Eighth Sunday after
Pentecost, July 22nd, Year of Our + Lord 2012
Trinity and St. John
Lutheran Churches, Sidney and Fairview, Montana
Mark 6:30-44
It seems this week that the lectionary, from which we take
our readings, is at cross purposes with the events of our life together in
Christ. Today before our eyes little Matthias Emens Castro was declared holy by
God through the washing of Water and the Word, a day fairly begging for some
passage about Baptism. But our readings
instead tell us of overabundant banquets of heavenly bread, the Good Shepherd
feeding His flock, bringing to mind the Holy Supper, not so much Baptism. However, as those of you who have been
fortunate enough to join him in worship these last few weeks have heard, the
character of Matthias lends itself quite well to a discussion of God’s banquet,
even on this, the day of his Baptism.
For, as some of you have heard, when this new little saint of God gets
hungry, he’s not shy about letting you know.
In fact, when Matthias is hungry, or has anything else not
right in his world, he is quite vocal, making sure that all around him know
that feeding him, or changing him, or rocking him, whatever he needs, should
immediately take first priority. Three
weeks ago, the time to feed Matthias and the time to receive the Supper
coincided here at Trinity, and Matthias won out. Laura his mother missed the Sacrament because
his fussing and building cries of starvation, which simply demanded to be
met.
Now that’s o.k. for a Sunday here and there, but Laura knows
that to be the best Christian mother she can be, she needs to get as much of
Jesus as she can, especially to eat and drink His Body and Blood for the
remission of sins, for the Supper strengthens Laura and all faithful recipients
to love their neighbors. It’s a bit of a
Catch 22, though, as very high on Laura’s list of neighbors these days is of course
little Matthias. Still, to care best for
Matthias in the long run, both Laura and Jon need the Supper, and so last week
they were determined to make sure they could both commune, no matter what
Matthias had to say.
Oh, what a glorious day last Sunday was. The parents and I had consulted a bit
beforehand, and so, after the elder and I had taken communion to the organist
and a few other members in the pews, we headed back up to the sanctuary via the
side aisle, enabling me to glance over at the Castros, to see if perchance we
needed to commune one of them in the pew, just in case Matthias wasn’t
cooperating. A glance and nod from Jon
indicated that all seemed fine, so we continued back into the chancel and began
serving the gathered guests coming forward to the Altar.
We had served the first table, I think, maybe two, when,
just as the Castros headed up to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, Matthias
realized that his priorities were being relegated, however briefly, to second
fiddle. The protest began. I don’t know if Matthias was hungry, or if
there was something else disturbing him, but as his father carried him toward
the altar, a chorus of wrath and woe
began. If you missed it, just let
me say that given his complete comfort with boldly proclaiming what is on his
heart, even up in the front of the Church, perhaps we should reserve a spot for
Matthias in the Fort Wayne Seminary’s summer Greek class for the year 2034 or
so.
Matthias vigorously protested his parents delaying, however
briefly, the satisfaction of his needs.
Jon and Laura were doing the right thing, but from the perspective of
Matthias, something was not quite right, and Matthias wanted things put right
in his world, right now. When Mom and
Dad did not immediately respond to his cry, he took it up a notch, or two. By the time Jon made it to the rail, father
and son had matching red faces, and I was locked in a duel to see if I could
make myself heard to the people gathered at the rail, a foot or two in front of
me. It was great. Matthias’s volume was impressive, definitely
a future preacher’s lungs if I’ve ever heard some. We really should begin praying now that the
Lord of the Harvest will send Matthias as worker into His harvest field, to use
that voice to proclaim the Gospel to every nation, perhaps all at once.
I loved the whole thing, Christ with His Supper inserting
Himself right into the messiness of our very real human lives, the Lord our
Righteousness delivering His gifts right into the midst of our need. It doesn’t get much better than babies crying
in Church, adding their voices to the chorus of earth and heaven, reminding us
all that Christ passed through every stage of human development, because every
stage of our lives needed to be redeemed.
I suspect that Matthias will be one of those blessed
children who, when their parents bring them to the rail, reach out for the
bread, and grab at the chalice, that he will want to be fed at the table as
soon as possible. Which is as it should
be. The Supper is for the baptized, the
only limitation being the need for all who commune at the altar to rightly
confess the faith proclaimed there, and to discern, that is to understand and
confess what God is doing in the Supper.
For the Supper is the very Holy of Holies, to be handled with care, for
God Himself is present to save. The
supper a gift meant for the gathered faithful, for only faith in Christ enables
us to safely and beneficially receive it.
The Supper is also a meal which Paul tells us is a proclamation. As we eat, we proclaim the Gospel, and we of
course want to get it right, to proclaim the same truth, so that all who
participate can do so with joy and confidence.
