Grace Anglican Church Gastonia, NC

Jesus’ healing of the 10 lepers is an amazing moment that leads us to reflect on sickness of soul that we have and how he calls forth trust in his work for us. When we pray in faith, he calls us forward into the world to do his will, leading us to turn back and give thanks for his healing hand upon us.Image: Gebhard Fugel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gebhard_Fugel_Christus_und_die_Auss%C3%A4tzigen_c1920.jpg

As Jesus is teaching his apostles, they cry out for an increase in faith. What causes such a prayer to come from their lips? How does one actually find an increase of faith? How does humility and love of God undergird this increase? Father Jeremiah considers all of this as he turns our eyes from analyzing what our faith looks like to simply looking along the beam of light God has given us in Jesus Christ.Image: 06-05-11 - Beams of Light, taken by Lynda Giddens License: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 (No changes made), Image Location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/s_v_p/5806065837/

Jesus tells the unique parable about Lazarus and the rich man and this life and the afterlife are full of contrasts. The contrasts that exist are founded upon faith and trust in God’s promises to us through Jesus Christ. We encounter these promises in baptism and receive the through faith in Jesus Christ.Image: Lazarus at the Rich Man's Gate, by Heinrich Aldegrever, Public Domain. Image Location: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/354610

The parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16 has given many people trouble over the years. It has the appearance of approving of the unrighteous actions of the steward. Yet, what is the shrewdness he is praised for? Father Jeremiah directs us to see that shrewdness is betting everything on the Master’s generosity and mercy while seeking new homes to live in. Image: Phillip Medhurst, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teachings_of_Jesus_31_of_40._parable_of_the_unjust_steward._Jan_Luyken_etching._Bowyer_Bible.gif

The parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin in the Gospel of Luke are of great importance. Not only do they introduce the parable of the Prodigal Son, but they remind us that they Pharisees had lost the people of God by adding layers of law to God’s word. Jesus cuts through the man-made laws of the Pharisees and comes to seek that which was lost in order to bear it into the Kingdom of God.Image: The Lost Sheep (The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ), after Sir John Everett Millais, engraved and printed by Dalziel Brothers. Public domain. Image location: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/382277

It is easy for us to reduce Jesus’ call to discipleship to a mere way of following him. The reality is that the discipleship that Jesus demands of us is one that will lead to our deaths! His call is one that is utterly beyond our abilities. He wants to us realize our complete need for his grace and his death so that we can be enabled to walk the path before each of us.Image: Christ Carrying the Cross, Titian, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Jesus taught a group of people about honor and shame and humility in today’s Gospel lesson from Luke 14. He saw guests vying for better seats of honor and told them a parable about what happens when you claim honor that you do not have. Instead, one should pursue humility and the lowest place that you can be exalted in the eyes of all.Image: Picture taken by Mark Freeth, license CC BY 2.0, cropped. Image location: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/326821

St. Paul tells us that it is for freedom Christ has set us free. What does this mean for us? What did it mean for the people of Galatia? Is it true that Jesus went to Jerusalem to enable us to know true freedom?Image: Jean-Léon Gérôme, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

In writing to the Galatians, St. Paul reminds the that the law itself is a harsh prison and disciplinarian. To live by that way is to find only death and condemnation. However, to recognize that the law is meant to reveal sin means that they can cling to Christ by faith through baptism. Baptism becomes that foundation upon which we can trust that God is at work in us.Image: Baptism Shell, posted by WELS.net. No changes made, CC BY-NC 2.0. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/welsnet/3404685668/in/photostream/

The Trinity is one of the most important doctrines in our understanding of God. The purpose of the doctrine is to enable us to better understand the relation between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The nature of God revealed to us reminds us that salvation is dependent upon all three persons being truly God, but being only one God. If God is only a singular person, salvation falls apart biblically. Salvation in Jesus Christ reveals to us that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, but one being.Image: Eugenio Hansen, OFS, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Image cropped to make into a square.

On the first day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit swept down upon the Apostles, empowering them to share the good news of Jesus Christ raised from the dead for the forgiveness of sins. Who is this Spirit? What is he doing? And why does he come down upon the Apostles and all those who believe in Jesus? Harrison Northey answers these questions and leads us to know the Holy Spirit more deeply.Image: Veni, Dator Munerum, phtoto by Lawrence OP, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/5807014763/in/photostream/

On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he told his disciples that he was going to be glorified, that they could not go where he was going, and that they were to love one another just as he had loved them, all in quick succession. What does he mean by all of this? How does this help us walk in the faith he has betwoed upon us? Are we capable to receive such things?Image: Carl Bloch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloch-SermonOnTheMount.jpg

Jesus is the shepherd who calls his sheep by name. He is the one who has come down from heaven to find these sheep and make them his.Image: Photo taken by Myriams-Fotos, free to use by Pixabay. Image location found here: https://pixabay.com/photos/jesus-the-good-shepherd-1167493/

When some of the disciples went out fishing, they didn’t expect to make such a great catch after toiling all night. And in that great catch, they meet Jesus once more, finding that he calls them back to other moments in their lives with him that they might discover the restoration that he brings to them.Image: James Tissot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Image Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_Christ_Appears_on_the_Shore_of_Lake_Tiberias_(Apparition_du_Christ_sur_les_bords_du_lac_de_Tib%C3%A9riade)_-_James_Tissot.jpg

When Jesus appears to the disciples on the evening of his resurrection they are shocked and surprised, but Jesus quickly brings them peace and calling. However, Thomas was not there and he refuses to believe until he can see and touch Jesus himself. These events are shocking to us when we consider the unexpectedness of Jesus’ resurrection, but they teach us a great deal about where we can now meet Jesus.Image: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What is so important about Jesus’ resurrection? Why do we talk about it constantly and set aside one day a year in which to have a grand celebration? Father Jeremiah looks into these questions and helps all to see that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is now the hinge upon which all the world turns.Image: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons Image Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Bible_panorama,_or_The_Holy_Scriptures_in_picture_and_story_(1891)_(14785046505).jpg

Jesus’ death is the final sacrifice. No others are needed because his is a truly perfect one. He embraces death that we might know life for eternity.Image: Drawn by Gustave Doré, engraved by J. Gauchard Brunier. Scanned by Michael Gäbler with Epson Perfection 4490 Photo., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

At the Last Supper our Lord, Jesus established the Eucharist and washed his disciples’ feet. In the process of this, we are reminded that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. How does this connect to the establishing of the Passover so long ago? Father Jeremiah explores this and explains it in his Maundy Thursday sermon.Image: Jaume Huguet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What is so unique about Jesus’ death upon the cross? What makes this man’s death so important to all of history? St. Paul gives us a glimpse of this reality when he speaks of Jesus being in the form of God and yet taking on the likeness of man. We come to realize that Jesus is no ordinary man dying upon the cross, but God in the flesh dealing with our sin. And thus, Christmas and Good Friday come together for us on this Palm Sunday.Image: Benjamin Haydon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benjamin_Robert_Haydon_-_Christ%27s_Entry_into_Jerusalem_-_WGA11207.jpg

When Jesus tells the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, he is confronting the wicked leaders of the Jewish people with the reality that they had neglected how they came to be in the vineyard in the first place. The tenants were chosen and brought into the vineyard by the owner that they might care for it while he was away, but they rejected him and wanted to keep everything for themselves. Father Jeremiah explains how this relates to our very salvaiton.Image: Phillip Medhurst, Photo by Harry Kossuth, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons