The Seventh Sunday after Trinity

 Trinity 7 – August 3, 2025

Psalm 47; Isaiah 62:6-12; Romans 6:19-23

St. Mark 8:1-9

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Twice during our Lord’s ministry, He feeds a multitude with a few loaves and a few fish. On the occasion before us this morning, it is a multitude of 4,000 Gentile men, plus women and children. This multitude had followed Christ out into the wilderness for three days and seem to have given no mind as to where they would find food or even how they would get home. We might be tempted to accuse the multitude of poor planning, of single-mindedness, or even of being so heavenly minded that they are of now earthly good.

While there might be some truth to those accusations, they should be tempered by the fact that this crowd is paying no attention to their earthly provision for the sake of following Christ. Even this motivation is peppered with impurity. I’m sure there were some who followed Christ for the spectacle; others who followed just because there was a crowd following him and they didn’t want to be left out; and still others who were following in greedy expectation of receiving something.

But even if their motives were not perfectly pure, they were in the right place and following the right Man. They trusted Him enough to hear and consider His words. They even, it seems, trusted that He would take care of the physical needs that they had forgotten about in the excitement of following Jesus into the wilderness. In this, they are to be commended.

And the miracle itself shows us that Christ is not just the Lord of our souls but the Lord over creation, the Lord of body and soul. He has concern both for our spiritual welfare and our physical being. It should not be surprising that the homeless and destitute often come to churches to ask for aid. What is even more revealing is that when offered prayer or biblical admonition, they flee. These would have been among the multitude on the first day but when Christ didn’t provide miraculous food, immediately they departed. If He would not provide on their terms, they would seek help somewhere else.

Imagine a world wherein all men sought first spiritual refreshment and then found temporal blessings that followed, rather than insisting on having their temporal needs met first and only then considering the eternal. Instead, we see mankind dissatisfied with the Providence of God (what He provides for life) and contempt for His divine authority and restraints against corrupt morality. This craving for personal taste and laws of our own making bring true unhappiness and grief – even if we can convince ourselves that it is happiness and joy.

What we see in Scripture and throughout history is that some men suffer in this world for their devotion to the next. They suffer hunger, lack, homelessness, persecution, and even death for their faith. The extreme forms of this suffering are not common but, in some measure, all Christians experience this suffering. And when they do, we see that they always receive the refreshment of God, the rejuvenation of their souls. Maybe not quickly. Maybe not in the way they would have it, but always in God’s good time and pleasure.

In the case of the 4,000, there was no temporal solution to their predicament. No amount of money, no expertise, no extraordinary effort was going to save their bodies. They were in a dire circumstance. Maybe some of them could have made it home but on the whole and for the most part, they would have died on their journey home. And this situation inspires compassion in our Lord.

Now that word compassion is important. It is what moves Christ to feed both multitudes, the four and the five thousand. It is not just pity or an emotion. This compassion is a literal movement in the guts,[1] a sense of mercy so deep it is felt in your body. Think of how intense you might feel when your “heart sinks” or your “stomach turns.” It is so strong that it affects the body, stirs the blood, and agitates the whole being such as to draw out an active desire to see the suffering relieved. That is how intense our Lord is reacting to the situation of the multitude. He is moved with such extremity for these people’s physical wellbeing, as well as for the wellbeing of their souls. He is touched by our aches and pains as well as our emotional, mental, and spiritual ills.

This compassion is all the more intense because this crowd has endured with Him over three days. They have sought Him out and remained with Him for three days with little or no provision. They have come with at least some measure of zeal to hear Him preach—to see Him, hear Him, and be near Him. Their zeal for His Word has led them to disregard their bodies. What they have disregarded, He has noticed. What they have forgotten, He has remembered. They have truly sought first the kingdom of God and now it is time for all these things to be added to them.[2]

This compassion within Christ did not end with a deep movement of His heart but showed itself in deed. He did not just sympathize with their weakness but acted to fill it. He is the Savior of bodies as much as He is the Savior of souls. Your body is important to Christ. He will raise it up on the last day. Note that the multitude was with Him three days. This is no accident. It was on the third day that Christ rose from the dead, and it is on the third day that He will make provision to raise this multitude from the grips of death. He gave Himself into death that these people, and you, would be rescued from it. He shed His blood that you would be fed on the bread of Life and your thirst for righteousness would be satisfied by His blood.

