Enduring Life, Abundant Fruit, Fullness of Joy - Sixth Sunday of Easter, (Free Texts)

May 10^th, Year of Our + Lord 2026
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
Enduring Life, Abundant Fruit, Fullness of Joy                 
John 15:1-17, Jeremiah 2:21-22

Audio of the sermon can be found HERE.

Video of the readings and sermon can be found HERE.  

 

Jesus says: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” 

   Jesus’ teaching of the Vine and Branches is wonderful.  This passage from John chapter 15 is full of both the Catechism, full of plainly stated truths concerning the salvation doctrine of Jesus, and it also blesses us with the most vivid imagery, capturing the mystery of the Christian faith through the beauty and wonder of grapevines, of fruitful vineyards.  Which to choose for our focus this morning, the Catechism, or the beauty of the Vine and Branches?   Could we maybe enjoy both? 

   Today I am also marveling at the joy of God’s timing.  There was no planning on my part that we should hear this Word of God just shortly after Shelee and I returned from almost two weeks in Spain.  Hispania, Iberia, España: Spain, a remarkable land full art, architecture, history, olives, and full of tremendous vineyards, from the green north to the sunny south, rolling hills and valleys filled with rows and rows of vines, vineyards that produce wines from the palest golden yellow to the deepest burgundy: abundant, terrific wines.    

   My mom Agnes had a grapevine on back fence of our lot, behind the garden.  I do not remember that it ever produced a lot of grapes: Forsyth, Montana is not known as wine country.  But it was beautiful.  Every spring the grapevine foreshadowed the Resurrection.  The bare woody vines running along the top of the fence exploded in color, seemingly dead vines bursting forth with bright, pale green leaves. 

    Grapevines attract bees, which is probably why Agnes wanted it running behind her garden.  Grape vines can also give shade, or provide privacy, as they fill a fence with leaves.  And, of course, grapevines provide us with grapes.  I think maybe Agnes tried to make jelly from our grapes a few years, but I don’t remember it ever working out terrifically.  Regardless, our vine blessed us, and shown with abundant loveliness.   

   Abundance.  Do you know how much wine can be produced from one acre of grapevines?  If a vineyard produces a low harvest, still one acre can produce 1,400 bottles of wine.  If the harvest is plentiful, if the bunches of grapes sag heavily on the vines, requiring stakes and wires to support, then one acre can produce more than 7,000 bottles of wine.  When God provides, vineyards can produce astounding productivity. 

   And grapes are almost self-vinting.  All the liquid and all the sugar needed is naturally present, in the grapes.  Even the yeast needed to ferment the grape juice into wine is just there, naturally resting on the skins of the grapes.  All the vintner needs to do is harvest the grapes, crush them, put them in a vat, and wait.  Now, making a truly fine wine takes knowledge and experience, oak barrels and a lot of time.  But the basic wine-making process is almost automatic.

   How appropriate then that God chooses the super-abundance of grapes and wine to reveal to us the super-abundance of His grace and love.  The amount of wine possible from the world’s vineyards seems limitless, but God’s reservoir of forgiveness and reconciliation is even greater, is truly limitless.  And so the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. 

   The abundance of grapevines is wonderful.  But of course, in this fallen world we have always had problems with wine.  That is the tragedy of us sinners: we are always abusing God’s good gifts.  And not just alcoholic drinks.  God provides us with bountiful harvests of healthy food, more than enough to feed everyone.  But we tend to scorn the healthiest foods and overindulge in empty calories, damaging the health that God has given us food to support.  Meanwhile, others souls go hungry. 

   God blesses us with wealth, and we respond by trusting in our bank and investment accounts, and forget to thank and worship the One who has made us rich.  Sex is a wonderful gift, given for joy and fulfillment of husband and wife, and for the procreation of more children for God to love.  But far too often we turn sex into an ugly, empty act, used to control people and sell things.  Meawhile the culture of death in which we live encourages mothers to kill their babies, if they are at all inconvenient.  Leisure and pleasure are blessings from the Lord, but we all too easily make them our idols, and forget the Giver of every good and perfect gift. 

   We by our inherited fallen nature are always at risk of worshiping created things, instead of the Creator who has provided us with them all.  Such abuse is certainly possible with wine.  I am not a prohibitionist; it is false to say that any consumption of alcohol is a sin.  But I can understand the feelings and thoughts of Christians who have suffered through the ravages of alcohol abuse and addiction, their own or in their families.  The impulse to reject wine altogether is very understandable if it has ruined your family, your life. 

   Good gifts abused by sinners is a constant theme in Scripture.  The prophet Jeremiah uses a choice vineyard gone bad to describe faithless Israel.  God’s special chosen people, Israel nevertheless became faithless idolaters, through the worship of alcohol and other created things.  

   And so we learn that life as God’s people in this fallen world requires discipline, and correction, daily repentance, and constant prayer for the Lord to return us to His Way. 

    To bring in the Catechism, salvation is always God’s work, we sinners cannot add anything to our own rescue, our conversion is God’s work, for us, 100%.  As Jesus told His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.”  The Apostles were not saved by any decision or work of their own.  For “by works of the law shall no man be saved.”  Salvation from sin and death are a free gift, from God’s gracious heart, a gift given, without an merit or worthiness in me. 

    We do nothing to save ourselves, but we are not saved for nothing.  We are saved for something.  Jesus teaches “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide,” endure, last forever.  God saves us so that we will then bear fruit, by loving one another, by playing our part of God’s ongoing mission, by living as Christians in this world, still sinners, but at the same time also saints, eager to please our Savior. 

    Being saved by grace, not by our works, is true and wonderful.  But we must beware of our sinful flesh and the temptation to think that Christian life is like driving on cruise control downhill, requiring no effort on our part, no concern for sin, no concern for bearing fruit.  This is a dangerous lie.  Jesus saved us so that we can bear fruit.  Besides, salvation is about life coming out of death.  How can we who died to sin still live in it?  May it never be! 

