It's Left Over Time

Text: Mark 8:1-9

"For some reason the grace of God is a stumbling block to the majority of people who hear it and a veritable millstone hanging around the necks of pastors, preachers, and priests who exchange it for a sugar sweetened, or vitamin fortified version of the Law, as if somehow since Christ died for you and you are forgiven you now you can somehow close the deal by living as good and trying as hard you can to help and save others until the day that you die."

 

To hear the entire sermon preached for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "It's Left Over Time"--beginning with the Old Testament Reading and concluding with the Prayer of the Church, click on the following MP3 audio link. “It's Left Over Time"

 

If you would rather just read the sermon, or read along as you listen, the preaching outline/manuscript follows below. However, please understand some transitions are filled in and bullet points fleshed out from the pulpit that are not included in the ms.

 

 

 

his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” ⁵And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” ⁶And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. ⁷And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. ⁸And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ⁹And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

Dear Creatures of God,

I don’t know about you, but I have to wonder what they did with those leftovers.

Oh, boy! It’s leftover time.

Sacramental imagery/typology.

When is the last time you paused to consider The Miracle of Daily Bread? Have you ever?

I would suggest that in order to impress this upon your own sinful hardened heart, clouded reason, and misdirected desires pray this prayer of David before your family meal as we find presented to us by Dr. Martin Luther in the Small Catechism [Read LSB p. 327 with the Explanation to the 4^th Petition in place of the entire Lord’s Prayer].

As you have just confessed together here, in THE FOURTH PETITION of the Lord’s Prayer we beseech our Lord: Give us this day our daily bread.

LARGE CATECHISM EXPLANATION

⁷² Here, now, we consider the poor breadbasket, the necessities of our body and of the temporal life. It is a brief and simple word, but it has a very wide scope. For when you mention and pray for daily bread, you pray for everything that is necessary in order to have and enjoy daily bread. On the other hand, you also pray against everything that interferes with it. Therefore, you must open wide and extend your thoughts not only to the oven or the flour bin, but also to the distant field and the entire land, which bears and brings to us daily bread and every sort of nourishment. For if God did not cause food to grow and He did not bless and preserve it in the field, we could never take bread from the oven or have any to set upon the table.

Furthermore, do you think God the Father created you, delivered you into this world, had His only begotten Son suffer and die for you, and has born you into the kingdom of heaven by Holy Baptism would then be negligent in seeing to your ongoing needs of body and soul?

"The earth would have to run out of bread or the heavens would have to run out of rain before a Christian would die of starvation.; indeed, God Himself would have to starve to death first." Luther's Works, Vol. 21, p. 207 on Matthew 6:33

Scripture is full of examples of how the Lord takes care of the bodily needs of those who look to and abide with Him as they hear His Word. Today we have two such examples set before us—Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and a great crowd of 4000+ who had followed Jesus on a three day journey and had virtually run out of food as they were gathered in that “desolate place.”

And so we pray and sing with David: The eyes of all look to You, [O Lord,] and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. If only every living thing would let Him! That is His desire—to satisfy your desires.

Eden was a garden of food—with only one tree off limits. ⁸And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. . . . ¹⁵The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Of course that was the one that the devil used to attract Adam and Eve and lead them into sin.

Surrounded by luscious life giving food—not to mention having 24-7 in-the-flesh access to the One who created that food and them—our first father and mother listened to a deceiver and decided they just had to have something else. And ever since Adam and Eve and their children down through the ages and still in these Latter Days have been making bad, that is to say evil and deadly decisions based upon the fact that they get caught up in lies and are never satisfied.

It is into this very world of dissatisfied children that our Lord steps once again in our Gospel lesson.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145:15-19

So, the same God who walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden has been walking and talking amongst the crowd gathered around Him for three days.

He has been feeding them the Bread of Life—the very words that proceed from the mouth of God to identify the lies that they have been following, call them to repent of their sinful dissatisfaction, forgive them their sin, and deliver them from the lies to the truth that gives real satisfaction and everlasting life in the kingdom of heaven.

