κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

Brothers and sisters in Christ, your Heavenly Father is compassionate. ... You will not be judged. You will not be condemned. You will be forgiven. It will be given to you. It will be put into your lap. It will be a good measure ... and you will see all of these truths clearly .  This is the Gospel I’ve been given to proclaim to you today from Luke chapter 6.  The first part of that good news is fact: Your Heavenly Father is compassionate . I can’t remind you of this enough. God “is” compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex 34:6). He doesn’t just do compassionate things; He is compassionate. He doesn’t exist without compassion ... nor does he exist apart from compassion. He doesn’t exist to show compassion only from time to time. He “is” compassion, and therefore, he is always compassionate. He reflects his compassion through steadfast love and faithfulness to his promises. That means he feels pity for us and responds to t...

Of all the parables Jesus told, the one about the prodigals might be the most exciting. Emotion abounds in these 25 verses from our gospel reading by Saint Luke. This isn’t just a trip to Disney World or a national park. It has sibling rivalries and involves human feelings. It’s full of family and fights; we experience homecomings, singing, and dancing; we go from wallowing in the mud to walking on red carpets; we descend from life to death, and then ascend to everlasting life. This text is ...  Amazing Grace: How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me / I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.  That always makes for a good story ... because it’s our story. But there is something about this story that makes it far better than just any story. Did you hear what happened? Our Father has come running to embrace us. Our father has come running to deliver to us heavenly gifts.  Now I don’t know about you, but even though I am an oldest son, I can connect...

Compel them to come in order that my house may be filled (v.23). Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you are cordially invited to attend the greatest feast of all time. You should find nothing more compelling. It is an unimaginable banquet, provided by the Lord of Hosts himself: A feast of rich food full of marrow and fine, well-aged wine. You should find nothing more compelling. It will refresh what you didn’t know was lacking, nourish you into the ages, and give you new life, eternal life. Nothing should be more compelling.  It’s free. Your seat is guaranteed. You know the dates and times. Don’t worry about what you’ll wear: the Lord of Hosts will provide for you. Don’t worry about how filthy your lives have actually become: the Lord of Hosts will cleanse you.  Go quickly, and spread the News. The invitation is yours.  Nothing should be more compelling. But people everywhere said ... Gee, thanks, but I’ve got more compelling things to do. See, I bought some land; I bo...

Preached to the saints at Grace Lutheran Church in Marble, MN and Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Bovey, MN on June 6, 2021. There was a rich man, and he clothed himself in purple and fine linen, celebrating each day splendidly. And a poor man named Lazarus was left fallen against his gate, being covered with sores; and he longed to be satisfied from what was falling from the rich man’s table, and even the dogs came to lick his sores (Luke 16:19-21). The lesson Jesus presents to us today is a difficult one. On first glance, it seems that Jesus is saying that those who are rich are on the broad path to perdition because they are rich; whereas poverty is somehow a certainty of eternal bliss to come at Abraham’s side. Let’s put those two assumptions to rest right away. Your earthly station in life is not an indication of your eternal welfare. The rich and well to do in this life are not predestined to condemnation - Abraham was very wealthy, and it was to his side where the poor man...

God is love. Years ago there was a television commercial in which a man ran back and forth in a parking lot full of bright yellow trucks. As he ran from one truck to another, he said, Ryder rents trucks. Ryder rents big trucks. Ryder rents small trucks. Ryder rents pickup trucks. Ryder rents moving trucks. Ryder rents dump trucks. Then he asked, Now what did I say?   It was hard to miss the point.  Saint John may well have asked the same question at the end of our appointed epistle reading today. John hammers home the love of God. God is love . To know love is to know God. God is love . He uses this word love 14 times in the six verses of our reading. He uses it another 16 times in the rest of chapter four; and he uses it 55 times in the entire epistle. Given that it takes only 16 minutes to read the entire epistle, you could hear about God’s love on the average of once every 17 seconds. Now what did I say?  This is the word we all know and love. God is love .  Broth...