   So, discipline is required, Christians are called to avoid abusing God’s gifts, to avoid sin, and also to love, to seek to serve the people God puts in our lives. 

    Still, the potential for our abuse does not stop God from using His wonderful gifts to help us understand and believe in His salvation.  The Old Testament poetic book “Song of Songs” uses the romantic, physical love between a man and a woman as a metaphor to proclaim the relationship between Christ and His Bride, the Church.  Jesus Himself provides super-abundant meals, filling thousands of bellies with miraculous bread and fish, even though He knew some diners would worship the meal, instead of the Host of the meal.  The joy of a good glass of wine is used to describe the joy of heaven.  At the Wedding at Cana, Jesus meets the earthly need of a wedding party running out of wine, not with just a bit of wine, but rather He creates 120 gallons of the best wine, saved for last.  Jesus did this to show His power, His identity, and to point us to the joys of heaven, the eternal feast of the choicest fat meats and the very best fruit of the vine.   

    Yahweh Sabaoth, the LORD of Hosts, our Savior God, revealed in Jesus Christ, is all-knowing, infinite, all powerful, eternal, and holy.  For all these reasons, our worship is always reverent, and centered on the forgiveness we need to come into His presence.  At the same time, our God is also eminently practical, working out mundane, earthly solutions, for our good.  Why did God choose to use vineyards and wine as both a central metaphor and as chosen instrument of salvation, as one of His special means of grace?  Well, despite the risk of our abuse, the Lord, by using wine as a means to deliver the Gospel, expands our opportunity to see, hear and taste His grace.  Through the Cup that we bless, the Lord shares His wisdom, the Lord draws us into heavenly mysteries.  In, with and under the wine of His Supper, Jesus pours out His love, given for us to drink into our mortal bodies, preparing and securing us for the glory of heaven. 

    Why is wine such a good choice?  Wine in the ancient world was a staple; it was often necessary for life.  For most of history, finding clean water to drink and keeping it clean in storage has been difficult.  The ancients may not have understood germ theory, but they knew that water could quickly become undrinkable.  The liquid we need for life easily became so full of disease that drinking it would threaten life.  But, the fermentation process makes the water in grapes safer to drink, and easier to store.  The alcohol in wine kills or prevents the growth of many organisms that can make us sick.  So, taken in moderation, wine was often vital for life, providing hydration to our bodies when clean water was hard to come by. 

    Through wine, God the Creator and Provider gives us hydration, and delight, even great joy, especially when combined with a plate of calamari, or cheese, or ribeye.  Just as He did with water, bread, and plain old human speech, the Lord chose common, earthly things to deliver His Good News of free forgiveness.  Choosing such common earthly means helps us earthly creatures to grasp His truth, to understand salvation, to access His love.  God is good, and practical.   

     The Vine and Branches passage, full of mystery and beauty, is also full of propositional truths.  In these few verses we find many connections the Catechism, to the teaching of Christ, the truth that saves sinners, the truth that sets us free.   

    I AM the True Vine.  This is one of Jesus I AM metaphors, by which He identifies Himself with the God of the burning bush, who appeared to Moses: I AM who I AM.  True God and True Man, Jesus of Nazareth is Yahweh, the Lord God, in human flesh, come down from heaven to be our Savior.

    Christocentricity – only in Jesus is there salvation.  Salvation and good works depend on being connected to Jesus.  “Abide in Me as a branch to a vine, and you will live, and produce good fruit.”  Be warned, of course, God the Father, the divine vinedresser, is going to work on you, pruning you clean throughout your life, so that you will produce more and more good fruit.  God through His Word corrects, forgives, restores and moves His faithful to love their neighbors.  The life of the Christian depends on the Word daily; we live in daily repentance, forgiveness and love.   

    The risk of eternal damnation – any branch that does not bear fruit, the Vinedresser removes, and throws away to be burned.  Christian faith not a lucky rabbit’s foot, a lucky charm, kept in a drawer, only to be brought out when danger threatens.  No, Christian faith is a living, active, busy thing, the very center of life. 

    The Centrality of God’s written and proclaimed Word.  Faith is created in us and endures by God’s Word: “You are already pruned clean” Jesus assures, “because of the Word I have spoken to you.”  So, abide in Christ by abiding in His Word!

    In the Vine and Branches we see the unity of the Church.  We are one, because we are all rooted in Christ, joined to God, and so also we are joined to each other.  The Holy Spirit does not make “Lone Ranger Christians,” living solitary lives.  Every saint is joined to Jesus, and to each other, one Vine and many branches, the very family of God.  And so we love one another.  We do good to all, but especially we do good to those of the household of faith, because we are brothers and sisters in Christ.     

    That sinners like you and me should have the closest communion with God, this is the Lord’s goal.  That we may be His own, and live with Him in His Kingdom, in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.  Abiding in Christ our Vine is true life, joyous, abundant life, the foretaste of the heavenly feast to come, that has no end.   

    This is love, not that we loved God, but that in Jesus, He loved us.  Living from Jesus’ self-sacrifice, we are loved, and we are moved to love each other sacrificially.  None of us has to lay down our lives to pay for the sins of the whole world.  Jesus alone could and has done that task.  It is finished.  Abiding in Him, we receive the life that flows from His Cross to this altar.  Here, from the One Cup, we who are many receive Him who drained down to nothing the Cup of God’s anger against our sin.  Jesus has drained the Cup of God’s anger, down to the dregs, so that now we receive His forgiveness and new life, the Cup of the New Testament, in His blood.  By loving us in this way, Christ in us moves us to love others in our daily lives.   

    Enduring Life, Abundant Fruit, Fullness of Joy, for you, and all who trust in the True Vine, who feeds us with Himself, today, and forever and ever, Amen.   

