κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

Are you a realist or an idealist? A pessimist or an optimist? Before you answer, let me clarify the terms: A realist is someone who views things as they really are . They’re the ones who face facts and deals with them accordingly. An idealist is someone who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, and goals in every facet of life ; they are the visionaries of the world. Pessimists tend to see the worst aspect in things ... they are the glass is half-empty people; whereas optimists are always hopeful and confident ... the glass is half full. I’d be willing to guess that if we don't kid ourselves, most of us are a combination of all these things, to some degree or another. We are realists in everyday living and idealists with ourselves. We take pride in our own conduct and work ethics and are absolute moralists who believe right is right and wrong is wrong. But we also are realists, especially when we look at ourselves in the mirror and realize the person I see refl...

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself on behalf of our sins to take us out of the present evil age (1:3-4).   I have been crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20).  Say it with me: I have been crucified with Christ . Say it again like you mean it.  It seems to be such a simple statement of faith: I have been crucified with Christ.  Do you believe it? I know, most of you feel very alive today. Therefore, you are thinking, how can I be crucified with Christ? I mean, you’re here ... Right? Breathing ... Heart beating. But ... I have been crucified with Christ? I no longer live?   That’s right! We are crucified! That’s what Paul is telling us today in our epistle reading.  I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST This is our pure gospel theme today. In our epistle reading from Galatians 5, the beloved apostle restates this verse I keep quoting from Galatians chapter 2 (v. 20). In fact, in every chapter of Galatians, he u...

What do you see? What do you hear? These are the questions of the day on this Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. What do you see? And what do you hear?  Before we get ahead of ourselves by jumping to conclusions and declaring you can see and hear just fine ... you need to know ... not everybody sees what you see or hears what you hear. Every week your pastor gives three sermons: the one I write, the one I preach, and the one you hear. And each of you might be hearing a different sermon than the person next to you. More than that, some of you may be seeing one thing and others may be seeing something completely different. And some of us will just fall asleep not seeing or hearing anything at all.  As Jesus tells the disciples ... For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to witness what y’all see and they didn’t witness it, and to hear what y’all hear and they didn’t hear it (v. 23-24). That is to say they longed to see Jesus, living, dying, rising, ascending. They long...

Preached to the saints of Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Bovey, MN and Grace English Lutheran Church, Marble, MN on August 22, 2021. Taking him from the crowd to himself, Jesus put his fingers into his ears and after spitting He touched his tongue. And looking up into heaven, he groaned and says to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “be opened.” And immediately his hearing was opened and the restraint of his tongue was released and he began speaking rightly. Silence - Although we sometimes ask for silence, it’s quite unnerving. Think of this man from our Gospel reading. Unable to hear and speak properly, he lived under a terrible curse of silence due to the sinful nature of all humanity. Imagine living in this silence. On the one hand, we would finally have peace. We wouldn’t be bombarded with all the anger that floods the airwaves. We wouldn’t have to hear constant complaining, bickering, and arguing about restrictions, regulations, and recommendations. We wouldn’t hear the hateful words from o...

Our Lord says, Listen, my people, and I will speak (v.7). Discern this, please, those of you who forget God (v.22).  I will come, and I will not be quiet (v.3). I know this is hard to believe because sometimes ... it seems ... he’s been silent for so long. But God will break his silence.  Too often we wonder, where is he? Is he even listening? If he is with me, is his silence golden? Does it mean that I’m A-Okay, that I’m right with God ... that he won’t address my sins of omission ... you know, the things I was silent about? If you’re like me ... you need to listen up, O Israel.  You need to hear this word of the day: God will break his silence ... and then ... YOU WILL HEAR AND SEE HIS SALVATION This is the theme of our Psalm for today.  Unlike last week when we heard Psalm 92, a song for the Sabbath ... or two weeks ago, when we broke our silence concerning our sin and opened our lips with Psalm 51 to thank him for his absolution ... it’s not really clear how a...