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October 18, 2026                                                           Text:  Matthew 22:15-22

Dear Friends in Christ,

            How many of you like a good debate?  Do you like to step into the ring and go a round or two on politics or sports or construction projects or social media or vaccines or whatever else people like to go at one another with?  I don’t like most debates because I don’t like conflict even as members of my family tell me I would have made a good lawyer.

            For most of us there are subjects we just don’t bring up with family or friends.  We know we aren’t going to change minds, and it is not worth affecting the relationship. 

            Jesus encounters a group of people we would not call family or friends.  But oh how they love to debate the Savior.  They had asked him many similar type questions already in his ministry.  The ironic thing is that they always left with Jesus having the answer and upper hand, but they just can’t help themselves.  They think they can trap the Son of God.  Today’s text is another one of those traps they think they have set for him.  They are ready for a good debate.  How will Jesus answer?  What we will see is that  . . .

“IN THE END, THERE IS NO DEBATE”

            Don’t you just love these men in our text?  They are going to try a little flattery on Jesus before they shoot their question his way.  They tell Him he is “true” and “teaches the way of God truthfully” and “you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.”  We use compliments because we want to be nice and kind and tell people what they mean to us.  They are using them subtly and carefully and their compliments are full of venom and deadly intention. 

            They want to entangle Jesus in his speech, so the debate begins.  “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”  Jesus the all-knowing knows the motivation and calls them “hypocrites.”  But it is time for an object lesson.  Jesus says alright, let’s see the coin.  And like any good debater, he asks them a question, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”  And they answer, “Caesar’s.”  This is getting good, they think they have Him trapped.  If he says to pay the tax to the pagan Caesar he could lose his following.  If he says you don’t have to pay the tax, he could be arrested and lawfully they could put him to death.  This debate is entering the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the people inch in closer.  What is the play call?  How can he triumph in the debate?  “He said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.’”  Boom.  We have a winner.  In the end, there is no debate.

            These words are revolutionary.  They are like the gospel, they change lives.  We live in two realms – the civil and the heavenly.  Though our first allegiance is always to God, we are also bound to obey the legitimate authorities that God has put in place.  The church will advance, not with the sword of Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane but with the sword of Paul – that is God’s Word.  Christianity can thrive in every nation of our world because we can follow leaders and laws, but we know that our ultimate orders are given by Christ. 

            In the end, there is no debate.  Our bodies belong to our Creator, our souls belong to our Redeemer.  The Caesar’s of the world come and go.  Christ is, was and will be the Alpha and the Omega.

            Don’t avoid paying taxes and remind yourself of what our money says, “In God we trust.”  Don’t shirk your civic responsibilities.  Become involved.  Make a difference.  Debate if you want.  But remember that our ultimate loyalty lies with God alone, whose Son Jesus ushers us into His own Kingdom.

            You have life because of this Jesus.  You have salvation because of this Jesus.  You live daily in grace and mercy because of this Jesus.  People can squawk all they want about who this Jesus is, but in the end, there is no debate.  He won then, He wins today, and He wins tomorrow.

                        Amen.       

October 4, 2026                                                                                    Text:  Isaiah 5:1-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Jerry Seinfeld said to Kramer on an episode of Seinfeld, “Buying fruit is a gamble, I know that going in.”  We understand that don’t we?  Maybe bananas and some apples are pretty consistent but buying a melon is a crapshoot.  And grapes?  Red or green and if you get that one that makes your face pucker, well, you know all about sour grapes.

            Sour grapes.  An expression we all use.  What does it mean?  An expression of disdain about something one desires but cannot have.  The expression comes from Aesop’s fable when the fox could not reach some grapes and so the fox disparaged them as sour.  Can people accuse us of sour grapes? 

The Israelites had a problem.  God gave them a vineyard.  Highly attainable.  Within their reach.  They misused it and it brought on . . .

“SOUR GRAPES”

            The words used in our text are “wild grapes” but it means the same thing.  Grapes that were no good.  The text is a parable skillfully done.  Likely proclaimed at the Feast of Booths when Israel celebrated God’s blessing of the harvest.  It starts out nicely with harvest imagery, but soon turns into an indictment.  Isaiah wants the Israelites to pass judgment on themselves.  The vineyard is a real-life situation, and they soon realize the story is about them.  Talk about sour grapes.

