Did I Sign Up for This?!
“Did I sign up for this?” I know I asked that question on occasion. You too? The Gospel reading for this Sunday is the end of a lengthier segment. Jesus is about to send out ...
Watch Yourself and Your Doctrine Closely
It’s easy as WELS pastors to read the first paragraph of Sunday’s gospel (Mt 7:15-29) and mentally check off this pericope as having no rebuke for us. Jesus urges his hearers to be constantly watching ...
Give What You Command, O Lord!
“Give what you command [O Lord], and then command whatever you will.” In St. Augustine’s Confessions, that was his memorable way of capturing this comforting scriptural truth: God himself effectively works in us to will ...
“Do Not Be Afraid!” The Urgent Message of Easter Messengers
What fears do you, like the two Marys in Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 28:1-10), bring with you to the tomb this Easter week? Perhaps never in our lifetimes has it been as easy to identify a ...
D̶o̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶H̶a̶v̶e̶ Where Are Your Blind Spots?
Isn’t it quite stunning in Sunday’s gospel (John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39) that the only one besides Jesus who seems to see things clearly is a blind-from-birth beggar? The disciples see this blind beggar, but they ...
“God, I Thank You That…”
My sinful nature needs little nourishment to feed smug self-satisfaction, but an unbelieving world provides a smorgasbord. If it’s not another mass murderer semi-automatically butchering people, then it’s the drug deal gone bad with bullets ...
Jesus Is Still Partnering with Unworthy Instruments to Fulfill All Righteousness
In Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 3:13-17), it’s not hard to grasp why John would have sought to change Jesus’ mind about who would baptize whom. John had just finished confessing that he was not worthy to ...
Gaudete! Rejoice! Really!
Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 11:2-11) seems a strange choice for the Sunday historically known as Gaudete (Rejoice). As the curtain opens on Matthew 11, the scene before us is John languishing in Herod’s dungeon. Gaudete? Rejoice? ...
Purify My Eternal Hope, Lord Jesus!
When it comes to our hope of eternal life, which is more dangerous: to say too little or to say too much? To say less than Scripture says or to say more? Or, to use ...
Lord, Make Me More Like the Unbelievers!
He comes around to stun and trouble us every three years whether we want him to or not (and a part of me certainly does not want him around). He is the strangest protagonist in ...