Lenten Midweek III

Video of Service 

Lenten Midweek III

Adventures with Elijah: Elijah Despairs, but the LORD Refreshes

March 11, 2026

Text: 1 Kings 19; Luke 9:28-36

            From the monumental high of victory over the prophets of Baal, to death threats from Jezebel, running for his life into the wilderness, and the descent into despair. 

            Why this sudden faltering of courage?  For one thing, here is an indication that even the mightiest of saints can succumb to fear.  Even after witnessing the great works of God.  Enjoying glimpses of His victory.  Impotent Ahab is one thing.  But Jezebel is out for blood.  Hers is the real seat of ruthlessness in that marriage.  Extermination of prophets is her specialty.  She means to have her revenge on this man of God.

            Add to that, this feeling of futility.  Elijah has given his whole life to the LORD’s work.  He’s preached.  He’s suffered.  He’s put his life on the line.  He’s been faithful.  And for what?  Ahab and Jezebel are still on their throne, and the people are still running off after idols.  They’ve forsaken the Covenant.  Thrown down the LORD’s altars.  Joined in on the prophetic killing spree.  What’s the point of going on?  Enough!  I’ve had enough of it!  I’ve been jealous for the LORD of Hosts, but every man has his breaking point.

            And then, simply, this: “I, even I only, am left” (1 Kings 19:10; ESV).  Elijah believes he is utterly alone.  The last Christian on earth.  (And Elijah is a Christan.  An Old Testament one, looking forward to the Christ who is to come.)  Better to just let me die.  Take me home, LORD.  This world is done for.  Israel, too.  Let them go to hell.  There is nothing I can do about it now.

            So, the prophet sits under his broom tree in the desert.  Exhausted.  Alone.  Afraid.  And in utter despair.

            What does the LORD do for him?  He does not forsake him.  He does not leave him desolate.  What does He do?  He sends His holy angel, to minister to His man.  The angel feeds him, to strengthen him.  Here is a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water.  He gives the prophet sleep.  Rest.  It is like the Psalm says: “he gives to his beloved sleep” (Ps. 127:2).  And then the angel comes a second time, again with food and drink, and bids Elijah arise.  And behold, he is strengthened.  Strengthened such that he can go on the strength of that food, forty days and forty nights, to Horeb… that is, Sinai… the mount of God.

            But God isn’t done, and Elijah isn’t out of the woods.  What else does the LORD do for him?  The LORD, Himself, shows up.  “And behold, the word of the Lord came to him,” the text says (1 Kings 19:9).  And who is that?  The Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son.  And He asks him a profound question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  It’s not unlike the question He asked Adam in the Garden.  “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9).  There is more to the question than meets the eye.  The LORD is giving Elijah a self-examination tool.  What are you doing here?  This is not where you belong.  This is not where I’ve sent you, called you to work.  And, as with Adam, the question leads to confession.  Again, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (v. 10).  What am I doing here?  I’m a failure.  I’m a marked man.  And I’m utterly alone.

            Now, what does Elijah need from God?  Does he need God to show up in a blaze of glory and awesome show of divine might?  We may be tempted to think so.  But the LORD will make clear to the prophet (and to us) that that is precisely what he does not need.  The LORD passes by, and what?  A great and strong wind, tearing the mountains to pieces.  But how does that help Elijah?  It’s about as helpful as an EF-5 tornado ripping through Moscow would be helpful to us.  The LORD was not in the wind.  Then an earthquake.  Was that helpful?  Would it be helpful to you?  No, the LORD was not in the earthquake.  Then, a fire.  We know about those around here.  Is it helpful when the world around us is ablaze?  No, it drives us to further fear and despair.  The LORD was not in the fire.  See, when we are in fear and despair, the last thing we need is the LORD to show up in irresistible power and might.  We think that’s what we need, but that would actually kill us.  No, what do we need?

            What does He do for Elijah?  What is it that actually helps?  A low whisper.  The LORD is in the whisper.  The soothing Voice of the God who loves His servant.  The Gospel.  The LORD is in the Gospel for Elijah.  Mercy.  Promise.  Encouragement.  Help is on the way.  You are not alone.  Two kings and a prophet to anoint, Elijah.  They will accomplish the LORD’s purposes.  In particular, Elisha, Elijah’s successor and son in the faith.  And as for the dismal appearance of things as you see them now?  It’s not how it looks.  I have reserved “seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (v. 18).  Elijah is comforted, and strengthened to go on.

            Now, things didn’t suddenly become easy for him.  That is not the Promise.  Dear Christian, you were never promised an easy life.  Get over that.  But things did become bearable.  How?  Elijah received the LORD’s provision, and trusted in His Promise.  God has His purpose.  He is still in control.  He is working all things for the good.  He has not forsaken you, Elijah.  Here, receive food and drink.  Receive rest.  He hasn’t forsaken His people, Israel, either, His 7,000.  God will bring them through.  By the Promises.  So Elijah is strengthened.  “Keep going.  Keep preaching.  Keep trusting.  In My own time, I will take you home.”  (We’ll get that text next week.)  And the day will come when you will see what this is all about. 

            As it happens, that day will take place on another mountain, in the presence of Moses, Peter, James, and John, when the Word of the LORD has come in the flesh, and is transfigured before them.  On that occasion, the Lord Jesus Himself will discuss His “departure” with Elijah and Moses, as they appear with Him in glory (Luke 9:31).  As I’ve told you many times, the word is actually “exodus.”  They will discuss Jesus’ “exodus” with Him, which is to say, His death for our sins, and the sins of the whole world, and His resurrection, which will turn all our despair into unimaginable joy.  Then Elijah will know that his suffering was never futile, that God is working all of this for His good purpose. 

