"Like A Weaned Child"

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

Long ago, the legend holds, Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned by the wicked king Minos in a high tower atop a cliff overlooking the Aegean Sea. Daedalus determined that their only means of escape would be to build wings and soar off like birds. Being an engineer and a clever man, Daedalus constructed a set of wings covered with bird feathers held on with wax. He made a set for himself, and one for his feckless son Icarus. Before they set out on their escape, Daedalus warned his son not too fly too low to the sea, lest his wings become waterlogged, nor too high in the sky, lest the sun warm the wax and cause the wings to melt. They launched into the bright Grecian sun, and were free!

However, hapless young Icarus soon became overwhelmed with the power of flight and wheeled too high into the heavens. So close to the sun he went that his father's warning proved true. His wings melted and came apart, and the poor boy fell and drowned in the sea. He did not heed sound counsel, but lifted up his eyes and his heart to things beyond his powers, and was destroyed for want of wisdom. So goes the efforts of the people of this world in attaining knowledge and understanding of things not given to them.

Who Is This Man?

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

He was the most awesome dude around. He had a huge entourage. Crowds literally ran from city to city just to get a glimpse of him. He was constantly surrounded with adoring fans and celebrity-hounds. People would mob him just to touch his clothes. If you wanted to get into the most exclusive places, to be with the “in crowd”, he was the guy to follow. If he were on Twitter, he would have been trending constantly.

He was the guy that everybody loved and hated all at once. All the ladies wanted him, and all the men wanted to be him. They were jealous because they could not lay claim to his allegiance. He could steal their loved ones away in a heartbeat, with just a look or greeting. He melted hearts and altered lives.

The Church of God in Motion

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

Wondrous honor You have given

To our humblest charity

In Your own mysterious sentence,

“You have done it all to Me.”

Can it be, O gracious Master,

That You deign for alms to sue,

Saying by Your poor and needy,

“Give as I have giv'n to you”? (LSB 851.3)

Whence come all that you are, all that you have and possess? Is it by your own work and toil that you have such abundance? Or is whatever you have a gift from God? We confess with all of Christendom, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” He has made all things, and He is the one who gives them into your hand. We confess as Luther writes in the Small Catechism:

He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

Take heed of what you confess here: He richly and daily provides me with all. Everything you have is a gift of God, given out of His divine bounty, without any merit or worthiness in you. He chooses to so richly bless you because He loves you, because He has created you to be His workmanship, to show forth His love and blessing. He gives all that you need because He knows you need it, just as you fathers know the needs of your children and supply them.

"Your Blood My Royal Robe Shall Be"

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

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” Jesus asks us to imagine this situation. A king is preparing to celebrate the marriage feast of his son. He sends out invitations by royal messenger. He orders preparations made, food cooked, the palace made spotless and gleaming, the garments all richly prepared. The best of the best are invited. From far and wide, the richest, most famous, most brilliant, most good-looking people are expected to be in attendance for the royal wedding. One would be a fool to miss such a spectacular affair.

And yet, when the time came, that is exactly what happened. The upper crust decided that they had better things to do. Some merely ignored the messengers and invitations and went about their business. Others laid hands upon the servants of the king and beat, mocked, shamed, and even killed them. The rich and famous had all they needed for themselves; they had no need of the king and his fancy feast and pomp and circumstance. Easier just to buy the commemorative postage stamp than actually get all dressed up and go.