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Lectionary Meditations

On A Day of Clouds and Thick Darkness – A Meditation on Ezekiel 34:11-16

“So I will seek out My sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.”

The children of Israel were scattered. Ezekiel was there with the exiles off in Babylon, watching from afar as the leaders left in Jerusalem went down a rebellious path. Soon enough, the folks left would end up fleeing to Egypt or parts even further afield. To Ezekiel and the exiles in Babylon, it would have looked like the end of the people.

Yet the LORD makes a promise – even though all are scattered and scattering moreso, He would draw them back to Jerusalem. And indeed, several centuries later, on Mount Calvary in the midst of a day of clouds and thick darkness, where the sun itself was blotted out, the LORD Himself hung upon the Cross to gather His people unto Himself.

Fear and war had scattered people. Fear and war – the old consequences of sin and death. They had been driving people apart and destroying them ever since the days of old Adam. But there, upon the Cross, Jesus puts and end to sin and death, taking them up and destroying them, gathering all His people unto Himself.

We are rescued by Christ. Granted, we still see fear and war, we still feel the impacts of sin and death in our own lives – death’s death-rattles still shake us on occasion. But the LORD came and won us life with His death and resurrection, and He will come again in the clouds to put an end to sin and death for all eternity. Come quickly, O Risen LORD!

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Higher Homilies

Let Your Holy Angel Be With Me

by The Rev. William Weedon

Our Catechism teaches us to pray every morning and every night: “Let Your holy angel be with me that the evil foe may have no power over me.” And then in the morning, we are to go off to work singing a hymn; and in the evening, we are to go to sleep at once and in good cheer.

Where does such a prayer come from? This asking of God to let His holy angels be with us so that our evil foe can have no power over us? It comes from today’s Gospel. In today’s Gospel Jesus is not teaching us about angels. He is teaching the importance of humility. But he throws in – almost as an afterthought – a strange saying towards the very end. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 18:10)

“Their angels.” Theirs? It is not as though the angels belong to them. They are called, after all, the holy angels, and holy means (as it always does) “belonging to God.” When God calls something holy, when He makes it holy, he is simply marking it as His own in some special way. So why are they called “their” angels? Not because they belong to them, but because they have been assigned to them. This is what the Psalmist said: “He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” Jesus said that goes not just for the spiritually mature and advanced, but above all, it goes for the little ones that the disciples were tempted to overlook as being rather unimportant. Best not be overlooking them, Jesus warns! They are so important that they have an angel assigned to them, every one of them his own assigned angel. The angels, whose joy is to gaze upon the face of the Father, also delight in serving Him by looking out for the little ones.

And so when you see a child in church, you mustn’t think poorly of them – no matter how noisy and squirmy they may be. You must learn to see them as God sees them, as so precious and important to the King of heaven that to each one has been assigned a big, burly heavenly body and soul guard.

But by “little ones” does Jesus mean only children? No. He means those who, becoming as children, enter the kingdom. To become as a child does not mean to become childish. It means to be nothing but given to, a crying need that calls out to be tended and cared for. Such a little one you were made when you were baptized into Jesus. You only received, you had nothing to give. He did all the giving. Baptized, He gave you the forgiveness of all your sins (for a lifetime and more!). Baptized, He gave you His Holy Spirit to live inside of you and fill you with God’s own joy and peace. Baptized, He clothed you in the garment of His own holiness so that the Father sees you as pure and righteous in His sight, for you have been tucked into Christ by your Baptism. And yes, baptized, He assigned to you an angel to watch over you and keep you. Angels are no myth of childhood, but a solid promise of God. All wrapped up in a single word “their.” “Their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”

And thus your angel is always doing the will of the Father in heaven. That will is above that His holy angel be with you so that the Evil One may have no power over you.

