficult time on our own forgetting sin and the sins of others against us. But we count on God’s forgiveness. We cling to Jeremiah’s words as he speaks for God.
For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34b, ESV)
But Amos goes on to describe the consequences of God not forgetting our sin.
“And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. (Amos 8:9-10, ESV)
So how do we reconcile what Amos says? We know our lack of faithfulness in worship; we see our sin and know we need God’s forgiveness. Amos writes about a darkened day, a day when there will be mourning for an only son. It reminds us of a dark day we call “good”; Good Friday. That is a day when God does exactly has, He says, He doesn’t forget our sin. In fact, He remembers them in full, by placing them on His only Son. Jesus, on the cross, is the focus of God’s wrath and anger. God is true to His promise of not forgetting sin. All human sin is heaped on Jesus; everyone remembered; every lackluster worship service; every selfish thought; every time we watch the clock; every time our mind is somewhere else; every time we set out for our own gain at the expense of others. Jesus is nailed to the cross to carry them all, to suffer God’s punishment. Jesus dies with our sin, so we are dead to it, too. Jesus takes the curse of God remembering sin, so that we can receive God’s forgiveness. Oh, come, let us sin unto the Lord… let us place our sin on Him and receive from God the forgiveness He gives though faith in Jesus.
So, does that make a difference in our worship today and in the future? Shall we continue, Oh, come, let us sin unto the Lord? Saint Paul asked the question like this:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1, ESV)
He answers the question, too:
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4, ESV)
God remembers his promises. He places our sin and punishment on Jesus and gives us Jesus resurrection to new life. We walk in newness of life! We live and act and worship differently. What God has done for us in Jesus turns that turns our sin into sing. Oh, come let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the God of our salvation. He turns our sin into song. We rejoice. We celebrate. We sing about what God has done for us. From the hymn: Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness.
Jesus, be endless praise to Thee,
Whose boundless mercy hath for me,
For me, and all Thy hands have made,
An everlasting ransom paid. (LSB 563:6)
And not only that but it changes everything else, too. Worship becomes the center point of our lives. We receive from God, His wonderful gift of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus, in Word and Sacrament, and it bleeds through us to the world out there. Our lives become ways of serving others because God serves us. Our lives don’t need to be about gaining things for ourselves with crooked scales and false measures; instead our work becomes a way of giving God’s gifts to people who need them.
Now it won’t be to long and we’ll be thinking about stewardship in our church. Yes, I’m talking about the budget. God would not have us use the budget for the motivation we would work with. God gives to us so that we can give to and help others. God’s blessings to us are for our blessing other people. One way we do that is through the work of the church. We can do so much more than we do through our own congregation. But we’ve got to start with Oh, come let us sing unto the Lord.
Oh, come, let us sin to the Lord? No! We are forgiven sinners. We do not live in sin anymore. God will not punish us for our sin because of Our Savior Jesus Christ. Instead, Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Ezekiel 34:11-16; The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost; September 14, 2025;
Ezekiel 34:11-16; The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost; September 14, 2025;
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;
It is pure gospel. Tucked between the law, proclaimed against the faithless shepherds and faithless sheep. God does what God does. He saves. Right after harsh judgment on faithless shepherds and wandering sheep, right there comes this Gospel. It is sheer grace. Behold I, I myself will do it. He doubles up on the subject. I…I will do it. It isn’t just a way to fill up the text, it is divine emphasis. It is a conventional oath. God is at center stage. In every verb, the subject is God himself. Ten times God’s I will echoes out from the text. He is the searcher. He is the shepherd. The sheep don’t act. It is God alone.
God says,
Behold! I, I myself will search; I will seek them out; I will rescue them; I will bring them out; I will gather them; I will feed them; The verbs, seek, rescue, bring out, gather and feed, are given in the imperfect tense. That means ongoing, continuous action by God. It doesn’t stop. It isn’t a one-time action. Whenever the sheep are lost, he finds them with his active pursuit. Whenever they are in danger, he rescues them. Whenever they are bound in chains, he brings them out. Whenever they are scattered, he gathers. Whenever they are hungry, he provides rich pasture. You are seeing the very heart of God, the searcher. Grace in action. He seeks me, his sheep, whenever I stray.
And God continues,
I myself will be the shepherd; I will seek the lost; I will bring back the strayed; I will bind up the injured; I will strengthen the weak. I will feed with justice. Again, we see God’s tender heart. Continually, God never abandons the lost; he heals wounds with forgiveness; he gives courage to face the harsh world; and he protects the vulnerable.
And yet, God says it’s true. But… the news. Instead of safety, you hear about a Christian man shot on campus, attacks on churches, workers dismissed for their confession of Christ. It is a steady drumbeat of opposition. Satan himself, and the broken world, want the sheep to think they are alone, lost, abandoned, scattered, harassed and helpless. God speaks louder than the news. I, I myself will search, I, I myself will bind. I, I myself will save.
The natural question is: When? Where? How does God do all this. It seems the world is winning. Ezekiel gives the verbs. The Gospels show the face of God, in Jesus. I, I myself will search. I, I myself will shepherd. The invisible God has become visible in Jesus. He comes into the world, not as a king, but with nail scared hands.
The presence of evil remains. The wolves prowl around the flock, licking their chops. Persecution, hatred, bloodshed. If the shepherd has come, why is this still true? Ezekiel spoke it clearly. Jesus warned of it. “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” But the power of evil is broken. Evil is met at the cross. The jaws of death are crushed. He still growls. He still bites. But he is done in. His real power is destroyed. He only lashes out in desperation. His end is sure. And he knows it. The shepherds word still stands: “I Myself will seek, I Myself will bind, I Myself will save.” In His presence—right in the middle of evil—we are not abandoned, not alone, not helpless. We are His, and nothing will snatch us from His hand.
How does God save? In Jesus. The shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
For you, He has done it—for you, the lost and condemned creature. The Shepherd became the Lamb. He was pierced for you. He bore the stripes that heal, for you. He laid down His life and rose again, for you. Jesus is the “I Myself” of Ezekiel in human flesh. Every verb—search, rescue, gather, feed, bind, strengthen—lives and breathes in Him. The news may roar with violence, hatred, and death for those who bear His name, but Christ has already crushed the wolf’s jaws. He is stronger than death, He has defeated Satan, He has won the victory—and that victory is already yours. Behold, I Myself will search. I Myself will bind. I Myself will save. That is our Savior. That is Jesus. He has done it, and He will do it forever. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.” (Ezekiel 34:11–16, ESV)Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is pure gospel. Tucked between the law, proclaimed against the faithless shepherds and faithless sheep. God does what God does. He saves. Right after harsh judgment on faithless shepherds and wandering sheep, right there comes this Gospel. It is sheer grace. Behold I, I myself will do it. He doubles up on the subject. I…I will do it. It isn’t just a way to fill up the text, it is divine emphasis. It is a conventional oath. God is at center stage. In every verb, the subject is God himself. Ten times God’s I will echoes out from the text. He is the searcher. He is the shepherd. The sheep don’t act. It is God alone.
God says,
Behold! I, I myself will search; I will seek them out; I will rescue them; I will bring them out; I will gather them; I will feed them; The verbs, seek, rescue, bring out, gather and feed, are given in the imperfect tense. That means ongoing, continuous action by God. It doesn’t stop. It isn’t a one-time action. Whenever the sheep are lost, he finds them with his active pursuit. Whenever they are in danger, he rescues them. Whenever they are bound in chains, he brings them out. Whenever they are scattered, he gathers. Whenever they are hungry, he provides rich pasture. You are seeing the very heart of God, the searcher. Grace in action. He seeks me, his sheep, whenever I stray.
And God continues,
I myself will be the shepherd; I will seek the lost; I will bring back the strayed; I will bind up the injured; I will strengthen the weak. I will feed with justice. Again, we see God’s tender heart. Continually, God never abandons the lost; he heals wounds with forgiveness; he gives courage to face the harsh world; and he protects the vulnerable.
And yet, God says it’s true. But… the news. Instead of safety, you hear about a Christian man shot on campus, attacks on churches, workers dismissed for their confession of Christ. It is a steady drumbeat of opposition. Satan himself, and the broken world, want the sheep to think they are alone, lost, abandoned, scattered, harassed and helpless. God speaks louder than the news. I, I myself will search, I, I myself will bind. I, I myself will save.
The natural question is: When? Where? How does God do all this. It seems the world is winning. Ezekiel gives the verbs. The Gospels show the face of God, in Jesus. I, I myself will search. I, I myself will shepherd. The invisible God has become visible in Jesus. He comes into the world, not as a king, but with nail scared hands.
The presence of evil remains. The wolves prowl around the flock, licking their chops. Persecution, hatred, bloodshed. If the shepherd has come, why is this still true? Ezekiel spoke it clearly. Jesus warned of it. “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” But the power of evil is broken. Evil is met at the cross. The jaws of death are crushed. He still growls. He still bites. But he is done in. His real power is destroyed. He only lashes out in desperation. His end is sure. And he knows it. The shepherds word still stands: “I Myself will seek, I Myself will bind, I Myself will save.” In His presence—right in the middle of evil—we are not abandoned, not alone, not helpless. We are His, and nothing will snatch us from His hand.
He [Christ] is the image (eikōn) of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15Every question asked is answered in the I, I myself will…
I (I, I myself) am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. John 10:11Every question you ask is answered in Jesus. When does God search?
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4–5, ESV)Where does God bind up the broken? The cross. The shepherd takes the wounds of the sheep on himself, into his own flesh.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5The healing isn’t abstract, either. He is wounded for us. Jesus, the I, I myself, is bruised, beaten, and torn. Our injuries are laid on him. His wounds become our medicine. The news tells us of violence that wounds and scatters, but the Gospel proclaims the violence Christ bore that heals and gathers. His stripes are your healing. His death is your life. His blood is the Shepherd’s binding for the broken.
