Luke 13 - Jesus Mourning Over the Fall of Jerusalem

 

GJ - So appropriate! Even though I saw it coming a long time ago, I never guessed America could sink this deep in its own offal and have clergy, politicians, and academics wallow in it, defend it, and work for more of the same.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 8 - "No One Sends Them. They Come of Themselves."

 

ELCA now allows the radical non-binary creed conjured from the United Church of Christ. Thrivent Insurance is the unifying force - they need the dough.

Click here for the complete ->Trinity 8, Third Sermon

Babtist Andy Stanley drew a fawning group of WELS pastors to his Synagogue of Satan: Ski, Glende, Bishop Katie, and a bunch more WELSians. Future DP Patterson flew another group of groupies to an even bigger shindig.

Yes, we are so richly overflooded with the Gospel that we have now become tired of it, and are almost turned against it, as Paul prophesied in 2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.” Thus we see time and again throughout the whole Scriptures, how highly it offends God and that he considers it the greatest sin, when his Word is despised which is so dear and precious that it cost him the blood of his dear Son, while we so lightly cast it to the winds. For this reason he also visits us with the worst of all calamities, which is not to be compared with the other calamities in the world, so that the people become so hardened, blindfolded and misled by the false prophets, that heaven itself is closed against them and hell opens to receive them, and life eternal is lost forever. Even though you fall under the sword of the Turk or of tyrants, if you only die in the true knowledge of God’s Word and in true faith, what is that but a blessed death, devoutly to be desired? But to deliver the soul forever to the devil, is eternal wrath, an everlasting calamity and hell itself.

Mark Jeske gathered ELCA-LCMS-WELS pastors to teach pastors of various synods as if they were one in the Spirit.

11. God has now begun to visit us with manifold temporal and bodily calamities. But a far worse calamity will await us, when the holy Gospel is banished from Germany, or other false teachers appear, when one teaches this, another that. Then heaven will be closed, and the false preachers will not permit it to be opened. Hence there is great need that we pray earnestly. But, alas, how very cold our hearts are, and the reason of this is that our walls are not yet on fire, and we do not feel the loss. Nevertheless the devil has determined to drown all Germany in blood, and to take the Gospel from us, unless he be prevented beforehand and held in check by the prayers of pious Christians. “Who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.”

 "No one sends them. They come of themselves."

12. No one sends them. They come of themselves. And this is the real nature of false prophets, that in order to preach they force themselves upon us. Some do this for a living, which I do not value very highly, for they will not have it quite as easy as they think. But those who force themselves upon us with the boast that they do it for the sake of Christian love, on account of the truth and that the Holy Spirit constrains them to do so; and that they seek nothing but the salvation of souls; of all such be on your guard, for the devil has most certainly sent them, and not God. For those whom God sends are called and constrained to enter upon their work. Nor do they boast much of themselves. But of whatever they do boast, they prove by their work. Therefore, the Lord would say, beware of those you see are neither sent nor called, but come of themselves at the devil’s call.

The LCMS, WELS, ELS, and CLC (sic) agree completely with the English translation of Knapp. Seminexers and ELCA  are in the same sinking boat.

13. Yet they ever boast they have the Holy Spirit? Answer: whoever would convince you that he is moved by the Holy Spirit and does this from Christian motives, say to him: As you boast so much of the Spirit, give me proof of it. For you testify of yourself, and the Scriptures forbid me to believe anyone who only testifies of himself. For even Christ, the Son of the living God, would not bear witness of himself, as we read in the Gospel of John 5:31 and John 8:14. However, he furnished testimony by which men might know that he was sent from God, and that his Word and doctrine were true. As you then say you have the Holy Spirit, give us evidence of your Spirit, prove it with facts that we may believe you. For here a divine testimony is necessary to prove the presence of the Spirit of God, in order that there may be two witnesses, you and God. If you will not do this, then we can neither hear nor believe you.

14. For, if we grant it is true, that one is a true spirit and has the true Holy Spirit; even then you should not hear him. For God has commanded that you should observe his order, and ask for two witnesses, and demand the proof and record of his call. Therefore say: I will not listen to you on the ground of your pretenses and boasting, even though you should have the true Spirit, for God would thus test me, whether I wish to remain in the order he has established. Therefore God is satisfied and well pleased, if you do not receive such a spirit; for God thus acts with us to try us, to see whether we will continue in his Word; as a father who plays with his child, gives it an apple and takes it again.

