Sermon for Pentecost 9: "The Treasure Hunter"

 + 9^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 26^th, 2026 +

Series A: Deuteronomy 7:6-9; Romans 8:28-39; Matthew 13:44-52

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

 

Imagine yourself looking for property. Someone – a rich uncle or grandparent – leaves you a blank check. Any place. Any size. Any location. No limit. No budget. I know what I’d do. Find lake front property with a mountain view. Or a private beach on the pacific. Or a cabin near running streams, enveloped by trees.

 

Whatever your version of day dream house hunters is, we all think this way. Looking for the grand. The glorious. The bigger. Better. Something more. Something higher.

 

Not Jesus. When Jesus goes out to buy property he doesn’t look for the best and brightest neighborhood. He doesn’t go house hunting for the multimillion dollar water-front views. He doesn’t buy a house in the west hills to look down on everyone. No. He gets down in the dirt. He slums it with sinners. Jesus buys a cemetery. Jesus gives up everything he has to buy a graveyard with our headstone on it.

 

You see, the work of God and the kingdom of God is best viewed – not from an ivory tower – but from down in the dirt. 

 

And that’s where the parable of the treasure in the field begins. 

 

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

 

It begins in the dirt. Down in ground with the worms and beetles. In the dust and decay. Buried. Six feet underground. In the cursed earth soiled by sin. This parable begins a graveyard. With a man standing over our grave, leaning against our tombstone.

 

Who is this man? Who is this treasure hunter who seeks something buried and covered in dust and ashes? Who is this spendthrift who sells all he has to love something and someone so dirty and buried beneath so much uncleanliness? 

 

Though we like to think of ourselves as the heroes of our own stories. As the good guys in the play. But this is the great delusion of sin. Lost things cannot find themselves. Dead people can’t raise themselves out of the grave. Broken people can’t be their own doctor. Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve cannot rid ourselves of our own guilt and shame no matter how hard we try and bury it or cover it up. Sinners – like you and me – cannot save ourselves. All we find when we dig around in our hearts and minds is a bottomless pit of pride and a heart of darkness as deep as the grave.

We are not the treasure hunters. We are the hunted. 

 

So if we’re not the man of this parable…who is? Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 13 carefully and you will hear the answer. Over and over again he says, “the Kingdom of heaven is like…a sower. a man who sows good wheat. A man who sows mustard seed.”

 

He is the man who is both God and man. The man who is the Kingdom of God in human flesh. The man who makes his kingdom small enough to grow in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Who is born in humility where creatures of his own creation feed and find rest. Who eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners. Who rolls up his sleeves, gets his hands dirty, and comes to seek and to save the lost. To dig our way out of the grave by going into death for us. 

 

You see, Jesus is the man of this parable. The treasure hunter. The merchant. The sower. For us, a cemetery is a place of remembering and weeping and longing. For Jesus it’s the place where he goes to work saving sinners. Where he finds you. buys the whole field. Sells everything he has. Ransoms his life. Redeems you. Purchases and wins you. Buys you out of slavery. And he doesn’t do it with gold or silver or bitcoin. But with the currency of his holy precious blood.

 

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

 

There are plenty of stories about people who have given up everything, sacrificed time and money and possessions to achieve their dream. Accomplish a goal. But there’s only one story where a man – Jesus, the God-Man – gives up everything he has to save and rescue lost us lost sinners.

 

And this is the same God-Man, the same Sower and Savior who loves us who were unlovable. Who justifies us who were ungodly. Who lays down his life for us sinners. Jesus seeks and finds you. Jesus raises you from the dead by his own death and resurrection. Jesus declares you are his chosen, holy treasure. His people of his own possession. Not because of who we are or what we’ve done. But because of who Jesus is and what he’s done for you. You are his chosen, cherished, saved-by-grace treasure because of the one who treasures you.

 

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. ⁷ It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,⁸ but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 

 

 

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

 

Sermon for Pentecost 7: "The Sower"

 + 7^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 12^th, 2026 +

Series A: Isaiah 55:10-13; Romans 8:12-17; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

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

 

When you travel through the Willamette Valley you’re suddenly surrounded by miles of fields of grass seed, hops, and hazelnuts. When you cross the Cascades into Central Washington you’re greeted by rolling hills of winter wheat, alfalfa, and barley. The scene is tranquil. Idyllic. 