Three Convictions of the Holy Spirit

Fifth Sunday of Easter – Cantate, May 3^rd, A+D 2026
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, SD
John 16:7 – 11

Audio of the Sermon available HERE.

     Jesus says to His Apostles:  I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:  concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;  concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

     Got it?  Is Jesus’ point clear as crystal to you?  If you are struggling to understand, you are not alone.  These three ‘convictions’ of the Holy Spirit are challenging, not because Jesus is unclear, but because our understanding is so limited.  This is one of those passages I sometimes think I understand, but then the next time I hear it, or maybe right after I explain it to someone, suddenly I’m at a loss again, struggling to come to any confident conclusions. 

   Of course, God through His Scripture is always saying things deeper than we can fully grasp, which is why we can spend a lifetime digging into the Word, and never get to the bottom of it.  Still, it is good to be able to draw some basic conclusions, good to have a level of confidence about what God in His Word is saying to us.  We want to be assured that we understand, at least in a simple way, how this particular Word fits within the overall Good News of God’s salvation.  Lord willing, today we’ll get there together, with these three convictions of the Holy Spirit. 

     Jesus promises to send the Helper, and says this is better for the disciples, and by extension better for us, than it would be if He remained.  The Helper is identified by Jesus in a nearby section as God the Holy Spirit, and His sending is, by Jesus’ definition, a particularly wonderful gift.  But the way Jesus describes the Spirit’s ministry is pretty hard edged.  The Helper, the Comforter, is coming to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.  That doesn’t sound comfortable.  What is this convicting all about?  How does it work?  What does it mean for me?   

     Jesus goes on to explain a bit: The Helper will convict the world concerning sin, says Jesus, because they do not believe in me.  What does this mean?  Well, it helps to consider how this first conviction sounds a lot like another challenging teaching of our Lord, that the only unforgivable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit.  (see Matthew 12:22-32)  What is the sin against the Holy Spirit?  Well, the Holy Spirit’s central message is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and the only Savior of sinners.  To reject His message is the unforgivable sin, for salvation comes only by faith in Jesus.  Unbelief is the unforgivable sin, because it rejects the only way God has given for sinners to be saved.  This is the sin for which the Helper convicts the world.  As Jesus said to Thomas eight days after the Resurrection: Stop doubting, and believe!   

     Here’s how this works:  As John the Baptist declared, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  All the sins of all people.  All of them.  In today’s Gospel reading, the Cross, upon which Jesus would swallow the sins of the world, was coming, the very next day.  On that Cross, the Lamb of God has poured out His holy and precious blood on all our sins, paying for every last human sin.  By this, Christ reconciled the world to His Father, by means of His own suffering and death, in our place.  As the eternal Son of God made man, the forgiveness earned by Jesus’ death is limitless.  But this reconciliation by forgiveness is received by each individual sinner only by faith.  There is forgiveness for everyone, but it is only received through personal faith in Christ. 

   Since Jesus has paid for all sins, anyone who believes in His forgiveness is saved.  So, ever since Jesus died and rose again, disbelieving the convicting testimony of the Holy Spirit is the only way to be condemned.  If you have no faith in the Cross and Resurrection, you are still in your sins.  But, if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, all your sins have been taken from you, and you are declared righteous and holy by God.  When you believe in this blood-bought forgiveness, you have life, life in fellowship with God, both today, and forever and ever. To bring people to believe in Jesus’ forgiving blood, the Helper comes, giving the gift of faith by the preaching of the Gospel.  

     This is good news, the very best.  However, the sinner’s road to faith is rocky.  Before anyone, you, me or anyone else, will even begin to look for a way out of our predicament with God, we must first believe we are in a predicament.  We must know how bad our predicament is.  Being confronted by your sin, and God’s wrath against sin, is the only way anyone will ever look to Jesus for rescue.  This is why the Helper comes to convict the world concerning sin.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit, and so also the ministry of the Christian Church will until the Last Day necessarily include the condemnation of sin, and sinners, for the sake of saving them. 

     Easier said than done, of course.  Proclaiming God’s law and the reality of human sin to people, especially to outwardly nice people whom we like, and whom we want to like us, has never been easy.  Today in America, naming and condemning sin is extremely unpopular.  The world tries to redefine sin after sin as a simply part of a lifestyle, as free choices made by independent, autonomous, consenting individuals.  So the claim is made that homosexual acts are not the sad extreme of the sexual sin that afflicts us all, but rather just an alternate lifestyle.  The same goes for heterosexual sex outside of marriage, and also living together before marriage. Speaking ill of your neighbor, cheating just a bit on your taxes, scheming to live off someone else’s money, worshiping your recreation time and ignoring the gatherings at God’s house, all of these sins are not so often named as sins these days.  God’s unchanging Word against these sins still stands, but nobody wants to speak it. 

     Thankfully, the ultimate proclaimer of the Law is the God the Holy Spirit.  A preacher may idolize popularity and so stop short of speaking the plain truth.  But God’s Word still stands.  Through His Church, through His faithful preachers, in pulpits, and around dining room tables, Holy Spirit causes His Word of conviction to go forth.  God the Holy Spirit convicts the world, including you and me, of sin, for the sake of forgiveness.  Forgiveness is the ultimate aim of the Helper’s first conviction, because forgiveness brings salvation, which is the Father’s desire for every sinner. 

 

   The forgiving love of Jesus is also the only power for a truly amended life, which God also wants to see.  God the Holy Spirit joins us by faith to Jesus Christ, and so gives us life in Him, connecting us to His power, which causes us to begin to live differently.  Scolding people into outward conformity with the law can reduce outward sin, somewhat.  But, this only works so long, and the Law doesn’t change hearts.  Only God’s forgiving Gospel makes real change in sinners, the good news of underserved favor, the free gift of salvation.  And, this Good News must have its way prepared by the Law.

