The Second Sunday in Advent – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Romans 15:4-13
In Christ Jesus, who has brought sinners all over the world into His holy body by cleansing them with His blood (Eph. 2:13), dear fellow redeemed:
In the Holy Gospel for today, Jesus describes what will happen in the world and in the universe before His return on the last day (Luke 21:25-36). Signs will be seen “in sun and moon and stars.” Nations will be distressed because of “the roaring of the sea and the waves,” referring to things like hurricanes, tidal waves, and floods. People will faint with fear and foreboding when they see what is happening.
And then Jesus will return in His glory. Most people will not be ready. Their focus was on other things. Their hope was anchored in the world. That day will come upon them “suddenly like a trap.” They will not escape His judgment. They will be condemned to eternal punishment in hell. You might wonder if you will avoid this fate. You might question if you are faithful enough to be gathered with God’s people in heaven.
Today’s reading from the Epistle to the Romans addresses these concerns. The apostle Paul writes by inspiration that we have something more sure to go by than our thoughts, our experiences, or even a feeling in our gut about where we stand with God. We have the Holy Scriptures. Specifically Paul is talking about the Old Testament, the record of events from the creation of the world to some four hundred years before the birth of Christ.
The Old Testament is far more than a collection of historical accounts, laws, and psalms, which are only useful for historians, lawyers, or musicians who like those sorts of things. Paul writes that “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.” As we study the Scriptures, we learn endurance and find encouragement, because we see the trials that God brought His people through and the many examples of His goodness and blessings.
So through the Scriptures we also learn to have hope. We are not the first to have troubles. We are not the first to have worries and doubts. We are not the first to fall short of the glory of God in our sin. We are part of a long line of sinner-saints stretching back through time, back through the Reformation, back through the early Church, back through the apostles, back through the prophets, back through the patriarchs. This is a continuous, unbroken line, because our merciful God has preserved His Church through all of history.
The way He has preserved His Church is through His Scriptures. Both God and His Word are described as giving the same thing. The “God of endurance and encouragement” gives this endurance and encouragement through His Scriptures. The “God of hope” gives hope through His Scriptures. Everything good that God wants to give us, every blessing He has planned for us, comes to us through His Holy Word.
Paul emphasized this point in his epistle to the Christians in Rome by pointing them to God’s promise that salvation was not for the Israelites only but for all people. Those who were not part of God’s chosen people Israel were called the Gentiles. They belonged to the pagan nations around Israel who did not glorify God or listen to His Word. The Gentiles had no reason to hope for God’s mercy based on who they were or what they did or what they could offer to Him. They deserved His wrath for their many sins.
And yet God planned salvation for them. Paul referenced the Old Testament prophecies recorded by Moses in the 1400s B. C., by David around the year 1000 B. C., and by Isaiah in the 700s B. C. All those prophecies show that Gentiles would join the Israelites in praising the Lord. The Israelites who had the Scriptures must have had a hard time imagining this. “The wicked Gentiles whom we are supposed to stay away from will join us in glorifying the true God? How can this be?”
That question is answered by Isaiah’s prophecy: “The Root of Jesse will come, even He who arises to rule the Gentiles; in Him will the Gentiles hope” (Isa. 11:10). The Gentiles would hope in the “Root of Jesse.” Jesse was the father of King David. Long after the glory had departed from that family, after the last descendant of David sat on the crumbling throne of Jerusalem, a greater King would rise up. Isaiah prophesied that “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (11:1).
That King was Jesus, a blood descendant of David through His mother Mary (Luk. 3:23ff.), and a legal descendant of David through His guardian Joseph (Mat. 1:1ff.). Jesus’ family tree contained all manner of sinners—liars, murderers, adulterers, and even some Gentiles. This human line shows what kind of people He came to save—sinful people, guilty of all sorts of wrongdoing against God.
God in His love does not make a distinction between Jew and Gentile anymore. He does not see any one group of people as better than another, and neither should we. Men are not better than women, or women than men. Republicans are not better than Democrats, or Democrats than Republicans. Americans are not better than foreigners, or foreigners than Americans. Even Christians are not better than non-Christians in the sense of being less guilty of sin.
Romans 3 says, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (vv. 22-23). That should give us a great sympathy toward the people around us. They struggle with sin just like we do. They probably regret a lot of things just like we do. And Jesus died for their sins just as certainly as He died for ours. Who can be below me, unworthy of my love, if Jesus, who was perfect in every way, who never did any wrong toward anyone—if He humbled Himself to be nailed to a cross and die for all my sins?
That is our hope, a hope that is clearly spelled out for us in the Old and New Testament Scriptures. Jesus died for me. Jesus died for you. Jesus died for every sinner in human history. It is His sacrifice that brings together people of various nationalities, languages, and customs into one holy body, into His body the Church.
As members of one body, God wants us to glorify Him with one voice. Some Christians take this to mean that we need to set aside our doctrinal differences, and we need to compromise the Bible’s teaching for the sake of outward unity among Christians. This is the reason why many churches in our area will hold joint worship services. They believe and teach many different things in their own buildings, but they still think something can be gained by an outward show of unity. This is a false unity that we want nothing to do with.
Unity in the church is never to be looked for outside of the Scriptures, but in and through the Scriptures. God’s Word creates the only unity worth having, as the Holy Spirit brings us to Christ and Christ to us. Unity in the church is God’s work, not ours. Paul writes, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We see here that God grants harmony, and that this harmony will be built on Christ Jesus and grow through Him if it is true harmony.
So we don’t create this unity, but we certainly can destroy it. We destroy unity in the church when we put anything else before God’s Holy Word. Maybe it is our pride—we want things a certain way, and we insist that everything happen just the way we want it, or else there is going to be a big fight. Or maybe it is our passions—instead of resisting our sinful desires, we give in to them and give no thought to how our actions affect and hurt the whole body of Christ. Or maybe it is our prejudice—we think that we could never work with people who have this background, who look like this, or talk like that.
