Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-10, 14-18; Mark 7:24-37

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It’s a lot of fun watching a child grow up, watching them learn and grow. One aspect though of their growth and learning is learning how to speak. First words are of course a big deal. So too when they can finally communicate better what they need. I’ve loved watching my son grow and learn new words and hear him come up with ideas that are all his own. But we know that language is something that is only learned through hearing.

This is the issue for those that are born deaf. Without the ability to hear, language is much harder to master. While I’m able to annunciate words to help my son learn, those who can’t hear have no idea what the difference is between words without additional help. This is why the Church goes to great lengths to help the deaf “hear” the word when they otherwise couldn’t.

Yet, in our Gospel lesson this week, Jesus encounters a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. Jesus had already done some pretty amazing things, so his friends or family brought him to Jesus so Jesus could heal him. For thus we read, “And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly,” Mark 7:35. Jesus opens his ears, looses his tongue, and gives him back the ability to speak. 

I never wish to make light of someone else’s limitations. I wish like Jesus that I could give hearing back to the deaf, sight to the blind, strength to the weak, health to the ill, and so on. Yet, of course, that is far beyond my capability. Yet, one thing that Jesus’ interaction with this deaf man teaches us is that hearing and speaking are always inevitably linked. What we hear, we speak. If we have trouble speaking about faith, speaking about Christ, it’s because we have not heard enough. Our issues with speaking always come from a lack of listening. Especially in our sin, we will shut our ears off to hearing God’s word so that our tongues become tied.

“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise,” (Ps. 51:15). When our ears have listened to Christ, we are inevitably led to speak. We cannot help it. God’s word is meant to come into our ears, dwell in our hearts, so that it may loose our tongue to declare his praise. This is what the people said afterwards, “And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak,” Mark 7:37. Indeed, Jesus does all things well. He does well in speaking forgiveness for us through his cross. He has died for us so that now, we may be able to proclaim his praises through all the world! 

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

O Lord, let Your merciful ears be open to the prayers of Your humble servants and grant that what they ask may be in accord with Your gracious will; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Ephesians 6:10-20; Mark 7:14-23

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Our immune system is a pretty amazing thing. Whenever we get sick, our bodies know how to fight off diseases and expel them from the body. We might be feeling weak for a short amount of time. However, given time, our immune system will rid us of the invading disease and return us to normal. For as long as these diseases remain on the outside of our body, we are completely fine. The issue comes when they get inside the body.

Yet, as well as our immune systems do at fighting off a cold, a flu, or other common diseases, there are still those diseases where our bodies need help from medicine. The illnesses that linger inside us are those which need an additional push to expel. Medicine works side by side with our immune system, in a way, to take out the trash.

As we read our Gospel lesson this week, Jesus discusses the very things that “defile” a person. It’s those things that cause issues once they are inside the body, not on the outside. “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him,” Mark 7:15. Jesus goes on to explain that the old laws regarding certain foods shouldn’t be the main focus for his disciples. Rather, it’s the inward condition… sin.

This is the reality of our human condition. We love to talk about how there is so much evil “out there” in the world, when the reality is that the same evil is inside each of us. We all are born sinful, with evil desires. These are the things that dwell inside us and make us “ill”. Out of our hearts, out of our sinful estate, comes lust, greed, theft, murder, pride, and so on. Our hearts and minds are filled with all this “trash” that must be taken out. 

Like any disease, if our bodies cannot find a way to expel them on their own, then we need medicine to help. We need something… or someone… else to come and push out the filth inside us. That’s what Jesus has come to do. By his life, he seeks to cleanse our hearts and our minds by planting faith inside us. He pours into our hearts his grace and mercy so that he may cleanse us and make us new. Jesus takes upon himself the defilement of our flesh so that he may go to the cross for our sins and so give us the medicine of immortality… his own body and blood. By the cross, Jesus takes out the “trash” of our sins and buries them outside so it may no longer defile us. Now, by his blood shed, he has cleansed us so that God may come into our hearts and renew us in body and soul to lead us unto life everlasting!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

O God, the source of all that is just and good, nourish in us every virtue and bring to completion every good intent that we may grow in grace and bring forth the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!

Isaiah 29:11-19; Ephesians 5:22-33; Mark 7:1-13

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

When it comes to traditions, there are two great errors that many people make. One is that we treat all traditions as suspect and toss them all aside. The other is that we are so beholden to tradition that we refuse to change anything for the sake of it. We must be in-between. We must both understand traditions and cherish them, while also being willing to step beyond a tradition that has outlived its usefulness.

What is a tradition? It really is nothing more than a habit that has been passed down through the generations. Habits are those things that we do repeatedly for the sake of ease or comfort. Certain family vacations can ascend from habit to tradition if it becomes a habit of the next generation. Traditions are important for this reason. It ties the generations together. But with time also must come understanding. We do this not because someone else did, but because it is important to us also.