By virtue of your Baptism, you are made a temple of the Holy Spirit. Again, that is not just a spiritual truth. It also applies to your physical body. How you care for your body and how you use your body are important to Christ because it reveals what you believe about Him, about the resurrection of the flesh, and about His love for you. Confessing Christ with your lips but using your body as a tool of sin is inconsistent; the type of inconsistency that is the result of hypocritical faith. It is the result of saying the right words but not actually believing what they mean. The moral precepts of Scripture are given such that your body would confess the same truth your soul receives, making you a complete man; conforming you to the image of Christ.[3]

Lest we reduce the miracle of Christ’s provision to only a physical miracle, we must recognize that every act of Christ is also addressing the inner, spiritual man. This feeding of the 4,000 does not only satisfy their bellies but communicates Christ’s provision for their souls. We see this first in that He commands the multitude to sit on the ground. He gives them a direction before giving them the food. A man can eat while standing, walking, or any number of ways, but He commands them to sit upon the ground. At that time, the multitude was free to disobey, but in so doing, they would have forfeited their participation in the blessing.

In the same way, there are commands that must be observed to receive the bread of Life. There must be a sitting down in the dust at the Lord’s feet, a humbly rejection of the self and submission to the words and commands of Christ. It is common to hear people say, “I can worship God in the field, on the golf course, or the duck blind, just as well as I can in Church;” or “One church is a good as another, they are all the same;” or “Membership in a congregation is up to me, not the congregation, elders, pastor, or even God.” Such attitudes reject the Lordship of Christ and His word. They place the self above the Words of Christ. He has said not to neglect the gathering of the saints.[4] He has said that he who rejects you, rejects Him;[5] and where two or three are gathered in Him name, there He is.[6] If a man operates only on his pride and self-confidence, there is little hope that he will be saved.

At the same time, the command to sit is quite simple. It is not a monumental task to follow the command and, it is even a command to do something pleasant. How delightful it is to sit in a field and enjoy the presence of Christ. How wonderful it is to embody your faith, to be given an opportunity to put your body into the service of Christ and His Word by simply following what He has said. And even if sitting in the dust at Christ’s feet is offensive to your sensibilities, how wonderful an opportunity to train your hardened heart through an action of your body. You may not feel like hugging your wife, but you still have control over your arms. Doing the outward movement, taking the physical action will affect your heart, your inner being. Do it for the sake of those around you. Sit in the dirt at Jesus’ feet and your soul will receive the benefit.

Secondly, Christ does not conjure food from nothing. He takes what is available and amplifies it through His Divine providence. The elements of water, bread, and wine are commonly available. There is nothing particularly special about them. Yet these are exactly what Christ takes and turns into Divine treasures. He imbues the mundane with His Divine Word to impart to you eternal blessings.

In the same way, He uses what you already have to bless you temporally. It isn’t always apparent. While raising children is difficult, it is also a curb against your own sin. When you have other mouths to feed, you work harder to provide. When you have friends to care for, it is harder to hoard your own money and possessions. Even that person who annoys you, gets under your skin, provides you an opportunity to humble yourself, to learn the virtue of patience. Every type of affliction in this world is an opportunity to see that Christ is at work in bringing you closer to Him, if only you will humble yourself enough to see it. Christ Himself was born of a lowly virgin that you would know that He raises the lowly and brings His divinity through the mundane things of this world.

Finally, we must notice that the food of this miracle is distributed through the hands of the Apostles. Christ does not distribute the loaves and fishes. He directs the Apostles to feed the multitude. He has established the Office of the Holy Ministry for the same purpose. He has established an Office into which men are ordained for the distribution of His most precious gifts. Pastors are servants, stewards over the gifts of Christ. Their Master is God and His Word. They are given to take what is given by God and distribute it to those in need of it.