When we give in to our pride, our passions, our prejudice, or any other sins, we simultaneously give up all hope. Trusting in our own way always leads to hopelessness. But God in His mercy calls us out of our hopelessness and away from our sin. He leads us to repentance, to the humble acknowledgement that we have done wrong, and to the conviction that we don’t want to keep doing wrong.
Then the Holy Spirit through the Holy Word points us to Jesus. “That Root of Jesse came forth for you,” He says. “He came to be your King and bring you into His kingdom. He came to pay for all your sins and cover you in His holiness. You are not destined for the Father’s wrath and punishment. You have salvation by faith in His Son.”
That is the hope given to you and declared to you in both the Old and the New Testaments. It is the hope that gives “endurance and encouragement” as the world around us devolves into selfishness, hatred, and deceit. We Glorify God for His Gift of Hope. The hope we have in Jesus gives us joy in trying and troubling times, and it gives us peace in our distresses.
Jesus comes through His Holy Word to bring us this joy and peace and to strengthen our confidence that He will return on the last day. He will save us from the judgment that awaits those who reject Him. He will bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom. For this, we Gentiles praise and thank Him and extol His holy name, just as the Scriptures said we would.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture of stained glass from Jerico Lutheran Church)
(audio unavailable for this sermon)
The First Sunday in Advent – Vicar Lehne sermon
Text: St. Matthew 21:1-9
In Christ Jesus, who surpasses our expectations, dear fellow redeemed:
For children, one of the most torturous things in the world, if not the most torturous thing in the world, is waiting to open their presents on Christmas morning. They want to open them as soon as possible, but their parents always seem to find another reason to make them wait longer: the family has to go to church first; the entire family has to be gathered around the tree; dad has to find the camera so that he can take pictures. So, as the kids wait to open their presents, they pass the time by trying to figure out what’s inside them: they look at the size of their presents; pick them up to see how heavy they are; shake them to see if they can hear anything inside that could give them a clue. And sometimes, by the end of their investigation, they think they’ve found out what at least one of their presents is, and it’s something that they’ve wanted for a long time. So, when the time finally comes for them to open that present, they excitedly rip the paper off, open the box, and . . . it’s not what they thought it was after all.
Like children waiting to open their Christmas presents, the people of Israel built up their expectations for what the promised Messiah would be like when he eventually came. And, if kids think that it’s torturous to have to wait to open their presents for an hour or two at the most, the people of Israel had to wait thousands of years for the Messiah to arrive. As they waited, they looked at the prophecies in Scripture that spoke of his coming and interpreted them in an incorrect way. Since many of the prophecies described the coming Messiah as a mighty king who would save his people, the people of Israel looked at their current situation, being forced to live under Roman rule, and interpreted those prophecies to mean that the coming Messiah would be a mighty earthly king who would overthrow the Romans and give their nation back to them.
Because of the expectations that the people of Israel had, they probably expected the Messiah to come in majesty. But how did he come instead? He wasn’t born in a magnificent palace, but in a stable, with a manger, a feeding trough for animals, for his bed. Who were the first ones to behold him? Not kings, but lowly shepherds. Where did he grow up? Not in an important city like Jerusalem, but in the lowly town of Nazareth, a place that was looked down upon for being inferior in education and culture. Whom did he associate himself with? Not with mighty soldiers and the important religious leaders, but with lowly fishermen and those whom the religious leaders considered to be sinners.
But now, the Messiah, Jesus, had the perfect opportunity to finally present himself as the majestic king that he truly is. Jesus knew that this was the last Sunday before he would die an innocent death on the cross, and so, as he prepared to ride into Jerusalem for the last time, he could have done so on the back of a horse, wearing flowing purple robes and a glistening crown. But what did he ride in on instead? On a lowly donkey. And it wasn’t that there were no other animals available that he could have ridden on. Jesus specifically asked his disciples to bring a donkey and her colt to him, which he did to fulfill the prophecy that was spoken by the prophet Zechariah: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
Because of the humble way in which Jesus came on Palm Sunday, as well as the humility that he lived in throughout the rest of his earthly life, it was clear that he was not showing off his majesty in the way that the people of Israel expected the Messiah to. But they had not given up their hope just yet. Even though Jesus had not yet shown his power and might by confronting the Roman rulers, he showed his power and might through the countless miracles that he performed throughout his ministry. Surely, he intended to use this power to save them from the Romans. So, as he humbly rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, the people of Israel praised him and shouted, “Hosanna,” which means, “Save us now!”
But then came Jesus’ ultimate humiliation. On Maundy Thursday, he was betrayed by Judas, one of his own disciples, and handed over to the Romans, who tortured and mocked him before ultimately putting him to death. Jesus did not shed the blood of the Romans; instead, his own blood was shed by them. He did not wear a glistening crown on his head; instead, he wore a crown of thorns. Where were those who were praising him on Palm Sunday now? At least some of them had turned on him and were the ones who were telling the Romans to put him to death. It had become plain to them that Jesus was not the Messiah that they were hoping for.
But little did the people of Israel know that, by his ultimate humiliation, his innocent suffering and death, Jesus gave them a far greater gift than salvation from the Romans. He gave them salvation from their sins. He may not have established a kingdom on earth for the people of Israel, which would have been only temporary, but, by the shedding of his innocent blood, he did open the gates of the kingdom of heaven to them, a kingdom that has no end. So long as the people of Israel believed in Jesus as their Savior, their promised Messiah, that eternal kingdom would be theirs. And many of them eventually did come to faith in him through the preaching of his Word.
But this gift is not just for the people of Israel. It’s also for the entire rest of world, including you. The torture and mocking that Jesus endured was for you. The sins that Jesus took on himself were your sins. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross was for you, so that the price of all of your sins was paid. He suffered the ultimate humiliation on the cross so that the gates of heaven would be opened to you. But how does Jesus bring this gift to you? He does so through humble means: the means of grace, his Word and Sacraments.
Instead of mighty angels descending from the heavens and declaring to the entire world that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that we are to put our faith in him and do as he has commanded us to do, God sends humble pastors out into all the world to preach his Word to them and teach them what God wants them to believe and do. Instead of putting us through a baptism by fire, in which we are put through a challenging trial that results in us proving our faith to him in the end, God gives us a baptism through water, in which he brings us to faith by the application of water and the speaking of his Word. Instead of preparing a magnificent feast for the entire world to eat that will satisfy all of their earthly hunger, God prepares a humble feast of bread and wine, in which, through the speaking of his Word, we feast on the true body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.
The world looks at the humble ways in which Jesus comes to us and thinks that they’re foolishness. If God really wanted us to believe in him, he would show greater displays of his power and might: he would end world hunger and poverty, making sure that everyone had enough money and food to satisfy their earthly needs; he would bring an end to all of the wars and violence in the world and usher in an era of world peace; he would guarantee that everyone gets to go to heaven by either wiping out all sin from the world or forgiving everyone of their sins, regardless of whether they are repentant of their sins and believe in him or not. The world expects God to behave in the way that they think he should behave, and, because he doesn’t, they don’t want to have anything to do with him and want him out of their lives.
Even we can have our own false expectations for how God should behave. We may not go as far as some of the people of this world do, but there are times when we may think that, if God is really as powerful as he says that he is, why doesn’t he give us the rain that we need in order to make our crops grow? Why doesn’t he put someone in control of the government who will actually fix our country’s problems? Why doesn’t he heal our loved ones who are suffering from pain and sickness? The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8 that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (verse 28). However, we are tempted to think that, if God was really working all things out for the good of those who love him, wouldn’t he only give us good things? What did any of us do to deserve the hard times that God puts us through?
We may think that we know what is best for us, but God says to us in Isaiah 55, “[M]y thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (verses 8–9). God alone knows what is best for us, and he gives that to us. He gives us what we need for our earthly lives, as well as for our spiritual lives. And while we are all too often focused solely on our earthly needs and desires, God knows that our spiritual needs are the most important things for us, so he makes them easily accessible to everyone by giving them to us through the means of his Word and Sacraments. As Jesus comes to us through these humble means to give us his grace, we join in singing the same words that the people of Israel sang as Jesus rode into Jerusalem to give them his grace, “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”
Everything that Jesus did for us is far better than anything we could expect. Through his innocent death on the cross, he paid the price for all our sins. By his resurrection from the dead, he destroyed the power that death had over us. Jesus won the victory for us, and now, that victory is brought to us through the preaching of his Word and through the Sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The prize that awaits us is greater than anything we can comprehend, and that prize will be ours for all eternity. Jesus, our Messiah, may not have met our false expectations, but by coming to us in humility and giving us the eternal salvation that he won for us on the cross, Jesus surpasses our expectations.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “Entry of Christ into Jerusalem” by Pietro Lorenzetti, 1320)
The Second-Last Sunday of the Church Year
Text: St. Matthew 25:31-46
In Christ Jesus, who judges us not by the love we have shown others, but by the love He has shown us, dear fellow redeemed:
Are you ready for “Judgment Day”? We can’t help but feel some fear at the thought of it. On that day, Jesus will peel back the barrier between heaven and earth and reveal His glory to all mankind. He will come with a shout, with the sound of a great trumpet, accompanied by the angels. All the works of darkness will be exposed by His holy light. There will be nowhere to hide. Jesus says that “on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Mat. 12:36). That is terrifying, because we have filled our life with careless words.
But the way Jesus describes the last judgment in today’s reading gives us a different perspective on the day. We are told of a King sitting on His glorious throne, but then He is described as a Shepherd. Those are very different pictures. A king gives orders; he exercises his power. A shepherd dutifully cares for the sheep. Here we see Jesus separating “people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
For the sheep, He only has sweet things to say. He calls them ones who are “blessed by My Father.” He says they will “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Then this Shepherd-King does something remarkable. He starts recounting all the good things the sheep have done for Him! They gave Him food when He was hungry, drink when He was thirsty, a home when He was a stranger, clothing when He was naked, encouragement when He was sick and in prison.
The sheep are dumbfounded, as sheep often are. They ask, “When did we do all these things for You, O Lord? When did we sheep do these things for You, our Shepherd, our King?” And He will reply, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.” This happy exchange is probably not the first thing that comes to our minds when we think of Judgment Day. But it is how Jesus describes it, so it is good for us to dwell on His words and to find comfort in them as the last day approaches.
On the other hand, Jesus does not only speak words of comfort regarding that day. The goats at His left hear a very different message. Jesus does not say, “As long as you tried to be good and do what is right, you can enter My kingdom.” Or, “as long as you were sincere in your beliefs and followed your heart, that’s all that matters to Me.” This is the way the unbelieving world speaks. We hear many people—including professed Christians—say that all religions worship the same god, or that all religions are different paths to get to the same place. This is “Universalism,” and Jesus never teaches it.
He makes a much more exclusive claim about Christianity. He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Joh. 14:6). Those who deny the Son of God incarnate cannot have the Father. The apostle Peter once told the Jewish religious leaders that in rejecting Jesus, they had rejected “the cornerstone.” Then he added, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Act. 4:11,12).
This is why the goats ended up at Jesus’ left. They denied Him. They rejected the salvation He won for them. They did not want to hear His Word of truth. They wanted to go their own way. So Jesus will say to them on the last day, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” He will explain that when He was hungry, they did not feed Him. When He was thirsty, they gave Him no drink, and so on.