This is what angers Jesus in our Gospel reading this week. The Pharisees confront Jesus about his disciples not following the traditions of the elders, Jesus tells them they have departed from the entire purpose of the tradition. “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men,” Mark 7:6-7. Traditions without understanding are useless. The Pharisees no longer understood the tradition but followed it for tradition’s sake.

This is what we must understand concerning the Church and her traditions. We cannot without understanding toss aside every tradition because we want something new and modern. We must seek to understand traditions first. If we don’t know, we must seek out someone who does. Yet, on the other hand, even if every person in the church is defending a tradition, there may still be good enough reason to set it aside. If the tradition itself has become the focus instead of what it teaches, then it is no longer useful for us and has supplanted its purpose. It isn’t wrong for us to reexamine our traditions to make sure they still serve the right purpose.

I know that some church traditions appear antiquated and difficult to learn, especially to newcomers. However, there is a great need to hold on to the good traditions. For the church is founded upon one tradition above all others… Jesus! Jesus himself is our tradition. He has been handed down from generation to generation so that all people of all ages may learn Christ and his grace. But what is the purpose of this? It’s to point us back to God tradition-ing, or handing over Jesus to us. God gave us Christ, literally handing him over to sinful men so that Christ may die for our sins. Jesus was handed over to death upon the cross so that we may be given into the hands of God! 

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Almighty and merciful God, defend Your Church from all false teaching and error that Your faithful people may confess You to be the only true God and rejoice in Your good gifts of life and salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!

Proverbs 9:1-10; Ephesians 5:6-21; John 6:51-69

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The only people that ever talk about eating flesh and drinking blood are cannibals… and Christians. It’s just not something you find yourself regularly talking about for good reason. Talking about eating another person should put our sensibilities on edge. You would probably think such people are not in their right mind.

But in case you didn’t catch it, go back and read that paragraph again. Yes, as Christians, we talk about this all the time too. This is what we believe about the Lord’s Supper. When we eat and drink the bread and the wine, we are really eating Jesus’ body (or flesh) and drinking Jesus’ blood. We don’t know how this actually happens which is why we call it a Sacrament, which comes from the Greek word for “mystery”.

In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus is teaching the Jews about this need to eat and drink his flesh and blood. As we read, “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you… For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink,” John 6:53, 55. After talking about the “bread of life” which comes from God in Heaven, Jesus transitions to saying his flesh and blood are this bread. It’s his own body that will give life to the world. 

This is the mistake that many people make when it comes to this Sacrament or mystery. We try to comprehend that which isn’t revealed by God. It’s a mystery for a reason because it is nothing short of the power of God that can make such a feast possible. And people become offended by that answer. The Jews did. Many people in our world do. For the only way we can comprehend this mystery at all is through faith. It’s a reverence for God that leads us to understand. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight,” Proverbs 9:10. 

This is what we must understand by faith. Jesus is our substitute. He gives us his flesh and blood as a substitute for the sin and shame we carry. He gives us his life in place of ours. Jesus offers up himself for the punishment which we deserve. The flesh that Jesus gives is his own body upon the cross. The blood that is poured out is his life given up for us. This is what we partake in the Lord’s Supper. We eat of his body and blood sacrificed for us upon the cross so that by eating and drinking it, we may have his life! Those who eat his flesh and drink his blood shall receive his life spilling over into eternity!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life, grant us to know Your Son, Jesus, to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow His steps in the way that leads to life eternal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!

1 Kings 19:1-8; Ephesians 4:17-5:2; John 6:35-51

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Once a Christian, always a Christian, right? The perseverance of the saints? Once you are baptized, then you have nothing to worry about? All of these are common sentiments in our “Christian” society today. However, these all couldn’t be further from the truth. We know well that being baptized into the Christian faith doesn’t prevent someone from falling away from faith later in life. So too, just because you have set foot in a church at one point in life, doesn’t immediately make you a member of the church eternal.

But if this is the case, then what do we do with Jesus’ promises? Does Jesus lie to us about protecting and preserving us in the faith? Absolutely not! As we continue to read through John 6 this week, we hear this particular promise from Jesus, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day,” John 6:39. Jesus won’t forget or lose one of his dear children. He won’t let us “slip through his fingers.” For he holds us close that he may “raise [you] up on the last day.” For this is the role of faith, the bread of life, which Jesus gives. It connects us to Jesus so that he may never lose us.

Faith, however, is a tricky thing. It’s something we struggle to wrap our minds around. For we’re told that faith isn’t something we do. God alone gives faith. It’s only by God working in us through the Holy Spirit that we believe. Just as Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,” John 6:44. Yet, Scripture also testifies that the fault for unbelief lies solely with man. God seeks and desires to draw all people to himself, but God also allows this call to be resisted or refused. Man may walk away from God’s call and reject the very bread of life which God gives. 

