Month: January 2024

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Septuagesima (about 70 days until Easter)

Readings: Exodus 17:1-7 | 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5 | Matthew 20:1-16

Text: Matthew 20:1-16

Quite often, the airwaves are abuzz with talk of fair wages and proper compensation.  Strong words come from politicians, talk show hosts, and probably in your own conversations, too.   Everyone wants to get what’s owed to them, and as much as possible.  But there seems to be no agreement on what that is.  So, the fiery debates continue.

But, here, in the Kingdom of Heaven, we need to leave all that clamor behind.  It’s earthly baggage.  If we try to bring it with us, we will be in grave danger of missing what grace really is.  So, leave the world while you’re in this place, and listen to your God and Savior.

We will focus especially on the Master’s question in the parable, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” (v. 15)

“A master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.”  Notice carefully what he does:  Nobody came to him looking to work in his vineyard.  Rather, he went out to look for them.  And notice the people that he hires: idlers.  If he hadn’t called them, they would have gone home at the end of the day empty-handed.  But did the landowner owe these workers a job?  Did these laborers have any claim on the master’s property?  Not at all.  It was the master’s free choice to go out and hire these laborers.  It was his vineyard, so he set the wage and the rules for working there.

The Lord once said to Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell me, if you have understanding.”[1]  The truth of the matter is, God does not owe any person anything.  He is the Creator, and we the creatures.  Not the other way around.   He is not accountable to us; we are to Him.  He formed us from the dust, and everything that makes us different from animals is due to Him creating us in His image.  “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  God said this to the man and his wife after they brought sin into the world.[2]  And, boy, do we need that reminder!  In our sinful arrogance, we want to answer back to God and accuse Him of being unjust and stingy.  But it is He who formed us, and by His own will gave us body and soul, eyes, ears, our reason and all our senses.

And we must understand this in order to enter God’s heavenly Kingdom.  God does not owe us anything.  Is He guilty toward mankind?  It was man who turned away from Him, despite the warning of death’s consequence.  Is He guilty for accusing you of sinning against Him?  No, He “is justified in His words and blameless in His judgment.”[3]

He is the one who planned for your salvation, and fulfilled all of His saving promises.  He is the owner of the vineyard, as He also explains in Isaiah 5, “My beloved [which is God] had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.”[4]  God built it and prepared it, and put us in it.  Heaven and earth are His property.  He restored us, when all we deserved was to be thrown off his land.  Still, even after this, we have no claim on His property.

By our natural birth, we are those laborers standing idle in the marketplace.  And corrupt workforce that we are, we don’t even want to be in God’s vineyard, as the Psalm says, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”[5]  But He comes out seeking us through the preaching of the Gospel.  He preaches, “As far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed your transgressions from you”[6] and He calls us into His vineyard, His Kingdom.  And He does it all by His free choice, without any merit or worthiness in us.

And because it all belongs to Him, He has the authority to do what He wants with what’s His.  He has the power to hand out His gifts of forgiveness and life to whomever He wants.  Since none of us has a claim on it, it’s entirely up to Him who He gives it to.  “For he says, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’”[7]  To prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners?  The poor, the widows, and the orphans?  To wretches like me and you?  It’s His to freely give: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”[8]

God also has the power to give out His goods whenever He chooses, whether the first or the eleventh hour.  Jesus tells Nicodemus, “The Spirit moves where He wishes and you hear His voice, but you do not know where He comes from or where He is going.”[9]  God has called some of you from your mother’s arms.  This is His good and gracious will.  Others, He has called later in life, or even on their deathbed.  This is His good and gracious will.  He called people when it was accepted to be God’s people, and He called people when they would be berated and beheaded for confessing Jesus as Lord.

