Pearls From Peace

Jesus appears to His disciples for a third time after the resurrection, and this time they are fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus first called disciples (Peter, Andrew, James, John) to leave their life of fishing and to come and follow Him and be fishers of men. They left everything to follow Jesus, and now, it appears, they have gone back to their former ways of fishing for fish. Maybe Peter, because of His denial, didn't feel like he could be a fisher of men like Jesus had called him to be. Maybe he thought his sin was too great, that he was unworthy to serve Christ. Jesus speaks with Peter and asks him a question three times (probably reminding him of his three times denial) and bringing Peter back to that first call: fishing for people, taking care of the Good Shepherd's sheep.

On Easter Sunday, Jesus appears to the disciples, but Thomas missed that first appearance. His response to the disciples seeing the resurrected Christ was basically saying, “I won't believe it until I see it.” More specifically, he wanted to touch Jesus' hands where the nails were and His side where the spear pierced Him. So, he would believe it when he saw it, and touched it. When Jesus shows up, again, it changes everything for Thomas. Sometimes, we treat God in this way as well. We will believe in Him, and who He is, only when He shows up and reveals Himself to us, otherwise maybe we will doubt Him just like Thomas, and the rest of the disciples, who believed because they saw.

On Easter Sunday, the women go to the tomb to prepare Jesus' body. He isn't there. The angels tell them. But still, they are looking for His body, they're perplexed. The disciples hear from the women. They go to the tomb, it's empty. They're confused, they don't understand, they go back home. Mary Magdalene sees Jesus who she thinks is the gardener, asking if He knows where Jesus' body is. Eventually they will all see, they will all believe, but that first Easter Sunday did not begin with shouts of "Alleluia! Christ is Risen!"

As we gather on Good Friday, we see Jesus' beaten, bruised, bloody body on the cross. His body that is nailed for us. His blood that is shed for us. His death that is died to give us life. Seeing what Jesus went through can create many feelings for us. Sometimes we want to feel all those emotions. Sometimes we don't. Even though we can't begin to understand all that Jesus went through for us, we know that He did it to save us, to redeem us, to rescue us, because He loves us. And because of His death, all the God required of Jesus to bring us forgiveness, it is finished.

On Maundy Thursday Jesus washes the feet of His disciples, giving them an example of service. He eats the Passover meal with them and shares His own Supper with them, a Supper we still partake of today. He prays in the Garden of Gethsemane that God's will would be done, knowing full well that it meant His death. And He loved His people until the end. That ending comes on Good Friday as He says, "it is finished." What began with the Palm Sunday entrance begins to build on Maundy Thursday.

Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. The crowd that saw these things happen was the crowd that welcomed Him into Jerusalem with shouts of "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Little did they know that their shouts of joy might soon turn to shouts of "Crucify Him!" And even though Jesus had told His disciples, His entrance into Jerusalem also meant His own resurrection would soon take place, but first His death. And Lazarus' own resurrection pointed not to just Jesus' resurrection, but to ours as well.

When we think about parables being an "earthly story with a heavenly meaning" we might often think about where we fit into the story. In this parable we are the wicked tenants. And unlike last week when Jesus was the father in the Parable of the Lost Son(s), here Jesus is actually the son and the owner of the vineyard is God the Father. The wicked tenants who do not want to give to the owner of the vineyard what is His. So, when previous attempts have failed, the owner eventually sends his son to win the tenants over. The tenants reject the son and kill him. Jesus will be sent by the Father and be rejected by the people and ultimately killed. And His death is Good News for us.

This may be one of the most famous parables we know, and if you know the story, the title makes you think the story is about the son, when in reality, the story is about the father, and the costly love that the Father shows. And when we see the deeper meaning in the parable, we discover that the father is actually Jesus. And how the father deals with the son, is exactly how God deals with us: with His costly love.

