NEWS

“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus’ disciples asked. Our Lord responded by welcoming a child into His midst. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Children are highly valued by our gracious God because they are completely dependent. On their own, they have nothing, yet they need everything. This is true for all of us in our relationship with God! On our own, we have only our sinful, broken lives and are unable to please God and fulfill His commands. Yet, in Jesus Christ, we possess everything we need! Forgiveness of sins and the guarantee of life forever with God are freely given to those who turn from their sin and receive the forgiveness earned by our crucified and risen Savior. In Jesus, we are, like children, completely dependent. We have nothing to offer, yet everything we need is ours to receive from the gracious hands of our Savior.

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In the quiet refuge of this sanctuary, it may be easy to forget that we live in a world that has been marred by sin, cursed by death, and filled with wickedness. Although we confront it every day, this very present evil will not overcome us. God’s desire is for us to be saved and delivered by His Son, Jesus, so that we are enabled to love, to live, and to overcome evil with good. In our worship service today, we receive the same Jesus who once overcame evil by carrying His cross to suffer for our salvation. Trouncing over all the evil we will ever face, our risen Savior lives to love, to bless, and to deliver us as His people.

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God’s people have gifts that are signs of His loving presence and demonstrations of His gracious power. In a sermon preached in 1538, Martin Luther observed, “Whoever comes to faith can only say that the Holy Spirit comes when and where and to whom He pleases at the time He pleases. He comes when and where He pleases and also gives a person as many gifts as He pleases” (WLS § 2057). As people in whom the Spirit dwells, we have the joy of discovering special gifts of God in one another and in ourselves as well. May that mutual discovering and celebrating be truly God pleasing in every way!

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The African American spiritual “Give Me Jesus” begins “In the morning when I rise, Give me Jesus,” words that remind us that our Savior, Jesus, is with us at all times. The same truth is expressed in another hymn in which English hymnist Timothy Dudley-Smith writes: “Christ be my Leader by night as by day; Safe through the darkness, for He is the way.” Jesus Christ, whom we confess in the Creed, is always there to comfort and to guide us. Our songs of praise, whether new to us or old favorites, can well express our thanksgiving for His loving care.

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With those poetic words from years ago, English hymn writer Edward Dayman describes God the Father at work. He not only created us and rules over us, but He is also known to us in His giving—the giving of the daily blessings we receive and, most important, the giving of His Son to be our Savior. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, we bring to God our praises as part of the good service of our lives. The heavenly Father awaits our response to His gracious giving!

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Miracles tend to be big things in our minds. But the miracles Jesus does are more often tied to the simple things of ordinary life—like food! Jesus provides the simple things of life in miraculous ways. That is one of the things the five thousand learned when Jesus took a light lunch and fed thousands. It also confronts us here in simple water that becomes the means to new and everlasting life, or in simple bread and wine that feeds us the flesh and blood of Christ, or in efficacious words that accomplish what they say. But this is also true in our daily lives, as our Good Shepherd supplies all our needs of body and soul.

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Treasures are hard to find and even harder to hold on to. Jesus describes the kingdom of God as a great treasure hidden in a field, a pearl of great price, and a net full of fish. But this treasure is one of God’s own making. He esteems us His treasured possession and delivers up His own Son that we might be His own and live under Him in His kingdom without end. On earth that treasure is hidden in the dirt, found side by side among cheap trinkets, and in nets that hold good and bad fish. But one day, it will all be clear. They will be set apart and the false treasures exposed. For now, it is enough to believe His Word and trust in His promise and hold steadfast to His Son

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Why must we endure the questions, the challenges, and the things that are not as they should be? The disciples long ago wondered about this too. Why are there weeds in God’s field and what can be done about it? The seed was good, but God has enemies, and so do you. It is not given to us to resolve this until the Lord’s time, when He will separate the weeds from the wheat. It is enough for us to know that God knows the hearts of people and that this tension will not endure. When Jesus comes in His glory, the angels will gather out of His kingdom all who do not belong. Then the righteous shall shine like the sun, so take heart, people of God.

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Plants in God’s good earth respond to the showers He sends, producing plants for pasture and crops for harvest. In the psalm, David says it is as if “the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.” It is all natural, and so is our producing fruit for God as His Word works through us. That God works through us sinners is all grace; if we but hear the Word and let the Spirit give us understanding, a bountiful harvest will follow. Jesus likens it to seeds producing yields of up to a hundredfold. But we are no mere plants, as Paul points out in the Epistle. Because we have been adopted by our heavenly Father, we are brothers and sisters of Christ, the children of God, calling out to Him, “Abba! Father!” Our growth in faith is indeed by the grace of God, and to Him belongs all the credit for the bountiful harvest He reaps through us.

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