Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

 Video of Service

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9A)

July 5, 2026

Text: Matt. 11:25-30

The Lord Jesus gives us three tremendous gifts in our Holy Gospel this day, one gift built upon another.

The first is His declaration that our Father reveals the things of the holy Christian faith… that is, the plan of salvation in Christ, the cross, the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and His saving doctrine… not to human wisdom and understanding, but to “little children” (Matt. 11:25; ESV).  In fact, the Greek word includes “infants.”  Which, to be sure, means the precious little ones here in our congregation (and baptized children everywhere), the ones concerning whom Jesus says to His disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16).  Parents, and all adults, let us be warned that we dare never step between our Lord Jesus and His babies.  Bring your children to Church.  Bring them to Sunday School.  Teach them the faith.  Hold them always before Him in prayer.  Do not hinder them.  Place them in His arms.  It is a sacred obligation.

But also heed the very next words of our Lord: “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (v. 17).  And that explains what Jesus means in our text when He says that the things of the Kingdom are revealed to “little children.”  He means not just babies and toddlers, but all who have a simple, childlike trust in our heavenly Father, and in Jesus Christ, His Son.  All who believe His Words, like a precious child believes Dad. All who know that, while we don’t know all the whys and wherefores of our life in this world, our Father knows, and that is enough.  He’ll take care of it.  He’ll take care of us.  

This is not to say, by the way, that wisdom and understanding play no role in the Christian faith.  Faith, after all, always seeks wisdom and understanding.  Faith always wants to grow in knowledge of the things of God.  But it is to say that the things revealed by the Father are precisely the things that give true wisdom and understanding.  Human reason is always servant to the Word of God (the ministerial use of reason, we call it in theology), and never to be master over it.  When reason seeks to be master over the Word of God (the magisterial use of reason, we call it), suddenly, the things our Father would reveal to us are, in fact, hidden.  When you are the smartest person in the room, and you know it, that is exceedingly dangerous to your faith.  Repent of that, and become a child before God once again.  One who simply relies upon, and receives all things from, your Father in heaven, through Jesus Christ.  

Because that is the second gift.  No one knows God by means of his own reason and intelligence.  But our Father has graciously sent Jesus to reveal Him to us as our Father, who loves us, and makes us His own in the sacrifice of His dear Son.  Jesus possesses all the things of the Father, and He gives us those things by His Spirit through His Word.  “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matt. 11:27).  By choosing to reveal Him to us, our Lord Jesus brings us up into the very life and love… the Communion… of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit.  

But He can only do that for those who give up their own claims to wisdom and understanding.  Because the wise and understanding will always say of the things Jesus says, “It can’t actually be that way.  That doesn’t make sense.  We know better than that.”  This is what Paul preaches to the Corinthians, that “in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom,” so “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach,” namely, the Gospel of Jesus, “to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21).  That is, the little children who receive what Jesus gives… who receive what Jesus says, and believe it because Jesus says so, and because the Father says so.  Whether it squares with human reason, or not.  Because good children know that Father knows best.  

And this gives us the third gift.  Rest.  Unburdening.  “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).  Because, in coming to Jesus in this way (which is to say, in faith), you can rest as a child in the care of your loving heavenly Father.  You don’t have to know everything (you don’t, anyway!).  You don’t have to be in control of everything (you aren’t, you realize!).  You don’t have to see into the future and plan for every eventuality (as if you could!).  You don’t have to protect yourself against every danger.  You don’t have to save yourself.  You are free of those burdens, because your Father is there to take care of those things.  And He does.  That’s what fathers are for.  

I always remember when I was a child riding in the car, that I never worried about anything when Dad was behind the wheel.  I realize now that not every child is blessed with that sense of security, but I was, thank God, and it’s a great illustration of why we can rest under the care of our heavenly Father.  When Dad was driving, I had… what now appears to be a rather unreasonable… expectation that we would always arrive wherever we were going, safe and on time.  And I didn’t worry about going hungry on the way, even if I didn’t know the plan, because I knew Dad (and Mom, too… let’s give a little credit where credit is due) would stop and feed me at the proper time.  And when it was time to get back in the car, and on the road, Dad wouldn’t forget me, or leave me in the dust.  He’d make sure I was with him.  Nor was I ever afraid he would pull over and tell me to get out.  That I couldn’t belong to the family anymore.  Because he loved me.  And he knew what he was doing, and had the power to do it, and would always do it for my good.  