The same Lord from whom Adam and Eve fled, thus bringing a curse upon the earth that causes us to this day to labor for our daily bread and suffer and die from the very things we eat and put into our bodies, this same Lord once rejected in the Garden of Eden and who will once again be rejected in the Garden of Gethsemane and put to death on a cross has compassion on those who have been listening to His preaching the kingdom of heaven and feeds them earthly food as well.

He takes from the meager supply left among the thousands—seven loaves of bread and a few fish—and feeds them all so that would not feint from hunger on their long journeys home.

Now certainly this a great and wondrous miracle that our Lord performs and a great display of His compassion for the children of God. But how He does it is also important and instructive for us today. “He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them.”

The Lord gathers the people and has them rest. He takes of the dwindling supply the people have brought with them and multiplies that supply because He is the one from whom those loaves and fish came in the first place and with the Son of God comes an endless supply of all that is truly needful for both body and soul.

But Jesus doesn’t just take the fish and loaves and cause them to fall out of the sky into the people’s mouths, or to appear out of nowhere before the people, or transport them telekinetically through the air into their laps. No, he takes the loaves and fishes and breaks them into pieces and gives them to “to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they ate and were satisfied.“

Dear children of God, that is still how our Lord works today. It is why you are here, why our Lord has gathered you in this “desolate place” today. It is why He continues to gather people around His Word and Sacraments in otherwise “desolate places” all over the world--to feed you with His Bread of Life that sustains you for eternal life. And He does it through servants into whose hands He has placed the pieces He Himself breaks off to feed to you.

In the hands of our Lord is an endless supply of all that you need—and more! And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

He sent them away to go back to their homes and their families and their neighbors and their daily work to tell others of the wonderful things He had done--to establish churches where God’s ministers preach the Word among them for eternal life, and to serve their neighbors (that begins with the closest of neighbors, aka family members) that they also might have the food and other necessities of life here in this world and for the world to come.

Deer creatures of God, what you see in our Gospel text today is Christ’s restoration of what was lost in Eden—at least the beginning of that restoration and “foretaste of the Feast to come.” And our Lord gives you an even greater and more miraculous taste of that restoration and “foretaste of the Feast to come” as often as you come to the table of the Lord in His house, He has more than enough to feed you and send you away back to your daily life to serve your neighbor--just as He has for thousands of years and billions of people. So come often to eat and be satisfied. Our Lord always has enough grace and mercy to forgive the sins of those He has brought to repentance. He always has enough water to pour over another sinner’s head to baptize them into the kingdom of God. He always has enough bread and wine to feed you His very own body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. For from the beginning of creation God has established that there will always be daily bread for all of His creatures—especially you whom He has created and redeemed to be in His image—with plenty of leftovers for every generation to come, even unto the Last Day and life everlasting— in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Last Penny

Text: Matthew 5:17-26

"For some reason the grace of God is a stumbling block to the majority of people who hear it and a veritable millstone hanging around the necks of pastors, preachers, and priests who exchange it for a sugar sweetened, or vitamin fortified version of the Law, as if somehow since Christ died for you and you are forgiven you now you can somehow close the deal by living as good and trying as hard you can to help and save others until the day that you die."

To hear the entire sermon preached for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "The Last Penny"--beginning with the Old Testament Reading and concluding with the Prayer of the Church, click on the following MP3 audio link. “The Last Penny"

If you would rather just read the sermon, or read along as you listen, the preaching outline/manuscript follows below. However, please understand some transitions are filled in and bullet points fleshed out from the pulpit that are not included in the ms.

Dear Baptized Children of God,

Have you paid the last penny?

Imagine you bought a house with a 40 year mortgage on it. Imagine you had faithfully made every payment for over 39 years of your life, scrimping and saving to do it, going without cable, internet, smart phone, car, even meals at times. Imagine when you came down to the last payment things had gotten so tough that for the first time you were unable to make your house payment on time, you were coming down to the last day to pay before repossession/auction and found yourself a penny short, caught in one of those red tape nightmares wherein for want of a penny you lose the house you have worked so hard to own and keep up for you entire adult life.