These are the ambassadors of God, set to minister to us the bread of Life and if people will not hear and deal with them, if people refuse to hear and deal with them, there is no other remedy. If one of the multitude refused to receive bread from Andrew, then he went unfed. He did not get to run to another portion of the field and receive from the hand of Peter, let alone insist Christ feed him directly.

Beloved in the Lord, mark well this miracle of Christ. After both feeding miracles, the Apostles are shown not to understand their significance. Mark well the compassion of Christ for sinful man, both in body and soul. Think on His great love for you that He would care even for your hunger, let alone your soul. Consider His humility in descending from the Father into your flesh, that He would carry the burden of your sin and the weakness of your flesh in His own. Be mindful of His great sacrifice, spending three days in the bowels of the earth that you would be spared the depths of hell.

And then rejoice in His glorious resurrection; that He would proceed you in life so that you would know what it is you have to look forward to. You are the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord and He has sought you out in the wilderness of this world.[7] Proceed in this righteousness of both body and soul, having full confidence of your own glorious resurrection. “Having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[8]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Σπλαγχνίζομαι – an onomatopoeia for the sound of a sacrificial animal’s entrails hitting the altar. It is used metaphorically of the seat of emotions and a forceful movement within. Within Christian usage, it comes to mean a deep movement of mercy and pity, such as would cause a physical reaction within one’s body.

[2] St. Matthew 6:33.

[3] Romans 6:19; 8:29.

[4] Hebrews 10:25.

[5] St. Luke 10:16.

[6] St. Matthew 18:20.

[7] Isaiah 62:12.

[8] Romans 6:22-23.

The Ascension of our Lord

 The Ascension of our Lord – May 29, 2025

Psalm 47; 2 Kings 2:5-15; Acts 1:1-11

St. Luke 24:44-53

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Ascension of our Lord is one of the chief feasts of the Christian Church and ought to be considered as standing right beside Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. Every time we confess the Apostles and Nicene creeds; we confess that Christ ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. It is the capstone of Christ’s activities for your salvation. Tonight, we seek to answer two questions regarding Christ’s ascension: 1) to where did He ascend; and 2) why did He ascend.

The Ascension of Christ took place in an actual upward motion, a gradual rising up of Christ, until a cloud received Him and He passed from human sight.[1] We can’t say much about His motions after being received into the cloud because Scripture doesn’t reveal any details on this point. As for where Christ ascended, we can give two answers. The first answer is to the paradise of the redeemed, that place where those who are His dwell with Him forever. St. Paul speaks of this place in Philippians 1 when he says, I have a “desire to depart and be with Christ.”[2] Christ also speaks of this place when He tells the thief on the cross, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”[3] This is the place we usually call “heaven,” though it is also called the “intermediate state” since it is somewhat temporary, being replaced by the new heavens and the new earth in the Resurrection on the Last Day.[4]

Of all that could be said about this intermediate state, the part that overlaps with the Ascension is that Christ dwells with those in glory as both God and Man. He ascends to the Father in His flesh and so dwells with His beloved in that same flesh. He still bears the marks in His hands, feet, and side as a testament to the saints in glory that their victory over sin has been won in His risen flesh. His flesh in glory is also a promise of the resurrection in that those who are His will follow in His train. “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”[5]

The second answer to the question of where Christ is going is the right hand of the Father, but this is not so much a place as it is an office. Christ “ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.”[6] “The right hand of the Majesty on High”[7] is that office of Christ as Lord and Messiah over all creation. In a sense, Christ’s ascension is His coronation into the full use of His authority over all heaven and earth as both God and Man. Christ is King. He is the ruling Monarch of the universe, seated on His throne of power, as He reigns over all. On Pentecost, St. Peter preaches from Psalm 110, “the Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool,” applying these words not to David but Christ, saying “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” [8]

This leads us directly into our second question for this evening, why did Christ ascend? In the first place, it was to assume His seat on the throne of God’s power at the right hand of the Father, that is, to assume His office as King of the heavens and earth.