God gives larger or smaller burdens to be borne by each of us.  Often we take the attitude of those hired first, and grumble against our fellows who seem to have it easier, as if we were deserve better, now that we’re not bound for eternal torment.  He also portions how much work is accomplished by each laborer.  There are the famous saints—Moses, Elijah, Paul, and Luther—but the success all came from God.  St. Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”[10]

God also has the power to hand out as much as He wants of His goods.  That is, He gives the heavenly inheritance to everyone, regardless of seniority.  “When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.”  Seniority lists are not what we see in the kingdom of the world.  On the job, think of how much resentment comes from seeing upstarts and flatterers make it over those who worked hard! Such wrong is common to see! But not so in the Kingdom of God.  God is shows no favoritism and He cannot be bought off with gifts and flattering words. To David the noble King and Rahab the whore, He gives the same reward.  Moses and the thief on the cross stand around the same throne in paradise.  The Apostles Peter, James, and John bask the same glory as you and I will one day.

The footnote under the last part of verse 15 says, “Is your eye evil because I am good?”  When we bring our worldly baggage with us into heaven, we judge God.  But in fact, it’s our eyes that are evil and He is good.  God is in debt to no one.  And that makes our salvation that much more incredible.  The very heart of grace is that God chose to create you.  You owe your existence entirely to Him.  He chose to pay for your sins by the death of His Son.  He didn’t consult with you to check if it was a good idea.  And He chose to call you into His Kingdom.  You didn’t stumble through the door when your other options were used up (the point of the Prodigal Son is another lesson for another Sunday).  So rather than judge God for who He is and what He does with what’s His, we praise and exalt Him because of His grace and goodness, which He lavishes upon us.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

[1] Job 38:4

[2] Genesis 3:19

[3] Psalm 51:4b

[4] Isaiah 5:1-2

[5] Psalm 14:1-2

[6] Psalm 103:12

[7] Romans 9:15, Exodus 33:19

[8] Ephesians 2:8

[9] John 3:8

[10] 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

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The Transfiguration of Our Lord (Historic)

Readings: Exodus 34:29-35 | 2 Peter 1:16-21 | Matthew 17:1-9

Text: Matthew 17:1-9

Everyone hopes for heaven on earth. What can we do to hasten its arrival? What’s the “secret sauce” that nobody before has managed to discover, or how can I adjust my living so that I can be free of want?

The twentieth century was full of human schemes to create heaven on earth. Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam all thought that Communism was the answer. But even in our own country, the past several years have witnessed the belief that the “right” politicians will make things right: some by Republicans, some by Democrats.  The 21st century also continues in this line, with the notion of the Great Reset, which will bring about a new world order of sorts. However, In every case, people came closer to giving people hell than heaven. These schemes were not ill conceived or poorly organized. The schemes of humans always fail to bring heaven to earth, no matter how well planned, or efficiently organized.

While we might think that if we could just avoid the programs of those who are attempting to impose their view of an earthly heaven upon us, we would be able to create it for ourselves. We think that if we could just create the perfect family with children who are always obedient, and get the perfect job, which pays a large salary and does not require any work, we would be just fine. It would be like heaven. Some people think that if they check out of their responsibilities and move to a red state, that that would be heaven on earth.

Peter expressed that same wish in the Gospel today: 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” If we could only just stay here a while, that would be perfect.

But the problem with creating heaven on earth is me, not the stuff or the people around me. My sin and its guilt thwart heaven’s earthly arrival every time. Communism is poisoned by human greed—both a sinner’s desire for more and the selfishness of sinners in power. The problem isn’t one party against another, or even an independent party; it’s that every single representative is horribly flawed by sin. George Soros might have some grand ideas for society, but they cannot accommodate a country, or state, or city full of wicked sinners. And for all those who have hoped for the “perfect” church community where everyone is loving, the music is just what they wanted, and every need is abundantly met—is chasing after the wind.

However, our hope for heaven on earth alerts us to a desire that has been implanted in us by our Creator. Ecclesiastes 3, just after the famous “a time for everything” portion says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Eccl. 3:11) God made us for perfect fellowship with Him. He created us to inherit eternal life with Him. He designed us to experience a perfect home in His presence. Our desire is not wrong, but because of sin, it is misplaced. The desire of itself is in harmony with our true nature as creatures of God. We just cannot create what we so much desire to have.