You know, that is not an unreasonable expectation of our Father in heaven.  The Father Jesus reveals to us.  Our fallen reason may think it unreasonable, and try to convince us, but that’s just evidence that we’re getting too big for our britches.  When those thoughts afflict you, beloved… that maybe God will suddenly stop caring for you, so you shouldn’t rest in His care… repent and run again to this passage.  Receive again the gift.  Kids in the car do often get cranky, and even throw tantrums, and… well, that’s us, isn’t it?  When we doubt.  But even then our Father doesn’t kick us out of the car and abandon us.  See, He could never do that.  Because He purchased us with the blood and death of His Son.  That’s how precious we are to Him.  “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Rom. 8:32).  He loves us.  Rest in that.  

And, you know, that is the rest we have in Christ above all else, that we don’t have to earn our spot with the Father, or keep our spot by our good behavior.  We don’t have to perform, or work our way into God’s good graces.  No, no.  We’re born into His Family by water and the Word, washed clean of all sin and guilt by the cleansing blood of Christ, who also fulfilled the whole Law of God for us, and credits that to our account.  To come to Him is to believe that, and receive that.  To rest from this unrelenting quest to justify yourself before God, and simply be justified by God in Jesus Christ.  It’s a load off.  A crushing load off.

Though, Jesus does tell us there is a yoke to be harnessed (albeit an easy one), and a burden to be borne (albeit a light one).  What is that yoke?  What is that burden?  It is the holy cross of discipleship in this life, which crucifies us to ourselves, and shapes us into the cruciform image of Jesus, so that we be raised with Him, and live with Him, and in Him, and Him alone.  Like when I was a kid in the car, and told my Dad that I’m hungry now, and want to eat now, and he told me I had to wait.  I had to suffer it for a while.  Be patient.  It’s good for me.  It’s a yoke.  It’s a burden.  Oh, it seems so heavy in that moment, to a child.  But it was really nothing.  One only sees that later.  As we will see with our crosses from the perspective of eternity.  

Beloved, you are children of the heavenly Father, safely in His bosom gathered, by the Lord Jesus who loves you.  Rest in that.  Those are the gifts Jesus gives us today.  As such, we conclude by echoing our Lord’s own Words: I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them even to me.  Let me always be Your beloved, blood-bought child, and grant me to know and trust You as my loving heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                   

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

 Video of Service

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8A)

June 28, 2026

Text: Matt. 10:34-42

Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  Yes.  Absolutely.  He makes peace between God and man by His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection, which restores us to God and gives us life.  He gives us peace of mind and heart, now, by consoling us with this Good News; assuring us that we stand before God as His own justified, beloved children, baptized into Christ; and pouring out His Spirit upon us.  And He will bring with Him an eternal and comprehensive peace when He comes again in glory.  

But that doesn’t always make for peace within our families, here and now, or among other people, who don’t believe in Christ, and so do not accept our faith in, and allegiance to, Him.  In fact, they resent us for it.  And feel judged by it.  And are egged on by the devil and the world to mock us, reject us, shun us, or even persecute us for it.  That is what Jesus means by the shocking words we hear Him speak this afternoon: “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34; ESV).  It is the continuation of what we heard last week.  Brother delivering brother over to death, and the father his children, and children their parents, and so forth.  That is, there is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus.  Grace is free, but it is not cheap.  

Jesus speaks a hard Word to us today.  That indicates that it’s real, by the way.  No one is scratching your itching ears, or just blowing smoke.  What is this business about setting a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a person’s enemies being those of his household (vv. 35-36)?  Isn’t Jesus for family values?  Aren’t we supposed to love our families?  Of course.  Of course.  But not more than Jesus.  Not more than God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

What this is, is a matter of ordered loves.  There is a divinely given order to our loves.  Did you know that?  We should love our parents.  There is even a Commandment about that (the Fourth: “Honor your father and your mother.  What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them”).  But we should not love them more than Jesus.  We should love our children.  God gives parents for that purpose, to love and care for children (that is included in the Fourth Commandment).  But we should not love them more than Jesus.  We could add, we should love our spouse.  Again, there is a Commandment about that (the Sixth: “You shall not commit adultery.  What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other).  But we should not love them more than Jesus.  We should even love our life.  It is God’s gift to us (His to give, and His to take, as we learn in the Fifth Commandment).  But we should not love it more than Jesus.  “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37-38).  It’s so contrary to our instinct.  But, in fact, we must be willing to lose these precious people, and even our own life for the sake of Jesus, why?  Not because we don’t love them, but because we love Him more.  “Whoever finds his life”... holding on to this earthly life, and all its joys, and all its relationships, whatever the cost… “will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake”... whether literal martyrdom, or persecution, or severed relationships, or just people being mean to you because you bear Jesus’ Name… “will find it” (v. 39).  Eternally.  Abundantly.  In Jesus.  Because, “take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, Though these all be gone, Our vict’ry has been won; The Kingdom ours remaineth” (LSB 656:4).