The Evil One wants you to distrust God and His Word and promises even as he does. The Evil One wants you to be drawn into his bitter life of complaining and griping and railing against God and how utterly unfair He is. The Evil One wants you to share his misery not just here in this life, but eternally in hell. And make no mistake about it, the Evil One has set his sights on you, not just people in general, but on you. He hates you with a passion and he wants to bring about your ruin, to destroy your faith. And do you know why? Because he is filled with pride – the pride that thinks himself something special, and who looks down on you-you little pip-squeak – with utter scorn because God thinks you are so important that He would even assign His angels to guard and protect you. The Evil One rages against the very thought that angelic beings should stoop to serve the likes of flesh and blood.

Whatever shall we do against such a foe? Think of how weak we are, how prone to doubt God’s goodness, to question His wisdom, to complain about how He governs our lives and this world! How prideful we can be, despising and looking down on the little ones and forgetting how precious they are to God! Forgetting that we must all become nothing but such little ones, nothing but given to if we are to be saved.

Jesus reveals to us in today’s Gospel that the Father knows our weakness and therefore sends the holy angels to guard and protect us. They seek to keep us from the evil one. They seek to keep us with them, living lives of praise to the Father; living lives of trust in His goodness; living lives of joy in His presence. Their delight is to sing His praises and especially to sing the praises of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus. They delight to stand in amazement before what drives Satan batty! They celebrate the love He showed for us poor creatures of flesh and blood when He took on our flesh and blood in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and came and lived among us. They delight to remember and rejoice in how He allowed Himself to be taken and crucified, trampling down death by death, out of love for us, and how He rose again to destroy the power of death for all who are joined to Him. His is the story they delight to tell, His the praise they delight to sing, and in Him they have found the cause of endless adoration and joy.

The big job of your holy angel, in keeping you from the evil one, is to keep you rejoicing in your Savior. The big job of your holy angel is to bring to your mind again and again the remembrance of His sufferings for you. To call you to unite with them in their praise that does not cease as you stand with them at the Holy Table, where the One they serve continues to serve you by giving you His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins.

So when you pray tonight: “Let your holy angel be with me that the evil foe may have no power over me,” remember what you are asking for. You are asking that your angel, assigned to you when you were baptized into Christ, would always guard and keep you so that the evil one does not seduce you into his empty, unbelieving, complaining and prideful ways. But that you be kept by the holy angels in the way of your baptism, being a little one who is nothing but given to, and so has no room for pride, yet a little one who delights in joining with angels and archangels in their endless doxologies to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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Current Events

The Holy Cross For You!

by The Rev. Rich Heinz

The need was even more apparent for the FOR YOU conferences: something was needed to give an ecclesial sense – a churchly feel – to the concert hall in Minneapolis and the facility in Asheville.  Something was necessary to transform the space.  The ideal of Higher Things conferences is to have sacred space set aside, not used for plenaries, announcements, and the business of the conference.  Something was desired that would proclaim: “Work and play take place in other settings; this space is for worship.”

What could possibly accomplish this task?  What could transform these rooms (and others at future conferences?)  What simply by its placement would declare that this is a Lutheran space, where we gather around the Lord in Prayer Offices and Divine Services?  A large crucifix!

The Rev. Kantor Richard Resch related that the internet was used for studying options, but nothing seemed quite right.  Then another option surfaced.  The Rev. Mark Mumme has a large workshop for his talent and hobby of woodworking.  Pastor Mumme, who makes many of his own furniture items, made a processional crucifix for Kramer Chapel at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne.

Kantor Resch emailed Pastor Mumme, asking for his ideas.  Pastor Mumme immediately responded: “I want to do this!”

Although a fine craftsman, Pastor Mumme does not carve figures such as a corpus for a crucifix.  This meant a non-budgeted expense.  However, when the choral workshop for FOR YOU was canceled, the original donors from Saint Paul congregation in Fort Wayne graciously gave their consent for the funds to purchase it.

A corpus from Oberammergau, Germany was ordered.  Although such international orders can sometimes be delayed, worries subsided when arrangements were made for faster shipping, and the Christ figure swiftly arrived.

The figure of the body of Jesus was ready, now they needed a cross.  The youth of Zion Lutheran in Hardwick, Minnesota (Pastor Mumme’s parish) raised the funds needed for the lightweight, yet sturdy wood.