In their desperation, the unbelievers will cry out, “Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?” Their thinking is that if only they had the chance, they would have helped the King. If they knew of His needs, they would have stepped up. But they miss the point. The point is not that they failed to do enough good works for God to earn their way into heaven.
Doing good works doesn’t get anyone into heaven. Ephesians 2 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (vv. 8-9). If we wanted to get ourselves to heaven by our own works, we would have to live a perfect life in every way. But none of us has even come close! We have broken each of God’s Commandments more times than we could count.
This is why the sheep are so surprised to hear their Shepherd-King recount all the good things they had done for Him. We know how much we have sinned and how far we have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). But the sheep are not those who have always excelled at doing what is right, or who have sinned less than others have. The sheep are believers. Their trust and confidence are not in themselves and what they do, but in Jesus and what He has done.
The opposite is the case for the goats, the unbelievers. They may have been really nice people, but they did not trust in Jesus as their Savior. Because they rejected Him, nothing they did was actually righteous in His sight. That is what Hebrews 11:6 emphasizes, “without faith it is impossible to please him.” No matter how much money a person gives to the hungry and the poor, no matter how many strangers they welcome or prisoners they visit, if these are not done as fruits of faith, the Shepherd-King does not count them as being done for Him. It is impossible to please God without faith.
But then it is also the case that with faith it is impossible not to please Him. Faith produces good fruit. So when you and I go about our day, serving the people around us, these are good fruits in God’s sight. Usually we aren’t even aware of the good. We go to work, pick up groceries, clean the house, and pay our bills. We have devotions with our family, and we pray. There is never enough time to get everything done, and we probably feel guilty for not doing more.
But Jesus considers all these little things that barely seem to matter to be great works. He looks at our imperfect and lowly efforts like a parent looks at the scribbled drawings of a little child. In His eyes, the scribbled efforts of our humble lives are beautiful. On the last day, He will put our good deeds on display, like a child’s drawing showcased on the kitchen fridge. He counts all the things done for “the least of these [His] brothers,” as being done for Him.
We know that He looks at us like this not because we are so good, but because He is so good. Whatever good we accomplish starts with His good. Our love for others starts with His love for us. We learn what it means to serve the least by watching the Son of God humble Himself to serve the world of sinners. The world was happy with His miracles. The sick and demon-possessed were glad to be healed. But most people walked away from Him. Some even conspired to kill Him.
Still He went forward. He lived a perfect life according to the law of God, showing perfect love to God and to His neighbors, a life free from sin. He did not “repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling” (1Pe. 3:9). He did what He teaches His followers to do. He loved His enemies. He did good to those who hated Him. He blessed those who cursed Him. He prayed for those who abused Him (Luk. 6:27-28). Then He willingly gave up His life, so that all sin would be atoned for, and sinners would have salvation.
The holy life He lived is the reason you now stand holy in God’s sight. When you were brought to faith in Him, your sins were removed from you, and His righteousness was placed over you. This is why you can get ready for Judgment Day without being afraid of what will happen to you. You will not be judged for your careless words or any of your sins, because Jesus paid for them all. And you will not be judged as failing to do enough good, because Jesus’ life of good works, His life of perfect righteousness, is credited to you.
The King who will sit on His glorious throne on Judgment Day is a “King of love.” He is your Savior. Like a Shepherd, He will gather you and all His sheep safely to His side. Then you will never again hunger, never again thirst, never be left out or go without. You will be with Him, so you will have everything you need. On the last day, you will respond to His love for you like the hymnwriter expresses it:
The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His,
And He is mine forever. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary 370, v. 1)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “The Last Judgment” by Fra Angelico, c. 1395-1455)
The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 22:1-14
In Christ Jesus, who looks with compassion on the outcasts, the ugly, and the soiled, so they might become beautiful and pure in Him, dear fellow redeemed:
The wedding day is a few weeks away. Who do you suppose is most anxious about the details, things like the guest list, flowers, food, decorations, clothing? I’ll give you three choices: the bride, the mother of the bride, or the mother of the groom. It’s the women! And that’s okay—that’s why wedding celebrations are beautiful!
But these wedding planners and detail doers are not leading the way in Jesus’ parable about a wedding feast. In fact, no reference is made specifically to a bride or the mothers. This is about “a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” And through this parable, Jesus wants to teach us something about the “kingdom of heaven.”
It is obvious that if you were a member of an earthly kingdom, and the king invited you to celebrate the wedding of his son, you would go. You would go either because you felt honored to be invited, or because you were afraid of what might happen to you if you refused. It is shocking to hear how the invited guests in the parable refused the king’s summons. Some of them even killed the servants who brought the message from the king!
This is nothing short of treason, a total rebellion against the king’s authority. They wouldn’t do this unless they thought he was powerless to do anything about it. Well they made a severe miscalculation. “The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”
Jesus spoke these words during Holy Week. He was talking about the Old Testament people of Israel, who through their history often rejected the faithful prophets of God and even killed many of them. For their rebellion against Him, God gave them up to their enemies. The people in the northern kingdom of Israel were either killed or enslaved by the Assyrians. And the people in the southern kingdom of Judah were later conquered by the Babylonians.
After seventy years in exile, God sent some of the Jews from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. The descendants of these returned exiles should have remembered what the Lord did for them, and learned to humbly trust and follow God’s Word. But now the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees were plotting how they might arrest Jesus and have Him killed. They were just as guilty as their forefathers, and even guiltier for rejecting the King’s Son in the flesh.
So the King extended His invitation beyond the original guest list. He sent His servants out to “the main roads” to gather “all whom they found, both bad and good.” This refers to the Gentiles, who were not part of God’s chosen people Israel. Now they were welcome at the wedding feast too.
