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.  

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

 Video of Service

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7A)

June 21, 2026

Text: Matt. 10:5a, 21-33

Courage, dear Christian, courage.  Courage, dear Church of God, courage.  It takes courage to live as a disciple of Jesus.  To confess Him.  To speak His Word.  To bear His Name.  Because “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake,” Jesus says (Matt. 10:22; ESV).  “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household” (vv. 24-25).  

So, it takes courage.  Jesus is forthright about the challenges a disciple may face.  Last week, we heard about opposition from coreligionists: “they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues” (v. 17); and persecution on the part of governing authorities and unbelievers: “you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles” (v. 18).  This afternoon, as we hear more of what we often call our Lord’s “Missionary Discourse,” Jesus tells us our own family members may hate us because we follow Jesus.  That is a painful heartache many of you know intimately.  There are places in the world today where family members don’t just say mean things to their Christian relations… where they don’t only cut off contact and shun (as painful as that is)... but they actually do what Jesus says here they will do: Brother delivering brother over to death, and the father his child, and children their parents (v. 21).  Whole communities, chasing the Christian out of town (v. 23).  And, we know, beatings, imprisonments, and the loss of all earthly possessions.  That has happened to Christians throughout history, and is happening today.  Lord, Jesus, strengthen Your persecuted disciples in every place, and grant them Your Holy Spirit, to confess You faithfully unto death.  And give us the strength and Your Spirit, should that ever be us!   

So, that is why we need courage.  And that courage, understand, is not something you can draw deep from the wells of your own heart.  It has to be the gift of God.  It has to be a fruit of the Spirit.  Because this is spiritual warfare.  You’re actually not wrestling against flesh and blood.  You love the people who do such things to you.  That is why you want to tell them about Jesus.  They are your blood relatives, your friends, your neighbors, your community, your people.  The opposition actually comes from the demons: The rulers, the authorities (not earthly rulers and authorities, but ranks of evil angels), the cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).  These maleficent beings specialize in turning human hearts against one another, often violently.  God is love, and those born of God love one another (1 John 4).  But the demons are filled with hate, and those in their grasp are likewise filled with hate.  

Beloved, you are born of God (Baptism).  Redeemed by Christ, who pours out His Spirit upon you.  So you love, even as you are loved by God.  And, you have this courage.  It is piped into your ears in the hearing of the Gospel, and in a very particular way in the Holy Supper, with Christ on your breath, and invading your very body with His crucified and risen body.  His blood, beating in your heart and coursing through your veins.  St. John Chrysostom famously said: “Let us then return from that table like lions breathing fire, having become terrible to the devil.”  I love that quote, and think of it often.

Our Lord tells us the crosses we have to take up, if we are to be His disciples, but so also, in this discourse, He gives us very precious, encouraging (as in, puts the courage into us) Good News.  Listen to these five reasons you can be courageous… “have no fear of them,” as Jesus says (v. 26)... in the face of this heartbreaking, and even violent, opposition:

First, He says that “the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22).  That Promise can carry you through any trial or tribulation.  Because you know there will be a happy ending.  Why can children make it through Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty (or pick your Disney princess movie), in spite of the evil queen, and the death-sleep of the princess, and the seemingly hopeless mortal peril of the savior-prince?  Because they know that, in the end, the prince will rescue her, they will all live happily ever after.  Well, you know that, too.  As bad as things may get under the devil’s seeming reign, and his threats toward you and the Church.  Jesus is coming, our Savior, our Prince.  He died, yes.  But He is risen.  He lives.  And He is coming to awaken you and give you life, so that, in the End, you live happily ever after with Him.  The one who endures to the end will be saved.

Second, “nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (v. 26).  That is, justice is coming.  Vindication.  The Gospel will prove true, and disciples of Jesus will be manifestly righteous.  Your suffering is seen.  God knows it.  He cares.  He will make it good.  So… courage, because in the End, everyone will know the truth, and your righteousness in Christ will be manifest.  

Third, the worst they can do to you is kill your body, but they cannot kill your soul.  So, don’t fear them.  Fear God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  But also, trust Him.  He’s redeemed you by the death and resurrection of His dear Son, Jesus.  So, if they kill your body, what will God do?  Take your soul to safety in heaven.  And then what?  Raise you, bodily, to eternal life.  Courage, then, dear brothers and sisters.  They can inflict some pain, but they cannot, finally, hurt you.

Fourth, not a sparrow falls from the sky, or a hair from your head, apart from your Father’s knowledge and care.  And you are of more value than many sparrows.  What is the point?  If God so cares for birds of the air and the hair on your head, how much more does He care for you?  He who is Almighty, and All Good?  He loves you with an everlasting love.  So, courage.

And, fifth, what does Jesus promise for those who confess Him before men?  He will confess you before His Father in heaven.  That is, He will say to His Father, “This one is mine.  Purchased with My own suffering, blood, and death.  And this one is also Yours, dear Father.  You sent Me, to make it so.  This is Your beloved child.  Bring him… bring her… into the joy of Your Kingdom, for My sake.”  And God’s answer to His only-begotten Son is “Yes.”  In Christ, it is always, “Yes.”  Therefore, courage.

Live in Jesus.  No matter the cost.  No matter the pain.  Order your life according to His Word, and not according to the world, or your own sinful passions.  Live openly in Him.  Speak of Him.  Season Your speech with His Word and His Name.  Teach your children.  Remind them, even when they are old, that Jesus loves them, and died for them.  Confess Christ to your friends and neighbors.  Invite them to Church.  Do not hide because you are afraid.  Courage, dear Christian.  Courage.  Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within you.  But remember to do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).  But do it.  Because you have been given to speak the Word of eternal life to the people around you, the people God has given you.  That Word saves them from death and hell.  That Word gives them salvation and life.  Even as it does for you.  Because that Word gives them Jesus Christ.

And what if you suffer?  You will.  A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  Jesus suffered.  So will you.  Okay.  Take up your cross.  But remember the Promises.  They will not fail.  Because Jesus does not fail.  He loves you.  He died for you.  He lives and reigns for you.  So, you can count on it: The one who endures to the end will be saved.  That’s you.  Courage.  Because that is you in Christ.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.