            And it’s all this type of our Lord Jesus Himself, and His saving work, isn’t it.  Because there is Jesus, enjoying the monumental high of the Transfiguration.  And His disciples, too.  But then what?  Down the mountain, face set toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), where the people are plotting against His life and thirsting for His blood.  And they will get it, and He knows it.  What happens in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night when He is betrayed?  Having just given food and drink to His disciples (Himself… His body and blood), and knowing what He is about to suffer, our Lord Jesus is sorrowful unto death.  He falls on His face and prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39).  Three times He prays this.  And He is utterly alone, isn’t He?  Where are His disciples, Peter, James, and John?  Asleep.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (v. 41).  Like Elijah… and fulfilling what was inaugurated in Elijah… our Lord suffers. 

            And see, He is taking all of our suffering, loneliness, and despair into Himself, along with our sins (the causes of all this)… Elijah’s, too… to suffer them for us.  He is taking our place.  He is redeeming us.  And an angel comes and ministers to Him, strengthening Him (Luke 22:43), just like in our text.  Strengthening Him for what?  To avoid the cross and suffering?  Go around it?  Skip it?  Just be happy all the time?  No.  To go through it.  To go through the cross and suffering.  To endure the sadness and pain… the hell of it all.  To endure the mockery and injustice, the spitting, the scourging.  To carry the wood (and the weight of this world’s sin) up on the mountain, receive the pounded nails, and be lifted up.  Knowing… believing… trusting nevertheless… the Word and Promise of His heavenly Father: “you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (Ps. 16:10); “when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.  Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Is. 53:10-11).  The Promise is that there is saving purpose in our Lord’s suffering and death.  And the Father will bring Him through.  On the Third Day, He will rise.  So, for the joy set before Him, our dear Lord Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).

            For the same joy… the victory of Jesus and the salvation of the world… God strengthened Elijah to bear up, and carry through.  And what of you?  You know sorrow, too, don’t you?  You know fear and futility, loneliness… maybe even despair.  But your Lord sets this joy before you.  He sends His angel to strengthen you.  You don’t see it.  But we know the angels are continually ministering to us, directing us away from all that is harmful and deadly, and toward the Word and Promises of God that give life.  And there is the food and drink.  And Jesus Himself shows up in it, His true body and blood.  And here is the rest, and the low, soothing whisper.  The Gospel.  Your sins are forgiven.  All of them.  And the Lord’s Israel is not done for.  God still reserves His thousands whose knees have not bowed to Baal, whose lips have not kissed him.  And you are not alone.  Here is your family, your brothers and sisters in Christ.  In the House of your Father.  Immersed in the Spirit.  And there is Jesus.  And the great cloud of witnesses, surrounding this Church… this altar.  Angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.  They join us from the other side, and they are rooting us on.

            And so, we are strengthened.  Not to go around the crosses we ourselves are given to bear.  We are not promised an easy life.  But to go through the cross.  To go through the suffering.  Knowing… believing… trusting nevertheless…God’s promises for us.  Easter is coming.  One day, soon, this will all make sense.  Until then, faith, not sight.  But here is the Supper.  Beloved, God has not forsaken you.  He comes.  He is here.  Doling out the fruits of His exodus for you.  And you can go on the strength of it all your days.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.         

 

Third Sunday in Lent

Video of Service 

Third Sunday in Lent (A)

March 8, 2026

Text: John 4:5-30, 39-42

            It should not surprise us that our Lord meets the Samaritan woman at a well.  Isn’t it just like our God to always be doing His mighty works around water?  The Spirit hovering over the water at Creation.  The flood and Noah’s ark.  Crossing the Red Sea.  Crossing the Jordan.  And the list could go on.  And particularly, at wells.  Needless to say, wells were (and are) very important in the Middle East, a matter of life and death.  Wells are a recurring theme in the lives of the patriarchs.   Hagar and her son, Ishmael, are saved from certain death when God opens her eyes to see a well in the desert (Gen. 21:19).  In the same chapter, Gen. 21, Abraham struggles with Abimelech’s servants over possession of a well.  Isaac, likewise, quarreled with the herdsmen of Gerar over his wells, settling finally in Beersheba, “Seven Wells” (Gen. 26).  And Jacob?  Well... he bequeathed to his children, the very well at which Jesus is sitting in our text.  So, very important.  God does not include so many wells in the Scriptures by accident. 

            But more to the point, the well is where marriages are made.  Right?  Abraham’s servant finds Rebekah for Isaac at a well (Gen. 24).  Jacob meets Rachel (and through her, Leah, also), probably at the very same well (Gen. 29).  Moses meets Jethro’s seven daughters, including his wife-to-be Zipporah, at a well (Ex. 2).  Now, here sits Jesus, and… so far, so good.

            But look at the woman who is coming to draw water.  This is where the script just doesn’t seem to fit.  Really?  Her?  Everyone knows about her.  And the whole town talks.  She’s loose, you know.  Hopping from one bed to another.  She’s had five husbands.  What happened to them?  Seems they used her, but found her wanting, so they dismissed her.  And the current guy?  Not even married.  Tsk, tsk, tsk. 

            That is why she is coming alone, at this strange hour, to draw water from the well.  High noon.  The heat of the day.  No one comes for water at that hour.  They come in the cool of morning or evening.  But not her.  She doesn’t want to see anybody.  She doesn’t want anybody staring at her.  Look… she knows who she is.  She knows what she’s done… what she is doing.  But what else is she supposed to do?  Well… you probably have some answers.  Just like the citizens of her town.  But at this point, how is it helpful?  She’s used goods.  Men use her and lose her.  And now, this guy she’s with…  The only way she can keep food on her table and a roof over her head to is to give him what he wants without the bother of a lifelong commitment.  Go ahead and judge.  She’ll just keep coming to the well at noon.  Day after day.  Thirsting for more, but always running dry.

