If you have found yourself gathering in the sanctuary of the Lord because it’s just what you do, or if you’ve been guilty of placing the earthly companionship of one another above the heavenly invitation of the Lord, or if you struggle or have wrestled with your faith, return to your Baptism, confess these challenges, ask for help, confess your sins, and put on the garment of salvation your Father in heaven wants to give you, because He desires not only that you come into this weekly wedding feast in faithfulness but also that you be with Him in the eternal feast that has no end. 

In a way, while there is so much throughout this life, whether it be people, places, or things that appear to be something they aren’t, however, the Gospel this morning is about the Christian, you, being exactly who you are supposed to be, God’s child. 

Reconciliation makes us uncomfortable and forces us to speak with one another. To say, “I’m sorry and I forgive you.” Yeah, no, thank you. Let’s just devise ways to coexist, tolerate one another, and keep the banter going for good measure.

Seriously, when was the last time you sat down with someone you disagreed with or had sinned against and walked through confession and absolution? When was the last time you spoke the tearfully freeing words to your greatest nemesis? We need to learn again how to say, I am sorry, and I forgive you – because it is life-giving, restoring, and eternal.

The healing and forgiveness of God did not remain in heaven but entered this world through the incarnation, taking the form of a man, the Father’s only begotten Son. He bore the world’s sin on the cross, and now, in the font, you have been united with Christ in death and resurrection. In the font of Holy Baptism, you have been made brothers and sisters. You are family.

Look to this cross, and you will see the fulfillment of the Law and all the words of the Prophets. You will see a Savior whose sacrifice kept the will of His Father perfectly, a love that performed the greatest act of mercy by taking the place of sinners, by taking your place upon the cross. 

Here, love lives not only in word but in deed. 

But Jesus places a child in their midst and says, “Be like this little one, this child, if you want to inherit heaven.”

What are children? 

If you’ve spent any time around a child, you know they can be talkative, loud, tiring, dirty, and sometimes stinky creatures. But they’re God’s creatures, His children.

If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, then you have to be like one of these little ones. You have to see yourself for who you are, an often too talkative, loud, tiring, dirty, stinky child of God. 

That’s you. 

Our society and culture still struggle with the tension between life and death, but the faithful know that victory has already been achieved, and it’s the Church’s role to be the voice of that triumph. We allow ourselves to feel deep pity, sympathy, and compassion. We adopt a posture of prayer for all women who are pregnant, seeking their well-being and joyful births. We should also pray for women facing infertility, miscarriages, and the emptiness of childlessness. Additionally, we must pray for those suffering from mental illness or satanic attacks, asking that they be strengthened through the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, their Savior and the Savior of all children.

We must bring the hurting, ourselves included, to the Church, a Mother above all mothers, where life and death have already fought. Like an umbilical cord, the Church is where life and salvation are present for you, the source of nourishment, faith, and safety from the darkness of the world.

St. Cyrpiran, a third-century bishop, once wrote, “He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother.”

You may find this an odd statement at first, but let Martin Luther flesh it out in the Large Catechism, where he says, “The Church…is the mother that conceives and bears every Christian through God’s Word.” (Large Catechism, para 42)

And this begins at the font. At the font, we confess not only our sins, the evil thoughts that plague us and lead us into temptation and evil, but also our death with Jesus on the cross; at the font, we also confess our resurrection in Him, our new birth and life.

Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed by the new school year, experiencing challenging early days of marriage, exhausted from driving children to various activities, frightened by the thought of retirement, or grieving the loss of a spouse that still weighs on you, remember Jesus’ words today: “Do not be anxious.” He speaks these words with love and compassion for you and to you.

Trust your worries to the Lord and take what happens throughout this life as opportunities for God’s good. Face adversity and anxiety with patience and faith in the cross of Christ, making it your focus of trust and believing that your redemption is assured in your Father’s kingdom through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Again, if you reflect back to the Garden of Eden, what is it that Eve takes from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to eat? It’s fruit. She ate the forbidden fruit, and now, by partaking of it, Adam and Eve, along with all their children, you, will have to labor and work for the things needed for this life. 

However, as we move forward, Jesus will also use fruit as an illustration to teach about faith, the Christian life, and eternity.

In the Gospel of John (15), Jesus says that He is a vine. However, the branches attached to Him that do not bear fruit are to be taken away and pruned so that the vine might bear more fruit.

Remove the bad so the good can grow. 

I already know you may not appreciate the cover on today’s bulletin. It appears graphic: a head on a platter; it’s just sitting there, staring back at you. You heard the story in the Gospel with your ears, but seeing it, seeing the head of John the Baptist before you, that’s another story. Why would we use such an image on the bulletin cover?

Children will see it!

However, is this image as striking as you first believed? Is it as graphic as you think?

Ponder this for a moment… I’ll give you time.

Now, I asked these questions because I would argue that an even more graphic image is before you each and every day; in fact, every time you imagine this image in your mind, this figure appears, and the brutality is inescapable.

