Jesus, the enfleshed God, stoops down into our filth. The emperor becomes a servant. The earth is a graveyard filled with innumerable rotted corpses. Their dust clings to the soles of our feet. The ancient sin corrupts our hearts. But Jesus, the enfleshed God, cleans us and feeds us, as a father cares for his children. This is love. Not mere sentiment, but bold action. Action that costs….
Read More“Repent!” That’s the first word John the Baptist preaches. It is also the first word when our Lord Jesus begins to preach. So it is to be with our own preaching.
But before we can preach, we must hear that word spoken to us. Repent!
Read MoreThe words of the great Swedish bishop Bo Giertz damn us all: “There are no worthy guests at the Lord's table. None has deserved to come.” Those words damn us all – yet they are also filled with grace. For tonight, despite our unworthiness, we are invited guests to the Lord’s table. This is not my table or your table, my meal or your meal, but it belongs to our Lord, and we are unfit to come.
Read MoreLast week we heard about a father who is merciful. The lost son, sometimes called the prodigal son, wasted everything. He was rebellious. He was ruined. He is us.
His father forgave him. His father was merciful.
That’s the foundation for today’s Gospel. Without the merciful father, the words of Jesus will be abused, misused, misunderstood. The merciful father is everything.
“Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” Just as your Father.
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