What would you do if someone then offered you the penny you lacked?

Are you kidding me Pastor?

No, I’m not kidding you at all.

People do this all the time with God. For some reason the grace of God is a stumbling block to the majority of people who hear it and a veritable millstone hanging around the necks of pastors, preachers, and priests who exchange it for a sugar sweetened, or vitamin fortified version of the Law, as if somehow since Christ died for you and you are forgiven you now you can somehow close the deal by living as good and trying as hard you can to help and save others until the day that you die.

It’s like a little comic I came across on Facebook yesterday. The voice of God comes to a man from above telling him what he is about to get into by bringing the grace of God to the people of a particular congregation. God asks this man who desires to become a servant of the Word, “Are you up for the challenge of bringing grace into the community there?”

The man naively replies, “I think so, after all, how hard can it possibly be to help a church understand and live by Your grace?”

God immediately breaks out in laughter, “Hahahahaha!” but seeing the man is startled, confused, and troubled that God is laughing at his good intentions and best construction on the hearts of men, God stops short and says, “Oh. Sorry, John, I thought that was a joke.”

Now you know that I very rarely use stories, jokes, or internet theological ditties in preaching the Word of God to you. That is because neither preaching nor the Divines Service of Christ’s Church is a game. This is truly a life and death business in which God engages us—a business totally run on His terms and completely carried out in His currency, that is, as we confess in the Small Catechism explanation to the Second Article of the Creed:

[Jesus] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. He did this not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, so that I may be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

How did Christ, the Son of God who took on human flesh and became man, pay for your sins? Please confess it with me by repeating after me:

“He did this not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, so that I may be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.”

And again, according to the Third Article:

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.

How is it you believe in Jesus Christ and come to Him? Please confess it with me by repeating after me:

the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.

Yes, dear baptized, “This is most certainly true.”

And this is what Jesus was telling His disciples, and is telling us today in our Gospel text.

¹⁷[Jesus said:] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:16-26

¹⁶ And behold, a man came up to him, saying,“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” ¹⁷ And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” ²¹ Jesus said to him,“If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”²² When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:16-26

The apostle Paul actually tells us how God makes it possible in today’s epistle reading.

⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:1–11

And that brings us back to our little cartoon. “How hard can it possibly be to help a church understand and live by Your grace?”

The rich young man went away sorrowful. The disciples were perplexed. The religious leaders of the Jews, who like the rich young man counted themselves and were seen by their people as having kept all these things, were angry and bitter.

Christ’s merit is obtained not by our works or pennies, but from grace through faith, without money and merit [Ephesians 2:8–9]. It is offered not through [any man’s power, be he clergy, or lay], but through the preaching of God’s Word [1 Corinthians 1:21]. -- Smalcald Part II, ARTICLE II: The Mass

Now that preaching of God’s Word is the delivery of the forgiveness of sins purchased down to the last penny by Christ Jesus on Calvary. The purchase of this forgiveness—your forgiveness and mine--was complete and the mortgage on your life paid in full the moment the Son of God in human flesh declared “It is finished! ” and commended His Spirit into His Father’s hands. And it is received by you only through Christ’s Church by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the preaching of the Word to forgive your sins and deliver you from their evil-- --in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Al Qaeda threatening to start wildfires in US | Video | abc7.com

What was reported in advance as a "mere thought" has become something of an unreported mere coincidence in the present.

I Am a Sinful Man

"Dear Simon Peter,

It is very good, it is certainly true, and it is most beneficial that you say, 'I am a sinful man.' Or, as we hear and pray together every Sunday here at Trinity in the Proper Preface, 'It is truly meet, right, and salutary.'