How could you carry such a graphic image with you each day? How could you be so dark and troubled?

Have you ever found yourself speaking to someone and they don’t hear you?

You know their hearing works well, but strangely, they don’t seem to listen to you. They miss instructions, conversations, and what’s being taught. While some say a person has selective hearing, this is actually about the brain focusing on one person in a noisy environment, not about choosing to ignore another.

However, might a person subconsciously become deaf in certain situations? Causing them not to hear you? Might this be why a child doesn’t clean their room when they’ve been instructed to do so?

Well, Google says no; men cannot physically or medically become deaf purely through a subconscious choice or psychological will.

So why don’t individuals hear you when you speak to them, in a setting where people can converse normally?

Because they choose not to.

As the LCMS celebrates twenty years of the Lutheran Service Book, the synod now uses the English Translation Version of Scripture throughout the hymnal. The ESV is a more literal translation, similar to the KJV, but with more modern language. For this reason, the confession of the LCMS is returning to a more narrow and grounded foundation, which is a good thing because the words of the liturgy are the words of Scripture. 

Reflect on this for a moment. Even as Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He did not look down with begrudging eyes as He hung there for the sins of the world; He looked to His Father. He looked up and fulfilled His Father’s will.

As you journey throughout the days of the week, catch yourself when you begin to look down upon others, when you begin to believe you are better than someone else, repent of these sins, then come before Jesus, confess your faith in Him, shift your eyes up to His cross, beat your chest, bend a knee, and say with the sinful and wretched Tax Collector, “God, be merciful to be, a sinner!”

And having heard the absolution from the pastor, been fed through the flesh and blood of Jesus at this altar, go to your home, forgiven and at peace.

Stan’s Confirmation verse was from the tenth chapter of St. Matthew, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10: 32)

When you confess your sins, you confess not only your need for a Savior, but you also confess your Savior, Jesus Christ.

Confession is the evidence of what is in the heart.

Jesus then promises that for those who make this confession, He will confess them before His Father in heaven on the last day, saying, “This one, this child is mine.”

Just as it was when Jerusalem was ransacked in A.D. 70, when food and water grow scarce, especially the heavenly food and drink, daughters turn against their mothers and fathers against their sons. All one sees is every man, woman, and child for themselves.

This remains an image of the Church today when God’s Word is not the center of everything we do as a gathering of God’s saints on earth.

The Word of Jesus must gather, strengthen faith, and guide us in all our ways; otherwise, the Church risks becoming a den of thieves, a superficial club of programs and activities, or just another non-profit.  

If you have failed in your stewardship of the things and people entrusted to your care, you need to repent. The Collect of the Day begins and guides us as we pray: “Let Your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Your humble servants.” Humble yourself and confess how you’ve squandered God’s gifts: the people, the community you’ve been placed in, your finances, and possessions that have been entrusted to you.

But what has Jesus taught His disciples about prayer, about petitioning the Father, asking questions, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)

Then why won’t Jesus just give these two what they ask for?

Because it is important to understand that our questions and prayers are answered according to the Father’s will.

However, it’s often our inability to stay silent and refrain from speaking that not only gets us into trouble but also leads to the spiritual harm of our neighbors through gossip. In many ways, what drives gossiping? Jealousy, insecurity, fear, anger? 

Yesterday, the country paused for fireworks, picnics, and celebrations. But why? It was our nation's Independence Day. It marks the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, some 250 years ago in 1776, a document few continue to read, but many will quote these words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

So, you are promised an existence. The right to life – being alive. And you have the right to liberty, meaning you are free. But you are also given the pursuit of happiness.

Well, what does this mean?

Is the pursuit of happiness a state of being, or does the word “pursuit” mean chasing after or seeking happiness? If you ask most people today, they would say the pursuit of happiness is an effort that citizens chase. Like being an overcomer or a rags-to-riches story achieved through hard work, grit, and determination. This is how most of the world thinks and operates. 

As we celebrate the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, maybe you are wondering, why?

Why would we observe this date in the Church’s calendar? Do we need to? No.

Is observing this day worthwhile? Absolutely.

But why?

. To sin is to miss the mark. It's to miss the target or destination you are meant to reach. It means not acting according to the commandments or living in accordance with God's will.

When someone misses the mark or sins, they begin to drift away from their Father in heaven. It may be a small sin, or it may be the complete denial of wrongdoing. Still, when this happens, the Christian starts wandering away from the Church, becoming lost, much like a soldier or sheep in the wilderness of life. 

Ultimately, this is the point of the Proverb: God has prepared a feast for everyone to enjoy, inviting you and all willing to come and receive, especially those who are sinful and in need. However, one must humbly accept this invitation with charity and love, turning away from the callings of this world, because you will only grow in wisdom and faith and receive forgiveness and eternal life when you gather around the Wisdom of the Lord.