     So the Church which has the Holy Spirit will be preaching against sin and sinners, for the sake of salvation.  When we do this, the world will accuse us of bigotry, hatefulness, of trying to hurt and control people.  But proclaiming God’s law in order to lead sinners to forgiveness is truly the only way to fully love a sinful world.  This is the dynamic of Law and Gospel, the condemnation of sin, in order to apply Christ’s righteousness, His forgiveness, which restores, resurrects, and gives joy to sinners.  This is the Holy Spirit’s first conviction.

     Jesus goes on to say that the Helper will convict the world concerning righteousness, because no longer will the Apostles, or anyone else, see Jesus.  The righteousness of Christ must be learned and received through the Spirit’s convicting Word; seeing Jesus with our fallen eyes is not the way of salvation. 

     Jesus in His visible ministry was certainly righteous: perfectly faithful to God His Father, perfectly loving to His neighbors, teaching, healing, feeding and comforting.  Jesus’ earthly ministry was wonderful, and definitely attracted many people to come and see Him. 

     But the star power of Christ tended to make people miss the essence of His ministry.  His healings, His great moral example and teaching, the comfort He gave, the power and wisdom He displayed, all of these were wonderful.  All of these were true and Godly.  But none of it could save anyone from sin.  All of the amazing works of ministry Jesus did were preliminary to the main act.  Because the wages of sin is death, and so rescue from sin and death requires a death, a full payment for sin.  So Jesus saved the world through death.  Ugly, sad, and frightening though it was, His death makes our life. 

     Jesus achieved our righteousness and future glory, through suffering.  And so, the amazing miracle worker, the wonderful preacher, the one to whom the crowds flocked, goes away, so as not to be seen for His brilliance.  Jesus goes away so that through His Word the Spirit can give eyes of faith to the Apostles, and us, and to people all around the world, eyes of faith to see His true beauty, in His Cross.  The Holy Spirit displays the righteousness of Christ Crucified and Resurrected, through His Word, which gives us eyes of faith to see and receive Jesus, the only Savior. 

     The third conviction flows from number two.  The Helper also convicts the world concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  This means there is no “neutrality,” no safe place to exist between the kingdom of God and kingdom of Satan.  Every human being is either in one kingdom, or the other.  Sin is extra painful in the life of the believer because when we sin, we who belong to God are trying to put one foot in Satan’s kingdom.  Straddling fences, whether barbed wire or spiritual, is painful. 

     The Helper comes to remind the Church and to convict the world that the kingdom of Satan stands condemned, defeated.  The Helper convicts, so that believers would put both feet back in God’s kingdom, and unbelievers would look for the way to escape Satan’s power.   

     The judgment of Satan is also a comfort for believers.  This world is still under Satan’s control.  But, because of Jesus, the old evil foe is only angrily and bitterly awaiting the final enactment of his eternal defeat.   At the Cross, the power of Satan’s kingdom, his ammunition for accusing sinners, was destroyed.  Satan’s power flows from the combination of God’s Law and our sin.  Satan uses God’s law against us, pointing out how we have failed, tempting us to hate God and flee, or persuading us to believe that God could never love such as sinner as you or me. 

     But Jesus by His life of good deeds and by His Cross fulfills God’s Law, both positively and negatively.  All the good works that God’s Law demands are fulfilled by the Good Works of Jesus.  You are free to do the good works God has prepared for you to walk in, free to live as Christians precisely because you don’t need your good works to win God’s favor.  God the Father is completely pleased with you and everyone who is joined to His Son by faith, because Jesus shares the credit for His perfect life of good works with His believers, His people.  With you. 

     As on the positive side, so also on the negative.  All the punishment and the death that God’s Law requires for human sin was suffered by Jesus at Calvary.  It is finished.  In Christ, there’s nothing left.  In the blood of Jesus, all your sins are washed away.  So, Satan has nothing left to say to you.  His kingdom is judged, destroyed, powerless over those who are in Christ.  This bad news for Satan is our great hope, the heart of the Gospel, for you and me and all people. 

   Satan may still accuse you of your sin, he may try to fool you with his lies.  And it is truly frightening that in our sinful flesh we continually try to emigrate to Satan’s kingdom.  Despite what we know and believe, despite what God has made us to be, members of the body of His Son, the Church of Christ, still, we sin.  The good that we want to do, we do not always do, and the evil we do not want to do, too often, we do.  This is the first great struggle of Christian living, daily realizing and repenting of our sins, from which we cannot free ourselves.  Lord have mercy. 

     Lord have mercy.  And, He does!  The Lord does have mercy, for you.  The Holy Spirit, day by day, forgives you all your sins, and the sins of all believers, in His Church, by His Word.  Repent of your sins, and trust in Jesus.  Trust in the truth of His Word, trust in the power of His blood.  For the truth is, Jesus Christ is your all in all, your righteousness, your forgiveness, your holiness, your resurrection from the dead.  Look to His Cross, and be convicted of this: Satan’s power over you is a lie.  In Christ, you are free, free to rejoice in God’s grace, free to live under Him in His kingdom in righteousness, innocence and blessedness, today, and forever and ever, Amen.  

Why Seek Lost Sheep – Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Easter

April 19^th, Year of Our + Lord 2026
Good Shepherd Sunday, Misericordias Domini
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Why Seek Lost Sheep?    
Ezekiel 34:11, John 10:11, 1 Peter 2:24-25

Audio of the Sermon available HERE.

     The Lord God Almighty declares: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will
seek them out.   I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 

     The Hills should green up a little, after the bit of rain and snow we’ve received.  Not enough, yet, certainly not enough to seriously reduce the fire danger.  To our east on the prairie it seems like they’ve been catching up a little, so Lord willing the livestock and wildlife will soon have some green pastures. 