How does God save? In Jesus. The shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29The I, I myself of Ezekiel takes on human flesh. Jesus Christ comes into the world to seek and save the lost. The verbs of Ezekeil take on human flesh. Jesus became the very words of God. He searches, rescues, binds and strengthens. He searches out Zacchaus, he rescues the demon-possessed, he binds the wounds of the broken. He strengthens the weak in faith. In the end he lays down his very life, so that the lost, broken, and condemned, are secure forever.
For you, He has done it—for you, the lost and condemned creature. The Shepherd became the Lamb. He was pierced for you. He bore the stripes that heal, for you. He laid down His life and rose again, for you. Jesus is the “I Myself” of Ezekiel in human flesh. Every verb—search, rescue, gather, feed, bind, strengthen—lives and breathes in Him. The news may roar with violence, hatred, and death for those who bear His name, but Christ has already crushed the wolf’s jaws. He is stronger than death, He has defeated Satan, He has won the victory—and that victory is already yours. Behold, I Myself will search. I Myself will bind. I Myself will save. That is our Savior. That is Jesus. He has done it, and He will do it forever. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Sunday, September 07, 2025
September 7, 2025; Philemon 10-21; 13th Sunday after Pentecost;
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;
1Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker. 10I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will. 15For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. Philemon 1,10-21 (ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
(Thanks again to Edit-O-Earl!)
“Other’s can err but we don’t allow ourselves the same privilege.” That’s a phrase from a sermon by a Rabbi named Daniel Roberts. It’s not really all that profound, but it is very true, especially for all you perfectionists out there. You will really understand what the Rabbi is saying. Even those who are not perfectionists know a lot about making mistakes, because our lives are full of them. A famous Bishop once said, “I saw a man this week that hasn’t made a mistake in 4000 years.” He was talking about a 4000 year old mummy. It’s only dead people who don’t make mistakes. In fact, one definition of death is: “To stop sinning, suddenly.” We are not so lucky; we make mistakes all the time. And we hate it when it happens. It’s bad enough to make a mistake but worse when we make a public one that everyone knows about. When we make them, we are usually pretty hard on ourselves doing it.
I’ve made my share of mistakes. I remember when I was little. I wanted to make a good impression on the kids at my new school. We were playing softball, and I was third base. I missed an easy grounder right to me; you know the kind practically hit my glove and slipped right between the legs. I hung my head in disgust, forgetting that there was a runner advancing round the bases. He made it all the way home while I moped trying to show deep remorse. I doubled up on my mistake, because I was trying to show how upset I was at missing the ball.
Do you remember that show the The Apprentice. One of the guys there made a big mistake. (Actually, I think Donald Trump seized on it more for ratings than anything else!) He was offered immunity from being eliminated. But thinking he had done a great job and was safe from getting fired by Trump he turned it down. Donald Trump was flabbergast and fired him. As the young man was leaving the room he said, “I’ll not make that mistake again.” Because of a silly mistake he’s now out of the running for the coveted job.
We don’t often make life-changing mistakes. Most of the time they are of no real consequence to us, we hear ourselves saying that tell-tale word “oops.” But occasionally we make a whopper, a mistake that we can’t correct, one that really makes a difference in our lives. You know the kind: The big ones that are life changing, we may say “oops” when they happen, but the word doesn’t really cover the serious nature of them.
That’s what happened to a man named Onesimus. He made a mistake, his big mistake. His mistake is the reason why Paul wrote the letter to Philemon that is our text today. In a way, Onesimus is like the “Prodigal Son.” It seems (in as much as we can guess) that he was a slave who ran away from his master, Philemon, and may have even stolen something in the process. The punishment for what he had done was death. For slaves in the Roman Empire crucifixion was the most common way to carry out a death sentence. We don’t know why Onesimus ran; he may have wanted to see the world, or he may just have wanted to get away, but he ended up in Rome. When he discovered that a life of running away wasn’t all it was cracked up to be; it is thought that he went looking for Paul, who was in prison courtesy of the Roman government. Under house arrest. Paul was Philemon’s good friend. He had founded the church at Colossae. Where Philemon lived. Onesimus must have known Paul was in Rome, so he went to see if he could help him.
Paul does help, what he does is nothing less than Christ-like. He sends Onesimus back with a letter to Philemon asking that he (Paul) be charged for anything that is owed. Implying that Onesimus should be forgiven for running and even sent back to Paul to continue working with him. Martin Luther said that we are all like Onesimus, runaway slave. Jesus saves us from the punishment we so rightly deserve. “Receive him as you would receive me,” Paul wrote to the Onesimus’ master. Sounds a lot like Jesus words, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40 (ESV)
There are two ways that people usually handle their mistakes, both the big ones and the small ones. There is the guilt route. You know that our society doesn’t really tolerate mistakes. Mistakes are seen as weak and foolish things we do that cost us. Mistakes are illogical and stupid. Just look at the ex-apprentice. Donald Trump must have called him stupid a dozen times. Oh sure, he learned from the mistake, but I wonder how long it will be before he’s hired, how long it’s going to be till he’s not known as the guy who made the “big stupid mistake” on television. When that’s the way we see life, when that’s the pressure that’s put on us, it’s no wonder that our teenagers suffer from a very high suicide rate. Our reaction when we make those dreaded mistakes is to go into automatic depression, like me when I hung my head after missing the ball. We are pushed toward self-revaluation. They cause us to re-consider our self worth. Others can err, but we don’t allow ourselves the same privilege. We hold ourselves accountable our whole life… and even beyond. And even when things seem to be going really well, we dredge up our past errors, to temper our luck. We carry our mistakes as a burden, slung over our shoulders like a big sack. That’s the guilt trip we lay on ourselves with our mistakes. And, at one time or another we’ve all been there.
And yet there’s another way to take that sentence. Others can err, but we don’t allow ourselves the same privilege. Mostly, when we run up against a mistake, we push it off on someone else. Call it the blame game. The more serious the error the more fingers we try to point away from ourselves. “If all else fails, blame someone else!” That kind of blame game has been going on since the very beginning. When God walked into the garden after Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, he asked Adam, “What did you do?” “Hey,” the man answered, “the woman gave me the fruit. It’s her fault. And you know that it never would have happened if you hadn’t put her here.” And God asked her, “What have you got to say, Eve?” “It was the snake, he fooled me.” She answered. Adam tried to reflect the blame to Eve and God. Eve blamed the snake. God laid the blame squarely where it belonged, on both of them.
The reason we fret over our mistakes or try to give them to someone else is because we know what they really mean. Often, we say, “Nobody’s perfect.” And that’s true. We are not perfect. Adam and Eve were, at first. They made more than a big mistake. It was a life-or-death issue. They willfully disobeyed God. They purposely defied his place in their lives. They followed their own desires and did the only thing God told them not to do. They condemned the whole human race to the same mistake, the same rebellion, and the same punishment. We talked about Onesimus running away from his master. And the penalty was death. Being a slave, he may have had reason to run away. We don’t have good reason to reject God. And yet we do. Every day we try to make it on our own and ignore him. If Onesimus had been caught he would have died on a cross. The punishment we deserve is no less than that. That’s what our mistakes continually remind us of. It’s not that God punishes us for our little flubs. We make mistakes because we aren’t the people that he created us to be. We don’t live up to the perfection that God has every right to expect from us. The punishment we should get is death.
In his letter to Philemon, Paul takes up Onesimus’ cause. Onesimus had made a mistake, a dangerous one. Paul could have appealed to Philemon on his authority as an apostle, in fact, as Philemon’s Pastor. But instead, he chooses to present his case through love. He never tells Philemon what he should do. He just reminds Philemon of the special relationship they have. “Don’t forget that you really owe me your very self.” As if to say, “Jesus came into your life through me.” Paul doesn’t say, “Forgive Onesimus, free him, and send him back to me.” Instead, he says, “I want you to do what you believe is right, based on your relationship with me, and mostly on your relationship with Jesus.” What kind of a relationships were those? Here are a few things Paul had said before that he may have wanted Philemon to think about:
"God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
“Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners--of whom I (Paul) am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life."
That was the background of their relationship to each other, and their relationship with Jesus. Of course, we should remember that Onesimus’ mistake wasn’t just a little one, like a secretary’s typo. It was a serious problem. It was potentially fatal. It wouldn’t be an easy thing to set aside. Philemon is asked to ignore the fact that he has a houseful of potential runaway slaves. Forgiving and forgetting is a dangerous precedent to set. But, of course, forgiveness is never easy.
Paul didn’t expect Philemon to forgive Onesimus’ mistake because he felt like forgiving him. He expected him to do it because God had already taken care of it; and not only that but because God had taken care of Philemon’s mistakes, too. He assumes that he will forgive, because he too, had been forgiven. He assumes that because God has been gracious with him, he will be gracious with his slave. Paul told Philemon to charge him for whatever Onesimus owed, and he would pay it. It was a reminder to Philemon that Jesus had already done that very thing for him.
We deal with our mistakes in different ways, but God deals with them in only one way. He dealt with our mistakes, our sin, in the death of Jesus. The cross that Onesimus deserved for running away was the cross that Jesus took. The death that we deserve for our rebellion is the death that Jesus took. Jesus died to forgive the sins of Onesimus and Philemon and Paul, of you and me, and to take care of the mistakes that we all make. We don’t have to carry them around anymore. They don’t have to trouble us to our graves. We don’t have to blame other people either. We can take the blame ourselves and remember that Jesus went to the cross and died for those mistakes too. We’ve been forgiven much. We can take those things that trouble us and give them to Jesus.
And even more importantly, when someone makes a mistake that hurts us, that costs us. We remember that we have been forgiven much. You know the largest room in the world is room for improvement. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker. 10I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will. 15For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. Philemon 1,10-21 (ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
(Thanks again to Edit-O-Earl!)