As it was finished, Pastor Mumme suggested to Kantor Resch, “I could make a processional cross that matches it.”  And so he did.  They were completed and delivered the Monday before the conference in Minneapolis.

HT Retreat Executive Landon Reed is building boxes for both crucifixes, to transport them easily.  Each corpus needs to be handled and transported carefully, as the figures, especially the fingers of Christ, are very delicate.

Higher Things thanks Pastor Mark Mumme, who donated all of his labor, sharing his talent in these two works of art.

Just as the processional crucifix in Kramer Chapel has become a focal point of great beauty, directing our thoughts toward our Savior, so do the new Higher Things hanging crucifix and processional crucifix.  With the aid of these crucifixes, we witness with our eyes the Gospel that we hear as we Dare to be Lutheran and gather for the Feast, given For You, and gladly respond: Amen

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Life Issues

What is God’s Will for My Life?

by The Rev. Rich Heinz

“What do you want to do when you graduate?” “What career would you like to pursue?” Questions like these are asked of teens and college students all the time. In fact, some start early, and sometimes we even ask children before they enter pre-school! But how do you respond?

Sometimes we attempt to get deep and “spiritual” about it, offering a very pious-sounding answer like, “I just want to do whatever God wills.” However, does that really fit in with what we know of God’s will? Does He have only one vocation that is truly for you? If you chose a different career than the one you once thought God was leading you toward, are you sinning?

Dear friends in Christ, the will of God does not work that way. God’s will can be done whether you end up a nurse or teacher, a homemaker, and mother or a “Geek Squad” manager, a pastor, or mechanic. As long as you are working an honest job for the good of others, and working out of the faith He has given you, God’s will is being done!

How is God’s will done?

God’s will is done when he breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.
[Small Catechism: Lord’s Prayer; Third Petition]

God’s will is simply that “[He] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV). The joy that you and I have is this: no matter what career or vocational choices we make in life, we can be His tools in reflecting His love in Christ to those we serve. In this way, through us, He will draw many to Himself “to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

So is it wrong to change vocational choices? Absolutely not! The Lord has given you many talents. Find something you love, do your best as you reflect His love, and you already are doing His will. Will you mess up? Of course – daily! Yet God still wants to use you to touch the lives of others. And so His will is continually to deliver forgiveness to you in His Divine Service, and to renew you to go back out into the world in your vocation, all over again.

For those of you on your third or fourth or even seventh declared major in college, this is especially good news. While your parents and faculty advisors may grow weary of the changes, our loving Master and Teacher know that you can serve Him in any number of ways. You have freedom in Him to choose any of them to live “in faith toward [Him] and in fervent love toward one another.”

“I just want to do whatever God wills,” is an extremely broad statement, for anyone. So remember, dear Christian friends, the choices are many, and all honest vocations can be God-pleasing, abiding in His will. Do not worry about changes in plan, or having one choice that appears to “do His will” more than another. Don’t be fearful and intimidated by choices for your vocation, saying, “I just want to do whatever God wills.” His will is done “when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die.” He will do that no matter what you decide or where you go, so you don’t have to be locked into one vocation in order to be doing God’s will. The Lord will use you wherever you end up in life, to be His tool and His child in that place!

 

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Current Events

Why?

by Rev. William Cwirla

I find myself watching more television than usual these days. Especially in the morning after my early morning walk. I’m looking for some good news — that New Orleans really isn’t all under water after all, that it’s all a very bad dream. I did the same after 9/11. That disaster was caused by bad religion and people who believe it. Hurricane Katrina was caused by a mixture of moisture and air. “Natural causes,” as we like to say. “Acts of God,” as the insurance companies put it when they don’t want to pay up.

“Why?” many will ask. “If God’s in charge, then why? If the universe is so intricately and intelligently designed, then why? Why didn’t God stick His Designer’s hand in front of the whirlwind and make it go back out to sea? Why did He allow a direct hit on a city built below sea level? Why even build a city below sea level?” That’s a question for each other, not for God.

Some are quick to answer the “Why?” question by pointing the finger of blame. Moralists will point to the hedonism and decadence that is New Orleans’ signature: Mardi Gras, “Girls Gone Wild,” or the homosexual “Southern Decadence” festival. Watch out, Las Vegas! Environmentalists will blame global warming. Liberals will blame George Bush. Who really knows? Nature abhors a vacuum. Silence begs to be filled with chatter. And when God’s not talking, we love to fill in the blanks.

The Bible runs lean on the “why” question. When Job asked it out of his suffering, the answer he got from the Lord in the whirlwind was a bunch of questions. “Who shut the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors?” (Job 38:8-9). In other words, “I’m God, you’re not God, and that’s good. Now stop asking questions and start worshipping.”

Some people asked for Jesus’ reaction to a political atrocity, some Galileans who were slaughtered by Pilate while worshipping. Why did it happen? What did Jesus think? He upped the ante with a construction accident — eighteen people killed by the tower of Siloam falling on them. Jesus’ word in response: “Repent, lest you all perish.”

Repent means to have a new mind, to come to a new way of thinking about God and about yourself. Repent of sin? Of course, every day, all of us. Do you think a category five hurricane is bad? It’s a walk in the rain compared to the Last Day! Repent also means to come to new thinking about how God does business, whose ways are not our ways, and whose thoughts are not our thoughts.

Why didn’t God do something? Lots of people prayed on Sunday morning. Unlike earthquakes or tidal waves or tornados, hurricanes give you plenty of time for prayer. They are slow-moving disasters. Plenty of prayers rose up like incense before the throne of grace. So why didn’t God do something to interfere with Katrina?

In the movie Bruce Almighty, Bruce discovers that it isn’t easy being God. He draws the moon in a little closer for a romantic dinner with his girlfriend and causes tidal waves and flooding on the other side of the world. He tries to answer everyone’s e-mailed prayers with a “Yes,” but as God, played by Morgan Freeman, points out, “Saying yes to everyone’s prayers just doesn’t work.” The truth is, you and I wouldn’t want to live in a world under the hand of the Divine Micromanager of All Things. A bride prays for sunshine for her outdoor wedding; the farmer begs for rain for his parched land. What’s a God to do?

God creates in freedom. Clouds, water, air, sea, and dry land, all do what they are designed to do. Usually, everything happens benignly out in the Atlantic somewhere, and the fish go surfing. Occasionally one of God’s free creatures of air and water slams into a populated chunk of land. To put a Divine Hand in the way would do the ultimate harm — withdraw the freedom of air and water and cloud. It’s the equivalent of turning stones to bread.

Why didn’t God do anything about the whirlwind heading toward New Orleans? He did in a way no one would have thought to ask. He dropped dead. He embraced it once and for all in the dark death of Jesus on the cross. “It is finished.” Everything that needed to be done has already been done. In Jesus’ dark death, all the devastations, the deaths, the destructions have been answered for and atoned. The suffering Son suffers along with His creation. He asks the “Why” question for us all: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He absorbs the silence. He dives headlong into its death and brings up from the depths a new creation. Even Noah, bobbing on the water with the animals and his family in the ark was only a temporary fix, a band-aid. It was hardly a new creation that popped out of the ark on Noah’s 601st birthday. Only a sneak preview, picture-type of the coming Jesus attraction. The real lifeboat is the death of Jesus, and that’s already been done one time for all time, once for all people.

Where was God when the winds blew and water rose? Right there in the midst of all of it. The One who “fills all in all” never abandons His creatures or His creation, even when it does some terribly devastating things. He is the Word who made all things and in whom all things hold together. He is with us always, until the end of our days and the end of all the days. He is Calvary-committed to His creation, and in Him, all things are already made new, even as we struggle to clean up the mess of the old.

He works all things together for good to those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. All things — the good, the bad, the ugly, the terrifying, the destroying, the devastating. All things are lifted up in His death. All things. It’s not as though we can load the cosmic dice to come up sevens with our prayers and good works. Instead, every roll of the dice, from snake eyes to box cars, from tidal waves to hurricanes, comes up an eternal winner because the Owner of the cosmic casino insists that it is so, all for crucified Christ’s sake.

Faith clings to the Promise that God is actually reconciled to this world as it is in the death of Jesus and does not count men’s sins against them, and that in Christ He works life in the midst of death, and victory in the middle of a shutout. The world doesn’t need to be micromanaged by a Divine Meddler; it simply needs to be held by the cross-scarred hands of the creative Word Incarnate whose Death swallows up all death once and for all.

Just because it’s all done to death in Jesus, doesn’t mean there isn’t much for all of us to do. Giving, helping, praying, tending our neighbor in need. Each according to his or her vocation and gift. For some, it will mean giving above and beyond the usual. For some, it will mean lending a helping hand. For all of us, it will mean prayer. Jesus is in the midst of that activity too. He is your neighbor in need for you to serve — the man in the ditch who fell among the thieves, and the man whose life has been swept away by the whirlwind named Katrina. “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”

The important thing to remember and trust is that crucified and risen Jesus is always there, right there in the middle of it all, in the eye of the storm, to save you.

 

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Lectionary Meditations

Triumphal Entry; Triumphal Exit – A Meditation on Zechariah 9:9-12

“As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.” – Zechariah 9:11

Palm Sunday is not for Jesus. It’s not for His good or benefit. Jesus isn’t riding in with all these shouts and praises because He thought He would need a little pick me up before the Passion, or anything like this. No, Jesus is fulfilling prophesy. That which Zechariah foretold is unfolding there on Palm Sunday.

And while a lot of this deals with Jesus will do, it’s not really for Jesus. He doesn’t establish a rule for Himself, He doesn’t cut off the battle bow for His own good. No, this Palm Sunday is for you. Jesus strides into Jerusalem for you, to win you forgiveness and salvation and freedom from sin and death. Jesus enters in, and you exit, free and redeemed. It is for you.

But this is true of all the things that Jesus does. He does them for you, for your good, for your benefit. It really is as simple as that. And we have such a hard time comprehending that. We are so used to ulterior motives and playing the angles and manipulating and using the leverage that we can’t even imagine such selfless love that Jesus shows.

But it is all for you. God promised to be Your God and Savior. That was the promise He made to you at your Baptism, by Water and the Word. He would save you from the waterless pit, and so Jesus rides on into Jerusalem for your good. He rides to the cross for you. He rises for you. It is all for you.

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Lectionary Meditations

Jesus’ Day – A Meditation on Genesis 22:1-14

“But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven….”

Isaac was the son of the promise. Abraham had waited long for Isaac. But then God instructs Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. It is a harsh lesson, a harsh reminder. Even though Isaac is a gift, the wages of sin remains death. And Abraham sees the creeping death of old age advancing in his body; he’s lived and fought and killed. Abraham knows death, and He knows that God is right to demand death. Even Isaac’s death.

So Abraham goes. He knows that there needs to be death on account of sin, but Abraham also trusts God. He tells his servants that both he and Isaac will return. And Abraham and Isaac go to the mount, and they build the altar. Isaac knows something is off – there is no lamb. God will provide the lamb, just as God had provided Isaac.

And then there is Isaac, bound on the altar. Abraham, with his knife raised. The wages of sin is death. Death. Death is coming. But then Christ Jesus speaks – for He is the Angel of the LORD – and Jesus puts an end to Isaac’s death. Isaac will not die, for another will go in his place. This day it was a ram.

But Christ Jesus is not content to rescue just Isaac, nor is He content to rescue him for just a few more decades. Jesus Himself would come to be the true and full atoning sacrifice. He would be the true Lamb of God that takes away the sin and death and shame of the whole world. He would go to the Cross. Jesus values the life of Isaac, the life of Abraham, the life of you and me, more than His own. And thus, Jesus wins for us forgiveness and life. Abraham saw this and rejoiced. Likewise, we see in Christ’s death our own salvation and life, and we rejoice at this wonder too.

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Lectionary Meditations

Kill the Preacher – a Meditation on Jeremiah 26:1-15

“-for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Jeremiah had stirred up a hornets’ nest. He had been calling the people to repentance from their wickedness, and they didn’t like it one bit. In fact, their response to his preaching was, “You shall die.” Kill the preacher.