 

And yet among the fields of barley lies a battlefield. Beneath those amber waves of grain a battle rages. It’s a battle against time. Weather. Scorching sun. Soil and nutrients. Invasive insects below. Devouring birds from above. Weeds. Thorns. Thistles.

 

In a broken, fallen world, gardening and farming are more than an act of bearing fruit and food. These vocations are an act of hope and faith. A righteous rebellion against the devil’s chaos and corruption of God’s good creation.

 

In other words, it’s a miracle anywhere, anytime, anything grows and gives life.

 

The same is true when we turn our eyes and ears to Jesus’ parable of the Sower.

 

A sower went out to sow.

 

Jesus’ opening line is much more than descriptive storytelling; it’s a declaration of war. Jesus the Lion of Judah is one the move. The Kingdom of God in the flesh has landed and invaded his fallen creation; he’s come to bushwhack his way through thorns and thistles to save you.

 

And all the while he’s doing something good and gracious and unexpected. Wild even. The sower went out to sow.

 

Not in the perfect fertile Puyallup valleys. Not sparingly, not meagerly, not economically or efficiently. But prodigally. Abundantly. Graciously. Everywhere he went. Fists full of seeds. Hand after hand. Tossed out. 

 

The seed is the Gospel of the kingdom. In a word the seed is Jesus, the promised Seed. Ever since Genesis 15 (and before the foundations of the world), God promised to sow his seed. To send His Son. And the seed of Christ is sown generously and graciously from Adam and Eve down to the Virgin Mary, where the Sower sows himself into his own creation and steps foot on the farm where the battle rages, and where he will be victorious. 

 

Jesus is both the message and the messenger. He is the Word of God incarnate and He speaks the Word of God. He’s promised Seed and the Sower of the Seed of the Good News he bears and brings.

 

And yet, Jesus warns in his parable, not all is well on the farm. No sooner does the Sower sow his gracious seeds than they are surrounded on every side. Besieged. Embattled. 

 

The devil crows his murderous lies into our ears and eyes and hearts and minds, trying his damnedest to snatch and devour and destroy everything everywhere wherever and whenever he can. To sow discord and division and death where our Lord has sown concord and communion and new creation. And then there’s the rocky soil. Sin-hardened hearts. Shallow faith with roots only as deep as our own thoughts and emotions. There are thorns and weeds that creep into our eyes, ears, hearts and minds through our glowing screens, through the cares of this world, through the love of unfruitful and unalive idols, those made for us and those we make for ourselves. 

 

And it’s at this point of Jesus’ story that we might be tempted to sell the farm. Call it quits. In a broken world of weeds and thorns and rocky soil and where the devil crows his lies. Why not give up. Give in to despair. Lament that we’re not enough. There’s no good soil here.

 

And that part’s true. We’re not the good soil we think we are. Our hearts are a weed patch. Full of thorns and thistles. A rocky field. A stone-hard, death-cold dirt patch. You and I are not the good soil. That much is true. 

 

If anything is going to grow here, in us. If the word of God is going to take root and live and thrive. It’s going to be a miracle. 

 

So this is true as well. In fact it’s more true. Christ the Sower sows better life-giving seed than you do sin. Jesus is a greater, more generous and gracious Sower than you and I are sinners. 

 

Christ the Sower is also Christ the Savior and Christ the Sanctifier. He hallows the rocky soil into good soil. He makes your heart, ears, and mind fertile soil for the word of God to land, take deep root, and flourish. He plows and tills and turns over the dirt and plants and protects and gathers his harvest. 

He works repentance and forgiveness.

He buries us and makes us alive.

He takes our rocky heart of stone and makes us new, clean, restored, renewed, redeemed – holy ground. You, his holy people in his holy church are his victory garden. Rescued. Redeemed. Restored in his dying and rising. 

 

Miraculous? You bet it is. Unexpected? Absolutely. Gracious and good? That’s how our Lord loves to operate.