In the second place, it was to transition from His local presence to His illocal presence. That is, He is no longer in one place at a time such that we can draw a line around His body, but is present in all places. If Christ had not ascended to the Father, even if He was present in all places at all times, which is His divine right, our human minds would find it incomprehensible. Imagine, for a moment, that Christ was still present, in His local body, sitting in every pew. There would still be space in between each of these bodies and would lead our minds to wonder, ‘Is Christ in those spaces, too?’ Or our imaginations would run wild, beginning to think that there were multiple Christs, some better than others. And when we recede into our own minds, because we could see Christ standing next to us, we would begin to wonder if He could really know our hearts and minds, if He really understood the depth of sin hiding in my heart or the pain and sorrow I feel deep in my soul.

By removing His local presence, Christ is, in fact, demonstrating His glorious final words of promise, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”[9] As He becomes hidden to our eyes of flesh, He becomes abundantly clear to our eyes of faith.

He is especially present for us sacramentally in His Word and Sacraments. The flesh of Christ cannot be separated from His Word and the Word cannot be separated from His flesh. He is the Word that was in the beginning, was with God, and is God.[10] So, too, are His Body and Blood given from this altar and the altars of every faithful congregation throughout the world. We needn’t be deceived by our eyes because His Body is not visibly present in other places. We can firmly believe His Words because He has said, “This is My Body,” and where His Word is, there is His flesh.

In the third place, Christ told His disciples that He would go before them to prepare a place for them in the house of His Father.[11] This promise is fulfilled in the Ascension. Christ ascends to the Father in His flesh, meaning that a man sits on the right hand of the Father. He ascended in His flesh to make way for the flesh of all His beloved in the heavenly mansions of His Father. His flesh paved the way for your flesh to dwell eternally with Him. Through His ascension, He is elevating the flesh of man.

Finally, Christ ascends to the Father to prepare His Church for His return. Now ‘return’ is not the most accurate way to describe what Christ will do on the Last Day because it implies that He has been absent throughout the time between the Ascension and the Last Day. A better word is His ‘revealing’ or ‘revelation’ on the Last Day. I hope by now you understand that Christ is not absent after His ascension, rather His mode of presence has simply changed. And He has promised to reveal Himself on the Last Day just as He was removed from the sight of the disciples at the ascension. He ascended into a cloud and will reveal Himself descending on a cloud. By ascending in this manner, He has given the world the very sign by which we will know His return. He will not be born again, lowly and in a cattle stall, but will descend on a cloud to the sound of heavenly trumpets. All eyes (those of flesh and those of faith) will see Him descend and every knee will bow before the King of all Creation.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Acts 1:9.

[2] Philippians 1:23.

[3] St. Luke 23:43.

[4] Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1.

[5] 1 John 3:3.

[6] Ephesians 4:10.

[7] Hebrews 1:3.

[8] Acts 2:34-36; Psalm 110:1.

[9] St. Matthew 28:20.

[10] St. John 1:1.

[11] St. John 14:2-3.

The Ascension of our Lord

The Ascension of our Lord – May 9, 2024

Psalm 47; 2 Kings 2:8-15; Acts 1:1-11

St. Mark 16:14-20

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Forty days after the Resurrection, Jesus gathered the Apostles on a mountain near Bethany and taught them directly, one last time. He said many things to them, important things. He spoke to them about how the Old Testament testified of Him, foretelling His coming, life, death, resurrection, and ascension; that all of this was done for your salvation. He “opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”[1]

He commanded them to preach the Good News about His life, death, resurrection, and ascension to all the ends of the earth[2] but first to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit had descended upon them.[3] Then, He instructed them to begin in Jerusalem before going into Samaria and all the ends of the earth.[4]

How is it that the Apostles are to accomplish this? How are they to bring this saving Gospel to all people? By baptizing and teaching, for, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”[5] After saying these things, Jesus was received into heaven, being lifted up into the sky until a cloud covered Him and removed Him from the sight of the Apostles.