“Other’s can err but we don’t allow ourselves the same privilege.” That’s a phrase from a sermon by a Rabbi named Daniel Roberts. It’s not really all that profound, but it is very true, especially for all you perfectionists out there. You will really understand what the Rabbi is saying. Even those who are not perfectionists know a lot about making mistakes, because our lives are full of them. A famous Bishop once said, “I saw a man this week that hasn’t made a mistake in 4000 years.” He was talking about a 4000 year old mummy. It’s only dead people who don’t make mistakes. In fact, one definition of death is: “To stop sinning, suddenly.” We are not so lucky; we make mistakes all the time. And we hate it when it happens. It’s bad enough to make a mistake but worse when we make a public one that everyone knows about. When we make them, we are usually pretty hard on ourselves doing it.
I’ve made my share of mistakes. I remember when I was little. I wanted to make a good impression on the kids at my new school. We were playing softball, and I was third base. I missed an easy grounder right to me; you know the kind practically hit my glove and slipped right between the legs. I hung my head in disgust, forgetting that there was a runner advancing round the bases. He made it all the way home while I moped trying to show deep remorse. I doubled up on my mistake, because I was trying to show how upset I was at missing the ball.
Do you remember that show the The Apprentice. One of the guys there made a big mistake. (Actually, I think Donald Trump seized on it more for ratings than anything else!) He was offered immunity from being eliminated. But thinking he had done a great job and was safe from getting fired by Trump he turned it down. Donald Trump was flabbergast and fired him. As the young man was leaving the room he said, “I’ll not make that mistake again.” Because of a silly mistake he’s now out of the running for the coveted job.
We don’t often make life-changing mistakes. Most of the time they are of no real consequence to us, we hear ourselves saying that tell-tale word “oops.” But occasionally we make a whopper, a mistake that we can’t correct, one that really makes a difference in our lives. You know the kind: The big ones that are life changing, we may say “oops” when they happen, but the word doesn’t really cover the serious nature of them.
That’s what happened to a man named Onesimus. He made a mistake, his big mistake. His mistake is the reason why Paul wrote the letter to Philemon that is our text today. In a way, Onesimus is like the “Prodigal Son.” It seems (in as much as we can guess) that he was a slave who ran away from his master, Philemon, and may have even stolen something in the process. The punishment for what he had done was death. For slaves in the Roman Empire crucifixion was the most common way to carry out a death sentence. We don’t know why Onesimus ran; he may have wanted to see the world, or he may just have wanted to get away, but he ended up in Rome. When he discovered that a life of running away wasn’t all it was cracked up to be; it is thought that he went looking for Paul, who was in prison courtesy of the Roman government. Under house arrest. Paul was Philemon’s good friend. He had founded the church at Colossae. Where Philemon lived. Onesimus must have known Paul was in Rome, so he went to see if he could help him.
Paul does help, what he does is nothing less than Christ-like. He sends Onesimus back with a letter to Philemon asking that he (Paul) be charged for anything that is owed. Implying that Onesimus should be forgiven for running and even sent back to Paul to continue working with him. Martin Luther said that we are all like Onesimus, runaway slave. Jesus saves us from the punishment we so rightly deserve. “Receive him as you would receive me,” Paul wrote to the Onesimus’ master. Sounds a lot like Jesus words, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40 (ESV)
There are two ways that people usually handle their mistakes, both the big ones and the small ones. There is the guilt route. You know that our society doesn’t really tolerate mistakes. Mistakes are seen as weak and foolish things we do that cost us. Mistakes are illogical and stupid. Just look at the ex-apprentice. Donald Trump must have called him stupid a dozen times. Oh sure, he learned from the mistake, but I wonder how long it will be before he’s hired, how long it’s going to be till he’s not known as the guy who made the “big stupid mistake” on television. When that’s the way we see life, when that’s the pressure that’s put on us, it’s no wonder that our teenagers suffer from a very high suicide rate. Our reaction when we make those dreaded mistakes is to go into automatic depression, like me when I hung my head after missing the ball. We are pushed toward self-revaluation. They cause us to re-consider our self worth. Others can err, but we don’t allow ourselves the same privilege. We hold ourselves accountable our whole life… and even beyond. And even when things seem to be going really well, we dredge up our past errors, to temper our luck. We carry our mistakes as a burden, slung over our shoulders like a big sack. That’s the guilt trip we lay on ourselves with our mistakes. And, at one time or another we’ve all been there.
And yet there’s another way to take that sentence. Others can err, but we don’t allow ourselves the same privilege. Mostly, when we run up against a mistake, we push it off on someone else. Call it the blame game. The more serious the error the more fingers we try to point away from ourselves. “If all else fails, blame someone else!” That kind of blame game has been going on since the very beginning. When God walked into the garden after Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, he asked Adam, “What did you do?” “Hey,” the man answered, “the woman gave me the fruit. It’s her fault. And you know that it never would have happened if you hadn’t put her here.” And God asked her, “What have you got to say, Eve?” “It was the snake, he fooled me.” She answered. Adam tried to reflect the blame to Eve and God. Eve blamed the snake. God laid the blame squarely where it belonged, on both of them.