            This day is like all the others.  Except there is a Man sitting there.  “Ugh.  Not today.”  But, the jar is empty.  Anyway, turns out He’s a Jewish Man, “so there’s no way He’ll speak to me… a woman… of Samaria… and clearly a woman of ill repute.”  Respectable men don’t speak to a woman without her husband or father present.  Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.  And Law-abiding Jews do not sully their cleanness by interacting with a woman like her.

            But He speaks!  “Give me a drink” (John 4:7; ESV).  What is this, some kind of pick-up line?  Well, actually… in a manner of speaking!  Jesus is thirsting, but not just for well-water.  He is thirsting for this woman’s salvation.  He is thirsting, not to take something from her, but to give something to her.  Something she has never had before in her life.  Love.  True love.  And a Gift, with no strings attached to any selfish ends of the Giver.  A Gift of eternal meaning and significance.  A relationship… not sexual… not carnal… but an intimate relationship with a Man who will not treat her as an object for His own pleasure… who does not see her as a thing to be used… who knows her shame, but lifts her out of it… who restores her humanity… who speaks to her with grace… and truth, yes, but in gentleness, and with respect… a Man who will be faithful to her.  In life and in death.  Forever. 

            He thirsts to give her Himself.  And with Himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, salvation, and the very Kingdom.  “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (v. 10).  It is a water that, if anyone drinks from it, he “will never be thirsty forever” (v. 14).  “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water” (v. 15).  “Oh, dear woman.  Dear woman.  You are still thinking about H2O.  But I am speaking of the Water of the Spirit and faith.  The Water that flows from the very throne of God, becoming an impassible River that cleanses and heals whatever it touches (Ez. 47; Rev. 22; Ps. 46:4).  Ask Me, and I will give you that Water.”

            The Water flows from Jesus Himself.  Jesus is the Well!  “‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart”… one might even say, “out of His side!... “will flow rivers of living water.”’  Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive” (John 7:37-39).  We heard in our Old Testament reading (Ex. 17:1-7) how the people thirsted (and grumbled, and quarreled with Moses and God), and God told Moses to strike the rock at Horeb, so that water flowed out for the people to drink.  What does St. Paul say about that rock?  Do you remember?  They “all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4).  And we know how this is all fulfilled.  On a Friday afternoon, outside Jerusalem, there hung the Son of God with the weight of the world’s sin on His very human, fleshly shoulders.  He cried out: “I thirst” (John 19:28).  But not for the sour wine they held up to Him on hyssop and sponge.  Oh, He was physically parched, I’m sure.  But for what is He thirsting?  The salvation of the world.  The woman.  You.  Me.  All people.

            And then, He said, “It is finished,” and so it was, and He bowed His head, and gave up… and gave forth… His Spirit (v. 30).  Oh, and you know what happens next.  A soldier takes his spear, and… just to make sure Jesus is really dead (and He is!)… runs it through His side.  Right into His very heart.  And out comes… what?  Blood and water (v. 34).  Strike the Rock and the water flows.  Drink this Water and you will never be thirsty forever.  This Water will never run dry.  This Water cleanses.  This Water heals.  Jesus is the Rock.  Jesus is the Well.  And this Water… is for you.

            The woman believes.  “This Man… He must be… He is… the Christ!”  “I who speak to you am he,” Jesus says (John 4:26).  Or better, “I AM… the One speaking to you.”  God in our human flesh.  She believes, and so she comes into the Covenant.  And it’s a marriage, isn’t it?  Right here at the well. 

            Now, we should say (and this is very important, lest we come to some very silly and damaging conclusions about 6^th Commandment issues and other transgressions of God’s Law): Jesus doesn’t leave the woman in her sin.  He doesn’t say, “That’s okay.  Keep doing what you’re doing.  Keep living with this guy and fornicating with him.”  If you think that, you’ve completely misunderstood what Jesus is doing.  To leave her in her sin… and living together outside of marriage is sin... would be to leave her in death.  Jesus has come to give her life!  And that’s what He does.  You can bet things changed that day between the woman and the man waiting back home who was decidedly not her husband.  Maybe they married.  Or maybe that was the end of it.  Nevertheless, the point is, now she has Jesus.  And so, she has life.  Not because of some reformation of her life.  But because of Jesus, who met her at the well.  Jesus, who gave Himself for her and to her.  Jesus, who slaked her thirst for life and for love. 

            And then, what happens?  The disciples return, and they are confused, but they also believe, and so drink, and enter into the marriage feast at the well.  And the woman runs off and gets a whole bunch of other Samaritans to come and meet Jesus, and hear Him for themselves, and so drink, and believe, and come into the marriage feast at the well.  They no longer judge the woman, because Jesus has taken away her shame, and because they, too, are sinners… get this, though… received graciously by Christ Jesus, who forgives them, and washes away all their sins, and takes away their own shame.  How can they judge, when they’ve been received with such mercy? 

            And what about you?  You meet Jesus at the well, too, don’t you?  We call it a font.  Baptized into Christ.  You drink the living Water.  The Spirit flows from Jesus into you.  You believe.  He forgives your sins and takes away your shame.  And it is a marriage.  The marriage feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end.  Jesus gives Himself for His holy Bride, the Church, you.  He loves you.  And in so giving Himself, He washes you.  Cleanses you.  And presents you to Himself in splendor, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.  Holy, and without blemish.  Praise God. 

