The Joshua Victor Theory

            In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Last Sunday, if you were here, we had a bulletin quote from Luther, that whether God’s Law or man’s law, the law should never bind further than love goes, and that love should be the interpreter of the law. “Where there is no love these things become meaningless and the law begins to do harm. The reason for enacting all laws and ordinances is only to establish love, as Paul says, Romans 13:10 ‘Love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.’” Luther’s reflection and St. Paul’s comments both echo Jesus’ words today. He shows the Law is given that we might love. Jesus sums up the whole of God’s law in two great commandments. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. It’s often said that the holidays are often marked by sharp contrasts in emotions. For some Christians, Christmas is the peak of joy and anticipation for the year, with Easter as well. And rightly so. These two Christian feasts are meant for celebration—and we aren’t going to stop celebrating Christmas yet! We can continue to revel in the joy of Christ’s birth for us, and stretch out our celebration while the world moves on and tunes out. But just as quickly as we’ve heard the marvelous Christmas gospel, we’re hit with Jesus’ narrow escape from death at the hand of Herod’s soldiers, and the brutal massacre of Bethlehem’s innocent sons. And it’s not an accident of the calendar of readings, but how Matthew himself finishes the story of Jesus’ birth and childhood. Why such a swing from amazing good news to such a grim story? Couldn’t we keep this story in the shadows, and just stick to the joyful Christmas message? ...

Sermon Outline: 1.       How often do we really live according to the popular phrase, “It’s not about you; it’s about God/Jesus?” Our needs, desires, goals first—what’s in it for me? Not God and His Word first. Prayer is a good test of this: are we praying for “my will be done” or “Thy will be done?” Are we praying for God to change someone else, or do something that serves our needs, or praying for God to change us, for us to serve someone else? 2.       A day like today, Trinity Sunday, and a text like our reading from Acts 2 are good ones for us. Like so many others, we’re just in the back seat, observing what God is doing. Good step back to see that it’s all about God, and Jesus. “God in Action”—God doing all the verbs, all the action in the reading. God doing stuff with, for, and through Jesus. 3.       Just to review: God publicly attested to Jesus v. 22, God did the signs and miracles through Him v...

My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? These gasping, dying words of Jesus, as He hung dying on a cross. Ancient words that begin a prayer written some 1,000 years earlier by the prophet, King David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? Psalm 22:1. It was no accident that these particular words tumbled out of Jesus’ mouth—this whole Psalm was an ancient prophecy, an ancient prayer, that described in great detail the events of this very day of Jesus’ death. These words were written and then waited 1,000 years to find their fulfillment on Jesus’ tongue. They describe His intense feeling of loneliness and abandonment by God. In a terrifying way, He felt what it was to be separated from God because of sin. Yet it was not because of His own sin that God’s face was hidden from Him, but because of the sin of the world that He bore as the heavy yoke and burden on the cross. Movies that have tried to portray the suffering...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Tonight we gather on the night called Maundy Thursday. As a child, it always confused me because it sounded like Monday Thursday. But the word Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum—command. On this “Command” Thursday, Jesus gave His disciples the command to celebrate the New Supper He had instituted: “do this in remembrance of me.” Also He renewed their call to obey the command that they love one another. Tonight is the night of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. At the Last Supper, Jesus warned that one of them (Judas) would betray Him, and that the sign of who was the betrayer would be that he dipped his bread together with Jesus. It was a night of concern and confusion for the disciples. What did He mean that He was going to be betrayed? What was about to happen? When Judas left the upper room, some thought he was going to buy something for the feast, or give something for the poor (John...