The reason we fret over our mistakes or try to give them to someone else is because we know what they really mean. Often, we say, “Nobody’s perfect.” And that’s true. We are not perfect. Adam and Eve were, at first. They made more than a big mistake. It was a life-or-death issue. They willfully disobeyed God. They purposely defied his place in their lives. They followed their own desires and did the only thing God told them not to do. They condemned the whole human race to the same mistake, the same rebellion, and the same punishment. We talked about Onesimus running away from his master. And the penalty was death. Being a slave, he may have had reason to run away. We don’t have good reason to reject God. And yet we do. Every day we try to make it on our own and ignore him. If Onesimus had been caught he would have died on a cross. The punishment we deserve is no less than that. That’s what our mistakes continually remind us of. It’s not that God punishes us for our little flubs. We make mistakes because we aren’t the people that he created us to be. We don’t live up to the perfection that God has every right to expect from us. The punishment we should get is death.
In his letter to Philemon, Paul takes up Onesimus’ cause. Onesimus had made a mistake, a dangerous one. Paul could have appealed to Philemon on his authority as an apostle, in fact, as Philemon’s Pastor. But instead, he chooses to present his case through love. He never tells Philemon what he should do. He just reminds Philemon of the special relationship they have. “Don’t forget that you really owe me your very self.” As if to say, “Jesus came into your life through me.” Paul doesn’t say, “Forgive Onesimus, free him, and send him back to me.” Instead, he says, “I want you to do what you believe is right, based on your relationship with me, and mostly on your relationship with Jesus.” What kind of a relationships were those? Here are a few things Paul had said before that he may have wanted Philemon to think about:
"God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
“Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners--of whom I (Paul) am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life."
That was the background of their relationship to each other, and their relationship with Jesus. Of course, we should remember that Onesimus’ mistake wasn’t just a little one, like a secretary’s typo. It was a serious problem. It was potentially fatal. It wouldn’t be an easy thing to set aside. Philemon is asked to ignore the fact that he has a houseful of potential runaway slaves. Forgiving and forgetting is a dangerous precedent to set. But, of course, forgiveness is never easy.
Paul didn’t expect Philemon to forgive Onesimus’ mistake because he felt like forgiving him. He expected him to do it because God had already taken care of it; and not only that but because God had taken care of Philemon’s mistakes, too. He assumes that he will forgive, because he too, had been forgiven. He assumes that because God has been gracious with him, he will be gracious with his slave. Paul told Philemon to charge him for whatever Onesimus owed, and he would pay it. It was a reminder to Philemon that Jesus had already done that very thing for him.
We deal with our mistakes in different ways, but God deals with them in only one way. He dealt with our mistakes, our sin, in the death of Jesus. The cross that Onesimus deserved for running away was the cross that Jesus took. The death that we deserve for our rebellion is the death that Jesus took. Jesus died to forgive the sins of Onesimus and Philemon and Paul, of you and me, and to take care of the mistakes that we all make. We don’t have to carry them around anymore. They don’t have to trouble us to our graves. We don’t have to blame other people either. We can take the blame ourselves and remember that Jesus went to the cross and died for those mistakes too. We’ve been forgiven much. We can take those things that trouble us and give them to Jesus.
And even more importantly, when someone makes a mistake that hurts us, that costs us. We remember that we have been forgiven much. You know the largest room in the world is room for improvement. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Isaiah 66:10-14; The Third Sunday after Pentecost; August 24, 2025
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN
“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.” (Isaiah 66:10–14, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It began as barley a whisper… a faint sound at the very edge of perception… no one in the house even stirred… except mother. From the very first, before any sound at all had filled the ears of anyone else… she awoke crawled out of bed and began the trek to her infant’s room. So, by the time he was in full cry, with a voice much more than someone his size should be able to shout, mother was already crib side. Quickly she raised the infant to her arms, “Hey Billy, what’s the matter?” She said quietly, as she gathered him to herself. At first, he was inconsolable, and his screams echoed through the whole house. They filled the ears of his brothers and sisters, who muffled the sound with arms, blankets or pillows in an attempt to return to their dreams. But soon quiet was again restored as the rocking chair and the sweet sound of mother voice brought infant comfort. He was safe and warm, there in his mother’s arms, satisfied and at peace.
Oh, to be at peace… like a little child in its mother’s arms, satisfied at rest, warm and content…. at peace. But as much as peace is desired it, peace is seldom found. Maybe that’s why this image of peace is so powerful for us, because we seldom know this kind of peace when we are no longer able to lie in our mother’s arms… when we have grown too large to be cuddled there. There are other moments of peace in our lives, standing on a quiet beach listening to the waves rush the shore; Being alone in the forest when all is quiet except the sounds of nature; Sitting beside the bed of a sleeping child listening contentedly to the shallow echoes of breath. But, moments of peace are few, because the world, this world that we live in, is a world of conflict.