            No surprise that Jesus meets this woman at the well.  That’s where He meets us, too.  And gives us Himself.  And with Himself, all things.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                        

Lenten Midweek II

 Video of Service

Lenten Midweek II

Adventures with Elijah: Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

March 4, 2026

Text: 1 Kings 18:20-40; Luke 3:1-22

            Your idols cannot answer your prayers.  They can’t even hear you.  Nor can they do anything for you.  Except lie to you.  Disappoint you.  Make a fool of you.  Kill you.  Damn you.  Because an idol, itself, is nothing.  It has no power.  St. Paul discusses this in 1 Corinthians 8: “we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one’” (v. 4; ESV).  But there is a power behind the idol, and that is what harms you.  The power is demonic.  St. Paul, again in 1 Corinthians, this time in Chapter 10, tells us that “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God” (v. 20).  “I do not want you to be participants with demons,” he says.  Good advice. 

            So, we should examine our lives, and identify our idols.  We all have them.  And then we should deny them.  Forsake them.  Topple them.  Root them out.  Repent.

            See how ridiculous they are as you observe the prophets of Baal in our text.  It’s a pretty simple test, isn’t it?  Set up your sacrifices, O idolatrous priests, and the Prophet of the LORD will set up his.  Then you call upon the name of your god, and Elijah will call upon the Name of the LORD.  And the God who answers with fire is the one true God.  What happens?  The prophets of Baal call and cry to their god.  But nobody answers.  No fire.  No voice from heaven.  No response.  So, they limp around, as you’ve undoubtedly seen pagans do.  (I know this is politically incorrect, but think of the Native American rain dance, as just one example.)  They cut themselves, so that the blood gushes out.  Blood is very common in idolatrous ceremonies.  And this points to the power behind the idols.  The demons are thirsty for blood.  Why?  It is a perverted image of the blood of our one true Sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ.  They are mocking Him.  They are mocking our salvation.  Anyway, on and on they go, all day long, these prophets of Baal, and the text says, “No one answered; no one paid attention” (1 Kings 18:29).

            Meanwhile, what is Elijah doing?  Mocking the idol.  “Cry louder.  Maybe he can’t hear you.”  I’m reminded of the profound words once uttered by the Incredible Hulk when he smashed the false god, Loki: “Puny god.”  Indeed, puny god who can’t hear your prayers.  “Hey, maybe he’s musing, lost in thought.  That’s why he can’t hear you.  Or, maybe he's going to the bathroom.  Give him a minute.  Or, perhaps he's out of town.  Or sleeping.  After all, gods like him get tired after a while.”  Elijah is giving us a clue as to one way we can put our idols in their place.  Mock them for what they aren’t.  They aren’t gods.  In fact, they are nothing.  So they can’t help you.  In fact, they can’t do anything.

            Psalm 115 is helpful here: “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.  They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.  They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.  They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat” (vv. 4-7).  Now, the devastating warning: “Those who make them become like them”… impotent nothings… “so do all who trust in them” (v. 8).

            We become what we worship.  Dear Christian, remember that God made man in His own Image.  And though we lost that Image in sin, in Holy Baptism, God restores it in you.  We become what we worship.  But when you worship idols, what happens?  You exchange the blessed Image for an image of nothing and no one.  And the demons rejoice, because that is what they want for you.  For you to become nothing and no one, and be consigned to an eternity with them in hell. 

            Beloved, don’t become like them.  Identify your idols, and root them out.  “But,” you say, “I don’t worship images of silver and gold.  My idols are less obvious.  So how do I recognize them for what they are?”  You know that an idol is anything you fear, love, or trust more than the Lord your God.  So, ask yourself this question: What is it, in my life, that I’d have a hard time giving up for the sake of Jesus?  In fact, what things do I already refuse to give up for the sake of Jesus?  Where am I breaking His Commandments, and presuming on His mercy, because actually repenting of those things, and giving them up, is more painful than the thought of losing my Lord Jesus?  Whatever those things are, they are what you fear, love, and trust more than the Lord your God.  They are your idols.

            We all, undoubtedly, share many of the same idols.  But it is also true that our idols are particular to our circumstances, vocations, and station in life.  So, when John the Baptist is addressing this with those coming to him for Baptism, he gets specific with people.  “What then shall we do?” (Luke 3:10), they ask.  Well… do you have stuff your neighbor needs?  Don’t hold on to the stuff like it’s your god.  Share it with those who don’t have it.  You tax collectors, stop stealing from people by taking more than you're authorized to take.  You soldiers, stop bullying and extorting the people into giving you money.  Be content with your wages.  Think about yourself in your own vocations and situation.  What would John the Baptist say to you?  Take those idols down.  Confess them.  Drown them, along with your Old Adam, in the blest baptismal waters.  And then what? 

            Put all your faith in God.  Your full fear, love, and trust.  Surrender it all to Him.  Your very self to Him.  Psalm 115, again: “O Israel, trust in the LORD!  He is their help and their shield” (v. 9).  “O Christian, trust in the LORD!  He is YOUR help and YOUR shield.”  And in that trust, call upon Him.

            By the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah has had enough.  He repairs the altar he built for the LORD (apparently destroyed by the Baal worshipers).  And then… and we love this!... he has some bystanders fill four water jars with water and pour them out on the sacrifice and the wood.  How many times?  Three.  And it is a Baptism if there ever was one.  The water soaks everything… runs around the altar and fills up the trench.  And then a beautiful prayer, in the hearing of all, confessing the one true God, the God of Israel, calling upon Him to answer, and by His answer, to turn the hearts of the people. 