But before we go any further, we have to be clear about what this wedding feast is. We see that it is entered by invitation only, that wedding garments are required for all the guests, and that the food is the best there is. This wedding feast for the King’s Son is the feast of salvation, the celebration of Christ’s victory over our greatest enemies—sin, death, and the devil. It is a feast that no one partakes of on his own terms or makes himself worthy to receive. Notice that the attendees included both those who were considered bad and those who were considered good. No one earned an invitation and a place at the feast; the King granted it.
But why is this feast of salvation likened to a wedding feast? If the King is God the Father, and the feast is for His only-begotten Son, who is the bride? The inspired Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5, answers that question for us. The last section of the chapter speaks of the husband as the head of his wife “even as Christ is the head of the church, his body” (v. 23). Then it says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (vv. 25-27).
These are some profound words. They describe Christ as Bridegroom and the Church as His bride. We often joke about husbands that they “married up” in relation to their wives. But that is not the case here. Jesus chose a bride that was not virtuous, not wise, not beautiful, and He joined Himself to her. Through this sacrifice of Himself, He gave His bride all that was His. His virtue became her virtue. His wisdom became her wisdom. His beauty and holiness became her beauty and holiness. His glory became her glory. If anyone has “married up,” it was certainly the Church in relation to Christ.
And who exactly is “the Church”? It is all those who are cleansed “by the washing of water with the word.” It is those who submit themselves and their eternal future to the safe-keeping of Jesus their Savior. Or to use the words of today’s reading, “the Church” is the ones who were invited by the King to His Son’s wedding feast. They came when the King’s servants called. They entered wearing the wedding garments supplied by the King. They have a seat at the King’s table where they enjoy His delicious food.
So you see that a bride actually does make an appearance in Jesus’ parable. The guests in glorious attire at the wedding feast, they are the bride! The guests are the Church of all believers, presented to Jesus “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing… holy and without blemish.”
That is a description of you, dear friends in Christ. You were cleansed of your sins in the waters of Baptism and were clothed in the garments of Jesus’ righteousness. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). This is when you were called to the King’s feast, the feast of salvation. All that Jesus accomplished for you by His death and resurrection became yours. You were joined to Him at those waters. You became a member of His holy Church which is His bride.
And that means He has reserved a seat for you at His table in the eternal feast above. You participate in this feast now by receiving Jesus’ body and blood in Holy Communion—the holy “joining together.” You don’t see Him in all His glory, but He meets you here to strengthen you for this life and to prepare you for the life to come. Your partaking of the Lord’s Supper here is a dress rehearsal for the wedding feast in heaven.
But as you know very well, even though all are invited to the King’s wedding feast—even though Jesus died on the cross for all people—not all are found worthy to attend. Jesus said this about the unbelieving Jews who killed the prophets sent to them by God. They “were not worthy” because of their unbelief.
So the invitation was extended to outsiders to come. But when they came, one of them decided to attend the feast without a wedding garment. This was an insult to the King who was glad to provide these garments. Essentially the man was saying, “I don’t need the King’s garments. I’m just fine the way I am.”
That describes people who call themselves Christians, but who do not trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. They want to go to heaven on their own terms. Some of them place their confidence in the works they do. Others knowingly reject certain teachings of God but still expect to have God’s favor.
This is why we don’t automatically invite all Christians to our Communion table. We want to make sure we are in agreement about what we believe before we take Communion together. After all, we aren’t the ones in charge of this wedding feast. It is the King and His Son who are.
Jesus’ parable should be a huge eye-opener for us. Many decide that the feast of salvation is not worth their time. They ignore or they get angry at God’s servants sent to call them to come. And of those who do come, some want the King to submit Himself to them. Jesus sums up these warnings with the words, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
But you, dear members of the Church, are here today. You want to hear God’s Word of truth. You want the comfort of His absolution. You want to receive His body and blood for the remission of your sins. You don’t have something better to do than this. This is where you want to be. This is where Jesus meets you with His saving gifts.
He comes here through His Word and Sacraments to reaffirm His love for you. He comes to fight for you against the temptations and trials you face. He comes to provide all that you need to enter the marriage hall—His forgiveness, His righteousness, His life. Even though His bride—each one of us—may forget Him from time to time and pursue other things that seem more important, He does not forget us. He is perfectly committed to His Church; He is perfectly committed to you.
And you know it. You know that you are not invited to the feast because you are so important or so worthy to receive the King’s gifts. You are invited to the feast because The Gracious King Wants You at His Table. He does not look down on you for the rags of sin you have worn; He clothes you in the righteousness of His Son. He does not judge you for your many failures; He welcomes you to the marriage hall based on the perfect merit of His Son.
This is not a wedding you have to plan. You don’t have to worry about all the details that make everything just right. You are the honored guest. Everything has been prepared for you, and your merciful Lord is thrilled to serve you, His bride, both now and forevermore.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “Parable of the Great Banquet” by the Brunswick Monogrammist, 16th century)
The Festival of Our Lord’s Ascension – Vicar Anderson sermon
Text: St. Mark 16:14-20
In Christ Jesus, your ascended King and Lord, who lives and reigns over all creation, who is still with you until your ascension, dear fellow redeemed:
A role model is a person looked to by others as an example to be imitated. While baby-sitting I found out how quickly you can be put into that role. Looking back now, I see why parenting can sometimes be difficult. Children watch every single thing that parents do. They watch especially when you think that they are not watching. They point out how impressionable they are. Part of that reason is the trust that they have. Now as children put this trust in their parents and role models, tonight we see Jesus asking for that same trust. Not only is He the one who we want to imitate, and He is our guide, but He is our Savior. And as He ascended into heaven, He puts the trust that we have in Him on display. Jesus assures us with His ascension the hope that we have in Him. We will ascend and meet Him in glory!
St. Mark in this last section of his gospel is giving an overview of Jesus last forty days on earth. In our text we see Jesus rebuking the disciples. “He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.” Now this rebuke is warranted because of what is recorded before our text. Jesus had appeared to three witnesses after His resurrection and only two witnesses proved something happened. Jesus had appeared to three. On that evidence they should have believed that He had risen.