We must come back to Jesus’ promise, however. For this is no little thing. Jesus indeed, holds on tightly to his saints, those who are redeemed by faith alone. For God provides the means by which his saints persevere. Jesus who is the bread of life, comes to his saints regularly through these means to feed and nourish them that they may be strengthened into life everlasting! For Jesus gives his flesh and blood to us on the cross, that the Father may draw our eyes to him. We may see our sins crucified there and have faith born in us by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, God regularly comes down for us and welcomes us into his presence that this faith may grow and bloom. By Word and Sacrament, God grants us perseverance in the faith that nothing may pull us out of his arms, not even death itself. For Jesus will come again and raise us, all who believe, unto eternal life!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Gracious Father, Your blessed Son came down from heaven to be the true bread that gives life to the world. Grant that Christ, the bread of life, may live in us and we in Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!

Exodus 16:2-15; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:22-35

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Life is work. Relationships are work. Everything requires work. This is a common truth of life that anything we want or need requires us to work. This is part of why we all are cautious about someone offering something free to us. We know it’s rarely that easy. There’s so often a catch that means we have to do something in order to receive the “free” item. 

Indeed, this is why one of our great virtues is being hardworking. It’s the willingness to do what is necessary to achieve or attain that which we need and want. Because we know that everything requires work, we value those who are willing to work. It’s no wonder why many people think faith is no different. 

In our Gospel reading this week, Jesus is chased by the crowd which he fed miraculously with bread. Jesus teaches them not to labor for food which perishes. But then they ask, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” John 6:28. It seems like a valid question to us. If everyone else requires us to work, why wouldn’t God? 

But as much as we value hard work, we all also try to work as little as possible. We seek after those things that require the least amount of effort from us. What entices us the most are those things that seem to offer immediate pleasure and satisfaction. Free food, quick money, cheap sex, and so on. As Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves,” John 6:26. The people were seeking Jesus not because they believed in him, but because they got a free meal… and wanted another!

We misunderstand though the “work of God.” It’s not the work we do for God. It’s the work that God does for us! As Jesus says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent,” John 6:29. The work of God, the work which pleases God is faith. This faith isn’t something that we do, rather, God gives it to us: “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you,” John 6:27. Jesus gives us this food, this faith so that we may be pleasing to God. God sends Jesus down from heaven to give us this food, just as he rained manna down from heaven for Israel. For Jesus comes down to offer himself as our sacrificial meal. Jesus gives us of his body and blood on the cross so that we may eat and believe. And through this eating, we may be satisfied unto eternal life! 

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Merciful Father, You gave Your Son Jesus as the heavenly bread of life. Grant us faith to feast on Him in Your Word and Sacraments that we may be nourished unto life everlasting; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!

Genesis 9:8-17; Ephesians 3:14-21; Mark 6:45-56

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

How much a phrase can change its meaning simply by the inflection has always amazed me. Whatever word you emphasize can alter the entire meaning. Take the phrase, “You shouldn’t be here.” Maybe you shouldn’t be here but someone else should. Maybe you shouldn’t be here because it’s a bad idea to be here or it was downright impossible. Maybe you shouldn’t be here, but rather you’re meant to be somewhere else.

This phrase almost perfectly describes the disciples’ reaction in our Gospel reading this week. Jesus had just fed the five thousand by miraculously multiplying bread and fish. Immediately after, Jesus sends the disciples away on a boat while he stays behind to dismiss the crowds. We don’t know, but it seems likely that the plan was for them to regroup across the lake, that Jesus would catch another boat or find some way to join them there. But that’s not how it goes.

Imagine the disciples in a boat, in the middle of a lake, in the middle of the night (roughly 3am). They have been rowing hard because the wind was against them, so they haven’t made much progress. As most of them are fast asleep in the boat, one or two would be awake to keep watch as they come to see someone walking on the water in the middle of the sea (Mark 6:48). “When they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out for they all saw him and were terrified,” Mark 6:49-50. You shouldn’t be here!

It's not hard to see why the disciples were terrified. We would be too. Jesus shouldn’t have been there. That is, it was impossible. No one could even imagine they would see someone walking IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA! But the disciples also thought, Jesus should be back on land. You shouldn’t be here. They thought Jesus was far away, and thus were terrified at who this “phantom” might be. This is why the thought of seeing a ghost has always terrified us too. We see people who shouldn’t possibly be here.

“You shouldn’t be here” is also what Jesus says to us. When the disciples were terrified, Jesus speaks to them, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid,” Mark 6:50. Jesus is telling them that even though he shouldn’t be here, he’s here for them. He does the impossible for them! So much is bound up in these few words of Jesus, for he’s also acknowledging the disciples’ difficulty against the wind. You shouldn’t be here; you should have already made it across! But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He comes to us and says, “You shouldn’t be here.” Here in sin, here among the evil and wicked, here under Satan’s reign. Jesus does the impossible to be present with us. So, Jesus shouldn’t be able to be with us as God, yet he is. He comes to die on the cross, doing the impossible by saving us! Take heart then! Jesus is here with us, doing the impossible, coming where he shouldn’t be so that we may go where we couldn’t go… to heaven and eternal paradise!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Almighty and most merciful God, the protector of all who trust in You, strengthen our faith and give us courage to believe that in Your love You will rescue us from all adversities; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!