            And what happens?  “Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (1 Kings 18:38).  And, of course, it is, in the first place, a type of our all-sufficient Sacrifice of Atonement, the Lord Jesus Himself, when the fire of God’s wrath over our sins fell upon Him on the cross, and consumed Him in the death and damnation we deserve.  He took it, for us, in our place.  And then, it is also a type of our Baptism into the death of Christ.  The water.  Three times.  Soaking everything.  The water and the Sacrifice go together.  And we’re in it.  Baptized into it.

            And then, the judgment and death of the idolaters.  It is really a judgment on Baal, but those who worship him become like him.  And so, the slaughter of the prophets.  See in this, not only a warning of the great Judgment coming upon unbelievers on the Last Day, but also what happens to the Old Idolater in you, and all your idols, when you are baptized into Christ.  The Idolater in you dies with Christ, the Sacrifice, in the baptismal flood, along with all sins and idolatrous desires, even as you are raised up a New Creation in Jesus Christ, who is risen from the dead.  That is, even this terrible act of violence in our text is Good News for you.  Gospel.  Because you are freed from the grip of the demons.  You are no longer their captive.  You belong to Jesus Christ.  And Yah is your God.  As in, “Elijah” (My God is Yah!).  And He does answer your prayers.  He pays attention.  He receives the Sacrifice (the Lord Jesus).  And you are saved.

            And what else do you know?  Those who worship Him become like Him.  That is to say, Image restored.  The Image of Christ.  Baptized into Christ, now heaven is open to you.  The Spirit descends on you and remains.  And the Voice of the Father declares to you: You, also, are My beloved son in My Son, Jesus.  And so, with you, I am well-pleased. 

            Don’t worship idols, beloved.  They’re just dumb objects in the service of dumb demons.  Fear, love, and trust in God above all things.  For He loves you.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  And in Him you have life forevermore.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.              

                     

 

Second Sunday in Lent

Video of Service 

Second Sunday in Lent (A)

March 1, 2026

Text: John 3:1-17

            “How can these things be?” (John 3:9; ESV).  We should take Nicodemus and his question seriously.  True, as a teacher of Israel, Nicodemus should have known.  But he did not know.  And neither would we, apart from the Lord’s gracious revelation in His Word.  Why?  Because we are flesh born of flesh.  That is, fallen flesh born of fallen flesh.  And so, as Paul says, we are unable to accept the things of the Spirit of God, and, in fact, we consider them folly, foolishness, unless and until the Spirit brings us to new spiritual birth.  Because the things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14), and we are not spiritual (as in, receptive to the things of the Spirit) unless the Spirit undertakes a radical demolition and renovation of our mind, our heart, our soul… our very being; what we call, conversion.  That is, to be born again.  Born from above.

            “How can these things be?”  Nicodemus is confused.  A Pharisee.  A ruler of the Jews.  Nevertheless, a man of the flesh.  He thinks one’s fleshly birth counts for a lot, and is ultimately determinative of his standing before God.  He is, after all, a son of Abraham.  He is a righteous Jew.  A member of the ruling council, the Sanhedrin, he is a meticulous keeper of the Law.  He does the right things.  Associates with the right people… and not with the wrong people.  And he knows Jesus is a teacher come from God.  The wisdom and miracles make that obvious.  But he can’t figure Him out.  We know why.  The things of the Spirit are only spiritually discerned.  But it bothers Nicodemus.  Like a rock in the shoe.  So, he comes for a visit.  Under cloak of darkness, in the middle of the night.  Why?  For fear.  Can’t let anyone see me checking this Guy out.  And, because that is his spiritual condition.  Nicodemus is in the dark.

            But he’s asking the right questions… fundamental questions.  And Jesus is answering.  In fact, before Nicodemus can even ask a question, Jesus obliterates all his theological assumptions with His opening statement: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  Now, that one’s a head-scratcher, isn’t it?  “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (v. 4).  I am of the opinion that a man of Nicodemus’ intellectual capacity is not asking the Lord how a grown man can climb back into his mother’s belly to pass through the birth canal a second time.  His hyper-literalism is, rather, a theological response to Jesus.  As if he is saying, “Look, we know, you’re either born into the covenant people, or you’re not.  There is no second birth.  We’re not worried about the Gentiles coming into the covenant.  And we, who are born into that covenant by our natural birth from Mom, just have to stay in it by being circumcised and strictly obeying the Law.”  Sounds like a good Pharisee, doesn’t it?  Also sounds like our own Old Adam. 

            “No,” says Jesus.  “No.  You, Nicodemus, in spite of all of that, cannot enter the Kingdom of God, unless you are born again.  Yes, even you.  Born from above.  Born from God.  Born from the Spirit.  Your genetic pedigree and all your Law-keeping are not good enough.  You are still flesh.  Fallen flesh.  And, therefore, for you to enter into the Kingdom, there must be a fundamental change.  In you.” 

            Our Lord could say the same thing to us.  “You, O fallen man… even you, O Churchgoer, O Missouri Synod Lutheran… you, O defender of family values, O cultural warrior, O scrupulous moral exemplar… you, in spite of all of that, must be born again, born from above.  From God.  From the Spirit.”  That is to say, you must have the new life that comes only in and through this Jesus Christ. 