5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

In trying to create what we desire; our focus is wrong. It is fatally set upon our doing and our activity and our definition of heaven. God is the Creator of heaven and earth. Therefore, He is the one who can grant us heaven on earth. He does so in a way that appears to us to be so unspectacular and even unattractive. Yes, Peter, James, and John were awe-struck by the sight of the Transfiguration, but that was not to remain. It was a blessed vision to which they were eyewitnesses. But, the balance of their life was spent in ordinary life—in conversations, in Peter caring for his wife, in James suffering martyrdom, and John being exiled to Patmos. And all of them fled when the hour had come for Jesus to be glorified in the eyes of the Father.

Yet, in that most unpleasant—some might even say hellish—episode of Jesus’ passion, He was gaining heaven for us. Heaven for those who deserve it least. A Kingdom of Heaven, that can be found even in the midst of a fractured, dying, Satan-infested world.

“Thy Kingdom come,” we pray. The Father answers this prayer not with beatific visions on a mountain top, but through faith in the Word of His Son: “Listen to Him.”  He does it by granting us the body and blood of the Lord upon our altars. The church sings together with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven at the celebration of the Sacrament of the Altar. Together with that heavenly host—with Moses and Elijah—to confess that heaven is where the Body of the Lord has come. If Christ’s body is here, then all the heavenly hosts must be present, even though unseen. Heaven bursts the bonds of mere sight through the gracious presence of the Lord’s Body among us.

Heaven on earth is attainable by our most fervent efforts. Heaven on earth comes only where God gives it to us as a gift. The 4th century bishop, John Chrysostom wrote:

“This mystery of the body of Christ makes earth become a heaven to you. Open only once the gates of heaven and look in; no, rather not of heaven, but of the heaven of heavens; and then you will see what I have been speaking of. For what is most precious of all there, I will show you upon earth. For as in royal palaces, what is most glorious of all is not the walls, nor golden roofs, but the person of the king sitting on the throne. So likewise in heaven the body of the King is most glorious. But this, you are now permitted to see upon earth. For it is not angels, nor archangels, nor heavens and heavens of heavens, that I show you, but their Lord and Owner. Don’t you perceive how that which is more precious than all things is seen on earth; and not merely seen, but also touched; and not only touched, but also eaten; and after receiving it you go home?

“Cleanse your soul then and prepare your mind for the reception of these mysteries. For if you were entrusted to carry a king’s child with the robes, the purple, and the diadem, you would cast away all earthly things. But now we are considering no child of man no matter how royal, but the only-begotten Son of God Himself, whom you received. Do you not thrill with awe and cast away the love of all earthly things, and have no boast but that with which to adorn yourself? Or do you still look toward the earthly, and love money, and pant after gold? What pardon then can you have? What excuse could you offer? But don’t you know that all this worldly luxury is loathsome to your Lord? Was it not for you that at His birth He was laid in a manger, and took to Himself a mother of low estate? Did He not for this say to him that was seeking gain, ‘The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’? (Matt 8:20). John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Corinthians, 24.8

Nonetheless, the will of the Father is for you and I to hear the voice of His Son. We hear it as the Spirit enables us, and in that faith-filled hearing, we see what heaven really is: The very presence of God in the midst of His people. There, we see a God who reconciles Himself through the blood of Jesus, who hears our prayers, who cares for us in every need. Gathered as we are in the Body of Jesus, we pray together, “Our Father,” alongside the rest of the holy Church. If we are looking for heaven on earth, look no further than where the Father has sent His Son. In Him, we have peace with God and confidence in faith. The Holy Spirit seeks to preserve each of us in this true faith, until the day comes where there is no more room for doubt.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

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Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Readings: Amos 9:11-15 | Romans 12:6-16 | John 2:1-11

Text: John 2:1-11 

There are two Old Testament readings assigned for this Sunday. One is from Exodus 33:12-23. In that, we read: 

18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” 

Moses wanted to see God in His glory. The trouble is, sinful man cannot see Him and live. Moses was permitted to see his back. 