 

When the Sower steps forth into the field of this world he marches forth into battle for you. He speaks his word and gives you life. He raises the dead. Brings light out of darkness. Saints out of sinners. Resurrection out of the grave. Good fruit and a bountiful harvest out of thorns and thistles.

 

This is how Jesus still works. Hiddenly. Lowly. Humbly. In weakness of words and water. In the unexpected. Grain from the field which is grinded down into flour and made into bread that is his body. Grapes from the vineyard that are gathered, crushed, poured out as wine that is his blood.

 

Jesus is the Seed and the Sower, sown and planted within the womb of Mary. He became smaller than a mustard seed. So that he might grow and live for you and then be buried and planted in the earth for you, having laid down his life for you. And then out of the earth he rose for you to bring the fruit of his salvation for you. It’s all a miraculous, gracious gift from our good and gracious Sower and Savior.

 

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

 

Sermon for Pentecost 8: "Weeds and Wheat"

 8th Sunday after Pentecost - July 19th, 2026

Series A: Isaiah 44:6-8; Romans 8:18-27; Matthew 13:24-39, 36-43

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

We’ve all had it happen before. You’re reading a book and your friend says, “oh isn’t that the story where so-and-so dies at the end?” Or you’re scrolling through social media and someone spoils the end of the movie you were excited to see. Spoiler alerts. They can be frustrating or maddening when it comes to our favorite stories. But sometimes there’s a blessing hidden in a spoiler.

God gives us spoiler alerts in Scripture all the time. Remember Genesis 3:15. In the midst of the fall of sin, Adam and Eve’s punishment, and curses, God delivers a promise. He tells us the end of the story. When you read the rest of Scripture, you read the story of salvation with this promise in mind, that Jesus, the Seed of the woman was born and crushed the serpent’s head in his crucifixion. 

When you know how a story ends, it changes how you see the rest of the story. This happens to be a good way of reading the parable of the weeds. Jesus’ parable calls our attention forward to the End, to his second coming in glory. Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. 

That’s End Times language. Jesus draws our ears forward to the Last Day. We long for this day. Pray for this day. Paul says that with creation, we groan eagerly awaiting the new creation and the redemption that comes in the resurrection of the body. We hear this parable and we long for the day when God will separate those who are declared righteous in Christ from everything and everyone who has rejected Christ’s righteousness. Come, Lord Jesus! Send your angels. Gather the harvest into your barn. Set right what is wrong once and for all.

Knowing this is how Jesus ends the parable changes how we see the rest of the story. So, let’s go back to the beginning.

 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

 

As parables go, this one is fairly straight forward. Jesus gives us the interpretation. “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

 

Still, there’s a tension in this parable, between the now and the not yet, between the present wicked weeds in the field near the good seed and the future harvest of that good seed and destruction of the weeds. When Jesus tells the crowds the focus is on the field and the weeds that have grown up next to the wheat. ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He’s the Son of Man, he only sows good seed. He gives and creates life and faith. 

An enemy hath done this. Our Lord creates. The devil destroys. The Lord wants only to be gracious and merciful. The devil wants only chaos and death. Jesus sows good seed. The devil sows weeds. 

 For the crowds…the concern is on the ‘now’ part of the ‘now’ and ‘not yet.’ We get that, don't we? The devil plants his poison now. Sin and death surround us now. We see wicked weeds growing all around us, and even within us. And like the servants in the parable, we want our Master, Jesus, to do something about it. ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them? Ever wondered that? Why doesn’t God just do what he did in the flood, and wipe it all out again? Why doesn’t he go scorched earth and blow torch all the weeds?

Rest assured, our Lord knows what it’s like to live surrounded by wicked weeds. This parable is about his life and ministry too. He is the kingdom of God. Our Lord knows about all the weeds, and has done something about it. And promises to do more. But in the meantime, he reveals his compassion.

This is where the end of the story helps us see the whole thing more clearly. The sower doesn’t pull the weeds, not yet…lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Because the sower cares for his wheat – because the Son of Man cares for you and all who believe in him – he does not uproot all the world’s evil and wickedness. Not only that, notice that the job of the final separation of wheat and weeds – of the righteous from those who have rejected Jesus’ righteousness – that job isn’t ours. That’s for the time of “not yet.” 