            And you do.  It is all God’s gracious action.  He gives you this life.  He brings you to this birth.  Graciously.  You don’t earn it.  You don’t merit it.  You don’t decide for it.  You can’t reason your way into it.  You do not do it.  Just as you do not bring yourself to natural birth, or earn being born, or decide to be born.  This birth is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

            “How can these things be?”  You will only believe this if you are a spiritual being, one already born anew, from above.  Otherwise, this will sound like utter foolishness.  But, here’s how… water and the Word.  Water and the Spirit (v. 5).  Holy Baptism.  That is the new birth.  No, Nicodemus, it’s not climbing back into Mom so you can pass through the birth canal a second time.  No, Old Adamic Pharisees, it’s not when you finally get your act together and meticulously keep the Law.  No, dear Christian, it’s not when you make your decision for Jesus and finally, by your own fallen volition, let Him in to your heart.  It happens at the font.  In many cases, you are carried there by your parents and sponsors, and that really shows that this is God’s act of grace.  You had nothing to do with it.  You just laid there in someone’s arms, probably screaming and spitting up and other things we’d expect of sinners.  You were a passive receiver, in other words.  But that is actually true even if you came to Baptism as an adult.  You may have come forward on your own two legs, but that is because the Spirit had already carried you to faith by His Word.

            And that is the answer, too.  The Word.  The Spirit blows in by the preaching of the Word.  Jesus breathes His Spirit into you when you read and hear His holy Word.  And that Spirit captivates you… possesses you.  That is what Jesus is talking about when He says that the wind blows where it wills (v. 8).  The word for wind is the same as the word for Spirit.  The Spirit blows where He wills, and just like the wind, you hear His sound… the sound of the Word, and it is that Word by which the Spirit creates faith in you, and sustains faith in you (which is why you want to be always in the Word, hearing the Word, reading the Word, studying the Word, meditating on the Word, because that is what keeps you in the faith, keeps you in Christ).  You can’t see the wind, but when you hear the sound of it, you know it is windy.  You can’t see the Spirit, but when you hear the Word, you know He is present.  I would be remiss if I didn’t make reference to Article V of our Augsburg Confession in this connection: “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.”[1]

            That we may obtain this faith… God gives the Word and Sacraments… by which the Holy Spirit works faith, where and when He pleases, in those who hear… so that all who believe are justified.  That is our Holy Gospel, isn’t it?  That is everyone’s favorite verse, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (NKJV).  (The word “begotten” is important to get in there, by the way.  God has many sons.  We are sons of God in Christ.  But Christ is the only begotten Son of God.  So that is my quibble with the ESV for the day.)  But that is how these things can be.  God gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life, or in other words, the Kingdom.  And one comes to believe in Him by this spiritual birth from above, by the Holy Spirit, Water and the Word, Baptism, Preaching.  It is the Good News that God does not condemn the world.  God does not condemn you.  He sent His Son to reconcile the world to Himself.  To reconcile you to Himself.  You have now heard the Good News.  Believe it, and you have it.

            “How can these things be?” (ESV).  Nicodemus was confused.  But something happened that night with Jesus.  He heard the preaching.  The Seed may have taken some time to germinate.  But next we encounter him, in John Chapter 7, he is defending Jesus’ rights to a fair trial before the Council (v. 50).  And near the end of the Gospel, there he is with Joseph of Arimathea, taking our Lord’s body down from the cross, and preparing Him for burial (John 19:39).  At great personal risk, we might add.  In other words, he came to love the Lord.  And so, we may safely assume, he came to believe in Him.  Thus, Nicodemus lives.  Eternally.  And so us.  “How can these things be?”  We know.  Because we’ve been born from above.  Baptized into Christ.  His Word ringing in our ears, a sure indication that the Spirit is present and blowing through.  And there is His body and blood for us to eat and to drink, delivering all the benefits of His death and resurrection for us.  Sins forgiven.  Justified, righteous.  We haven’t eared it.  We didn’t decide for it.  We just believe it, thanks be to God, and so receive it.  We believe God, and it is counted to us as righteousness (Rom. 4:3).  That is how these things can be.  And that is how they are.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.    

 

 

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[1] From "Article V. The Ministry" in The Augsburg Confession, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, Pocket Edition. © 2005, 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

Source: https://bookofconcord.cph.org/en/augsburg-confession/chief_articles/article_v/     

Lenten Midweek I

 Video of Service

Lenten Midweek I

Adventures with Elijah: Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath

February 25, 2026

Text: 1 Kings 17:8-24; Luke 7:11-17

            Your Lord cares for you.  See how this is illustrated in His loving provision for the Prophet Elijah.  And not only the Prophet, but also the widow of Zarephath, and her son.

            Even before we get to our text, see how He cares for you by sending the Prophet in the first place.  The days were evil.  An evil king, Ahab, and his evil wife, Jezebel, are leading Israel astray.  The Baals.  The Ashtaroth.  Idolatry.  And all the wickedness that goes with that.  The LORD cares for His people, Israel.  And He knows what they need.  Drought.  Famine.  Suffering.  Why?  Not as punishment, but as a call to repentance.  A call back to the one true God.  Their God.  Their LORD, who loves them.  So He sends His man to announce it.  Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe, in Gilead (1 Kings 17:1), this greatest of the Old Testament prophets, appears, seemingly, out of nowhere.  His entrance on the world stage is as full of mystery as his exit in the whirlwind and chariots of fire (2 Kings 2).  His name means, “My God is Yah!”  Not Baal.  Not Asherah.  Not anyone else.  Yah!  And that will be the sum and substance of his preaching, life, and ministry.

            God sends His Prophet to announce disaster to Israel, to call them back to Himself, because He loves them.  And these things are written for your learning (1 Cor. 10:11).  They are written to likewise call you to repentance, to forsake your idols, and return to the one true God.  Your God.  Your Lord.  Who cares for you.  Even suffering is an expression of His love and care.  The devil always has his own nefarious purposes in disaster, of course.  But God has His, and His will and purpose in it is what Jesus says of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell: Repent, lest you likewise perish (Luke 13:1-5).  He is chastening you.  His is disciplining you.  Because He loves you (parents who don’t discipline their children are not loving them).  That is your Lord’s care for you.  And that is why He sends the preacher to preach to you.  Law and Gospel.  Sin (and its consequences) and grace in Jesus.  Repentance and faith. 

            But to our text… See how He cares for you in the way He feeds His Prophet.  Elijah is hungry, too.  Because of the drought and famine he announced.  The preacher always suffers with his people.  Especially when the people hate him, as Elijah is hated.  But God does not leave him destitute.  First, there are ravens feeding him, and a little brook from which he drinks.  That happens just prior to our text.  But then, when the brook dries up, and all appears lost and doomed, we hear how God provides.  A widow.  Not even an Israelite.  A Gentile woman from Zarephath (incidentally, the sending of the Prophet to a Gentile is also a picture of God’s care for us, because it foreshadows the sending of Apostles and preachers to us Gentiles!)  Well, some help!  She, herself, is destitute due to the drought and the famine.  She’s gathering sticks.  Has just a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug.  What is her plan?  A little cake for herself and her son, that they may eat of it, and die!  Now the Prophet wants a cake of it first?  Who knows what ran through the woman’s mind?  Probably many conflicting thoughts.  But remember, the LORD tells Elijah that He commanded her (1 Kings 17:9).  And now, the Promise from the mouth of the Prophet: “The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty” (v. 14).  So, she does it.  And what happens?  The LORD keeps His Promise.  As He always does.  He is faithful.  Elijah eats.  The woman eats.  And the boy eats.  For many days.  In devastating drought and famine.  Because the LORD cares for them.  And the LORD cares for you.  You know it.  Who has fed you up to now?  Who has given you each day your daily bread?  Here you are, and you haven’t yet starved.  See how your Lord cares for you. 

            See how He cares for you in the boy’s illness and death.  The woman thinks He does not care.  As we often think when calamity strikes.  And as also often happens, she takes it out on the preacher.  “What have you against me, O man of God?  You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” (v. 18).  Of course, that isn’t the case, and it isn’t the case for you, either.  But it sure feels like it, sometimes, doesn’t it. 

            Behold for a minute, by the way, the preacher’s love for his people.  The lament.  “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” (v. 20).  The fervent prayer.  “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again” (v. 21).  Elijah, “My God is Yah,” prays his own name: “O LORD my God… Yahweh, my God!”  See, he knows, if there is to be a healing, a miracle, a resurrection from the dead, it will not come from Elijah.  It must come from the LORD.  And Elijah casts it all upon the LORD his God.  And before we get to it, the miracle that is the grand crescendo of our text, see how the LORD cares for the widow, and for you, in this time of grief.  And for the preacher, too.  He hears their cries.  He receives their lament.  “(T)he LORD listened to the voice of Elijah,” the text says (v. 22).  And see how He cares for the boy, and so for you, in death.  “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Ps. 116:15).

            But then, what happens?  As he prays, the Prophet stretches himself upon the child three times…  Now, don’t miss this.  He stretches himself out.  I suppose there is no way to know exactly what that looked like, but I can’t help but think of it as arms outstretched in such a way that Prophet and corpse are incorporated into the sign of the cross.  Cruciform.  And what comes after the cross?  You know. 

            And then, three times.  Like the three days in the tomb.  Like our blessed Triune God.  Like the Name of the Holy Trinity emblazoned on us in Holy Baptism, where we die with Christ, and are raised with Him to new life already now, spirited with His Spirit (the life, the breath comes back into us), sealed for the Day when the Lord will raise our very bodies.  See how your Lord cares for you in the resurrection of the widow’s boy.

            And we see it so clearly, don’t we, in our Holy Gospel tonight (Luke 7:11-17).  Jesus is the Lord who cares for us, now come in our flesh.   And He is the Lord who stops death in its tracks.  Who takes our uncleanness and death into Himself (He “touched the bier” [v. 14]).  Who commands, “Young man, I say to you, arise” (v. 14), and that is just what happens.  The dead man sits up and begins to speak (v. 15), and the Lord… who cares for the young man… and cares for the young man’s mother, a destitute and grief-stricken widow… gives him back to his mother.  See your Lord’s care for you in this episode.  For He will command you to arise one Day, and that very soon.  And you will sit up, and begin to speak.  And then, particularly for all you Christian parents who know the unspeakable grief of your own child’s death… look what joy and hope He gives you by what He did for the widow in Zarephath, and for this widow in our Gospel: He gave her child back to her. 

            Because He is the Son of a widow.  And He died.  And His mother saw it with her own eyes.  But after three days, what?  He rose from the dead.  And He was given back to His mother.  And to us all.  See your Lord’s care for you in the death and resurrection of this Son.  Death defeated.  Your sins forgiven.  Justification and eternal life.  That is how your Lord cares for you.  And now you are an Elijah.  You confess, and you pray, “My God is… not whatever stupid idols I’ve been harboring, but… Yah!...  The Lord who cares for me.”  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                   

First Sunday in Lent

 Video of Service

Ash Wednesday

 Video of Service

Ash Wednesday

February 18, 2026

Text: 2 Cor. 5:20b-6:10

            Preachers are essentially beggars.  That is not a commentary on my salary.  But it is to say, what does a preacher do, but stand in the pulpit and plead?  Plead with sinners?  Plead with you?  Imploring “you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20; ESV)?  That is, stop going your own way.  Stop doing your own thing, thinking your own thoughts.  Stop justifying yourself.  Turn.  Change your mind.  Repent.  “Return to the Lord, your God,” why?... “for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13).  And that fact is embodied in the flesh of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  Here is what He has done.  “For our sake [God] made him,” namely, our Lord Jesus Christ, “to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).  All your rebellion… all your rejection of God, and His love, and His gracious will for you… all your turning away and running off, as far as you can, from your heavenly Father… all of it, every sin, every transgression, and all guilt, and all shame, all of it… the Lord Jesus took upon Himself, bearing it to the cross.  And for you, and upon you, He leaves His perfect righteousness (His justification), His innocence, His holiness, His life, His Sonship, His inheritance of the very Kingdom of heaven.