A world of conflict… every day in the newspaper you can read about war somewhere around the globe. War is the same everywhere. There are two groups of people in conflict. They have determined that their conflict is so great that the only means of resolution is the violent death of the other party. They have determined that the only resolution is to disrupt the peace… to arm themselves with the tools of death. Many people would say that the exact opposite of peace is war. When the images of war explode onto the news, the comfort of our mother’s arms is very inviting.
But conflict isn’t just found between nations at war. We find it even in the smallest communities. In fact, any gathering of people is often marked by disagreement that often disrupts the peace. Do we build a swimming pool or not? Should the cult group be allowed to build a compound? Should there be a group home in my neighborhood? Should taxes be raised or cut… but it isn’t just government? There is conflict where we work… a co-worker we don’t like… a manager that won’t allow time off, or demands overtime… Work that builds up so much you are afraid to take time off… Conflict also lives in our homes… family decisions are marred by arguments and unhappy resolutions. What household has children that don’t fight, and parents who are always forgiving? What man and wife have never fought about family finances? Conflict is laced in every aspect of our lives… our families, friendships, and even our Church. Disharmony is everywhere it affects every relationship we have. But not all the conflict is external. Many people have an internal struggle that far outweighs the discord between people. Internal struggle can fracture the human psyche. The wounds it can cause are even more devastating than disagreements between people. We all experience some of that disunity. We all struggle to do what we know is right and avoid what we know is wrong. Saint Paul described the struggle so well For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:14–19, ESV)
When we think of these conflicts it is no wonder, we long for the comfort of our mother’s arms. That place where we can be comforted, safe from conflict, safe from trouble, and at peace.
All the disunity between nations, people, families, individuals, and even the internal struggles of people are really a sign, a window to an even greater more devastating division. Conflict, internal and external, is an image of the most serious human problem. All human beings have cut themselves off from God by their own sin. We are fractured people who are determined to conflict with the very one who made us, the one who designed us for a relationship with him. We have conflict with others, we can’t get along with other people; we conflict with ourselves; because we can’t get along with God. That is the real source of conflict in our lives.
This is where this image, given to us in our text, comes in. God says he will comfort us, brings us peace, like a mother does with her child. “I will extend peace like a river… as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” He extends his arms around us, pulls us to his breast where we are warm, safe and secure. There we find peace. There we find comfort. He ended the conflict with us, because we didn’t want to end it with him. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, ESV)
It is amazing and somewhat ironic that the one who God sent to restore peace to the world, the prince of peace, restored our fractured relationship, our conflict, by means of a violent death. He endured internal and external conflict on the cross as he was rejected by the Father in our place. The separation that our sinful nature desired; the conflict we wished; for was focused on Jesus Christ. He endured it all instead of us. And because of that he brought about peace between us and our Heavenly Father. But this peace is more than just a peaceful, tranquil feeling. It’s more than a feeling of contentment that even unbelievers can feel. Jesus brings a peace the is a peace that exists even when we are in conflict. It’s a peace that exists even when we don’t feel peaceful.
The peace that Christ brings is like the peace between two warring parties. He declares the hostilities cease. But when peace is declared sometimes the sides don’t want to end the fighting. Because we still have the effects of sin in our lives, we don’t always want God’s peace. We struggle against it. But the war is over, Jesus Christ has won it and he has declared the peace. It is a peace that passes all our understanding. When we feel it, when we experience that peaceful feeling like we are wrapped in the Father’s arms we rejoice; but it is just as true when we don’t feel it. We are still even then, because of Christ, at peace with God.
God doesn’t promise that Christians won’t have conflict in their lives. Christians just like all people will have internal and external struggles. But God, through Jesus Christ, has done something about the most serious conflict. Because of Jesus suffering and death on the cross we are no longer in conflict with God. Because suffered the separation of that conflict we can enjoy the comfort the peace. That peace, whether we feel it or not, affects our whole lives. Our relationships to our families… our relationships to our friends… our relationships at work... Our relationships to our community. That peace earned for us through the death of Christ, has given us peace with God and has opened the way for us to be at peace with others.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15, ESV)
Billy sleeps quietly in his mother’s arms. He is at peace, comforted by his mother. The noise of discord is all but forgotten. She had come and brought him comfort. He is safe and warm; he is at peace.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.” (Isaiah 66:10–14, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It began as barley a whisper… a faint sound at the very edge of perception… no one in the house even stirred… except mother. From the very first, before any sound at all had filled the ears of anyone else… she awoke crawled out of bed and began the trek to her infant’s room. So, by the time he was in full cry, with a voice much more than someone his size should be able to shout, mother was already crib side. Quickly she raised the infant to her arms, “Hey Billy, what’s the matter?” She said quietly, as she gathered him to herself. At first, he was inconsolable, and his screams echoed through the whole house. They filled the ears of his brothers and sisters, who muffled the sound with arms, blankets or pillows in an attempt to return to their dreams. But soon quiet was again restored as the rocking chair and the sweet sound of mother voice brought infant comfort. He was safe and warm, there in his mother’s arms, satisfied and at peace.