     We would welcome a foot of snow, for the moisture at least.  Spring blizzards do not make it great to be a cow or a sheep, though.  Or worse, a newborn calf or lamb.  Heavy wet snow is miserable if you are a tiny creature without much body fat to keep you warm.  Spring snow makes for tough times for calves and lambs, and so also for the men and women who raise them.  Out in the pastures, early and late, checking on the stock, trying to help them, trying to provide your herds and flocks protection from the cold and wet and wind. 

     Why do they do it?  Why do livestock growers year after year face cold and dark, wind and rough country, to say nothing of dealing with the predicaments livestock are always finding for themselves?  Why search again for that cow who always finds a way through the fence, or who insists on giving birth in the deepest ravine possible?  Why fight off disease, and coyotes?  Why bottle feed bum calves and do the thousand and one hard chores that come with raising livestock? 

     Well, of course, it’s a living.  There is a profit involved, hopefully.  For a handful, it’s a very good living, a way to grow a family fortune.  But for most, the agricultural life is not so rich, the bank account not so fat.  Indeed, smaller operations have very narrow profit margins, and so have more hard work to do.  Because they can’t afford to hire it done, or buy the latest technology and equipment that would make it easier.  The stockgrowers in my extended family mostly had to have a side gig, or two, to make it work.  Haul mail, sell eggs, or run a patrol for the county.  (A patrol is what my Uncle David called his road grader.  I never did understand why.)  There are easier ways to earn a living.  And yet, for many ranchers and sheepherders, including those who are paper rich and dirt poor, they wouldn’t do anything else.  Why?  Why do they do it? 

     I have some thoughts.  Maybe you will correct or add to my ideas after service.  I know many stockgrowers do it because they love the life.  They love the countryside and being out in it.  They love the sense of accomplishment, and the independence, the responsibility.  They love seeing things grow.  And, they love their animals.  This love cannot be for their beauty, at least I do not think so.  A calf is cute, but a cow?  It certainly can’t be for the love the livestock give back.  A dog may be very affectionate and loyal.  Cows love you when you’re spreading cake, and that’s about it.  And yet, those who choose to ranch and raise sheep do love their animals, just the same. 

      Why do they do it?  I think many do it simply because that’s who they are.  Raised into it, or maybe not, still, their identity has become all tied up with livestock.  They may need to have a 40 hour per week job to keep their operation going.  Still, they could hardly be or do anything else. 

      Why raise cows or sheep?  Why seek them out when they’re lost?  Why risk life and limb for animals?  Well, there’s a profit to be had, and a life of loving animals, and for many, their identity is all connected with the “Ag” way of life.  It’s simply who they are.  And so they do the hard work of seeking after and caring for livestock, including during freezing winter nights and sloppy, wet, miserable spring storms. 

      Which brings us to our Good Shepherd.  Why does God do it?  Caring for livestock is one thing.  But caring for people?  Rebellious, stubborn, messed up people; why do that?   Why try to save sinners from themselves?  Why rescue fools from the predicaments we make for ourselves?  Why do it? 

      God has done and continues to do the work of rescuing His sheep from the wolfish schemes of Satan.  The enemy uses God’s good law against us men and women, pointing out our sin and detailing what we deserve.  He does this because he aches to share his eternal misery with God’s people.  The adversary’s hope for our destruction relies on God’s hatred of sin. 

    But God, who is the ultimate punisher of sin, postponed acting on His just anger against our sinful ways.  Starting immediately after the Fall, God began putting up with human sin, overlooking rebellion and withholding full punishment, even rescuing His special people Israel from self-inflicted wounds, again and again, all to get to the real work of salvation.  Which is finished. 

      The rescue work is done, because God did more that just overlook human sin for a time.  In the fullness of time, God took on our flesh, our creatureliness, in order to take our sin upon Himself.  Ranchers and shepherds very often sacrifice greatly to take care of their herds and flocks.  They may even, from time to time, end up smelling like their animals.  But has a rancher ever become a cow, or a shepherd a sheep, in order to save his animals from slaughter?  No. 

    But the Good Shepherd did become a sheep.  That is, God became a man, in order to save us men and women from the slaughter of eternal death.  We are in our third week of celebrating the revelation of God’s in-the-flesh victory for us, a victory won in death, a victory revealed with the new life of the Resurrection.  This 3^rd Sunday of Easter is called Good Shepherd Sunday, as well as Misericordia Domini, Mercy of the Lord Sunday.  So this is a good time to ask “Why?”  Why did the Lord show such mercy, why did He become our Good Shepherd, laying down His life, for us? 

   Why did God the Father sacrifice the life of His only-begotten Son to save wandering, thankless sheep?  Why does God continue to work, sending out His Word of forgiveness, supporting His Church, keeping her going in the most unpromising circumstances?  Why? 

     Does God do this to gain a profit?  Well, yes.  That may sound a little strange, but God does all His works of salvation in order to realize a profit, a gain.  It’s just that we don’t understand God’s method of accounting.  Looking at what God gives and receives in this salvation business, it doesn’t seem that God is coming out ahead.  But God gets to determine His own metrics for measuring profit and loss.  And, for God, the profit in salvation is you.  God’s reward for achieving human salvation is to have you with Him, along with countless other saints, holy and righteous in His presence, forever.  Now, given what we know about people in general, and about ourselves in particular, given all the obvious faults and failings of humanity, God’s way of accounting is very strange.  Strange accounting, but very good news. 