Like the disciples, we can need that same wake up call. The disciples were told by three witnesses. We have the Scriptures. The Old Testament reveals to us what God demands and promises that someone is going to come and follow those demands perfectly for us. The New Testament reveals to us the heart of the Gospel, Jesus is the Christ who came down from Heaven, lived a perfect life and died for us. When hardships arise in our lives sometimes the first thing we do instead of looking to the Scriptures is look for earthly answers. We forget about God’s promises, and we can question if Jesus is even real, our hearts harden. The same eyewitnesses who had unbelief, they wrote down the gospel to be our witnesses.
Are they still believable? Even the disciples questioned Jesus with His death. Tomorrow marks Ascension, He visibly left us. Why would He leave those He loves? Does He care? Shouldn’t we get special treatment because we follow Him? This would make a lot of sense if God would come and establish an earthly kingdom. We would want a part ruling in that kingdom. These distractions can move us away from the truth. When it looks like it is us against the world or we are just selfish, we don’t want or need that mindset. We have no reason to be selfish or independent. The world wants to be independent, but our independence gets us nowhere.
The command to go into the world also looks as though it is challenging. What will people think of us? We see that they don’t like the message that we have. This message points out the truth of what we have done. The truth is that we have made many mistakes. We don’t like to hear when we have made mistakes. Jesus then says to share the Gospel. This can even be harder when people are already mad because you first told them that they were doing something wrong, that if they don’t change their ways, then they will be condemned. Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). We hear the truth that we have done wrong, but then the Gospel comes in and everything changes.
The disciples are brought to faith once again. Jesus immediately puts them to work. He knows that He is not going to be with them much longer. Jesus commands them that they are to spread the Gospel, baptizing all nations. We see how smart Jesus is. Since the disciples are not perfect, what is to stop them from hardening their hearts again? Jesus allows them to perform signs. These signs are not meant to be used like magical spells. They are meant to help those in need. They are special signs used to prove that the Gospel is true. How could the disciples be lying if the message that they are bringing comes with special signs to help those in need? The disciples speak the truth of Christ, and we see how they go out faithfully to do so. They go out, perform these signs, and they gave their lives to preach this saving truth. Even as their Lord had ascended before their eyes, we see that Jesus never left them. These signs were performed in His name. It was not power of the disciples, but the power was Christ. These signs prove that Christ is still carrying out His Work. His enemies can’t stand against Him.
Jesus’ time on earth has ended. Like the disciples, we can sometimes struggle to understand this, but Jesus ascended for your benefit. Jesus’ ascension means that the Holy Spirit would come to the disciples. As the disciples receive these gifts, it is through the Holy Spirit that Christ comes to you. He uses the means of the Word and sacraments. He tells you the benefit of your baptism. With baptism, you have faith that what Christ did for you is true. He died for your sins on the cross and He rose from the dead for your justification. It is through this work that God finds you not guilty. Your baptism into Christ’s death brings forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Your baptism washes away your sins of doubt.
The world will try to convince you that Jesus has left you all alone to live this life on earth. To deal with all these hardships. That is not what His ascension means. If Christ did not ascend, you would have to travel to see Him. He ascended visibly into Heaven so that He can be with you wherever you are. He is not just a man confined to a body; He is true God. Christ is with you wherever you go. You know His presence is here in His Word and Sacraments. You believe this through faith in Christ, faith that you only have because of the work of the Holy Spirit in you.
Through faith in Christ, you see the work of His ascension. You see His authority; Christ puts His work on display for the church. You see Him as a Prophet. He sends trained men to come and share you this gospel message. In His ascension He is also a Priest. He intercedes your prayers on your behalf. Lastly, Christ has taken His crown as King. He has crushed all His enemies. He takes care of you and He will live and reign over the church triumphant when He calls you home. Christ’s ascension reveals to you that there is a home that you will go to when you die. Your destination is not to remain here and suffer. Christ ascension, Him not being here, assures you that you do not have to stay here. Jesus has prepared a home for you, the hope of your ascension.
We have tried to look to Christ and imitate Him in our lives. Like the disciples, we have failed to do that, and we will continue to fail as long as we live. Where we are not perfect, our Savior was perfect. He not only lived His life in our place, but He gave up His life so that we would be saved. He brings us that comfort through our baptism, that we are marked children of God. But Jesus couldn’t stay with us on earth. The time came for Him to go back to His Father. This happened for us. He didn’t abandon us. He left visibly to live and reign over all creation, to be at all places, to protect, and comfort you from all trials and hardships, preparing a place in Heaven for you. We confess our hope with hymn 392, On Christ’s ascension I now built the hope of mine ascension; This hope alone has ever stilled All doubt and apprehension; For where the Head is, there full well I know His members are to dwell When Christ shall come and call them (ELH 392 v. 1). Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from painting by John Singleton Copley, 1775)
Midweek Lent – Pr. Faugstad homily
Text: St. Mark 15:16-20
In Christ Jesus, who in great humility hid His power and glory, so that He might suffer and die in our place, dear fellow redeemed:
What the soldiers said was perfectly correct: “Hail, King of the Jews!” “Hail” was a positive and proper greeting. And Jesus was “King of the Jews,” at least in a certain respect. He was a descendant from the line of the great King David, and His reign had been prophesied all through the Old Testament. Earlier that Holy Week, Jesus had told the religious leaders that He was both David’s Son and David’s Lord (Mat. 22:41-45). He was David’s Son according to His human nature, and He was David’s Lord according to His divine nature.
But Jesus was more than the King of the Jews. The book of Revelation refers to Him as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (19:16; 17:14). He is King over all. He spoke everything into existence in the beginning, and “he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). In Psalm 2, God the Father Almighty declares, “I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill” (v. 6). Then He says to this King, His eternal Son, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (vv. 7-8). In Psalm 110, the Father says to Him, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (v. 1).