Does that mean we ignore sin? No. We live as faithful wheat of the Sower. We speak out against evil and wickedness in the world, and in our own sinful flesh. We call the world to repentance and forgiveness, and as we live in repentance and forgiveness. We live by the grace of Jesus the Sower, because we know the end of the story, the coming salvation, the “not yet” of the Last Day.

And yet, the Lord does not let sin, death, and the devil reign without consequence forever. A day is coming when this world will come to a close. The Lord’s angels will separate the wheat from the weeds, the faithful from the sinful, and there will be consequences. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 

Scripture teaches us that Hell is real, as much as we may not like it. But remember, our Lord has no desire to send anyone there. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, not for humanity. And yet, Scripture clearly teaches us, if one persistently refuses faith unto the point of death, the Lord will give them what they want. 

But do not fear. You know the end of the story. Jesus Christ has taken all your sins away. Jesus gave his life to save you from destruction. Here in the now of this life, we live in patience and trust in Jesus the Sower. We know the end of the story. Our Lord Jesus endured the weeds. He wore the crown of thorns on his head. He withstood the torments of the evil one. And by the sons of the evil one was nailed to the cross. Jesus fell into the ground and died. He was planted in the tomb. He rose from the dead and produced a harvest greater than we could possibly imagine. He has paid for our sin. He has covered our shame. He has given us a place in His kingdom which has no end. 

Until that day, we know how this story ends, and it changes how we see everything.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for Pentecost 6: "Resting in Grace"

 + 6^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 5^th, 2026 +

Series A: Zechariah 9:9-12; Romans 7:14-25; Matthew 11:25-30

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

The futbol team that scores more than the other team wins the world cup. The student with the best GPA is the valedictorian of the graduating class. The best proposal at the business meeting gets the contract. This is the way of the world. 

 

It’s not the way of things in the kingdom of God, however. In the kingdom of God, we live by mercy, not merit. We live by grace, not entitlement. We live in Christ’s redemption, not the rewards of our own efforts. We live by Christ’s righteousness, not our own. We are not self-sufficient, but utterly dependent upon Jesus’ blood on the cross to save us. We live by the work of his hands, not ours. Instead of DIY righteousness, Jesus tells us to become more like little children…to be totally, completely, and utterly dependent upon him for everything.

 

“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children…

 

This is the way of life in God’s kingdom. We live entirely by his grace and favor. 

 

In fact, the conflict that we see Jesus embroiled in throughout the Gospels comes as a direct result of the undeserved grace of God’s kingdom and salvation that he comes to bring in his dying and rising. 

 

It’s no wonder the scribes, Pharisees, chief priests – the religious authorities of Jesus’ day – are at odds with Jesus; they think the way of the world – of merit and law and rewards – is the way of God’s kingdom too. But it isn’t.

 

It’s no wonder they plot to kill Jesus. He completely upends their self-righteousness. He turns their world of works and law upside down. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day want the kingdom of God to come by merit, not mercy. By seeking righteousness in the Law, not in Christ who fulfills the Law. By the work of their own hands, not Jesus’ hands. 

 

Not so fast, says Jesus. My kingdom comes by mercy, not merit. By my hands, not yours. By my keeping of the Law, not yours. By my sacrifice for sins, not yours. By my labor and love, not yours.

 

“Father, Lord of heaven, thank you. Thank you for hiding the treasures of your kingdom from the wise and understanding who are so smart they think they don’t have anything to learn. Thank you for hiding your goodness and mercy from those who think they have you figured out. Thank you for hiding your wisdom under foolishness, your strength under weakness, your victory under defeat. Thank you for revealing these things to the little ones, to little children.” 

 

It sounds so opposite of what we would do or expect or deserve. And that’s precisely the point. God gives his kingdom to us this way, reveals his righteousness to us without us doing a blessed thing so that it rests entirely on his grace, in his hands, and on his mercy.

 

God hides the mysteries of the kingdom from the worldly wise and understanding. He reveals them to the little ones of faith. He uses the foolish to shame the wise. He uses the weak to shame the strong. He tucks the Mystery of salvation under the simplicity of baptismal water, pastoral words, eucharistic bread and wine.