     Does God do it for love?  Yes, most definitely.  Because God loves to love.  He created the whole universe, and us, to give Himself more objects on which to pour out His infinite love.  God loves His whole creation, and most especially the crown of His creation, which is you.  You and I might expect God’s love for mankind to have faded, since we humans, once we hear we are second only to God, immediately start thinking about knocking God off His throne.  Following Adam and Eve’s example, we desire to be our own god.  It is not enough for us to be dependent on the true God who blesses us with all we need.  We want to be in charge, to make our own rules, and judge ourselves.  It would be quite right and fair if God, who is holy and righteous and all powerful, were to simply destroy us ungrateful usurpers.  But no.  God does hate sin.  But amazingly, He still loves us, despite our sin.  And this is how God the Father has loved us, by sending the Only Begotten Son to save us, from ourselves. 

     God does what He does for profit and for love.  Despite our nature that seeks independence from Him, God is our Good Shepherd.  But what, in the end, happens to sheep that spurn their shepherd?  What happens to mankind if we insist on our independence from God?  To find the answer, look at the punishment Jesus suffered.  Look at Good Friday, look at the Cross, and shudder. 

   But then, look again.  For in the same frightening Cross of Jesus the Holy Spirit also reveals to us that this is love.  Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His only begotten Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  What we and every other sinner deserves, and also God’s limitless, forgiving love, these are both revealed in Jesus’ death.

     Why does God seek lost sheep?  Why does He save?  Because that’s who God is.  Good News, God is love.  Like the rancher who just doesn’t know anything else to be, even more so, God cannot be anything else than love.  God is the Savior, our Good Shepherd.  God is the One who desires a multitude of people to be in the closest possible communion with Him, in joy and peace and glory, forever.  Think of it.  How sure is your salvation in Christ?  Your salvation is the very identity of God, who is life, and love, and so has done all things necessary to share His life and love with you. 

     So, when wolves are circling, trying to bite your flesh, call on your Good Shepherd.  When enemies, like temptations of the world, or your own sinful desires, or struggles that lead you to doubt God’s promises, when these or any other hound of Satan are pressing you hard, remember: God’s Son is your Good Shepherd.  Call on Him; He loves doing whatever it takes to save you.  In fact, the one thing necessary to save you is His specialty: forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal, delivered to you in His Word, and in Holy Baptism and the Supper.    

   Knowing Jesus is your Good Shepherd also helps you to live rightly as a sheep in God’s flock.  Which of course starts with humility.  For a wise sheep knows that he is not that strong or impressive on his own.  Life under the Good Shepherd includes community.  In the flock, watched over by the shepherd, is where wise sheep want to be.  God goes so far as to even use His sheep in the shepherding process, giving Christians in all kinds of situations the privilege of helping each other: parents and relatives shepherding children, friends reminding friends to come back to the fold, believers encouraging each other by singing the praises of the Good Shepherd.   Does being the Shepherd’s lamb change who you are and how you live?  Does being a Christian, joined to Christ, create differences in your life, blessings for both you and those around you?  Absolutely. 

   Living a life as a faithful, useful sheep is a real thing.  It is an important goal of God for you, and so is worthy of your best efforts.  And it is possible to pursue, precisely because living a faithful life is not our comfort, it is not the basis of our hope.  When our Christian life is less than perfect, we do not lose hope.  Because life in this world will never be the holy perfection we need to belong to the Good Shepherd.  Our holy perfection is Jesus, our Shepherd, on whom we always depend.  He sets us free to live today without fear.    

     The struggle against the devil-wolf goes on.  The final victory for God’s flock is assured, but in this life, the battle continues.  Our Good Shepherd, in His wisdom, leaves His beloved flock in this world for a time, mostly because He has other lambs to add to His flock.  And so, the struggle continues.  But we know how the evil one is defeated.    

    When Satan, or your own heart, whispers to you that God would never forgive what you have done, your Good Shepherd says “Rest in my peace, you are forgiven.”  When the evil you see in the world makes you doubt that good can conquer, your Good Shepherd, the One with scars in His hands, reaches those hands out to you and reminds you “Fear not!  I have overcome the world!  Enter into my green pastures.”  When you have yet again sinned your way into a real mess, and you think there is no way out, remember, Jesus is still seeking you, even into the valley of the shadow of death.  Jesus is still calling you by name, still preparing a table before you.  Your cup runneth over, because your Good Shepherd is filling it up, today, tomorrow, and forever and ever, Amen. 

A Song for Ezekiel and Thomas - Sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Easter

April 12^th, A+D 2026
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Hill City, South Dakota
Ezekiel 37:1-14, 1 John 5:4-12,  John 20:19-31

The audio of this sermon is available HERE.

There is no manuscript to share this week, but the hymn on which the sermon was built is below. 

If this is a blessing to you, consider passing it along to someone you think might also benefit!  

A Song for Ezekiel and Thomas

1) Ezekiel was strengthened, and also Thomas Twin,

By God’s good Word Incarnate, removing doubt and sin.

Though each with doubts did struggle, The LORD had made His choice,

To teach the world His Promise, resounding through their voice.

 

2) God’s messenger to Judah, exiled in Babylon,

Ezekiel saw visions, of better days to come.

Some strange, and others stranger, his prophecies were bold,

They spoke of restoration, and future joys untold.

 

3) A valley filled with dry bones, death far as eyes could see,

And yet the LORD suggested, that from these life could be.

Speak prophet, speak with power, that bone should meet with flesh,

You prophesy the breath now; My Spirit will refresh. 

 

4) Can these bones live? Seems foolish, a miracle too great,

Except the LORD be Sov’reign, o’er life and time and space.

This wonder pointed forward, to Cross and Empty Tomb,

A Sacrifice appointed, to free us from our doom. 

 

5) But Thomas missed the meeting, when Christ came Easter night,

And opened hearts and minds to believe, rejoice, delight.

But Didymus still doubted, this Word could not be true,

Unless I see and touch Him, I’ll not rejoice with you.

 

6) The LORD had plans for Thomas, to send him far and near,

Proclaiming ‘Christ is Risen” to all with ears to hear.

So for the sake of India, our LORD came on day eight, 

To show Himself to Thomas, enlivening his faith.  