Ordered love.  Here is the order: God first.  Jesus first.  Lose all else, whenever necessary, for His sake.  That is the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods… We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”  Then spouse, children, father and mother.  In that order.  Family.  We should love them, but we dare not make them idols.  (That would be unloving to them, to place the weight of Almighty God’s responsibility on their shoulders.)  And then watch as the concentric circles of ordered love continue.  Neighbors.  There is an order, here, too.  Church family first, as we’ll see in a moment.  Then friends.  Then community (co-workers, next door neighbors, and such).  Then whoever else God places in your path.  And sometimes you have to do a little triage to know who to help first with the resources God gives you.  My first allegiance may be to a Church member, but if a nextdoor neighbor has a greater need, I may serve him first, because that is more urgent.  But you get the picture.  And note why this order is so important.  Because love is not abstract, and it’s not just warm and fuzzy feelings.  And so, you can’t love humanity in general, because humanity in general is an abstract concept.  Love is decision, and concrete action, which you can only bestow on concrete people.  And so, lift up your eyes from your navel and look around you.  These are the people God gives you to love.  

And what about those Church members?  Jesus commands us, here, to receive them.  That is, love them.  Care for them.  Show hospitality to them.  He has several classifications that describe, pretty much, the whole gamut of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  He starts with those who bring the Word of Christ, and administer His Sacraments.  When you receive them… gladly hearing and learning the Word of Christ from them, and receiving the gifts (Third Commandment)... you receive Jesus Himself.  And when you receive Jesus, you receive the Father, who sent Him (v. 40).  Then, when you receive a prophet, because he is a prophet, sent by Jesus, get this… you receive a prophet’s reward (that is, you share in the credit for his ministry)!  Isn’t that amazing?  Pure grace!  We don’t deserve it.  When you receive a righteous person… and that is to say, one justified by faith in Jesus Christ, covered in His blood, which is all those sitting around you… because he is a righteous person, you receive a righteous person’s reward (and that is all the eternal life and gifts of the justified) (v. 41).  And when you give even a cup of cold water… the smallest act of mercy and kindness… to one of these little ones… that is, literally the children of the Church, but also to all who have a simple and joyous faith in Jesus Christ… who don’t appear to be much in the eyes of the world, and maybe are even despised by the world and by those who do appear to be much… when you do that because he is a disciple of Jesus… you will by no means lose your reward.  And what is that?  I think Jesus leaves it ambiguous on purpose.  We can’t even begin to imagine the rewards Jesus will give us in heaven.  Earned?  Well, that’s not really the right word, is it?  By grace alone, apart from works, or any idea of earning anything, our sins are forgiven, and we are given new life in the Spirit.  And that Spirit works that life in us, such that we begin to do good works.  It is His work in us, then, that He rewards.  And we get to enjoy that.  

Because He loves us.  There is an order to God’s love, too.  It is a great mystery.  He loves His Son, first and foremost.  And yet, what does He give, out of love for us, to make us His own?  His beloved Son.  His suffering.  His blood.  His cross and death for us, for the forgiveness of our sins, and our eternal life and salvation.  He redeems us.  And then, He continues to care for us, because He loves us.  And not in the abstract.  Not just theoretically.  Not just in words, and in warm and fuzzy feelings.  Concretely.  He loves us through our neighbor, loving us.  And He loves our neighbor, through us, loving them.

Ordered love.  God first, and everyone else falling into their place, where you can love them best.  Losing your life for Jesus’ sake, and so finding it.  A very practical Gospel for us this day.  God grant us, beloved, to hear and to heed.  And so, to live and love in Jesus, who lives, and who loves us.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                

The Holy Marriage of Paul Macduff & Alexis Melcher

The Holy Marriage of Paul Macduff & Alexis Melcher

Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Kennewick, Washington

June 27, 2026

Text: John 2:1-11

Mary knows a thing or two about marriage.  She gives the very best advice.  In the face of utter disaster (I mean, the wine vats have run dry!), she points to her Son, and tells the servants… and the couple… and us… “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5; ESV).  

Write that one down.  You want the recipe for a successful marriage?  A faithful life together?  Mary is giving it out today.  Fix your eyes… and your ears… on Jesus.  And “Do whatever he tells you.”    

But there is something even prior to that.  In order for eyes and ears to be on Jesus, He has to be present, and speaking.  The most important thing that happened for the couple in Cana that day… even more important than the water into wine… even more profound than Mary’s advice to “Do whatever he tells you”... is that Jesus was there, at the wedding.  The presence of the Son of God made flesh.  You want that, too, Paul and Alexis.  You want Jesus to be here, now, at your wedding.  That is why you are having it at Church.  People get this screwed up all the time.  They think they want a Church wedding, because it’s part of the aesthetic.  They rarely darken a Church door, otherwise, and they have no plans, really, of coming back.  And it isn’t about Jesus, for them.  That’s not why they chose the Church.  It’s about how beautiful the bride will look, framed by the trappings of tradition.  And so, we have wedding chapels that can fill that need, without all this bother about our Lord’s pesky presence, and this advice to do whatever He tells us to do.