 

Unlike fine wine and good cheese, sinners don’t really get better with age. The apostle Paul was probably in his fifties when he wrote his epistle to the Romans. He had been a Christian for over a decade. In Romans 7, Paul tells us what it’s like to have the mind of Christ and the flesh of Adam, to be simultaneously a sinner and a saint. The good he wants to do, he does not do. The evil he tries to avoid, he does. When he wants to do good, evil lies close at hand. 

 

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” And the only answer is this: “Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

When our Lord Jesus reveals his kingdom and salvation, he does so entirely by his grace and favor. And it’s always by his undeserved grace to people who don’t deserve it and haven’t done anything to earn it. 

 

God’s love and kingdom and grace must be revealed t o us. Given to us. So that’s what Jesus did. Christ came to us. The Father sent the Son who was humbled under the Law for us, was put to death for us, bore our sin for us.

 

Jesus became the little one in our midst – lowly, despised, rejected. He embraced the little ones as pictures of faith not because they were innocent and sinless, but because they trusted, they received, they were open and teachable. 

 

And that is why it is good news when he says what he says to us today in Matthew 11… Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

 “Come to me. Come to me, you weary and burdened, broken and miserable, anxious and despairing. Come to me, laboring under the Law, weighed down by the burden of your sin, Come to me where I have come to you. Come to me in Baptism where I make you an infant again. Come to me, in my Word, in the bread that is My Body, in the wine that is My Blood. Come to me, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke, the yoke of childlike faith and trust in me. I bore your burden on the cross so that you don’t have to. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and I will be there with you.” 

 

When our Lord Jesus reveals his kingdom and salvation, he does so entirely by his grace and favor. And it’s always by his undeserved grace to people who don’t deserve it and haven’t done anything to earn it. Christ died for sinners…and you qualify.

 

That’s the way of life in the kingdom of God for us, his children…we live and rest in God’s grace.

 

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

 

 

Sermon for Pentecost 4: "Something More Certain"

 + 4th Sunday after Pentecost – June 22^nd, 2026 +

Series A: Jeremiah 20:7-13; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:5, 21-33

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

 

When I was in high school our family took a little road trip down from Portland to ride our bikes around Crater Lake. Now, these were the days before google and carrying supercomputers around in your pocket. All my sister and I had to go on was my dad’s description of the ride, which was sold to us like this: it’s just a few hills, and a lot of scenic views. 

 

Not quite false advertising…but pretty close. The reality was 35 miles that featured more than 6,000 feet of elevation change, and one nasty set of switchbacks that went for a few miles uphill. Had my father told us exactly the kind of suffering and sweat we were going to go through that day, we probably never would’ve left the parking lot.

 

The chambers of commerce do this kind of thing too. Come visit pure Michigan, they say, all while giving you gorgeous blue water views of the great lakes…in the 2 months of the year you can enjoy them without freezing your tuckus off.

 

So you’d expect that when Jesus sends out his 12 disciples in Matthew 10 that he would soften the blow for them a little. Numb the pain to come. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. 

 

But Jesus doesn’t do that at all. Jesus doesn’t spare his disciples the suffering. He doesn’t spin the reality of what they’ll endure. No. He does just the opposite. He leans into the suffering. He tells them every nitty, gritty, painful bit of suffering they’re about to endure. He’s not interested in giving his disciples a tourist brochure, but the truth.

 

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. 

 

Brother will deliver over brother to death…children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

 

You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.

 

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. If they call the master of the house Beelzebul (the devil) how much more will they malign those of his household.

One of the greatest miracles – and it is a miracle, a work that only happens by the Holy Spirit calling and sending – is that after hearing this, the 12 disciples actually go as Jesus sent them.

So what do we do with Jesus’ words when they grow dark and difficult?

The temptation is to soften them in hopes of making Jesus seem more friendly. Like your buddy, pal or homey. You know, water down Jesus’s words a little and maybe, just maybe, the world will hate you a little less or find the faith a little less offensive. But once you remove the suffering – especially the suffering of Jesus on the cross – you’ve gone like a horde of termites and hollowed out the faith.