            So… have it, beloved.  Please, won’t you have it?  I implore you to come back to the Father who loves you, confessing your sins, covered in Jesus, and possessed by His Spirit.  Now is the time.  This is the day.  The favorable time is always Today.  Right now.  Don’t miss it.  Don’t resist it.  Do not reject it.  God is giving you Himself, and all His gifts.  Freely.  Not because you deserve it, but for the sake of Jesus, who deserves it, and who suffered and died to make it so.  Believe it, and you have it.  Repent and believe the Good News (Mark 1:15).  Confess, and be absolved.  This is the Day of Salvation.  God has listened.  And God helps (2 Cor. 6:2; Is. 49:8).     

            God sends His preachers thus to implore.  And look what Paul says about this Preaching Office.  “We put no obstacle in anyone’s way” (2 Cor. 6:3).  The preacher is to get out of the way, and ever and always and only point to Christ and His saving Word.  But he is to suffer, this preacher (vv. 4-5).  For you.  That you may believe.  As Christ suffered.  For you.  That you may be saved.  The preacher is to bear up, by great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in calamities, Paul says.  In beatings, imprisonments, and riots (I thank my God that Pastor Taylor and I have not yet had to suffer those things, though many of our brothers in Office have so suffered, and do so suffer, and such is our call, if it comes down to it.  And by the way, such is your call, if it comes down to it, as well).  In labors.  In sleepless nights (I’ve had plenty of those for you).  In hunger.  And then, Paul says, also in faithfulness (vv. 6-7).  Purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit (these are the character traits a preacher must aspire to have, and he can only have them by the gift of the Holy Spirit, though, to be sure, he has them in great weakness, and so must always be repenting and receiving and praying and fostering the gifts).  By genuine love… Your pastors love you, which is why we lose sleep over you, and why we so often, and so deeply, hurt for you.  By truthful speech and the power of God (pure doctrine, Sacraments rightly administered, and, I think we can add here, prayer, and a faith that expects God to do mighty things among you).  With the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left (these weapons aren’t guns or swords, but the whole armor of God…  And you are outfitted with that, too, and you can read about it in Ephesians 6).  Then, notice, faithfulness in whatever the circumstances (vv. 8-10).  Even in the extremes.  Honor and dishonor.  Slander and praise.  Considered imposters, but really, true.  Unknown, yet well known (known, at least, to God, and that is really all that matters).  Dying… remember, the pastor is called to suffer and die… yet behold, we live!  Ah, there’s death and resurrection, right?  The Preaching Office is a Christological Office.  Punished, but not killed.  Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (I mean, Christ is risen, and He lives, and reigns, and He’ll raise me, so what sorrow can possibly triumph over that?).  As poor, yet making many rich.  As nothing, yet possessing everything.  Do you see, in that description, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?  That is the point.  The preacher is not to preach himself (get out of the way, preacher).  But Christ.  Always Christ.  Only Christ.  In his words, in his life, and in his very body.  Christ.  Don’t look at me.  Look at Christ.

            But the preacher begs.  He implores.  He pleads.  On behalf of Christ.  For some reason unknown to me, but known, apparently, to the wise men who put together the lectionary, our Epistle reading starts with the second half of 2 Cor. 5:20.  It seems to me that the first half belongs, though.  And, by the way, you probably know it by heart.  Let me read it in its entirety: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  The preacher preached on that verse at my ordination all those years ago.  So, naturally, I brought it up at his 50^th ordination anniversary.  Because that’s what the Ministry is.  Jesus sends the preacher as His official ambassador, to speak the Words of Jesus, on Jesus’ behalf.  And the Words Jesus speaks through His preachers are Words of pleading: I have come for you.  Come, beloved, to Me.  Come back.  Come back.  Why will you die just to get away from life with Me?  Come to Me and live.  Be forgiven.  Be cleansed.  Be healed.  Be whole.  Let Me take from you all that is deadly, and dead.  Let Me fill you with Myself, and the things of life!

            That is what Lent is all about.  Beloved, lay yourself down at the foot of the cross.  Give up your idols, your greed, and your lust.  Give up your grudges.  They don’t belong to you.  Die to yourself, and so live in Jesus Christ.  In just a few moments, you will be marked on the forehead.  An ashen cross.  What is that about?  The ash of mourning, sorrow, and death.  Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.  That is price of running away from God.  But imposed on you in the shape of a cross.  Because, on the cross, God’s arms are open wide.  To call you back.  To bid you come.  To gather you to Himself.  On the cross, God Himself accomplishes the reconciliation.  His arms are outstretched to receive you into His embrace.  Because, on the cross, God’s Son becomes your sin, and puts it to death in His very body.  On the cross, Jesus sheds His blood to cover you and make you whole.  On the cross, the Lord transforms death.  For now, for those marked by His cross, death is but the portal to life.  “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Preachers are just beggars.  They beg you to believe that, and receive that.  So, beloved… please… have it.  Have it.  Have Him.  Here He is, for you.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.