            Running a vineyard is a hard job.  Many of Israel’s vineyards were planted on the side of a mountain or hillside.  This made them naturally rocky.  The rocks would have to go.  Then the weeds and thorns and it is time for digging and terracing.  Good drainage would be a must.  A vine must be selected or many vines, the choicest vines.  These vines need protection from animals and pests.  A fence and watchtower must be built.  After all this the vintner is going to need a winepress and a vat.  To care for the vineyard, many workers are needed and they do not come cheap. 

            This was all done in the first two verses, but when the harvest came the vineyard only produced bad fruit, sour grapes, pucker up.  This whole reading is a picture of Israel.  The Lord God, the landlord of the vineyard had given them the land as a gift.  He gave them a great sign in Numbers chapter 13, a cluster of grapes so large it had to be carried by two men on a pole.  The vineyard is the city of Jerusalem.  A city hedged and walled.  A city where all the tribes (the grapes) of the Lord can grow and flourish.  The temple is built on a fertile hill.  All of this is within their grasp.  But they turn their back.  Sour grapes.

            What do Judah and Isaiah have to offer us?  Jesus.  Jesus’ coming.  Jesus as the vine.  Jesus proceeding into Jerusalem on the donkey.  Jesus as His life is crushed on the rock of Calvary.  Jesus as the blood is dripping down on those rocks, like the juices of grapes being stomped in the winepress and into the wine vat below.

            Israel.  God’s chosen nation was a bad tenant.  She allowed the weeds of false doctrine to grow among the branches.  She permitted the wild boars of false teachers to eat the good grapes and root out the noble vine of God’s planting.  When God sent the servants, His prophets to collect the fruits, Israel beat, killed, and stoned them.  The owner will send His Son.  Surely they will love and respect him, right?  Not so.  He, too, is killed.

            The Lord held them accountable.  He made the vineyard a waste.  He breaks the wall and stops the rain.  He hates rebellion against His Word and those that grieve His spirit.  Turn your back on the Almighty and expect sour grapes.

            Do we suffer from sour grapes?  Our salvation is attainable through Christ.  Do we ever disdain it for something else and then cry “sour grapes”?  There is life and death in the vineyard.  Branches are pruned.  Judas is cut away from the Twelve.  The other eleven will bear fruit, as branches in the vine.

            You are offshoots of the eleven.  Stock of true Israel.  Fruit of the vine Jesus.  Unlike fruit, our salvation is not a gamble.  We bear fruit because we are clean in the waters of Holy Baptism.  You hunger and thirst for that crimson blood of Jesus shed for your sins.  You know Christ.  You are in Christ.  You know the power of the resurrection and the goal of your faith – heaven because of Christ Jesus.  Through all this, you are blessed to be the Lord’s Vineyard. 

                                    Amen.

September 27, 2026                                                          Text:  Philippians 2:1-4, 14-18

Dear Friends in Christ,

            One of the things debated in our society is the idea of citizenship.  Who is a citizen?  What rights does a citizen have?  Who should vote etc.  We are not going to jump into that quicksand pit, but we are going to talk about Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

            Ancient Roman citizenship was a big deal.  Most people that lived in the empire were not Roman citizens.  Philippi was a retirement colony for honorable citizens, mostly military veterans.  They were proud of their service, proud of their status, proud of their citizenship.  Paul takes this idea of pride in citizenship but adds a twist.  It is nice to be a citizen of the Roman empire, but remember you are a citizen of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Your first loyalty is not to the empire but to Christ who redeemed you, forgave you and now lives with you.  You are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.  It is not your status that matters, it is your humility and living for Christ.  How are we doing on that front?  Let’s talk about it today.

“ARE YOU CROSS EYED?”

            Being cross-eyed usually affects young children and can go cause one or both eyes to go inward or outward.  It is usually cured by glasses, therapy and sometimes surgery.  The cross eyed we are dealing with is the cross of Christ.  Is it the lens through which we see the world and the people in it? 

            C.S. Lewis said, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought the most of the next.”  Verse 4 of our text, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others…”  How about that.  Do others really fit big in your life?  Are you cross eyed?  You have got to be cross eyed if you are genuinely going to care for others. 

            Oh, we love Jesus to pieces, and we sing our little hearts out about serving Him…but when it gets right down to the issue of who is going to get ahead of who… well, Jesus gets the back seat all too often.  As somebody well perceived:  “One-half of our problems come from wanting our own way.  The other half from getting it!”