It would be tempting to think that Jesus went away at the ascension. Afterall, when Elijah was carried up into the sky on a flaming chariot, he was no longer present with his dear student, Elisha. If I walked away and went out of your sight, I wouldn’t be with you anymore. I would be somewhere else, with other people. The difference between me, Elijah, and Jesus is that Elijah and I are not God. Jesus is God. He is true God and true Man.

When Jesus ascends to the Father, He sits down at the Father’s right hand. The right hand of the Father is not a golden throne floating somewhere in the sky. The Father’s “right hand” is a phrase that means Jesus is the Father’s power, the one through whom and in whom the Father works. It means Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, who rules the entire universe not by being away from it but by being present within all of it. And Jesus does this ruling as both true God and true Man.

A truly great theologian of our church, Martin Chemnitz, says it this way,

There are many clear statements in Scripture regarding the presence of Christ in the church, which is His kingdom. And not the least part of the work of Christ as our Mediator and Savior is that as Head He is present with His members, gathering, ruling, defending, preserving, and saving His church. For in all our afflictions and temptations—in the depraved infirmity of our nature, among the various offenses and the many pitfalls under the powerful tyranny and the rage of Satan, the world, and all the enemies of the church—our greatest and only comfort is our knowledge that Christ is present as our King, our High Priest, our Head, and the pastor of us who are His sheep in the midst of ravening wolves. He does not place the burdens of governing in His kingdom on the shoulders of others through delegated work, as the custom of our kings is, for the government is always on His shoulders (Is. 9:6), but when He Himself is present He cares for us, governs, defends, preserves, and saves us, as His peculiar people whom He has bought with His own blood. As John says, ‘He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world’ [1 John 4:4]. And Ezekiel 34:24 says, ‘My Servant David is prince in the midst of them.’[6]

Christ is present with all of Creation because He is God, but He has especially promised to be with His Church through the means of grace. The means of grace are those things through which God works to bring you the forgiveness of sins. These are the Word of God, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Absolution.

When it comes to the Word of God, Jesus is always working through His Word. That means when you hear the Bible read in Church, when you attend Sunday School, when you read the Bible together as a family, and when you read the bible on your own, Jesus is speaking to you. He is working through His Word. But Jesus has also established the Office of the Holy Ministry to give voice to that Word. He has established preaching so that His Word would be brought especially to you in this time and place.

With the other means of grace, those that we call the Sacraments, Jesus has combined His Word with physical elements—water in the case of Holy Baptism; bread and wine in the case of the Lord’s Supper; and the voice and hands of the pastor in the Holy Absolution. He is doing this not because Pastors have special powers but so that you would know that Jesus is true God and true Man. He has established His Office—into which He places men—such that when a human being, a man, baptizes, gives you the Lord’s Supper, or absolves your sins, you would know that Jesus Christ, in His human body and in His divinity, is present delivering it to you. It is easy to remember that Jesus is God. It is difficult to remember that He is man. So, He has set His means of grace into the hands of men as a reminder that God became man to forgive your sins.

Now, we mustn’t forget that immediately before and immediately after His ascension, the Apostles are rebuked for their lack of faith. Before the ascension, they are rebuked because “they did not believe those who had seen [Jesus] after He had risen.”[7] Even though the Apostles themselves had seen the risen Christ, they questioned others who had seen the same. Perhaps they still didn’t believe the resurrection themselves. Perhaps they thought it necessary for an Apostle to be present to make it a true appearance of Christ. Or perhaps they thought themselves to be above the “normal” disciples so that only their word could stand. It was probably a little of everything.