 

7) The twin was blessed by Jesus, a vision for his need,

And yet the blessing goes on, the Holy Spirit’s deed,

Creating faith in sinners, the Gospel’s saving might,

Blessed by the Lord, rejoicing, we stay strong in the fight.

 

8) Ezekiel and Thomas have preached to us today,

That we may trust God’s promise, no matter what “they” say.

There are three that bear witness, Spirit, Water, and Blood,

The Father’s means to bless us, in Christ with ev’ry good. 

    David Warner, 2026, Public Domain, Meter 7676D

I Know That My Redeemer Lives! Blessing the Lord with Job.
Sermon for the Resurrection of Our + Lord 
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota, April 5^th, A+D 2026

Audio of the sermon is available HERE.   

“Oh that my words were written!  Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!   For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.  My heart faints within me!”

Christ is Risen!

   We don’t know for certain when the Book of Job was written, or who wrote it down.  The events are very ancient, most likely taking place sometime during the 400 years that the sons of Jacob, the budding nation of Israel, was living in the land of Egypt.  If Job himself is the author, then this book is the first book of Scripture ever recorded.  Moses in the book of Genesis would record history back to the Creation, but he did not begin writing his five books until after he led the Exodus of Israel from slavery in Egypt, 1,446 years before the birth of Christ.  Suffice it to say, the Book of Job is very ancient. 

    Considering how old they are, it is remarkable that Church continues to sing these most famous verses from Job, every Easter Day, and anytime that we wish to shout from the rooftops the Good News of God’s victory for us, revealed in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  Mary’s son, and also God’s Son, Jesus died on a Roman cross and suffered under His Father’s anger against human sin, in order to pay our debt in full, and so free us from slavery to sin, death and the devil.  But now He lives again, my Redeemer lives!  While he does not describe all the details, Job was already celebrating the Resurrection nearly 4,000 years ago.     

   Job’s triumphant declaration shows us that the Gospel, God’s good news of a Savior, first announced to the Serpent who deceived the man and the woman in the Garden, this promise has always been taught and believed. 

   Many more details would be revealed over the next 1,000 years after Job, then the full story in the New Testament.  But in its essence, the Gospel has never changed.  This morning we will walk through Job’s glorious words, and see how well he prophesied the salvation of Christ, even though he had never heard any of the books of Moses or the Prophets.  

“Oh that my words were written!  Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!   

   God’s people need books.  Well, we need a book.  I like books.  I’m very partial to hymnals and history and good novels.  But the Book we need, truly the Book that inspires every other good and useful book, is the Holy Book, the Bible of the Old and New Testaments, which tells the story of God’s love for mankind.  The Bible tells of the Lord’s goodness, our rebellion, and the great work of God to overcome our rebellion and bring back into His glorious favor, forever, a work accomplished in and through Jesus Christ. 

     We do not know if Job’s parents and grandparents had ever written down the promises God made to Adam and Eve, and to Noah, to Abraham and all his faithful descendants.  But whether these pre-Biblical materials existed or not, Job knows we need the Word written down.  For Job knows better than most how hard it is to continue trusting God when suffering and trouble come.  Future generations he knew, would need the Promises and Wisdom of God recorded, written down, so they could believe, and pass on the faith to their children. 

    The Book of Job and the Books of Moses are the earliest existing books in this salvation literary tradition.  Today, we are remarkably blessed to have plentiful Bibles in faithful translations, which deliver God’s saving Truth to us.  If we today are neglecting the Bible, from which we hear the saving voice of God, then we are greater fools than Job’s three worthless friends.  For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.  God’s Word always achieves the Lord’s goals when it is spoken into this broken world.  The Word of the Lord gives life, and endures forever. 

   So, as we gather to celebrate this Easter, let us also re-commit ourselves to being regular hearers and readers of the Bible, so that through the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit can make us both believers and doers of His powerful, saving Word.  If you are not quite sure how to do this, let me know.  It would be my privilege to help you be better connected to the Spirit’s Word of Life.    

   Job continues: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 

   I know.  Job’s faith is personal, as saving faith must be.  The Church’s opportunity to preach the Gospel is tremendous today, because we 21^st century people are so isolated, so alone.  Our fenced yards, climate-controlled homes, and glittering screens with endless entertainment act as walls, separating us from each other, and from God.  It is not hard to find a family with each member lost in their tablet or cell phone, even when everyone is “all together” in the same room.  The Devil probably never imagined we would, with such intense focus, voluntarily pursue his goal of isolating us.  To be sure, it makes the evil one smile that we are so alone, isolated one from each other, just as we are by nature isolated and estranged from God. 

   Sin separates.  Saving faith, then, has to be personal.  As I am an isolated sinner unto myself, God must set me free, before I can begin to be truly united, to Him, His Church, or to any other person around me.  To reunite a soul with Himself, God must come to each individual with His Word of truth, which corrects, and forgives, and reconciles.  The Holy Spirit seeks to unite the sinner with the Father, through the blood of Jesus.  This is the only way. 

   At the same time, the Lord joins the new believer to His Church, the Body of Christ, made of many human members, the House of God, built of living stones.  Because God never intended man, woman or child to ever be alone.  We were created for community.  And so, individual soul by individual soul, God seeks to save each one of us, and graft us onto the living tree of His family. 

   I know.  Job knew the facts of God’s salvation.  Did he know all the details, almost 4,000 years ago?  I cannot say.  But He knew enough.  He knew that sin separates us from God and brings death.  And Job knew and believed that God had promised to send a Savior, the Seed of the Woman, to reverse the destruction Satan had wrought. 