Or there’s the temptation to ignore his words: out of sight out of mind. That doesn’t work for long because suffering – in one form or another, big or small – always comes along. Or there’s the temptation to avoid Jesus’ words. Don’t talk about suffering, sin, death and all that – instead talk about good things, happy things, living your best life now. But the problem is that platitudes only numb the pain for so long, and they certainly won’t save you when suffering for the sake of Jesus’ name comes along.

The instinct to avoid suffering is understandable. After all, no one these days puts suffering or persecution or even martyrdom for the faith of Jesus on our summer to-do list. Because when we suffer Satan and our sinful flesh fire a whole volley of temptations our way: before long we begin to think that God has abandoned us. That our Lord is absent, or even worse…that he’s apathetic to our suffering for his name. And then the devil and our sinful flesh whispers lies into the silence. We look for comfort and peace elsewhere, we look to someone or something other than Christ to ease our suffering, to numb the pain. And after that, the devil and your old adam turn right back around and wag their scaly, accusatory fingers at you in shame: if only you had a stronger faith, if only you had prayed harder, if only you were a better believer. 

Ever notice how all the devil’s lies begin with “if”. That’s what he does in our suffering: he sows uncertainty; he creates chaos, division, and lies. 

This is why Jesus speaks to his disciples, and to us this way in Matthew 10. This is why Jesus doesn’t hand his disciples a chamber of commerce brochure as he sends them out, but rather the brutal honest truth: the Christian life is a battle ground. Every moment. Every hour. Every day. From the day you’re baptized there’s a target on our backs and we’re hunted by the dragon and his minions. 

But that’s not all there is. There’s also a shield over you and surrounding you. It’s forged in the font with water, Jesus’ word, and the Holy Spirit. God places his holy name upon you: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Yes, in the Christian life, suffering for the name of Christ is certain. But there’s also something in the Christian life that is even more certain: your salvation in Jesus who suffered for you. And who promises, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus doesn’t avoid, or ignore, or soften the suffering that he knows is coming. Just the opposite. He embraces it. All of it. For you. His disciples’ suffering, persecution, martyrdom – he bears it all. Our brokenness, suffering and betrayals – he bears those too. All the hurt and pain and hatred the, we, along with, the world can throw at him – Jesus takes it all. He leans into the suffering. He lets the nails and spear and thorns pierce him – for you. He embraces the cross loaded with all our sin and suffering – and he does this for you. He is battered, bruised, beaten and bloodied – to save you. 

The Christian life is no travel brochure. Betrayal. Mockery. Hatred for Christ’s holy name will come. 

In your life in Christ, Suffering is certain. But fear not, for your salvation in Christ – even when you suffer – is even more certain. 

When the wolves are prowling at the door… know that they’re no match for the Lamb of God our Shepherd and Savior. He will endure you to the end.

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

Sermon for Pentecost 3: "Sheep Need A Shepherd"

 + 3^rd Sunday of Pentecost – June 14^th, 2026 +

Series A: Exodus 19:2-8; Romans 5:6-15; Matthew 9:35-10:8

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

There’s a danger they don’t warn you about when you go to the Puyallup Fair. And I don’t mean eating too many fair scones or horking down one too many elephant ears before riding the tilt-a-whirl. 

 

What I mean is … we go the fair and see the baby goats, the piglets, and especially the little lambs and sheeps and think…aww, how adorable. They’re so cute. Cuddly. Let’s bring a few home.

 

And those little sheeps certainly are cute and cuddly. But that’s not all they are. Left on their own sheep do sheep things. Jump fences. Break fences. Wander off into holes. Get stuck in the same hole again and again. Sheep are prone to wander. Sometimes rather dumb. Often full of dingleberries. Smelly. Stubborn. And downright helpless.

 

It doesn’t take a seasoned farmer to tell you that sheep need a shepherd.

 

And this is precisely why Jesus comes – not to help those who will help themselves. But to help the helpless. To seek, search out, and save the lost. To eat and drink with sinners and tax collectors and forgive them. To travel the Judean countryside, in villages and cities, over hill and dale, preaching the gospel not to for the healthy, but the sick. Not to the whole and the holy, but to the broken and the unclean. To the lost sheep of the house of Israel. For lost sheep from the fields of the gentiles. For you and me.