"Why? Because your saying, 'I am a sinful man,' is the beginning of your giving thanks at this time and in this place to the one holy Lord of us all--almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, who has called you by His Holy Spirit to gather you with others who also say with you, 'I am a sinful man.'"

To hear the entire sermon preached for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "I Am a Sinful Man"--beginning with the Old Testament Reading and concluding with the Prayer of the Church, click on the following MP3 audio link. "I Am a Sinful Man"

If you would rather just read the sermon, or read along as you listen, the preaching outline/manuscript follows below. However, please understand some transitions are filled in and bullet points fleshed out from the pulpit that are not included in the ms.

8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. -- Luke 5:1-11

Dear Simon Peter,

It is very good, it is certainly true, and it is most beneficial that you say, "I am a sinful man ." Or, as we hear and pray together every Sunday here at Trinity in the Proper Preface, "It is truly meet, right, and salutary."

Why? Because your saying, "I am a sinful man," is the beginning of your giving thanks at this time and in this place to the one holy Lord of us all--almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, who has called you by His Holy Spirit to gather you with others who also say with you, "I am a sinful man."

Again, why? Because, as we heard in the 15th Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke two weeks ago, "This man [at whose feet you have fallen] receives sinners and eats with them."

Furthermore it is *only* sinners, and those who say, "I am a sinful man," whom this man Jesus, the Son of God, receives now and seats with Him at the right hand of His Father in heaven to: • bathe in the Living Water of His Baptism; • nourish with the Living Bread of His Word; • refresh with the Living blood of His Communion; • and eat with again on the Last Day at the Resurrection of all flesh.

Yes, dear Simon Peter, it is indeed very good, certainly true, and most beneficial that you say, "I am a sinful man ."

And by Simon Peter I mean each one of you and include myself as well.

You see, the name Simon was a very common Greek name given him by his parents meaning, "flat nosed." And Peter is a rather unique Greek name given him by His savior Jesus meaning, "Rock."

And this is why I call each of you, as well as myself, this morning, by the name Simon Peter.

For what each of us, indeed what every single human being born of two human parents since Adam & Ave first sinned in the garden have in common with Simon the flat nosed one is that each of us is most certainly a sinful man.

And what each of us Baptized children of God who have been splashed with His Living Water have in common with Peter the Rock is that each of us now bear the name of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and have been delivered from all our sins to do the work that has been prepared for us to do in Christ Jesus.

It is interesting what caused Peter to say, "I am a sinful man ." [Back to Text.]

The circumstances for each of us flat nosed ones is different for each of us.

Yet, ultimately, it is only the Word of God that caused him and us to say, "I am a sinful man ."

Christopher was examined and absolved yesterday according to the confession of the faith that has been handed down to us even from the early church, the apostles, and the very Word of God:
"it is not usual to give the body of the Lord, except to them that have been previously examined and absolved. And the people are most carefully taught concerning faith in the absolution," [AC XXV]

1. Do you believe that you are a sinner?
Yes, I believe it. I am a sinner.

2. How do you know this?
From the Ten Commandments, which I have not kept.

19. What should admonish and encourage a Christian to receive the Sacrament frequently?
First, both the command and the promise of Christ the Lord. Second, his own pressing need, because of which the command, encouragement, and promise are given.

20. But what should you do if you are not aware of this need and have no hunger and thirst for the Sacrament?
To such a person no better advice can be given than this: first, he should touch his body to see if he still has flesh and blood. Then he should believe what the Scriptures say of it in Galatians 5 and Romans 7. Second, he should look around to see whether he is still in the world, and remember that there will be no lack of sin and trouble, as the Scriptures say in John 15-16 and in 1 John 2 and 5. Third, he will certainly have the devil also around him, who with his lying and murdering day and night will let him have no peace, within or without, as the Scriptures picture him in John 8 and 16; 1 Peter 5; Ephesians 6; and 2 Timothy 2.

All of this was true for Simon Peter just as it is for Christ, and just as it is for you. And each of you have been examined and absolved in the same way as Chris.