Centuries have been spent by man seeking the face and the glory of God: 

  • Mystics seek God in emotional experiences. 
  • Jewish mystics have sought it through a devotion to the Torah: “Kabbalah takes man beyond the normative understanding of reason. It goes beyond the exoteric part of Torah and transcends normative existence. It uncovers many of the infinite layers of the secrets of life, of Creation, of the soul, of the heavenly spheres. It penetrates beyond the garments and the body of the Torah. It is the very core and soul of Torah, the ultimate revelation of Divinity – exposing the inner meaning, effects and purpose of Torah and mitzvahs.”1 
  • Spiritualists old and new seek to find God through their own devices—repetition, music, occasionally intoxication—all so they can achieve what even Moses was not permitted to see. 
  • For His part, God gave the Levitical code to keep sinful man at a safe distance. Through the blood of sacrifice, water of purification, the smoke of incense, the veil before the Ark—God covered His glory so that they would not perish. 

Enter Jesus onto the scene. The Evangelist John comments that the “Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) It’s a new era for the glory of God and sinful man. The sin hasn’t gotten any better (that’s the delusion that humanity is advancing over generations). But while we were still as wicked as ever, Christ came and tabernacled in our midst. We certainly did not become more worthy of beholding the glory or face of God. The difference was the incarnation, and the gracious purpose of God to reconcile sinners to Himself. 

At the Wedding at Cana, we hear: 

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 

At first glance, it seems unrelated and trivial. So what? Jesus was invited to a friend’s wedding and saved them from a huge embarrassment. But in view of who Jesus is and what He has come to see, there is so much more to behold! 

  • The Lord is revealing Himself in His tabernacle among us in a new way. Where will people see God? Not just in the Temple. How will He show His glory? In this creative work which takes the old and fulfills it; which brings an abundance which man could never conjure up. To whom will He show His glory? Not simply to one man, but to His disciples who believe in Him! 
  • Under the Law, the glory of God had to be kept away from sinful man. When the Word became flesh, He made His intention clear that He wanted to take up a permanent dwelling among this fallen race. 
  • In the Old Testament Lesson we heard from Amos 9:11-15, the Lord says that this new era will be marked by “the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it”—an abundance of cause to rejoice and celebrate. It is a joy and peace that alcohol by itself couldn’t possibly give in its intoxicating properties. As God gave us wine to “gladden the heart of man” (Ps. 104:15), it’s only in seeing the Son of God’s mighty deeds that we know true elation. 

So, this sign shows that God’s restoration has come. Jesus is the end of the waiting of the Law. He is the end of the divide between God and sinful man for all who believe. 

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 
  • Here is the message of Jesus at the wedding in Cana: He is there to show what Moses and Amos anticipated. The glory of the Lord would be seen by people from all nations, even the “remnant of mankind.” (Amos 9 quoted in Acts 15:17). 
  • His glory is manifest in human form (Phil. 2:8). Moses could not see, but here, the Lord is present in the midst of sinners. He is approached by His mother with a request. He is an ordinary guest, and yet the Lord in His glory. 
  • The glory of God is not something for man to seek out on our own deceitful terms. Rather it is what God makes known in His own timing. 

Likewise, with the coming of Jesus in the flesh, and His glory manifest, the answer is no longer: “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Ex. 33:20). Now the face of God is visible in the Son of God [2 Cor. 3:18]. 

Jesus has come to hear our prayers, just as He did of His own mother, to bring us the joy of His salvation, and to make the face of God seen in our midst. This brings us full-circle back to something God gave during the ministry of the Levites. And it is with this unveiled face, and revealed glory, that the Divine Service ends with the Aaronic Benediction:  

24The Lord bless you and keep you;  
25the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;  
26the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Num. 6:24-26)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

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The Baptism of Our Lord

Readings: Isaiah 42:1-7 | 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 | Matthew 3:13-17

Text: Matthew 3:13-17

Who is Jesus? That’s one of the questions that comes up when we consider the Baptism of Our Lord.  Where can we look for an answer? To men? As the dialogue in Mark 8 with the disciples showed, even during His earthly life, there was misunderstanding and disagreement about who He is and what He’s up to. That’s why we, who are called by His Name some two millennia later, need to continually be reminded who Jesus is.

