+ 6th Sunday after Pentecost – July 5th, 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.
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