    Job believed the facts; Job trusted the facts.  Saving faith includes knowledge, assent and trust.  The Devil knows the facts, and even concedes that they are true.  But he gave up trusting in God at the beginning.  He and his fellow fallen angels can only hate the LORD, and try to keep human souls from knowing, from assenting, and most especially from trusting in the Promise of God.  This is the great war that Jesus fought in His life, death and resurrection.  God grant us all true knowledge, assent and trust of the heart in the victory of Jesus. 

   I know that my Redeemer lives.  Saving faith is faith in a person, a particular Man, who is entirely unique.  Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, who has purchased all of humanity, bought all us out of slavery to sin, death and the devil. To be able to do that, Jesus is not just a good man; He is God Himself.  And, despite Satan’s lie, and our fallen expectations, God is always seeking the good of the other.  God is always ready to give of Himself, even make immense sacrifices, for the good of others, of you, and me, and every other man, woman and child.  The Redeemer redeems by self-sacrifice.    

   Self-sacrifice for the good of another is the height of virtue.  The self-sacrifice of mothers is why we celebrate them with their own special day every year.  Now, I hope you celebrate your mother a lot more than that, but at least our nation still sets aside one day to honor moms.  We honor moms, and dads, and firefighters and soldiers, organ donors, and, I hope, trash-collectors, who rise early in the morning to pick up our smelly garbage, allowing us all to keep our homes and neighborhoods clean.  Self-sacrifice for the good of others deserves praise and honor. 

   And no other self-sacrifice can compare to the work of our Redeemer, Jesus.  To redeem us, to undo all that Satan and we sinners have done to destroy our relationship with God and each other, Jesus entered into our broken, messy, smelly world, and lived a life of perfect love and obedience.  Then our Redeemer died, even though He was innocent. 

   Jesus the Righteous One stepped into our unrighteous shoes, volunteering to be called and treated as the sinner.  He gave Himself into the Cross, paying for our sin, dying our death, and thus He robbed Satan of his power to accuse us.  Your sins are forgiven, in Jesus.  This is the self-sacrifice that saves.  This is the Truth that saving faith believes and trusts.   

   At the last he will stand upon the earth.  Is Job here speaking of the Incarnation, the glorious fact that God’s Son became a human being in order to save humanity?  Or is Job speaking of Christ’s glorious return on the Last Day?  How about both?  They go together, to be sure. 

   The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.  God the Father’s eternal Son entered into the Creation that He made, in order to redeem it.  If God only saved from afar, if He only sat in His glory, inaccessible to us sinners, decreeing this or that to be the way of salvation, how would we ever know or believe He is truly our Savior? 

   But this is not the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ.  God’s Son came and lived, breathed, ate, drank, got tired and slept, just like you and me.  He suffered, like us, but infinitely more.  He is the God willing to get down and dirty, to get bloody and beaten, in order to make salvation concrete, approachable, tangible, for us. 

   God did not simply declare victory from afar and call it good.  In His essence, He truly hates sin.  So, to remove sin forever, He took it onto His own shoulders, into His own body, so that we can know and believe that He has truly destroyed the power of sin, for us. 

   Did Job understand that salvation would come through the death of the Redeemer?  That is hard for us to know.  This is just the first book of God’s Word, recorded for us.  There is much more revelation to come.  Suffice it to say, the Redeemer would come and stand upon the earth, a man, come to save.  The Lord’s servant, Jesus, Son of Mary and Son of God. 

   And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.  Now Job is certainly talking about the Last Day, the final coming of Christ, riding on the clouds of glory, coming to usher in the new heavens and new earth.  And after my skin has been thus destroyed.  Job understands sin, and its consequence, which is death.  “In the day that you eat of [the fruit of the forbidden tree], you will surely die.” 

   Adam and Eve’s disobedience brought death.  First, spiritual death, that is, alienation from and enmity toward God, the foolish cutting off of themselves, and us, from the Source of life and every good thing.  Their sin also introduced the death we tend to think about most, physical death.  They did not die right away, but they were on their way to the grave, as we all are from our first breath.  But that is not the worst part, not even close.  Sin also brings eternal death, a wretched existence, forever separated from the LORD of life, eternally dying, unable to escape.   

   To save us sinners, this is the fate, the punishment, this is the horror that Jesus faced on the Cross, for us.   

    To help us bear this terrible truth, before He went to His Cross, Jesus gave us previews of the blessed life, of heavenly life, previews of His victory.  In His ministry, He healed diseases and maladies that had no cure.  He taught with clarity and authority like no prophet ever had.  He fed hungry people, in their bodies and in their souls.  Jesus loved, selflessly, consoling the downtrodden, calling them to find rest in Him.  Everything good, every promise of paradise, is foreshadowed in Jesus’ ministry. 

   In a smaller, but similar way, Job was richly blessed.  At the beginning of his story he seems to be the richest and most faithful man alive.  Then, after a time of trials and doubts, Job comes through God’s correction to be restored.  And then Job was doubly blessed.  His former 7,000 sheep became 14,000, likewise with his donkeys, and camels, and wealth, all doubled. 

   In place of the ten children he lost, Job received ten more children.  Which was still a doubling of Job’s children, for in this we see a sign of the gift Jesus came to give the world.  Yet in my flesh I shall see God.  All who trust in Jesus, in His self-sacrifice, and His glorious resurrection, in His free forgiveness, all with this true faith will also rise again, glorified body and soul reunited, to live in glory forever.  Job would be united with all twenty of his faithful children, and so will you and me, through faith in our Redeemer.   

   This is what we celebrate today.  This is the meaning of the Cross, and of the Resurrection of our Redeemer, Jesus of Nazareth.  In Christ, evil has been defeated.  In Him, free forgiveness for all your sins, and the sins of the whole world, has been earned.  And in the Resurrection, Jesus victory is revealed: Resurrection Joy! My heart faints within me!

   Almost 2,000 years before Christ died and rose, Job saw with the eyes of his heart, and believed.  God grant each of us today faith like Job’s, that we see, and believe, and rejoice,

in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.