            We have a ministry to each other.  As the text says we live in “a crooked and twisted generation.”  Oh boy, do we.  Christ calls us to “shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.”  If you took away everything begun by Christians in the world – schools, hospitals, orphanages, care centers, the courts, charities – where would our world be?  Even much of our language can be attributed to God’s Word.  So many are blind to this.  The cross is nowhere in their line of vision.  This is why we are cross eyed.  Through the Holy Spirit working in us we help others to have a sight line to Jesus. 

            How might this look?  Sacrificial love.  Jesus was cross eyed.  His entire life his focus was on His obedience to the cross.  There was the greatest sacrifice of love and forgiveness

 the world has ever seen.  We exhibit that with others.  We love when it is hard to do.  We forgive when it might feel wrong.

            Encourage.  Jesus did this.  He brought Good News.  He told people to go and sin no more.  As the Book of Hebrews says we encourage one another.  We encourage one another in our good deeds and love, and we encourage one another to be in worship where Word and Sacrament strengthen us to be cross eyed. 

            Christians who have been Christians for a long time set the pace for newer Christians.  If newer Christians see that Bible Study isn’t all that important to the older Christians, well, that makes a statement.  Remember, cross eyed.

            We were blind, but now we see.  Jesus did that.  We call it amazing grace.  His precious blood saved us.  His resurrection gave us a home, a citizenship.  Is the vision clear?  Cross eyed for Jesus.

                                                Amen.      

September 20, 2026                                                                             Text:  Isaiah 55:6-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

            What world events have happened in your life, and you know exactly where you were?  For my generation it would be 9/11 and the space shuttle Challenger explosion.  I was a Junior at Illinois State, living in my balcony room at 302 W Vernon in my fraternity.  I was getting ready for class, had my schoolboy 19-inch color TV on when it happened.  For a moment like with 9/11 or the assassinations of Kennedy and Martin Luther King, you stand there stunned.  A bright sunny day, watching the sky and the explosion.  Science is not foolproof, the human mind is fallible and there are risks in any high-risk technology.  I watched and thought . . .

“HOW CAN THAT HAPPEN?”

            These moments happen more than we are aware of.  Space shuttles don’t just explode in flight.  Planes don’t just crash into buildings.  People aren’t just gunned down for no reason.  But all of this happens.  Kingdoms and leaders fail.  Economies crumble.  Friends betray.  Our plans don’t turn out the way we hoped.

            Scripture shows how common the “How can that happen?” can occur.  Only four people on earth and Cain murders Abel.  Jacob tricks a blind, dying father.  God’s followers build a golden calf.  A disciple betrays His Master. 

            The Apostle Paul knows that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23). His deep thoughts could be troubling.  Luther struggled with his faith.  He knew turning in on yourself was detrimental.  We all do it.  Our inward battles can crack our outer shell.

            The Lord steps into our made for ourselves hell and does the “How can that happen?”  He kept feeding the Exodus mob even as they complained.  He healed Naaman.  He engaged the Samaritan at the well.  He allowed the lame to walk and the deaf and mute to speak.  Don’t you think the crowds stood there stunned?  Knocked for a loop?  His grace was in motion.

            Doesn’t this same grace of our Savior empower us?  Our society is all about giving second chances.  To the prisoner, the soldier, the unwed mother, the fornicator, the embezzler.  Why might we help the helpless or serve those who hate us or keep being kind to a friend who turned their back?  This is the way of God’s grace.  His thoughts and ways are higher than ours, but sometimes they trickle down to us.  It can all be hard to comprehend. 

            Does God’s grace ever threaten us?  Are we only comfortable when in control?  Do we still base his graciousness on how good we have been?  Anyone have to spend a moment in timeout this week?  Do we strut that grace?  “Yea, I really looked good stopping to change that flat tire.  Surely, that is worth something.” 

            God saw a world in need.  He saw a world that needed Him to intervene.  He could not be a Creator who just washed his hands of the mess we have made it.  Look at the text, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” (v. 6). We have access to the Father.  He knows my inmost thoughts and actions.   He knows yours too and yet He approaches us.  He wants to help us break free.

            God became one with humanity.  In the flesh.  One man dies for all men.  “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8). “How Can That Happen?”  Why would the Lord do that?  Because of His love.  He is love.  His nature.  This is the only things He knows.  He resurrects and still reigns.  He still pardons our thoughts and ways because of His forgiving thoughts and ways.  He is present in the Word – How can that happen?  – and in the Sacraments – How can that happen?  Grace, my friend.  Grace.

