Preachrblog

Messiah is well known as being a “traditional” congregation.  We offer the traditional liturgy.  We have liturgical worship, with the organ, the hymnal, and all the accoutrements. And we like it this way.  We see it as a strength, a selling point, a real positive.  We stand in contrast to many of the churches in our area, even within the LCMS, as being distinctly traditional.  It’s a big reason a lot of us are here. But today, our Lord Jesus Christ warns us of the dangers of tradition.  Or, more specifically, of teaching as doctrine the traditions of men.  We must be crystal clear – God’s word is one thing, and human tradition is another.  And human tradition ought never overshadow or oppose the word of God. But like all good gifts, we sinners have a tendency to misuse them.  The Pharisees certainly did so.  The particular problem came when Jesus’ disciples were not following the ritual washings prescribed by the Pharisees, and the Phari...

  Today we have an Old Testament reading from Proverbs 9.   It seems to be chosen to correlate with the “Bread of Life” discourse we’ve been hearing from John 6 these last few weeks.   Proverbs paints a picture of two women with very different kinds of bread, and with two very different approaches to doing things. In our reading we have the example of Wisdom, personified as a woman.   And for all you women elbowing your husbands, and saying, “see, wisdom is a woman!”   I’m sorry I must point out, just a few verses later, we have the contrasting picture of Folly, also personified as a woman. Here's what we hear about her: 13  The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. 14  She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, 15  calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, 16  “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says, 17  “...

  Ephesians 4 has often been a favorite chapter of mine, a pastor, someone who speaks for a living.   There, Paul summarizes for us, in an almost offhand comment, a wonderful way to measure our Christian speech, “Speaking the Truth in Love”.   We heard that phrase in last week’s reading, and he expounds upon it in today’s.   What does it look like to speak the truth in love?   Why and how can we speak the truth in love? Truth and love, of course, are two ideas close to the heart of any Christian.   Truth and love are perhaps two of the most distinctive traits or attributes of God:   Jesus says, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” and John’s letters teach us, “God is love.”   Here Paul also reminds us, “the truth is in Jesus Christ”.   That’s the way you learned it, Christians.   Corrupt desires and corrupt talk are part of the old way, the old self, the Gentiles’ former life.   And Paul says to put that all away! Put off...

  Today we begin a three week stretch in which our Lectionary appoints readings from John chapter 6.   John 6 is known as the “Bread of Life” discourse, in which Jesus makes extensive comments about the topic.   My plan is to address John 6 for us today, and with the next two Sundays turn to the other readings for our sermon texts.   So here we come to it – the Bread of Life! Bread.   It seems to me that in our world bread has gotten a bad rap as of late.   It used to be the biggest category of the food pyramid, but that’s come into question.   With the popularity of low-carb, keto and carnivore diets, it seems like many people are avoiding bread these days.   Well I’m no nutritionist, and the sermon is no dietary diatribe.   But bread, at least as far as Scripture is concerned, is quite an important thing. After all, Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily bread.   Here, he means, of course, everything we need to support this body an...