That’s not you, though.  You’re here in the Church, because you want Jesus to be present, not only here, at the beginning of your life together, but for the rest of your life, and in every facet of your life.  Doing what He does here for the couple in Cana.  Saving.  Rescuing.  Turning water into wine.  Which is to say, sadness into joy.  Catastrophe into eucatastrophe.  The old ever new.  You want His presence to pronounce His Word of blessing over your marriage.  To keep it.  To care for it.  Continually.  In every circumstance.

So the Church, the place of His presence in His means of grace, His Word, and His Sacraments, will be the central location of your life together as husband and wife, and as family.  And what He gives you here, you’ll take with you into your home, as you make His Word the daily centerpiece of your life, building one another up in His Word, and raising your children (if God so blesses you) in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).  And you’ll take it out into the world, in your life and vocation, as you bear witness to Him.   

That is the number one component in the recipe for a successful marriage.  The presence of the Lord Jesus.  Forgiving your sins.  Loving you.  Providing for you.  Rescuing you.  And then, the second component: Mary’s advice, “Do whatever he tells you.”  That is, order your life according to His Word.  Live by it.  It will not fail you.  It is always what is best.  Even when you think it’s not, and you want to do something different.  Don’t.  Always do what He says.

My sister is very wise.  She, too, knows a thing or two about marriage.  She was once asked by a couple just starting out, what is the secret to a good marriage?  You know the first thing she said?  Center your marriage on Jesus.  That is exactly right.  His presence, and His Word.  That is the only thing that will get you through good times and bad.  Yes.  That’s it.  Then, she had two other pieces of advice, which I thought were pretty good, so I’ll share them with you.  (These two flow from the first point, okay?)  Make your spouse your best friend.  She and her husband just love to be together.  You know, that’s a choice they made.  If you want to enjoy being together, you have to decide to do it.  Be the kind of person your spouse loves to be around.  And always be forgiving your spouse, and overlooking their flaws, and covering over their weaknesses with love (“Love covers a multitude of sins,” Peter says [1 Peter 4:8]).  Just like you do in any good friendship.  And then, third, my sister said (and this is really downstream from the first point, but it is good, and it is wise), she and her husband always have something they’re looking forward to together.  Whether something grand, like an upcoming trip, or more often, something small… maybe even mundane… but, special to them, like sipping a glass of wine together on the deck when the day is done.  Jesus still turns water into wine, doesn’t He?

Look at the gift Jesus is giving you today.  The gift of one another.  Never forget that your spouse is a gift.  You will often be tempted to take the other for granted.  There will even be times, believe it or not, when you will be tempted to resent, or even despise, the other.  When that temptation, that messenger of Satan, rears its ugly head, do two things immediately: 1. Repent and believe the Gospel.  You’re not always easy to live with, either, but Jesus loves you, and died for your sins, and continually puts up with you, and covers over everything with His blood.  So give your spouse a little grace.  And 2. Foster gratitude for your spouse.  You know how you do that?  Thank God for him.  Thank God for her.  Say it.  Out loud.  Your feelings will catch up.  When you feel least thankful, that’s especially when you should give thanks.  And then, here is a bonus third thing to do.  Pray for him.  Pray for her.  In fact, do all three of those things daily.

That is ordering your life according to His Word.  Doing whatever He says to you… He, who is present with and for you, for your forgiveness, life, and salvation, and to give you unending joy.  

You know, He is the true Bridegroom.  And you, members of His beloved, blood-bought Bride, the Church.  In your marriage, you get to model that.  Your marriage is an icon of Christ and the Church.  That’s what St. Paul tell us (Eph. 5).  You, Paul, loving your wife and giving yourself for her.  Into death, if necessary.  That you may present her to yourself… see her, regard her… in splendor, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, holy, and without blemish.  And you, Alexis, submitting to that (the loving and the giving).  Which is to say, receiving that from Paul.  Paul leading in that.  Alexis holding him up to that.  And so, by your sacrifices, Paul modeling Christ.  Alexis modeling the Church.  It is a proclamation of the Gospel to all who know you as a couple.  

You can only do that if Christ is present.  In your marriage.  In your life.  And He is.  For you.  “Do whatever he tells you.”  Live in Him.  Love in Him.  Forgive in Him.  Be forgiven by Him.  Good advice.  And in it, your marriage is blessed.  By the Lord Jesus, here and now.  And for as many years as God gives you.  What God is here joining together, let no man put asunder (Mark 10:9).  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.