Of course, in reality it wasn’t Jeremiah who caused such a consternation that day. The LORD had sent him. It wasn’t Jeremiah’s word, it was the Word of the LORD. And this is what Jeremiah points out – I’m not making things up, I’m not preaching on my own whims or fears or wishes – this is simply what God says. And you can kill me if you want, but this is the word of the LORD.

Jeremiah lives that day. Doesn’t always live comfortably – they end up dragging him off into exile. Other prophets do end up killed. But these are all prologue. The day would come when the LORD Himself would come to His people, the Word Incarnate would preach, and people demanded His death. And they killed Him. They put Jesus on a cross just to shut Him up.

And the temptation that we face, especially when Jesus’ Word hits too close to a sin that we hold near and dear to our hearts, is to try to shut Him up again, to silence Him, to ignore His Word. But instead Jesus still sends preachers, preachers who proclaim the Word of the Lord. They proclaim your sin – your deadly and vile sin, but they proclaim Christ the Crucified who died to redeem and free you from that sin. God grant that He keep sending preachers to us!

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Christ on Campus

Christ on Campus: Your Body is Beautiful

Article PDF | Bible Study PDF | Leader’s Guide PDF
by Annalise Harrison

My stomach growled. My mouth watered at the sight of the delicious meal as I mentally calculated the calories spread across the table. I passed my hand across my stomach and reminded myself that 133 lbs. does not deserve to eat dinner. Only tan, toned, and thin was worthy of food. Grabbing my water and cucumber, I ran out of the house with two hours of exercise before me. I couldn’t consume real food. I needed to be skinny, for only then could I be beautiful, happy, and full of life. And I was willing to do much to get there. I worked hard, pushing the numbers down on the scale. Less food, more exercise, and I passed down in sizes. My god was my weight; my salvation, a waistline; my life, calories.

Eating disorders are seldom talked about within the church, but it is a struggle faced by Christian youth today. Those who battle against an eating disorder know how real, terrifying, and self-absorbing this lifestyle can be. It manifests itself in different ways and extremes, and though many do not have a disorder, we are all faced with this fundamental question: Where do we find life and beauty?

The world is ready with an answer. The media promotes it, fashion insists upon it, and the culture confirms it. One’s value is wrapped around a waistband and weighed by a number on a scale. Only the beautiful are happy, and to be beautiful means to look good in skinny jeans, be radiant in a bikini, and, all in all, to be a sexy, slender human being. The world lifts up these things as the highest pillar of beauty—the only way one can live to one’s fullest. But is this really where beauty and life reside?

Truth be told,our frail bodies are sick and dying. They are passing away, returning to the dust from which they came. Our efforts to find happiness come to nothing, for our bodies can and never will give us the perfection we seek. Weight becomes a millstone around the neck; waistline, an expanding chasm; calories, an empty pit. The beauty and the life they have fade. We impossibly chase after them, but they are gone like the wind. If beauty is not of these earthly vessels, then where is beauty found?

It is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. He, the Son of God, humbled himself to be born in the same flesh like us. Jesus came bringing life to us, and not merely for our souls, but also for our physical and fallen bodies. He touched the sick, the dying, the fat, the anorexic, and healed their bodies. Then, taking on our ailments, His body suffered the punishment for our bodies. He was marred beyond all human recognition, nailed to a wooden cross, and deserted by all. Christ died, taking our shame and ugliness with Him into the grave. But death could not hold him! Our Lord rose bodily, conquering the grave! One day He will come again in glory, granting us life eternal.

As we are baptized into Him, we share in His death and resurrection. Our dirty rags, our fat, our skinniness, our ugliness are all washed away through our baptism, crucified on the cross, buried in the tomb, and we rise anew with Christ. He then gives His very own body and blood, granting forgiveness to both our bodies and our souls. In eating and drinking His body and blood, we become one with His body and thus find beauty, life, and happiness in Him. Our beauty does not belong to our bodies, but to His. He has redeemed us, body and soul—what more is there to be done? Culture may point to sexiness as god, the world may proclaim skinniness for salvation, but we preach Christ crucified and risen. All life, all beauty, all things come from Him. And when we are in Christ, that is where true beauty is found.