 

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

 

When Jesus looks over the crowds he’s also looking out over the fields of Scripture.

 

He saw Moses, near the end of his life, and appointed Joshua to shepherd his people out of the wilderness and into the promised land. 

 

He saw the days of the Judges where everyone tried to be their own shepherd and do what was right in their own eyes.

 

He saw David taken from the fields and flocks to shepherd Israel, only to crash and burn in lust and murder and the death of his firstborn.

 

He saw the days of the divided kingdom, where wicked kings like Ahab led his sheep astray to feed on idols who fed, instead, on their souls, and Israel was scattered on the mountain sides.

 

He saw the days of the shepherd prophets of Ezekiel and Zechariah, who witnessed God’s holy flock of Israel fleeced by false teachers, food for demons, and lost in their own idolatry. Afflicted for a lack of a shepherd.

 

 

He sees us as well. Left on our own we are sheep that have gone astray. We wander into weeds and wickedness. We drink from poisonous wells of desire. We herd around our favorite idols. We smell of sin. We’re stubborn. Lost. And downright helpless. We need a shepherd.

 

Sometimes when you need a job done right you have to do it yourself. So that’s what God does. Because what we need only he can do. Sheep can’t rescue themselves. Feed themselves. Lead or live by themselves. Sheep need a Shepherd.

 

So God becomes the Shepherd all the shepherds of old have pointed to. He is Moses but greater for his mountain thunders not with the Law but with liberation and forgiveness. He is Joshua but greater for his promised land is not in Canaan, but a new creation.

He is the Judges of Israel but greater for does what is right in the Father’s eyes by going to the cross to deliver you.

He is David but greater for his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom built on his death and resurrection.

He is the Shepherd-King long foretold who comes to deliver, rescue, redeem, to seek and to save the lost. 

 

So it’s no accident that when God comes down as our Shepherd he does it in the most unimaginable, unexpected way of all: 

 

From you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means keast amon the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

 

He becomes the little. The lowly. The last. The helpless, yet holy infant. Jesus becomes the friend of sinners. The Shepherd whose hands heal, whose words give life, whose life is laid down, not for the sheep without blemish – there’s only one and he’s the one – but for you and me.

 

For while we were still sinners – stinking, stubborn, stuck in our own sheepish way, sinners – at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For you. For me. Our Good Shepherd shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for is. 

 

We, God’s sheep, have a Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. The Gracious Shepherd. 

This is the gospel of the Kingdom of our Shepherd King: Here is rescue for you who were lost.

Here is outrageous forgiveness for undeserving sinners.

Here is healing for the sick. Resurrection from the dead. Grace and mercy for the unlovable and undeserving. Here is the Shepherd who seeks, gathers, and tends his sheep by laying down his life for you.

 

This shepherd speaks and you hear his voice.

This is shepherd who’s goodness and mercy hound you all the days of your life.

The shepherd who washes you clean in the holy pools of baptism.

The shepherd who opens up the pasture of his word for you to feast on his promises

The shepherd who prepares a table of his body and blood to feed you his flock

The shepherd forgives, absolves, raises you from the dead, throws you on his shoulder, and rejoicing, carries you home to his sheepfold.

 

This same Shepherd, also places you, not into a flock of one, that’s nonsensical. But into a church. A family. A flock. He sends the Holy Spirit, his divine sheep-dog, to call, gather, enlighten, and holy you in all of his Shepherding grace and goodness.

 

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

Sermon for Pentecost: "Water and Spirit"

 + Pentecost – May 24^th, 2026 +

Series C: Numbers 11:24-30; Acts 2:1-21; John 7:37-39

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem for the Feast. Not of Pentecost – not yet. The Feast of Booths. A week-long feast looking back upon Israel’s wilderness wandering. And looking forward to the temple restored and the new creation. The whole event is soaking in God’s promises, saturated with the story of salvation.

 

Every morning during the priests led a procession – a holy water brigade – down to the pool of Siloam. Gilded crocks of water filled up to brim. The holy parade made its pilgrimage to the temple. Water splashing. Mirth and joy filled the air. Isaiah’s words rang out:

 

With joy will you draw water from the wells of salvation.

