κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

What God ordains is always good: The proof is once again right here in our Old Testament reading, where we read: The jar of flour did not end; neither did the jug of oil decrease, according to the word of Yahweh (v 16). Isn’t that amazing!  Brothers and sisters in Christ, these things are written so that you will believe that what God ordains is always good. These things are written to remind you of the promise. These things are written so that what he speaks, you will hear that with just the Word of Yahweh, there always is more than enough! He goes out into the world, makes himself known in word and deed, and then saves the weak and the meek. What God ordains is always good. This is the bottom line today.  We learn this truth from all of our readings on this Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, but it’s especially prominent in 1 Kings 17 where there is no end ... no decrease. The word of the Lord, according to Elijah, urges us again to stop doubting what God does for us through hi...

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back with a great voice, glorifying God. And he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus, giving thanks to him. Now he was a Samaritan.  5. Brothers and sisters in Christ, are there not 134 baptized members of this congregation? Where are the other 70 or so? Are you really the only ones who were found to give glory to God? I’m not sure that there is a more cutting law in this text than that. Are you really the only ones? Half of our congregation did not return to God today to give him thanks and praise for cleansing them of their sin, for healing them, for making them whole, for providing his feast in celebration of the forgiveness of your sins. Couldn’t anyone [else] be found to return and give glory to God? This is not our theme, but it’s certainly the question of the day.  4. And it’s a hard question to answer, isn’t it? Why did only one of those nine sinners in our text reverse course and return to Jesus? We don’t know....

Now I say this: the law, which came 430 years later, does not nullify a covenant previously established by God, thus abolishing the promise. For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on a promise. But to Abraham, through a promise, God has given [and continues to give] grace (v 17-18). Which came first: the chicken or the egg?  I’m sure you have all heard this question before. Maybe you’ve even entertained the idea of debating the answer. If you believe in evolution, you would undoubtedly argue that the egg came first ... that we all evolved from a single cell, so to speak. If you are a Christian, though, you know the truth: The chicken came first! How do we know this? Because God said so. As Moses tells us in Genesis chapter 1: And God created ... every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:21-22). And then the chicken sat on its egg. There was evening and there was mo...

We live in the most astonishing times.  When I was a kid, if someone had a phone in his car, it meant he was very rich. Now I bet most of you have a phone in your pocket. That should astonish you. When I was a boy, computers took up whole buildings. Now we can carry them in our hand and mount them in the cab of tractors so that we can plant corn precisely with a push of a button. That too should astonish you. But we barely bat an eye at these things any more. So let’s try one more: Did you know that just last year an Icelandic man received two new arms ... 23 years after he lost both of them in a work accident. That’s right, a man received a double-arm transplant! And today he’s flexing his biceps. I want to say that’s astonishing, but in light of the fact that doctors replace a million knees and hips every year, it almost seems like an old hat.  What does it take to blow us away in astonishment any more? 1. You should know the answer: The word and work of God in Christ. Peo...