That is powerful language about a powerful king. But Jesus hardly looked the part on this day, the day of His arrest and His trial before Pontius Pilate. Pilate was showing his own weakness as he presided over a trial he wanted nothing to do with. He had no special compassion toward Jesus. Jesus was a Jew, and the Romans disliked the Jews. This Roman governor and the battalion of Roman soldiers would have much rather been about anywhere else, not watching over this annoying, unruly people. Now things were even worse, since the city of Jerusalem had filled with Jews who had traveled from all directions to celebrate the Passover.
In Jesus, the Roman soldiers found an outlet for their disgust of this people. Supposedly He was an important Jew from what they were hearing, perhaps some sort of a king. Some of the soldiers had already scourged Him leaving deep cuts all over His back and sides. But neither these wounds nor the bruising and swelling on His face would keep them from inflicting more pain on Him. He had just been sentenced to die, so why shouldn’t the soldiers have some fun at His expense?
The soldiers who had charge of Him called together the whole battalion. A battalion was about 600 soldiers. This church could hardly fit a group of people that large. These men acted without restraint. It was mob rule, where anything goes. They dressed Jesus in a purple cloak. They made a crown out of thorns and pressed it into His skull. Then the soldiers took turns saluting Him, striking Him on the head, spitting on Him, and kneeling before Him in mock worship.
I can imagine six against one. I can’t imagine six hundred against one, each taking his turn. But in a certain sense, the number was actually higher, much, much higher—thousands against one, millions against one, billions against one. We must remember why Jesus was in this horrible situation. It was because of sin—not just the sins of the Jewish leaders who turned Him over to Pilate, not just the sins of the godless Romans, but because of your sins, my sins.
When we see the terrible actions of these Roman soldiers, it should not make us feel self-righteous. “Oh, I would never do something like that! I would not treat someone like that!” Instead we should picture ourselves among those violent soldiers, striking Jesus, spitting on Him, mocking Him. Our sin put Jesus in this situation. Our sin caused His suffering. Our sin sent Him to the cross.
The sins we have committed against God are every bit as serious and just as bad as what those soldiers did. We cannot wash our hands of Jesus’ suffering. We cannot say, “the Jews did that,” or “the Romans did that,” without also realizing, “I did that.” If you and I don’t understand our part in it, then we will not see Jesus for who He is or understand what He did for us. He was not simply a tragic figure who was dealt a bad hand. He was not a victim of unfortunate circumstances, caught in the middle of a race war against His will.
He was a Lamb that “goes uncomplaining forth, / The guilt of all men bearing; / And laden with the sins of earth, / None else the burden sharing! / Goes patient on, grows weak and faint, / To slaughter led without complaint, / That spotless life to offer; / Bears shame and stripes, and wounds and death, / Anguish and mockery, and saith, / ‘Willing all this I suffer’” (ELH #331, v. 1).
He, this totally innocent Man, this descendant of David’s royal line, this mighty King of kings—He suffered willingly. For the salvation of sinners—for your salvation—He let the thorns be driven into His head. He let the punches land. He let the spit run down His face. He let the mocking words enter His ears and sting His soul. He did all of it in perfect obedience to His Father’s will.
The prophet Isaiah recorded these words of the Son’s humble submission to His Father: “The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near” (Isa. 50:5-8).
Jesus did not fight back. He did not say a word. The apostle Peter wrote, “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1Pe. 2:23). Perhaps this is why the soldiers grew tired of their game. Maybe they were beginning to feel guilt for their terrible actions. For all the abuse they had carried out on Jesus, He hadn’t spoken one word in anger or hurled one curse their way. He just took it.
He took it for their sake and for yours. He took it in order to spare you from the eternal suffering of hell, a suffering we all deserve. He received this punishment, so you would receive God’s grace and forgiveness.
We know that Jesus’ humble suffering made an impression on some of the soldiers. They saw how intensely He suffered, and how He bore it patiently. Then when nails were driven mercilessly into His hands and feet, they heard Him say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luk. 23:34). So when the ground shook immediately after His death, a centurion and those who were with him cried out, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Mat. 27:54)—“Certainly this man was innocent!” (Luk. 23:47).
Perhaps they also added the same words as before, but now with a holy awe: “Hail, King of the Jews!” We join them in praising this suffering Servant, this righteous King, the Savior of our souls.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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(picture from “Ecce Homo” by Mateo Cerezo, 1650)
The First Sunday in Advent – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 21:1-9
In Christ Jesus, who “comes [to you] with gladness, / Moved by His love alone, / To calm your fear and sadness, / To Him they well are known” (ELH 94, v. 7), dear fellow redeemed:
My wife and I have been working our way through a book about Abraham Lincoln’s thirteen day train ride to Washington D. C., where he would take the oath of office. While Lincoln made his way there, the united states were coming apart at the seams. Some states in the south had already seceded and had elected a new president for themselves. The federal government was floundering. Credible intel suggested multiple assassination plots to keep Lincoln from ever getting to Washington. It was an anxious trip.
At every stop along the way on a carefully designed route through the northern states, Lincoln was met by large crowds of people wanting to catch a glimpse of this iconic man. Whenever he stepped off the train, they surged forward trying to get as close as they could and maybe even shake his hand. They hung on every word he spoke. As humble as his upbringing was and as down-to-earth as he conducted himself, they treated him like a celebrity—maybe even like a king.
If you had been there in that tumultuous time, and you met Lincoln at one of his train stops, what would you have done? What might you have said to him? To this point, Lincoln hadn’t done much more than talk. Was he really up for the task of leading a country that was on its way to civil war? Was he truly the man for this moment? There were many hopes, but also many questions.