When you look around at the world today, and see all the people in it. Are any of us THAT different from one another. Or to put it another way, are there people who are “worse sinners" in the world compared to others. This is the question Jesus was faced with. His answer for all people is: repent or perish. For those who are sinners, which is all of us, the answer is the same: repent! And you can look at the parable of the fig tree and see how repentance is brought about.

Jesus looks at the city of Jerusalem wanting to gather the people to Himself as a mother hen gathers her chicks under the shelter of her outstretched wings. Unfortunately, the people of Jerusalem are not willing and instead of finding refuge in Him, they will take Jesus and stretch out his arms and nail them to the cross. Thankfully for us, all who take refuge in Christ and Him crucified, who believe in Him, we be gathered with Christ for all eternity.

Jesus faces temptations of all kinds in the wilderness from the old evil foe, Satan. Every temptation that Jesus faced He responded with the Word of God. We face similar temptations daily, and we have the same weapon that the Christ used to overcome His temptations: the Word of God. Today, Satan comes knocking on our door, at an opportune time, with the same kinds of temptations Jesus faced. Because Christ was victorious in His temptations, we can be victorious as well, through His power at work in us. That is our victorious life IN Christ.

When Jesus is transfigured on the mountain, Moses and Elijah appear with Him and talk about His departure, His exodus. Peter, James, and John witnessed this, but have you ever wondered how they knew it was Moses and Elijah, even though they had never seen them before? And what about you? Have you ever thought about how you can believe in a God that you cannot see? A God that you cannot touch? A God that you cannot hear? Or is it possible to hear God's voice, to touch a part of Him, to see Him at work in your life? And what would this type of encounter do for you?

Sometimes Jesus says things that we are okay hearing, and sometimes Jesus says things that we are not as okay hearing. In Luke's Gospel for today Jesus says to "love your enemies." Sometimes it's hard to love the people we like, let alone our enemies. However, how does Jesus treat His enemies? He dies for them. And if Jesus is going to give up His life for His enemies, whom He wants in heaven with Him, then people are not truly our enemies. And if people are not really our enemies, and we view them as such, people that Christ died for, then maybe it makes it easier to love them?

We know the famous Beatitudes in Matthew, and here, from Luke, we get from Jesus blessings and woes, and this is where Jesus says the unexpected. The rich will get nothing, the poor will get everything. The satisfied will be hungry, hungry will be satisfied. Those who laugh will weep, those who weep will laugh. Those who live their lives for earthly things will find themselves longing in the life to come. Those who focus on heavenly things in this life, will find all they need in Christ. And that will make one truly... Blessed.

We see Jesus calling the first disciples to come and follow Him. But before He does this, He gets into Peter's boat, as these disciples were fishermen who had caught nothing all night. Jesus brings them such a large number of fish their nets begin to break. Rather than cash in on this haul, these men give up the fish to go and catch people. Not with nets and hooks, but with the Word of God, and the power of the Spirit. Sometimes we might question whether or not we are called by God, like those first disciples. As Jesus joins our journey, we all can be like the first disciples and be fishers of men to the people in our own lives who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

On February 2, we remember the purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus as the temple. According to the law of Moses, after birth, the woman would go through a time of purification and then bring sacrifices for atonement. Also, according to the law, the firstborn was given, dedicated, to God. As we see Mary and Joseph following God's law, they become the example for our lives, that even though they had God among them, in the person of Jesus Christ, they didn't just worship God by staying home and worshipping their Son. They joined with God's people, one of those being Simeon who was promised that he would not die until he saw the face of salvation, the Lord's Christ. As we gather in worship, we see salvation before us, as God presents it to us.

There are people that say things to us, and we might respond by saying, or thinking, "who do you think you are?" As Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath, He reads from the scroll of Isaiah and tells the people that what He has just read has been fulfilled in their midst, that the one that Isaiah speaks of is Him. The people marveled at His words, but then He went on to say things that made people react with "who do you think you are?" and thus they tried to kill Him. When it comes to you, it's not about who you think you are or who you say you are, rather, who you are is who God says you are. His words matter most.