Then after the ascension, two angels rebuke the Apostles for staring up into the sky. This is the same rebuke Jesus gives to Mary Magdelene on the day of the Resurrection, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”[8] Mary and the Apostles have a job to do and standing on a mountain, staring into heaven is not it. They are to go and tell others about Jesus. They are to live in this world, even if they are citizens of heaven. In fact, because they are citizens of heaven. They are to live in this world as citizens of Christ’s Church, as subjects of the Almighty God who has ascended to His throne, “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under His feet.”[9]

For you, that means being in the place that Jesus has promised to give you His means of grace, that is, most especially His Church. That means receiving those means of grace—His Word, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Holy Absolution. It also means to carry this grace with you as you go about your station in life. Be the best mother that you can be, changing diapers and teaching your children to pray. Be the best husband and father you can be, working hard to provide and teaching your children the catechism. Be the best child you can be by obeying your parents, paying attention to your studies, learning about the world around you, and paying attention in church.

Do all of this because Jesus is with you. He is with you as true God and true Man. He is not absent in anyway, but He is present in many ways. Do these things because your King reigns from the right hand of the Father, where you will be with Him for all eternity.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Luke 24:45.

[2] St. Mark 16:15.

[3] Acts 1:8.

[4] Acts 1:8.

[5] St. Mark 16:16.

[6] Martin Chemnitz, The Two Natures in Christ, translated by J.A.O. Preus (1971; repr., St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2007), 423.

[7] St. Mark 16:14.

[8] St. Luke 20:17.

[9] Ephesians 1:20-23.

The Seventh Sunday after Trinity

The Seventh Sunday after Trinity – July 31, 2022

Psalm 47; Genesis 2:7-17; Romans 6:19-23

St. Mark 8:1-9

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The disciples hear of the compassion of Christ and are aghast. Rational thought denies the possibility of providing food to 4,000 men plus women and children, probably 12,000, or so, in all. So much for using reason to determine the actions of God. Reason itself is a good gift of God but when set against the clear Word of God it becomes the worst of blasphemies. Forcing the Word of God to fit into our rational mind has led to many, if not most, of the worst heresies of the Church.

It doesn’t make sense that Jesus’ has two natures, human and divine, in one person. It doesn’t make sense that a Virgin would conceive and bear the Son of God. It doesn’t make sense that the Incarnate Body and Blood of Jesus is present on altars throughout the world. It doesn’t make sense that God inspired human men to write the words of Scripture without allowing sin to corrupt the words.[1] It doesn’t even make sense that Christ has forgiven your sin and yet you still suffer the effects of sin on this side of heaven.

Thanks be to God we are not called to make sense of these things. Our rational minds react to these mysteries like the disciples, “No one could do that! That’s not possible!” The eyes of faith, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the heart of flesh which has replaced our hearts of stone—these react like the multitude, “I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord.[2] I will sit at the feet of my Lord and receive all He will give me. If he should appoint me to die this day, I know it is good for me because He has promised to give me all good things.” Even those sitting in the second and third row must’ve seen the paltry loaves and fish Christ was blessing, yet they react in faith, trusting that Christ would provide for each of them.

Here you might ask, “If Christ is such a gracious provider to His beloved Church, why are there Christians who suffer lack? Why does God allow Christians throughout the world to suffer poverty and hunger?” This is a fair question, and the answer is in three parts.

First, the Kingdom of Christ to which He has called you and in which you have citizenship, is not a temporal kingdom. A temporal kingdom is composed of the things of this world: house and home, wife and children, land, animals, governments of man, and all we have. A spiritual kingdom is founded composed of that which is eternal: God and man in both body and soul.

Christ has founded a spiritual kingdom, in which we seek and find eternal and divine possessions. This Kingdom is provided for by the Word of God, the Sacraments, the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit. This Kingdom lacks nothing. A Christian, baptized into the Triune Name of God, has the entire Trinity at his disposal. He may call God his Father, Jesus his Lord and brother, and the Holy Spirit his Counselor and Comforter. If you have God, you lack nothing.

Even if the building is destroyed; even if you cannot receive the Sacrament because all Pastors have been rounded up and killed by the government; even if they take your life, goods, fame, child, and wife, though these all be gone, you have God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As such, you lack nothing. You have everything.

Christ would have us long for the eternal gifts of His Kingdom rather than pine for the things of this world. Temporal governments, rulers, fathers, and neighbors may provide or steal temporal goods, but they can never take away the eternal provisions of God.