So it isn’t yet time to commune Matthias, because we cannot yet hear his
confession of faith. But that every
baptized Christian should want the Supper, that is meet, right and
salutary.
Certainly Matthias seemed distraught last Sunday, as Mom and
Dad got to eat, but he didn’t. We as yet
can’t understand everything Matthias is communicating, but he certainly seems
to be hungering and thirsting for righteousness. That is, Matthias is very keenly focused on
having everything right in his world, and righteousness is having everything
right, not just with the world, but with the Lord. Being right with God requires holiness, a
righteousness and a love for God which we sinners cannot produce, but which God
gives as a gift, delivered by Word and Sacrament, creating faith in Christ’s
blood bought forgiveness.
This gift of righteousness Matthias has, fresh from the
waters of Holy Baptism, where the Lord, who is our Righteousness, placed His robe of
righteousness over Matthias, covering all his sin, making him spotless and pure
in the sight of God the Father. Today is
truly a special day for Matthias, the day we can point him to for the rest of
his earthly life, the day when God publicly proclaimed: Matthias is mine.
Now, the Lord has been privately been making that claim for
some time now, writing Matthias’ name in the Book of Life before the foundation
of the world, and speaking to Matthias since his beginning. Yes, Matthias has been hearing the Lord call
him for 10 months now. For nine months
in the womb, and in the month since, Matthias has been a regular hearer of the
Word, so certainly the Word of Christ has been dwelling in him richly.
And by the Word of Christ, the Holy Spirit creates a hunger
for more, a hunger for the putting right of things wrong, for the filling of
the stomach of faith with the promised good news bread. By God’s grace and power, those who regularly
hear the Christ’s Word of Law and Gospel have created in them a hunger and
thirst for righteousness, a hunger and thirst for Christ Himself.
This is as it should be for the Baptized. And also for those approaching Baptism. Every sinner whom the Lord is calling to
Himself should be demanding Christ.
Those who have heard the promises of Baptism should demand to be given
the new birth of the Holy Spirit, and those who are baptized should be reaching
out for the Supper. Every sinner who
hopes in Christ should be crying out to be given Him, through His Word, through
His Sacraments, now, and often, and always.
Because we need Him.
Oh yes, we need Him, day by day.
I really do think we should pray that Matthias will be called into the
Holy Ministry. But even more we should
pray he be one of those steady, boring, always in Church Christians, a person
who when he’s sixty will say he can never remember not being regular in
Church. We should pray this for him,
because Matthias will need it. Despite
his promising start, despite his faithful parents, Matthias will need to be
reminded, he will need to be pointed to this day. He will need to be challenged, confronted
when his actions brings shame on the Name placed on him today, confronted, so
he can again be comforted by the Good News of Christ’s death and resurrection,
receiving again the word of forgiveness he received today. Forgiveness is always available for Matthias,
because God has promised to forgive all who trust in Jesus.
God counts Matthias righteous for Christ’s sake, but
Matthias will sin, and the world will lure him away, and the devil will seek to
devour him like a roaring lion, and the only defense our Lord has given
Matthias, and you, is His Word of promise.
We are so often plagued by doubts.
Could God really love me? Is His
way really true, and truly best? Don’t I
have to make my own way, now that I’ve fallen away, again? Will God forgive me, again?
Against these and a thousand other doubts and temptations,
all we have is God’s promise, made in Christ, delivered by the Spirit through
proclamation and the Sacraments. The
Gospel in Word and Sacrament is all we have to fight sin, guilt and death, but
it is enough, for the Good News is that no sin can be too great for Jesus to
forgive. We poor miserable sinners can
always come back to Him, confessing our sins, because on the Cross, Jesus shed
His blood and gave up His Spirit, in order to win forgiveness and new life for
every sinner. The journey of faith on
which Matthias embarked today, the path that all of you are walking, is one
necessarily built on daily forgiveness.
And it is God’s great joy to lead you on that path, to daily and richly
forgive you, for this is just who God is.
Matthias, since his mother is a teacher and singer and
fiddle player, may be naturally inclined to singing and speaking publicly, good
traits for a future pastor. Certainly he
has good volume. And perhaps from his
dad he has inherited the habits of a steady, hard worker. From grandpas and grandmas he no doubt has
other fine traits. But better than all
of these, today God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit has put His Name on
Matthias, and made promises that last forever, promises of forgiveness and
eternal joy. These are the promises that
faith lives from, and my prayer, for Matthias, and for you, is that the Lord
will grant you a daily hunger and thirst for righteousness, a hunger and thirst
for His Word and Sacrament, a hunger and thirst for Jesus, who is your life,
both today, and forever and ever, Amen.
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