 

Around the altar three times. And finally, poured out upon the altar. Remember the headwaters of Eden. Remember the waters poured out of the rock. Remember the promise of water out of the new temple. 

 

Then on the last day of the Feast, the Great Day, the 8^th day if you count from 1^st to the 7^th day, the parade surrounded the altar seven times in a perfect crescendo of praise. Waving myrtle, willow, and palm fronds set the scene. Creation clapping her hands at the coming rescue by her Creator and Lord.

 

At this Feast. On this day. In his temple. Jesus steps forth and proclaims: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as^[f] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 

 

Come to me and drink, our Lord says. “I AM the door, the gate to paradise restored. I AM the rock in the wilderness, gushing forth with new and living water for you. I AM the new and greater temple. The priest, the sacrifice, and the holy of holies all rolled into one, and out of my side flows life-giving water for you.” 

 

Jesus’ promises flow downstream from his crucifixion and resurrection to you. From his promise declared at the Feast of Booths to his promise fulfilled at the Feast of Pentecost.

 

Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 

The living water of the Holy Spirit will come. But first the flood of fire and blood and wrath falls upon Jesus on the cross. For the Spirit to be poured out to give life you, Jesus’ blood and life must first be poured out unto death for you. The Holy Spirit always given through the cross. Where there’s Jesus crucified, there’s his life-giving Spirit. Where his life-giving Spirit is, there’s his cross. 

 

Every river has a source, a spring, a headwaters. So it is with the great stream of salvation. Jesus crucified and risen is the source; his holy body poured out and his life laid down on the cross is the headwaters of the Holy Spirit being sent to you. Our whole life is lived downstream from the cross. Birth and new birth. Life and callings in life. Death and resurrection. 

It all goes back to the source, Jesus. He sends the Holy Spirit to bring you back upstream to Jesus the fountainhead of life and faith. Jesus pours out his life to pour out his Spirit upon us who pours out upon us the life-giving waters of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

 

And it must be this way. Jesus must pour out the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives us to drink of his living water. Our souls are parched. Thirsty. Dead and brackish. A wasteland without a drop of water. 

 

We cannot draw water from our own well for there’s no living water there to draw from, only a cesspool and a swamp, fetid waters of unfaithfulness and idols floating everywhere. 

 

In Genesis the Lord placed his bow in the sky and promised never again to pour out a flood upon the earth in divine judgment, wrath, and destruction. Here in John 7, Jesus promises something even greater, to flood the whole earth with the water of life -a flood of pardon and peace and deliverance.

 

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

 

What is this water? Is it the Holy Spirit Jesus pours out? Yes.

Is it His life-giving dying and rising? Yes

Is it the new birth by water and word and the Spirit? Yes.

Is it the life-giving waters where water and Spirit, and Jesus’ death and resurrection are poured out upon you? Yes.

 

It all flows downstream from Feast of Booths to Feast of Pentecost. From the Jesus crucified and risen to his holy house and holy gifts.

 

The living water you need, Jesus sends. He pours out his life. He pours out his Holy Spirit. He pours out his body and blood for you. 

He draws water from the wells of salvation which goes deeper than the grave and washes away every sin. Three times he pours out his name and water upon you. 

 

On the 6^th day Jesus is crucified for you. On the 7^th day he rested in the tomb for you. And on the 8^th day he rose again, opening paradise for you.

 

And he who poured out his life for you, pours out his water and Spirit and promise upon you. 

The same Spirit who hovered over creation’s watery abyss, now makes you a new creation. 

The same Spirit who descended on Jesus in the Jordan, comes swooping down into the water to fill your heart with faith, your mouth with praise, and make you his holy temple.

The same Spirit that blows with the breath of Jesus crucified and risen gives you new birth from above by water and word.

 

And this is the same Spirit who began a good work in you on the day of your Baptism and will bring it to completion on the day of our Lord Jesus. 

 

And until that day, this well of salvation, this pool of Jesus’ promise, his life giving, living water never dries up, never runs out; His grace and goodness are ever-flowing downstream from his cross to you.

 

A blessed Feast of Pentecost to each of you…

 

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