The Name, Jesus, was given to Him at His circumcision (Luke 2:21). It was given with the shedding of His blood. The Name, “The Lord saves” does not come without the shedding of the blood of God’s Son.

God’s Son was placed under the Law, as we heard last week:

“4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:4–7)

Under the Law, He became subject to everything we are—every bit of suffering both just and unjust—even though He was without sin and He was under no compulsion to do so. This is foundational to who Jesus is.

Likewise at His Baptism. Reason tells us He had no reason to be there. “I need to be baptized by You and do You come to me?” What is the sinless God-Man doing submitting to a baptism where they are confessing their sins? Just as at His circumcision, He received the mark of the covenant permanently on His body, at His Baptism, He is permanently marked—anointed by the Holy Spirit. He is set apart for God’s purpose.

The Baptism is where Jesus received the title, Christ: the Anointed One. It’s the anointing of the Holy Spirit, for the very work He had come to do: The Lord saves His people from their sins (Matt. 1:23).

He came as Prophet, through whom the Word of God came and is, and who still speaks to us in His Word today (which is why we stand for the Holy Gospel). “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18)

He came to be the Priest, who stands in that water of sinners because He is the one chosen to make the sin offering for the whole world. As St. Paul says, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6) And for our sakes, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)

Finally, He is anointed to be the King. He rules over a Kingdom which is not of this world (John 18:36). But His Kingdom does bring deliverance to her citizens. For us, Scripture describes what this King does for us: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

And if all of that isn’t clear enough in the title of Christ, God the Father adds His clear voice to the scene at the Jordan: “Behold! A voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” In this declaration, it shows that Jesus is not simply a functionary—an underling sent to do the dirty work. This reminds us of the hymn, “He sent no angel to our race, of higher or of lower place, but wore the robe of human frame, and to this world Himself He came.” (LSB 544, “O Love, How Deep” v. 2) God is personally invested in reaching each one of us, seeking our eternal salvation!

His Circumcision and Baptism were not just for Him. They are a sermon to us: The Lord Saves. Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. “At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21) There God is…in the womb just as we once were, just as all people are. But there is God sanctifying the womb, making it a holy dwelling for His life-giving work. At His circumcision, there the Son of God is again, as a newborn, recently covered in vernix and blood and mucus. But here, He sheds His first blood and bears the mark of God’s promise: “So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 17:13; 12:3).

Likewise, His Baptism wasn’t just a show for one day. It was a teaching for us who were to come. It cannot be that we are saved simply by knowing about certain truths about God. James says that even the demons know truths about God, but this causes them to shudder [James 2:19]. It preaches a reality to us, by which we might also be called sons of God. Hear it once more:

“16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”

Certainly Adam would have been considered a son of God, but he and His bride forsook their position. They and their offspring became enemies of God, brutal rebels out to prove their place by their own way. This whole course was a dead end…a deadly end, in fact. Until Jesus was revealed—in the womb of Mary, in the arms of His mother and father, in the waters of the Jordan. He made His place with sinners, with whom He shared flesh and blood. There in flesh and blood, in the water with sinners, God the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth, declared from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” In the water, and in the Spirit, He declared this through His Son who shares our flesh.

He also has come to you at your Baptism.  There, you were permanently marked as His own, witnessing God’s covenant with His Church.  There you too were marked with His most holy Name.  God the Father marked you with His Name!  Bathed in the cleansing water and blood from His pierced side, you were given your personal name and placed into Jesus! And there, in the font, He brought you forgiveness, rescue, and the promise of eternal salvation!

And receiving this Name means a complete change for each of us—even if it took place many years ago in time, or we don’t remember it. At your Baptism, in the waters of Lebanon (or in my case, Piedmont, California), the heavens opened for you and the Holy Spirit was given to you, and the God the Father said about you—in Christ—”you are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” All of this is wrapped up in being called “Christian,” and this is why we call on God as our true Father, and we are indeed His true children.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.