Secondly, Christ would have all Christians exercise faith in all matters, temporal and eternal, in seeing that all things, temporal and eternal, are provided by Him. See the hands of Christ in your paycheck; in the calloused hands of the farmer providing your food; in the hands of the workman who builds your house; and even in your own hands when you change diapers, share a cup of coffee, or clean a neighbor’s house.

It is necessary that Christ provide not only for the Spiritual Kingdom of His salvation, but also for the temporal kingdom. The world continues to exist only because God provides for her. The world and all who dwell in her, exist for the support of the Church. If all Christians suddenly died, the world would end because there would be no reason for God to sustain it. Of course, this is not a concern for us since Christ has promised to return and gather the faithful to His breast.[3]

“But since the devil rules in the world and he is the enemy of Christ and of His Church, and since [the Church does not] seek the things of this world, they must suffer [temporal possessions] to be taken out of their mouths, and [to be] robbed of [that] which belongs to them. Here now Christ must help His Church and give where she suffers need and want, that she may continue to exist, that it may be called miraculous giving; and the Christians acknowledge that it is given by Him and that He shows forth continually in His [Church] such special miracles [of daily bread], so that they will have something to eat, drink, etc., even if the world gives nothing and grants no favors; but takes from her, and is jealous and hateful because of what God gives her.”[4]

So, when Christians are lacking, they know that what they can never lose is eternal life. No matter how impoverished a Christian is, he holds the entire world in his hand because Christ is with him. And should his stomach growl for lack of food, it is to remind him of things eternal.

Thirdly, Christians suffer lack in this world so that others might show them love. The multitudes suffered lack of food and the disciples were appointed to distribute the miraculous bread to them. Sometimes the vocation of a Christian requires him to be the one who is served, to be the object of another’s affection. This is a holy calling in life: to be the one to receive the good works of others. We are called to share all good things, holding all things in common. To serve one another, even when we believe the resources to be lacking, is a blessed work of God and a loving service to our neighbor.

Finally, we must see the Feeding of the Four Thousand as a blessed picture of the life of the Church. You walk through those doors every week, after seven long days of journeying in the wilderness. You are tired from the cares of this world; from your own sin, the sins of others, and temptation to sin. If you should continue on your journey alone, you would surely faint.

Yet Christ has compassion upon you. He has called you to follow Him, to hear His voice. Each Sunday, He teaches you in His Holy Word – the Introit, the Old Testament, the Gradual, the Epistle, and especially in the Holy Gospel. He is speaking to you now in the words of this sermon, through the lips of an imperfect vessel. When the teaching for the day is done, He calls you to gather before Him. He takes bread, blesses it and gives thanks, then breaks it and calls His servant to distribute it to you. Your body and soul are then satisfied with the Living Bread from Heaven. On the strength of this bread, you return to the way, the path of life in this world, until that day when your journey on this side of heaven is complete and you enter eternal life, where the feast will never end.

‘What Jesus does for the multitude, He does today. At that time, He acted visibly while today He acts invisibly. Then, He fed the body. Today, He feeds body and soul. At that time, He gave men perishable bread. Today He gives you the Eternal, Living Bread from Heaven. We, the Baptized, need the nourishment of Christ’s own Body and Blood to support us on the journey through the wilderness of this life toward our heavenly fatherland.’[5]

O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; and His mercy endureth forever.[6]

In + Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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[1] This is a reference to the autographs of the original human authors of Scripture. I recognize there have been errors in the transmission of the written texts, however the Word of God is infallible and communicates the entire truth of Scripture, even if minor errors have been made in transmission of the text.

[2] Psalm 116:13.

[3] The section regarding the question of why Christ allows Christians to suffer lack is based on Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, Vol 4, translated and edited by John Nicholas Lenker (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983), 220-222.

[4] Luther, Sermons, 221-222.

[5] Pius Parsch, The Church’s Year of Grace, Vol 4 (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1964), 76-77.

[6] The Benedicamus.