The coming of Jesus to Jerusalem was met with just as much excitement and just as many questions. The people knew Jesus was special. They had seen Him perform many miracles, including the raising of Lazarus from the dead not far from Jerusalem. They also knew that the Jewish religious leaders despised Jesus and wanted Him silenced. No doubt the Roman authorities were aware of these things, and they were anxious to maintain the peace and avoid an uprising, especially now that the city was jammed full of people attending the annual Passover celebration.
If you had been in Jerusalem at the beginning of that festival week, and Jesus came riding down toward you from the Mount of Olives, what would you have done? What might you have said? We know what the Israelites did. They removed their outer garments and cut branches from nearby trees, and they laid them on the ground in front of Him. They wanted to create a soft carpet for Jesus’ arrival. They wanted Him to know He was most welcome.
But while the donkey’s hooves may have fallen quietly on the path, the crowd was anything but quiet. The people who went before Him and those who followed Him were shouting and singing the words of an old song, perhaps as much as 1,000 years old. “Hosanna!” they cried, which means, “Save us, we pray!” “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
They were shouting the words of Psalm 118, a messianic song of victory. They believed the coming of Jesus was the fulfillment of these words. They welcomed Him as a king, “the Son of David.” Just what sort of king He would be was not clear to them, but they almost certainly had nationalist notions in mind. Jesus could lead them into a new era of earthly glory and prosperity, free from the rule of outsiders, like the rule of the great king David!
But Jesus was not that sort of king. By the end of the week, He stood before Pilate and said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (Joh. 18:36). His kingdom was heavenly. He was looking to gain eternal souls, not earthly subjects. He would win them in a most surprising way. It would not be done by political deal-making, alliance building, or a superior show of strength. Jesus secured freedom for the captives by suffering. He brought them life by dying. He won everything for them by appearing to lose it all.
Jesus came to do what the people were crying out for, “Hosanna! Save us, we pray!” But it wasn’t salvation from corrupt religious leaders or pagan overlords. He saved them from their sin and death. It is rare and perhaps even impossible for an earthly leader to do something that benefits everyone. But what Jesus accomplished was for everyone. He suffered and died for everybody’s sins. He made no distinctions, played no favorites. Jesus was there on the cross for all sinners.
That means He was there for you. When Jesus received His crown of thorns and was pinned to that gruesome instrument of death, you didn’t exist. You wouldn’t exist for nearly 2,000 years! But God the Father saw the wrongs you would do and the good you would leave undone as clear as day. All sin was before Him, and He placed all of it on His holy Son. All your pride when things went your way, and all your impatience when things didn’t. All your bad decisions, your unfaithfulness, your brokenness. All of it was piled on Jesus, who suffered as though all of it was His doing, as though all of it was His sin.
Suppose you were employed somewhere, and you decided that you would do whatever you felt like doing. You broke the rules. You broke merchandise. You took whatever you wanted. When the losses couldn’t be ignored, the boss called everyone together. Now things were getting serious. How would you lie your way out of this one? But you didn’t have to. Even though the evidence strongly pointed to you, your innocent co-worker was accused instead. He was the one to be fired—not you. And he didn’t even open his mouth. He knew the truth, and he willingly took the punishment—took the punishment for you.
Knowing what your sin did to Jesus, knowing what He suffered in your place, what would you do if He met you here? What might you say? Part of you would want to try to justify yourself and pass the blame for your sins on to others. You were just a victim of unfortunate circumstances. Or maybe you would even have some criticisms of Him, that if He were a king more attuned to your daily needs and more aware of your troubles, you would not have struggled along like you had.
That would be no way to greet your King. But He would stand there patiently, looking right at you, a mixture of love and compassion and truth in His eyes. Then slowly He would lift His hands and turn them open to show two marks—marks from the nails. Those marks speak a message of perfect love, perfect sacrifice, perfect forgiveness, a message that can be boiled down to two words, “For you.”
Nothing more needs to be said. Nothing more needs to be done. Jesus died for you. He rose from the dead in victory for you. And He still lives for you. “I am with you always,” He says (Mat. 28:20). He does meet you here. He comes humbly, hidden in simple words, simple water, simple bread and wine. He comes through these lowly means to transfer all the wealth of His kingdom to you. He gives you His forgiveness, His righteousness, His life.
And when He comes in each Divine Service, you greet Him like the Israelites did outside Jerusalem. As the Israelites laid their garments at His feet, so you put off your old Adam in repentance and lay your sins before Him. That is how the Divine Service begins, with repentance. You tell the truth about yourself and put yourself at His mercy. And immediately you hear His words of absolution, the free forgiveness of all your sins.
As the Israelites also decorated the road with palm branches, so you sprinkle the path of your coming King with praises. You join the angels in their Christmas song, “Glory be to God in the highest. And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” And as the Israelites repeated what they had learned about Jesus in the Holy Scriptures, so you listen to the Scripture readings and sermon and confess the truth about your King in the Creeds, acknowledging Him as the fulfillment of all of God’s promises.
Then in the service of Holy Communion, you even take up the Israelites’ hosanna song. Just before Jesus joins His body and blood to the bread and wine, you sing, “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” Then you hear Jesus’ invitation, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you…. Drink of it all of you; this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins.”
The entire Divine Service is a review of what Jesus did to save you and what He still does to keep you in His kingdom. Your King is not ashamed to count you among His followers. He is happy to meet you and dispense His riches to you. He does not ask anything from you except that you trust what He tells you. And even this faith comes to you as a gift from Him.
He is not a king who forces His subjects to be devoted to Him and praise Him. He doesn’t have to force us. When we see all that He has done for us, we cannot help but give Him thanks and praise and desire to live our life in His service. None of it is good enough for Him, and He accepts all of it with gladness.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “Entry of Christ into Jerusalem” by Pietro Lorenzetti, 1320)