Oh, to be at peace… like a little child in its mother’s arms, satisfied at rest, warm and content…. at peace. But as much as peace is desired it, peace is seldom found. Maybe that’s why this image of peace is so powerful for us, because we seldom know this kind of peace when we are no longer able to lie in our mother’s arms… when we have grown too large to be cuddled there. There are other moments of peace in our lives, standing on a quiet beach listening to the waves rush the shore; Being alone in the forest when all is quiet except the sounds of nature; Sitting beside the bed of a sleeping child listening contentedly to the shallow echoes of breath. But, moments of peace are few, because the world, this world that we live in, is a world of conflict.
A world of conflict… every day in the newspaper you can read about war somewhere around the globe. War is the same everywhere. There are two groups of people in conflict. They have determined that their conflict is so great that the only means of resolution is the violent death of the other party. They have determined that the only resolution is to disrupt the peace… to arm themselves with the tools of death. Many people would say that the exact opposite of peace is war. When the images of war explode onto the news, the comfort of our mother’s arms is very inviting.
But conflict isn’t just found between nations at war. We find it even in the smallest communities. In fact, any gathering of people is often marked by disagreement that often disrupts the peace. Do we build a swimming pool or not? Should the cult group be allowed to build a compound? Should there be a group home in my neighborhood? Should taxes be raised or cut… but it isn’t just government? There is conflict where we work… a co-worker we don’t like… a manager that won’t allow time off, or demands overtime… Work that builds up so much you are afraid to take time off… Conflict also lives in our homes… family decisions are marred by arguments and unhappy resolutions. What household has children that don’t fight, and parents who are always forgiving? What man and wife have never fought about family finances? Conflict is laced in every aspect of our lives… our families, friendships, and even our Church. Disharmony is everywhere it affects every relationship we have. But not all the conflict is external. Many people have an internal struggle that far outweighs the discord between people. Internal struggle can fracture the human psyche. The wounds it can cause are even more devastating than disagreements between people. We all experience some of that disunity. We all struggle to do what we know is right and avoid what we know is wrong. Saint Paul described the struggle so well For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:14–19, ESV)
When we think of these conflicts it is no wonder, we long for the comfort of our mother’s arms. That place where we can be comforted, safe from conflict, safe from trouble, and at peace.
All the disunity between nations, people, families, individuals, and even the internal struggles of people are really a sign, a window to an even greater more devastating division. Conflict, internal and external, is an image of the most serious human problem. All human beings have cut themselves off from God by their own sin. We are fractured people who are determined to conflict with the very one who made us, the one who designed us for a relationship with him. We have conflict with others, we can’t get along with other people; we conflict with ourselves; because we can’t get along with God. That is the real source of conflict in our lives.
This is where this image, given to us in our text, comes in. God says he will comfort us, brings us peace, like a mother does with her child. “I will extend peace like a river… as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” He extends his arms around us, pulls us to his breast where we are warm, safe and secure. There we find peace. There we find comfort. He ended the conflict with us, because we didn’t want to end it with him. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, ESV)
It is amazing and somewhat ironic that the one who God sent to restore peace to the world, the prince of peace, restored our fractured relationship, our conflict, by means of a violent death. He endured internal and external conflict on the cross as he was rejected by the Father in our place. The separation that our sinful nature desired; the conflict we wished; for was focused on Jesus Christ. He endured it all instead of us. And because of that he brought about peace between us and our Heavenly Father. But this peace is more than just a peaceful, tranquil feeling. It’s more than a feeling of contentment that even unbelievers can feel. Jesus brings a peace the is a peace that exists even when we are in conflict. It’s a peace that exists even when we don’t feel peaceful.
The peace that Christ brings is like the peace between two warring parties. He declares the hostilities cease. But when peace is declared sometimes the sides don’t want to end the fighting. Because we still have the effects of sin in our lives, we don’t always want God’s peace. We struggle against it. But the war is over, Jesus Christ has won it and he has declared the peace. It is a peace that passes all our understanding. When we feel it, when we experience that peaceful feeling like we are wrapped in the Father’s arms we rejoice; but it is just as true when we don’t feel it. We are still even then, because of Christ, at peace with God.
God doesn’t promise that Christians won’t have conflict in their lives. Christians just like all people will have internal and external struggles. But God, through Jesus Christ, has done something about the most serious conflict. Because of Jesus suffering and death on the cross we are no longer in conflict with God. Because suffered the separation of that conflict we can enjoy the comfort the peace. That peace, whether we feel it or not, affects our whole lives. Our relationships to our families… our relationships to our friends… our relationships at work... Our relationships to our community. That peace earned for us through the death of Christ, has given us peace with God and has opened the way for us to be at peace with others.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15, ESV)
Billy sleeps quietly in his mother’s arms. He is at peace, comforted by his mother. The noise of discord is all but forgotten. She had come and brought him comfort. He is safe and warm; he is at peace.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
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