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Higher Homilies

Invited to the Feast

This sermon was preached at the Bread of Life conferences during Wednesday Matins.

Rev. Duane Bamsch

The big, awkward reveal is still in the future. Joseph will tell his brothers who he is and why they’ve been put through all of this, but not just yet. Our Lord God has a plan to protect and care for His people, and until it is ready, Joseph’s identity remains hidden.

Joseph’s brothers are beyond anxious though. They are concerned from the moment they approach Joseph’s door. “Now what? We are surely going to prison for stealing the money from the grain on our last trip! We are all going to die here!”

Even though they are assured that the money in their sacks is gift, they still worry. Why? A guilty conscience. After all, even when a good kid is summoned to the principal’s office for a good reason, he still worries, right? “What did I do?” “What’s going on?”

Joseph’s brothers are terrified of what’s going to happen. They are utterly certain that the end is near for them. They’ve finally made one mistake too many, and the wrath of God is going to smite them with a mighty smiting at the hand of this Egyptian.

Sure, it was all those years ago that they sold their brother into slavery and told dear old dad that he had been eaten by wild beasts. They even had a bloody cloak to prove it—to cover their tracks. Now, it was time to pay. Now the wrath of God is about to be revealed—they are sure of it.

But it was not to be. Against all of their expectations, they are ushered into the banquet hall. They are invited to the table, invited to the feast. They were worried that they were going to their own doom, but Joseph knew better. He had a greater plan in mind—a plan of love, a plan of salvation for his family, and a reunion with his long-unseen father, Jacob.

If anyone deserved to retaliate against his brothers, it would be Joseph, right? How could we deny him the opportunity to return the evil his brothers heaped upon him? Certainly, he would be justified in his wrath against these lying, scheming brothers of his. Even with that in mind, look how Joseph responds—not out of anger, not out of hate, but out of righteousness and love. Even when he has every right to destroy them, Joseph responds with love. He repays their evil with grace.

What about you? How often do you approach the Lord’s house in trepidation? How often are you afraid as you pass through the doors into His holy presence, certain that a great smiting awaits you? Certain that your lies and sins will be laid bare for all to see? Certain that everyone will see and know what kind of hypocrite you are, how much of a failure you’ve been, how much you’ve been hiding from everyone for so long?

Thanks be to God that Joseph is a picture of our Lord Christ for you today! Just as Joseph responds in love to his brothers who wished him harm, so also your Lord Christ sets you a place at His table at the feast and in peace and abundantly heaps up your plate.

Young Benjamin never could have expected to receive five times the amount his brothers received at the table. Yet Joseph blesses him beyond measure seemingly out of nowhere. But it wasn’t out of nowhere, was it? This was Joseph’s beloved baby brother. This is the one person he has wanted to see so badly for so long. And now, finally, he’s able to look his little brother in the eye and see that he is well.

Your Lord Christ, could have treated you as you deserved. He could have turned His back on you and abandoned you as Joseph’s brothers abandoned him. Yet, God our Father had a greater plan in mind—a plan to protect and care for His people, a plan to prepare a place for you, even if you were still His enemy, still turned away from Him in your sin.

But God your Father didn’t leave you as His enemy. His Joseph, your Lord Jesus, went into the enemy’s house—into death itself—and triumphed over it. He showed his Kingship and Lordship in His dying and rising so that you would have a place at His table. He washed you in the waters of your Holy Baptism so that you would be clean and dressed in His presence and at His table. And that place at His table brings you such a great and wonderful gift. Upon that banquet table, upon that altar is the very Body and Blood of your Risen Lord Jesus “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

And, as the Small Catechism says, “where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also [eternal] life and salvation.” In the face of all your sin, Christ Jesus—your “big brother” in the faith—refuses to treat you as you deserve.

He sets a place at His eternal feast for you. He has dressed you, He has called you into His presence, and He places before you His gifts—gifts to receive in joy, gifts that make you merry with Him, and gifts that preserve you, body and soul, unto life everlasting. Amen.