            After Challenger in ’86 we were confident NASA would get it figured out and it wouldn’t happen again.  But it did in 2003 with Columbia on re-entry.  A different problem, but again no guarantees.  I saw a recent sit-down interview with the director of that flight, and he talked about the good he saw in people as they help walk and collect pieces in East Texas, the volunteers that fed the government people that made their home there for months.  The humanity of man was on full display.  9/11 remembrances had some of those same stories.  How Can That Happen?  The grace of God that died and rose for us.  The knowing that life is bigger than us.  The eternity that awaits.  This is what motivates the parents to forgive the drunk driver who kills their child or the person that lets go of the hell someone put them through.  You watch it and have the same reaction I do.  How can that happen?  Could I do it?  We can because God’s ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts.

                                                Amen.           

September 6, 2026                                                                              Ezekiel 33:7-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

            What do you know about Ezekiel?  Is he just another name in the Bible to you?  Did you know God called him to speak his words to hard-headed, strong-willed people?  Did you know that God tells him that people will rebel against the truth he will speak?  Did you know that God calls him to speak and then makes him mute so that he only speaks when God tells him?  Did you know God had Ezekiel do this bazaar thing – lie on his left side for 390 days to bear the punishment for Israel and then lie on his right side for 40 days to bear the punishment of Judah?  He also was told to shave beard and head and cook his food over cow dung?  Did you know?  Did you know all that?

            Whew.  Let’s ask for volunteers.  Who would like to be Ezekiel?  This prophet vocation does not come with a great job description.  It can be disgusting and dangerous.  Frustrating and fruitless.  Nobody wants to listen.  Do you want to be Ezekiel?  I am not sure that Ezekiel wanted to be Ezekiel.

            So, where do you and I fit into this biblical story?  We will start with the vocation I have been called to.  In my office at church and my office at home I have the same framed wall hanging and it says, “Preach the truth, no matter what.”  God asks me to be faithful no matter the consequences or the number of fannies in the pews.  I am called by God to do the work of His Kingdom.  I am Ezekiel.

            You are Ezekiel.  Now before you go all “I didn’t sign up for this, you better check your records Pastor.”  Oh, you sound just like Ezekiel.  He uttered, “I am not qualified or trained.”  But the Lord sends you from pew into the world.  Sheep among wolves.  Armed with God’s Holy Word, yet knowing it could cause anger among those you share it with. 

            It can be a little daunting to be Ezekiel.  Tough duties are before us.  How can we do it?  Of course, with some help.

“GOD QUALIFIES US TO BE HIS EZEKIEL”

            We are unqualified.  Lost and condemned sinners.  Things we’ve left done and left undone.  Why me, Lord?  How can you send this “chief of sinners though I be?”  Maybe my application got put in the wrong pile.  Can I talk to your secretary?  Somebody is going to find out I am not really the person they think I am.

            Then look where the Big Man wants to send me.  The landscape of this world is no manicured English garden.  It’s a mess and my little rake can’t clean it up.  I am going to need an army of bulldozers.  It’s a terrible, mixed-up society and my presence can always make matters worse.

            We are as bad as the people we are sent to.  Itching ears that want to hear God’s Word the way we want it.  Wanting to bulldoze sense into people, when maybe they need compassion and someone who will listen.  This Lord, boy has He miscalculated my worth.  I am unworthy.  I can’t be Ezekiel.  All true, Kemosabe…but did we mention Ezekiel felt the same way and said the same things.

            Ezekiel, you, I – all unqualified.  Yet the Lord qualifies us and sends us anyway.  He knows our sin and the inability to control it.  He knows and He sends the light of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, to pierce the darkness of the world and the darkness of our flesh.  He dwelt among us to take on the landscape of sin, death, and Satan in our place.  He journeys to the cross and lays his life on the line for ours.  We are redeemed – bought back – and our soul is restored.  From darkness to light.  Called out.  We belong to Him.  People of God.  Called to this new reality.

            Ezekiel, you, I – now qualified.  Not by our works or our lips.   God has qualified us by the blood of Jesus.  This blood washes away the sin – the done and the undone – and brings us into the Kingdom of God.  Qualified to be called His children.  Qualified to be servants of the Gospel.  Preparing us to be Pastors, teachers, lights of the world.

            Ezekiel delivered his soul when he spoke the message of the Lord.  That is all he was asked to do.  Most didn’t listen, but those who did were brought into the kingdom by God.  He was sent to a hostile environment by a directive delivered by God Himself.  God does the same for us.  He wants us to get out into this adversarial climate we habitate and be about His business.  It is no stroll in the garden and people will throw mud and curses upon you, but it is what He expects from us.  As His children we do our work and live in His grace poured out on the cross.

            We appreciate you coming in today.  We have read over your qualifications and well . . . we got word from the man upstairs, you are good to go because of Jesus.  Welcome aboard, Ezekiel, we hope you will be happy for years to come!

                                                                                                            Amen.           

August 30, 2026                                                                        Text:  Matthew 16:21-28

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Are you ready to go on a journey?  Some journeys we enjoy.  A trip we have been waiting to go on.  A visit to see the children and grandchildren.  Some journeys we do not want to take. 

Something that has happened to many of you in recent years, which is inconvenient, and I hear you grumble about, is the sending people out of town for medical care.  Peoria, Champaign, Springfield, St. Louis, Chicago.  Instead of 10-15 minutes to go see a loved one, it is an hour or more and it can take up most of the day. 

            For the first time in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus today predicts his suffering, death and resurrection.  And Jesus tells the disciples – and us – that we are going along.

“LET’S TAKE A JOURNEY”

            The Lord called many to take a journey.  Noah had no idea where that ark was heading.  He had to trust the Father who knew the way.  The call of Abraham came with few details.  He had to trust his Maker.  The disciples left boats and tax stands for a lifelong journey of faith.  When Jesus asks us to go somewhere and we react, “Do what?”  We need to trust that going anywhere with Jesus will make the journey worth it.

            Jesus allowed the disciples to face problems so that they could learn more about His care.  He was patient when they struggled with greatness or a lack of faith on the choppy waters.  We grow when we journey.  Think of everything you have learned on a trip.  Historical, practical, and patience.  Toni and I had that coming back from Germany and our bomb threat earlier this year in Aruba.  You have your own, “I had to stay patient” story.

            As Jesus forms us, He also leads us.  This happens in prayer and through His grace.  His forgiveness leads us to forgive.  We serve in different ways.  What challenge awaits? 

            Where might we be sent.  The disciples were sent all over the modern world.  Their footprints dot the landscape and are still places that people journey to today.  This is also our mission.  To love people in Christ both near and far. 

            Peter’s discipleship in our text wasn’t complete, because he doesn’t realize crosses will be involved.  He expects a coronation not a crucifixion.  He thinks he is doing the right thing by telling Jesus this shouldn’t happen.  This is a natural reaction.  We try to do this with our kids or our parents or a spouse.  We want to save them from pain.  This can’t always be the case.  Sometimes pain is gain.  At that moment Peter was speaking for Satan.  Jesus rebukes.  Jesus had to go to the cross.  There was no other option.  When you speak the Gospel, there is always the chance you will suffer for it.  There is no other option.  We need to be bold in our living the words of Christ.

            Jeremiah in our Old Testament writes, “Why is my pain unceasing?”  He suffered for the Gospel.  Paul and Silas imprisoned in Philippi.  The persecutions of standing for the faith are still prevalent today.  When you are committed to the Gospel this is part of the journey.

            When you journey with your cross remember that Jesus carried his for us.  We struggle with denial and cross bearing.  We try to live with a foot in each kingdom – the world and the spiritual realm.  Our pesky sinful nature journeys on. 

            When Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan” (v. 23), it is not a command for Peter to go away.  Peter has not been fired or expelled from the twelve.  Jesus instead is calling him to “get back in line.”  Our crosses always follow Jesus’ cross.  It is not what Peter wanted for him, but Jesus knew the cross was what we all need.  It is the cross of Jesus that made us God’s people again by removing the sin that separated us from the Father.  As God’s people, in our baptism into Jesus’ death, we become his disciples.  Which means we journey with crosses.  “But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (v. 25b). We have found it, life eternal, when “the Son of Man…comes with his angels in the glory of his Father.” (v. 27a)

            When I was growing up in Argenta, everything was 15-20 minutes away – church, the mall, the doctor, the grocery.  But those journeys always varied in my mind.  If it was a birthday party at Monical’s with my friends, it seemed like we couldn’t get there fast enough.  If I was going to the doctor, my parent’s car sped like a rocket ship.  Because I suffered constantly from strep throat, that journey usually meant a shot in the gluteus maximus, that I was not too fond of.  That pain was gain.  My fever and throat were better within 24 hours.

            Some of our journeys involve crosses – be they pain or inconvenience or persecution.  They make us better Christians.  Jesus continues to forgive and to form us as disciples – to call and teach and lead and send us.  He also prays for us, he protects, He guides.  Journey on – but not alone!                                                                         Amen.