Maybe you’ve felt this in the past. You receive a gift from a friend or family member, but it’s not an actual item you can use but a gift card. Perhaps you hem and haw about what you would use it on. It should be something fun, right? If you’re anything like me, perhaps you go back and forth about this for a while until you put the card in a drawer and forget about it entirely.

That’s not exactly using the gift to the best of its ability, is it? God doesn’t give gifts for us to waste or ignore, either. We shouldn’t lock up anything that God has given to us, be it skills and talents or other gifts. God gives these gifts that we should use them to benefit ourselves, our families, our fellow Christians, and everyone around us.

Have you been feeling afraid, lately? Fear is everywhere. News stations use it to drive up their ratings. Politicians use it to get people onboard with their cause. Parents might use it to motivate their children, or teachers their students. But why is fear used so often and by so many different people and groups?

Humility is a tricky thing. We recognize that being humble is a good thing and that having a domineering ego that takes hold of us and dictates all of our decisions tends to go very poorly. But how often is humility seen as a sign of weakness, something that can be taken advantage of? False-humility is also a problem, making it look like you’re humble but it’s only a show.

Jesus in our Gospel for this morning forces us into real humility, humility that recognizes what we are by nature and what we need God to do for us. This humility, when properly applied, causes us to struggle through this life to the narrow door of eternal life with him, trusting his forgiveness to undo our grievous and innumerable faults.

Peace is generally seen as a good thing. We’d rather have peace with our neighbor than be the midst of a feud over the fence. We’d rather have peace with a coworker rather than dealing with passive-aggressive animosity.

And yet, Jesus seems to put a wet blanket on our joy and aspirations for peace, doesn’t he? He said in our lesson for this morning, “I came to throw fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already ignited. But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” So, were the angels wrong? Did Simeon have a false comfort? Is Jesus set on bringing peace or not?

It’s a lesson all parents have to teach their children. We should be kind to everyone. Parents have to teach that because that is no child’s (and no adult’s) default state of mind.

Jesus’ resurrection gives us a glimpse of what is to come. Our tomb will be like his tomb. Our coffin will be like the young man in Nain’s coffin. That is to say, empty. Because Jesus has defeated death for us, we will live with him forever. Physical death will likely claim our life unless Jesus returns before that day. But that death is only temporary. Our eternal lives are safe and secure with the God who visited his people to save them.

We may not be able to explain the how’s of the Triune God, but we know the what’s and the why’s: God loves us. We are freed from the debt we owed to God. We are rescued from hell. We will be with our Triune God face-to-face in eternal life, just as he originally intended for us to be. Thank you, Father, Son, and Spirit, for these and so many other blessings!

Why do we observe Pentecost? Is it anything more than the birthday of the Christian church? As we see this account freshly again this morning, we’re left asking, What does this mean?

Paul recognized that the Christian ministry was all about adaption. That while the message of the Christian faith cannot be modified, changed, or compromised, he notes that we also can’t just ram-rod one, single-minded approach down the throat of anyone we come into contact with. We will want to adapt. But that begs the question here in 21st Century America, 21st Century Northern California, how do we become all things to all people?

If you have paid any attention to current events, you’ve seen a great deal of time spent and ink spilled on personal relationships. How should a man treat a woman? A woman a man? A husband his wife? A wife her husband? A parent their child? A child their parent? How should coworkers interact with each other? How should friends treat each other? How do members of a congregation interact with one another in a way that brings glory to God?

When you sit down with that friend or family member for that tough conversation, there may be no real fix to the problems. They just be things that now you have to deal with. But with God’s bad news? He provides the certain solution. The law that condemns us is overwhelmed by the gospel, the good news that Jesus has saved us.

So don’t rebel against what God says to you, painful as it might be. Listen to it. Listen  to all of it. It might not be what you want to hear, but it is what you need to hear, because in that message of sin and forgiveness of that sin is comfort of your eternal life! Amen.

When God brought you to faith, when he gave you birth through his Word of truth, that was a life-changing event. It didn’t just change that moment; it changed the whole rest of your life. Enjoy that new life, that new status with God. Love that Word where he reminds you of all that he’s done for you every day. Love others as God has loved you. Live your life with the strength that God continues to give!

Jesus is home for now, and for eternity. Without Jesus, we have nothing to show for our lives. Without Jesus, we have hell as our eternal destination. Without Jesus, we may deceive ourselves into thinking things are fine when they’re really not. But what do we have with Jesus? With Jesus we receive the words of eternal life—the assurance of our complete forgiveness because Jesus lived and died for us. With Jesus we are with the Holy One of God—the Holy One who saves us, who have not been holy. With Jesus, we are home, truly home, eternally home.

In our Gospel this morning, we continue down the path of Jesus’ teaching the crowd in the events surrounding his feeding of the 5,000 men on the hillside. Jesus has been trying to get the people to lift their eyes heavenward, to see that there’s more to this life than what is immediately surrounding them. They shouldn’t be following him hoping for their next free lunch; they should be following them because he provides eternal life.

Jesus provides us with spiritual bread and water that leaves us refreshed and satisfied to eternity. That food and drink is his Word. That food and drink is his life, death, and resurrection. In the Bread of Life we have forgiveness for all of our misguided priorities and short-sighted prayers. In Jesus we have forgiveness that doesn’t just get us through a day, or week, or year; we have forgiveness that nourishes through eternal life. Every sin is gone; in Jesus we live forever.

While a lot of things are bad in large quantities, God’s grace, his undeserved love for us, is not one of those things. Not only is it wonderful to have an over-abundance of God’s grace, an honest self-evaluation will make it clear that we NEED that amount of grace.

Have you ever been in that situation where you feel pulled in about eighteen different directions? Stress doesn’t do anything good to us, and stress on top of physically and emotionally draining times can just compound things.  When you’re under that kind of load, take Jesus’ advice.  Go with him to a quiet place and get some rest.  Quiet time in restful meditation with God’s Word is very often a solution to the problems that await us and the things that need our attention.  Time with Jesus changes our outlook, drowns our sinful nature again, and recharges us to face what we need to do with renewed zeal.  That’s why our personal and family devotions are so very important.  Very often they may be the one time that we get some rest, emotionally and spiritually, to recharge.

God’s Word is not something we outgrow. It’s not something that uses up its usefulness. We will never have anything more important in our lives than that beautiful, perfect Word of God, through which God brings us to faith in our Savior and assures us of eternal life. May that Word be the center of your joy and the priority of your life now and forever! Amen.

Who do you think God is? He’s not some cruel master, working to make your life miserable. He’s not a vindictive judge, who relishes in your suffering. Your God is your all-powerful protector, the one who works good from trouble now and rescues from sin and death eternally.

Above all else, guard your heart carefully, because your life flows from it. Don’t let anything and everything come into your heart because it’s too precious, too much is riding on your heart being focused on your Savior. Thanks be to God that through his Word, the Holy Spirit keeps that focus on Him for us. He does what we cannot do, what we need Him to do. He focuses you on your Savior and then your life flows from it, your eternal life especially, but even your day-to-day life as well.