The first miracle of Jesus takes place at a wedding in Cana, where He shows that the glory of God is manifested in Him. This first miracle of Jesus, turning water into wine, was not requested, but almost demanded of, by Jesus' own mother. Do we ever treat God like that? That we just expect Him to do miracles in our own life? And what if He doesn't? Does that mean that God has failed us, or that He is not God? As we explore Life IN Christ, we will see what this first miracle of Jesus means for us.

Born and raised in the Gambella province of Ethiopia, Pastor Oboya Ochalla emigrated to Canada in the early 2000s following political unrest within that region of Africa. Pastor Oboya trained for pastoral ministry here in Canada through the pastors-with-alternate-training program of Lutheran Church-Canada. He was ordained and called to serve as assistant pastor at Saint James Lutheran Church in Winnipeg in 2019 where he coordinates outreach and ministry to the local (and Canadian) Anyuak and Amharic communities.

Text: Matthew 2:1-12

Text: Revelation 21:1-4, 9, 10b-14; 22:1-5, 17

We saw on Christmas Eve that Jesus came to be "with us" (Immanuel) and that He came "for us" to save us ("Jesus"). On Christmas Day we go back to the manger scene, where we see that the "Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us." But where was the manger? A stable? A cave? An inn? A guest room? Where exactly was Christ born? And this manger that He was laid in after He was wrapped in swaddling cloths, what did that look like? And why does any of that matter? Maybe, just maybe, some of it has a deeper meaning than we thought.

Jesus Christ is Immanuel, which means, God with us. In that, we see that He came to be "with us." And the reason He came is to save us, which is what the name Jesus means, the Lord is my salvation, which means that Jesus came "for us." This Christmas as we gather as God's people, around the manger, and see the tiny child that the world is blessed with, you can look at Him and know that He came to be "with you" and He came "for you" to save you.

There are many things that we have in this life that we might call "sentimental," like a box full of old letters. Some of us hold on to those types of things more closely than others. Some of us dwell on them much more often than we ought. However, all of these earthly objects, memories can do nothing to save us. Jesus Christ is the one who saves us. And He does not have a box full of stuff, with letters addressed to you. He has a book of life, with your name written in it, because of the faith that He has gifted you through the Word and Sacraments.

At the birth of Christ was Mary, baby Jesus, and a... dragon? Well, that is how John describes the story of Jesus' birth in the book of Revelation. The dragon waiting to devour the child. The child who would become king. The King of kings and Lord of lords. The dragon doesn't devour the child at His birth, but certainly continues to try and destroy Him and all the rest of His people. Unfortunately, the victory will never belong to the dragon. After this, though, maybe you'll consider adding the red dragon to your nativity/manger scene!

In Revelation, an angel tells John to eat a scroll, and as he eats it, it will be sweet in his mouth, and will make his stomach bitter. We like things that are sweet, we don't like things that are bitter, especially when it comes to what goes in our mouth. However, when it comes to things that touch our ears, we also probably would prefer to hear things that are sweet compared to things that are bitter. When it comes to God's Word, we need both. We need the bitter words of the Law, and the sweet words of the Gospel.

"... Filled with glory and grace, I want to see my Savior's face, cause heaven is a wonderful place." This was a song I grew up with as a kid. I don't know how often you think about heaven, what it will look like, what we will do when we're there, who will be there, and all the other questions we've always wanted to ask God. Revelation gives us an image of what heaven looks like, and it is full of angels, and people from every nation, tribes, peoples, languages worshipping the Lamb, the Savior. As we gather in worship we get a taste of what heaven will be like, and that is why the Word and the Sacraments are important to us.

As we celebrate the Last Sunday of the Church year, we begin going through the last book of the Bible, Revelation, as we near the end of our two-year journey reading through the Word of God. Next week starts the season of Advent and we'll think and prepare for Christ's first coming at Christmas. As we celebrate this Last Sunday of the Church year, also know as Christ the King Sunday, we think about Christ's Second Coming, something Revelation certainly talks about.

The Bible covers many topics. And if you were to say what the main point of the Bible is, the most important thing it contains, what would that be? Would you talk about love? That love for God, love for other people is the most important? And that if you're not loving you're actually hating? And if you hate than are you truly a believer? 1 John 4 digs into the topics of love and hate, and ultimately the most important thing... Jesus.

As we read through the Word of God we see many things about Jesus. That He is light and in Him there is no darkness. That He is the light of the world who calls us to be lights in this world, shining in the darkness the light of Christ. That He is the Word, and that in the beginning was the Word. Therefore, in the beginning was Jesus. So, what does it mean for us and our faith that Jesus is the light, the Word, and in the beginning?

Salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, and we know this through the Word alone. However, as Peter writes, there are those who will come into our world, our lives in order to lead us away from eternal life. They are the scoffers who come scoffing, tempting us to believe things about God that are contrary to His Word. On this All Saints' celebration let us be confident that nothing can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus, and because Christ has overcome all things, we will overcome all things as well, including death.

When we think about celebrating the Reformation, we think of the time when Martin Luther sought to bring the Church back to the truth of the Word of God. He pointed to Christ's redeeming work, and not our own good works. He pointed to how we are saved by grace through faith and not anything we can do to earn our eternal life. He pointed to how we are made right with God, justified, which comes from as Peter says, "the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ."

Peter writes, quoting Proverbs, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." We see a practical version of this in the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. One is proud, one is humble. One leaves justified, one does not. As we look at our own lives, do we live lives boasting in ourselves and in our works, or do we humbly boast in Christ and His work?

The Bible talks plenty about love, not as much about hospitality. We hear in 1 Peter that love covers a multitude of sins, and to show hospitality to one another. Hospitality literally means "love of a stranger." As we also remember Thanksgiving this time of the year, we give thanks for the many things that God has given us including His love. We love because He first loved us. We show hospitality to others because God has been hospitable to us, taking care of us, out of His divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us.

Peter writes, "in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." We have a living hope because we believe in a living God, and in the world we live in people may ask us questions about our faith, and we're called to always be ready, prepared, to give an answer, make a defense for the reason for the hope that we have. That reason is none other than Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection.

If you are a little older, you might be able to easily sing the lyrics of the song. Or you may think about some comedian that talked about how he got "no respect." Who is respect for? Is it earned? Is it freely given? If we use another word synonymous with respect, we might use the word honor. In a world that often lacks respect or honor, what does God's Word say about it, and how is God Himself, in the person of Jesus, treated with honor and respect?

As we hear the stories of a number of team members who were a part of this trip, we keep in mind the words of Peter who tells us that we "are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Each of us have been called and chosen by God to be proclaimers of the One who has called us out of darkness, out of sin and death, and into His marvelous light, into eternal life.

God has done many great things for us. None of them more important than the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He did it for the forgiveness of our sins, and for our salvation. Yet, while we are here on this earth we go through many trials and temptations. And even though these earthly problems may never go away, God has secured our place in heaven, free from all sin and death and struggle. As Peter writes to fellow Christians who are undergoing various kinds of afflictions, he writes to them giving them hope, a living hope, in the life that is to come for them, who by faith will receive it.

If you like to read, you might know that there are different categories of books: mystery, romance, fiction, science fiction, and even self-help. If you've ever read a self-help book it's about improving yourself regarding whatever area the book is about (certain habits, characteristics, quirks, etc.). Sometimes as Christians, we want to know how we can improve ourselves, or even what we can do for God. As we get to the end of the book of Hebrews, the author lays out a number of things that you can do as you live out your Christian life... Understand, in the end, it's NOT just about you!

Hebrews tells us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross..." We all have a race that we run, a marathon race of this life. Each of our races is different, but the goal is the same, to finish the race. Jesus helps us finish our race in life and finish it in faith, so that we join that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in the faith.

Bu Faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac...

Do you ever feel like you're not good enough? If so, how does that make you feel? Unworthy? Unloveable? Not worthy of the love of other people? Not worthy of the love of God? Even though we know the difference between right and wrong, we never are good enough for God, because we are not perfect. So, God sent His perfect Son to be perfect for us. And through Jesus' death and resurrection, through His means of grace (His Word and Sacraments), God says we are good enough, that we are loved, and that we are worth dying for.

The high priest would enter the Mosty Holy Place once a year, on the day of atonement, and offering forgiveness of sins for himself, and on behalf of the people. The way to receive forgiveness was through the sacrifice of animals, the practice God established for His people. For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Jesus because our Great High Priest because He sacrificed Himself for us, to bring us forgiveness. His death on the cross was our Day of Atonement as Jesus died for the sins of the whole world once and for all. For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

As we think about the world that we live in and sharing the Word of God with those around us, what exactly are we asking people to do? Consider Jesus. Consider Jesus who bled and died for you. Consider Jesus who won your forgiveness on the cross. Consider Jesus who rose victoriously from the dead triumphing over sin, death, and the devil. Consider Jesus whose resurrection give you the promise that you shall rise again on the Last Day. Consider Jesus who gives you eternal life by faith. Consider Jesus who sent His Holy Spirit so that you can consider Him in the first place.

We often tell stories to things we were witnesses to. Those stories sometimes begin with something like, "back in my day... A long time ago... When I was your age..." Hebrews tells us that a long time ago God used prophets to speak to His people, but now He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. And those witnesses to Christ and His work wrote them down, as carried by the Holy Spirit. These words that we have today. The words of Christ, who back in His day, died for all of us, and rose for all of us, because of His great love for us.

As Paul heads to Jerusalem he spends time with the Ephesian elders, he commends them to God and the Word of His grace, and he encourages them to take care of themselves and the flock because after his departure wolves will come to attack the flock and wolves that look like sheep will twist things to draw them away from Christ. Does this happen in our world today? And if so, what do these attacks and deceptions look like?

As Paul wanders around the city of Athens, a city full of idols, he finds an altar to an unknown god. Having had conversations in the synagogue, marketplace, speaking about Jesus' death and resurrection, he is brought to the Areopagus, and Paul takes the opportunity to witness to the people, to take this unknown god, and make Him known to them: the only True God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How are you at witnessing to others about the only True God?

After an earthquake, Paul and Silas are freed from their chains in prison, and the jailer thinks they've escaped. After announcing all the prisoners are still there, the jailer asks, "what must I do to be saved?" This question is still important for us today. What must WE do to be saved? How do Paul and Silas answer the jailer? How do answer you? The same: Believe in the Lord Jesus. But is it that simple?

As the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, spreads throughout the world, many people, Jews and Gentiles believe. Some Christian Jews thought that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised (a sign of God's covenant with His people) in order to be saved. After much debate it was decided the Gentiles did not need to be circumcised, because it is Jesus that saves, not the act of circumcision. Are there requirements for people to be saved in our day today? If it's not circumcision, what might it be? Or is it still just Jesus that saves?

Saul, the one who persecuted the Christ followers, was there approving the stoning of Stephen, goes from persecuting the Church of Christ, to being persecuted himself. What would make someone change their entire way of life? Nothing less than meeting Jesus Christ, the One whom he also persecuted. But this isn't really a come-to-Jesus moment, it's a Jesus-comes-to Saul moment. The same goes for us too.

On Father's Day, we give thanks for the fathers or father figures that God has placed in our lives. We might even thank them by allowing them to sleep in. We may also think about the impact they have had in our lives, and the message they would leave us with. As we read the story of Stephen, he addresses fathers and brothers giving them a message that ends with him being stoned to death. In his death, he falls asleep in Christ, something that he and God wants for all people.