What is also true for you, dear Simon Peter, yes each of you and me is Jesus said to …, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

No, not all of you will be catching men in the same way. But you will be catching men, because this is the good work prepared for you in Christ Jesus to do—usually w/o your even knowing it. [Matt. 25; Wittenberg beer]

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:28-31

So all of us who have been called with Simon Peter to say, "I am a sinful man ," are once again gathered to rejoice in the forgiveness of sins; to live in the kingdom of heaven; and to be seated the table of our Lord now today and even forevermore-- --in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

The Pains of Childbirth

"Here, in Paul's little sermon for us this day, lies the answer to the age old question, "Why do bad things happen to good people." Or, more accurately, why do baptized, believing Christians suffer after they have come to faith?"

To hear the entire sermon preached for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "The Pains of Childbirth"--beginning with the Gradual Hymn and concluding with the Prayer of the Church. click on the following MP3 audio link. "The Pains of Childbirth"

If you would rather just read the sermon, or read along as you listen, the preaching outline/manuscript follows below. However, please understand some transitions are filled in and bullet points fleshed out from the pulpit that are not included in the ms.

"The Pains of Childbirth"

Dear children of God,

The Lord God, having found the man and his wife hiding themselves from His presence among the trees of the garden, said to the woman, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children." Genesis 3:8, 16

And so it has been to this very day…

Certainly so in the bearing of children into this world--not just in the delivery room, but in the whole rearing and nurturing of children.

That said, The Pains of Childbirth are even more acute and true of our birth as sons of God into the kingdom of heaven. This is what the apostle, Paul, is preaching to the children of God being born in the church at Rome then in our Epistle reading for today--as well as to all the children of God who were yet to be born, and yes to the children of God being born into the kingdom of heaven in His church called Trinity here at Layton, UT.

Here, in Paul's little sermon for us this day, lies the answer to the age old question, "Why do bad things happen to good people." Or, more accurately, why do baptized, believing Christians suffer after they have come to faith?

To better understand, let us go back to the preceding verses, where Paul preaches:
".. if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." Romans 8:13-17

Our suffering is the Spirit of God putting our sinful flesh to death, and eventually burying it on our last day in this world to raise us in that incorruptible and imperishable flesh of which Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 15. It is the suffering of The Pains of Childbirth.

Recall from four weeks ago Nicodemus' question to Jesus in the dark of night: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" John 3:4

Here in out text today, Paul is preaching about Jesus' answer to Nicodemus.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' John 3:5-7

Amidst all the blessings of this life, as we receive our daily bread we also suffer the pains of childbirth as we are born into the kingdom of heaven, which birth will not be complete until the day of Resurrection.

So with this in mind let us consider the inspired preaching of St. Paul, the apostle of our Lord, and martyr for the faith who knew better than anyone the pains of childbirth—both the pains in his own body, and the pains he bore for those to whom he preached as a mother and father feel for their children when they suffer and even die.

18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.


19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.


20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it,


in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.


22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.


23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Dear Children of God, as we groan and wait eagerly for the completion of our adoption and the redemption of our bodies, we live in the womb of Christ's holy bride, the church, where each one of us sings those words of our Hymn of the Day:
Baptismal waters cover me.

As we approach on bended knee; not only do we our Father in heaven's mercy plead, but the Holy Spirit delivers His mercy to us. By His Baptismal waters the Holy Spirit covers us, bathing us with and immersing us in the Word of God by the wounded hand of Christ that sets us free--absolving and delivering us from all of our sins, and even giving us His very body and blood to eat and drink and nourish us in His body, the Church, which was taken out of His side on Calvary and formed out of the water and blood that poured forth as He was pierced by the Roman sword.

In these Baptismal waters, which continue to cover you in the holy Christian Church, you are indeed held in our Father in heaven's strong embrace that shields you and delivers you from The Pains of Childbirth now and even until the redemption of you flesh on the Last Day as you are born in your own resurrected flesh into the kingdom of heaven--in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen