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Sometimes we have to wonder, “Will it ever end?” In the Church there are trials and temptations. We see other faiths seem to prosper. We face opposition, torment, and even outright persecution. So what shall we do? Pray! The members of the Early Christian Church lived in perilous times. It was dangerous to be a follower of Christ. However, they still believed. The Epistle of James was written to people whose faith was challenged. He urged them to focus on the returning Christ. “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord” (v 7). He’s coming! This was great news for their weary ears. Jesus will return, and when he does, our troubles end.  What shall we do as we patiently endure keeping our eyes focused on the return of Christ? Respond appropriately! James writes: “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise” (v 13). Looking for the returning Christ, we will have difficulties. We will have challenges and temptation, testing a...

I am a sinner. You all are sinners. The Bible says without the shedding of blood there can be no absolution ... there can be no forgiveness of sins. So ...  WHERE’S THE BLOOD? This is the question arising out of our readings today ... particularly from the evangelist’s sermon to the Hebrews. Where is the blood? Do you really think that just because you confessed your sins and promised to do better that God forgives you? Just because? Where is the blood? Do you really think our worship here merits the forgiveness of sins? Just because? Where is the blood? Do you really think God forgives you just because I said so? ... Nevermind the fact that we all know you will return to your sin. Where is the blood?  1. The sight of blood tends to make a lot of people squeamish. They may not fear it, but they certainly cringe at it. So we hide from the blood. According to the National Institute of Health, the fear of blood is still our seventh most common phobia. Hemophobia, as this fear is ...

Woody Allen once observed, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans.” I don’t know if he knew it, but his words agree with our epistle. Come now you who say Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that city and we will produce there a year and trade and gain. Yet you don’t understand the things of tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and vanishes. (vv 13-14). Men’s plans always seem to revolve around proving to God, or at least the world, how good they are. But God’s plan always puts such vanity to shame in order to remind us we are not god, our ways are not His ways, and He is always gracious to forgive and deliver us from our mistaken ideas of what is good and give us what is truly good, that which truly lasts, and that which truly gives life. When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought a curse on all of creation. They expected punishment. They ran and hid. They did not expect God to promise a seed who would crush the serpent’s...

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Dear Constance, What an exciting day this is! I know you’ve really been looking forward to this for eight months. I certainly have been. Whether you realize it or not ... today is one of the most important days of your life. And as I’ve already told you, it’s a day I hope you’ll always remember. It’s one that should be right alongside 1) your baptism, and 2) your marriage to Zachary. As the rest of the congregation may recall, I started what I hope is a tradition here to help you remember this day: Because it’s Confirmation Day, instead of a sermon that you only hear, I’ve prepared a sermon that you can keep and read in the form of a letter written especially for you. Of course, we’ll let everybody else hear most of it, because today you’re becoming one with them, and none of us can ever hear the proclamation of the Gospel too often. But there are a few paragraphs in this letter written just for you perso...

Then, when they had their fill, he told the disciples, gather the abundance of broken pieces, in order that not even one would be destroyed (v. 12). There is a hunger deep within the heart and soul of man that can be satisfied only by the presence of the living God. Man tries feverishly to fill the void on his own. We convince ourselves that ... on our own ... we can find him in our heart, in our work, in our logic, in the world. We think we can grow closer to him in nature. But these are all just lies of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. Our search never pans out.  The marvel of God’s love and grace is that he satisfies the heart and soul completely. He is the one who comes to us. He is the one who finds us. He is the one who satisfies our hunger. He desires all to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tm 2:4), so that no one would perish (v. 12; 2 Pt 3:9). Jesus leads us to the mountain, where he teaches us, heals us, feeds us, nourishes us, saves us. He knows the lo...

Today, the Epistle of James confronts Christians of every age with the inconsistencies between faith and actions. The warning we hear this morning is very clear: “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (vv 5b–6).  The charge James delivers should cut deep into the heart of everyone who hears. Your tongue is an agent of harm. It is on fire with the fire of hell. “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue” (vv 7–8a). No human, not one, is innocent ... not you, not me, no one. And to drive the point home James reminds us of what we are all too capable of doing: we can sit in the Divine Service, praising our God in heaven, and then turn around cursing his most precious creations, other p...

Therefore, become imitators of God (v 1). 5. It was Charles Caleb Colton who popularized the saying “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” The only problem is, by itself, that isn’t always true. Sometimes by imitating others we mock them. And there’s nothing sincere about mockery. Maybe that’s what led Oscar Wilde to improve upon the proverb some fifty years later, writing “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” I can get behind that, especially in the light of our epistle reading today from Ephesians 5 that urges us to become imitators of God.  You can’t mock God by imitating him. God is holy and good. How can you mock him by imitating righteousness and goodness? In him, there is no darkness (1 Jn 1:5). How can you mock him by walking in the light and allowing your light to shine (Mt 5:16)? God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. How can you mock him by forgiving each other?  When God calls on us to become imi...