15. Therefore, when a spirit comes self-called and brings something new, then know how to guard yourself and say: I do not ask what you preach, but whether you are sent, or you come of yourself? If you come of yourself, I will not hear you, even though you have the Holy Spirit; for the devil in the Gospel can also say: “What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? I know thou art the Holy One of God.” Mark 1:24.

So the vulgar crowd also say: Here is the real and true Word of God which this man preaches, let us hear him. Yes, look out beforehand whence he comes. The devil can preach too, but he does it for an occasion to win adherents; then he comes forth and sows his poison among the good grain, so that it becomes worse than at the beginning. Therefore Christ so diligently warns us against those who come of themselves

Church and Change, WELS, was no different from the LCMS and ELCA versions of in-house brain-washing. Fuller Seminary spread the virus.

 

Hymn - Behold the Sure Foundation-Stone

 

"Behold the Sure Foundation-Stone"
by Isaac Watts, 1674-1748

1. Behold the sure Foundation-stone
Which God in Zion lays
To build our heavenly hopes upon
And His eternal praise.

2. Chosen of God, to sinners dear,
Let saints adore the name;
They trust their whole salvation here,
Nor shall they suffer shame.

3. The foolish builders, scribe and priest,
Reject it with disdain;
Yet on this rock the Church shall rest
And envy rage in vain.

4. What though the gates of hell withstood
Yet must this building rise.
'Tis Thine own work, Almighty God,
And wondrous in our eyes.

Hymn #460
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Psalm 118:22
Author: Isaac Watts, 1719
Composer: William Croft, 1708
Tune: "St. Anne"

Creation Gardening and the Scriptures

 

New idiocies rise up to greet us every morning. I received an early warning months ago - when people posted the need to get rid of the gas stove in their house. Now I see official efforts to stop the hideous use of safe, efficient gas stoves, which "endanger Planet Earth."

The Scriptures require a unified view of the Bible, because it is one Book with one Author. That is where so many religious leaders fail. Their job titles are connected to the corporate monster that feeds them, houses them, and provides titles and honors. It is no small job to keep up with machine that keeps issuing new versions of NewSpeak.  Old words are forgotten, new ones are invented to justify the ungodly. 

The Creation Garden does not honor betrayal of the original design. Every part of its work is carried out on time, with the right combination of elements, plant and animal kingdoms, climate, and other engineering achievements of the Lord of Creation.

Yesterday I walked along the sidewalk to see how the roses, pollinator plants, and weeds were doing. The Joe Pye Weeds were changing from flowers to seeds, so they are swarmed by tiny butterflies and typical bees. I was bumping into dozens of them, and nobody felt a need to sting me. Photographs are fine, but nothing compares to watching their work from inches away.

The Creation Garden is building its own trust, caused by increasingly better soil. Leaves, dead flowers, and the contribution of roots give soil creatures a place to live, reproduce, and die. One author (Teaming With... books) pointed out that these ignored creatures hold onto water and nutrients before passing them into the next generation. The result is a mixing of soils (not just clay), a carnival of productive chemicals, and a storage medium for water.

Big Storms, More Heat, Garden Halleluias

 

 Photo by Ed Buck

I am finishing another class in Old Testament Survey (MA or MDiv). The combination of heat and humidity eliminates my ambition in the garden, once the sun is rising. 

However, all the investments in labor are paying off. The late blooming and perfuming Clethra and Joe Pye Weed have saturated the Rose Garden with their butterfly, bee, and hummingbird attracting scents. The milkweed family finished blooming and turned to making silken parachutes to carry their seeds. I have at least three types of the milkweed family, all showing off in front of the front patio.

Poke berries are now at this stage in my garden, bland, loved by 61 bird species. The berries are not appealing to humans and can be toxic.

The backyard has its own Poke Weed garden, starting off as flowers for the pollinators, then berries for all the birds, offering aerial bombing wherever birds gather to gossip. A tree stump is good for the soil and perfect for bird fellowship and plant growth in wild strawberries and Poke.

The main Poke garden is 7 feet tall and likely to grow a lot more. Like Joe Pye plants, they block so much sun that no weeding is needed and the soil is improved. I wanted to block heat from the sun in the afternoon.

I also wanted to provide natural food for the birds and creatures.

Charli Sue has made a nest out of her hiding place for chasing squirrels and rabbits. Her larger friend Lady became aware of the sniper's nest and cautiously moved around it. The two of them chase through the gardens and green fence, having a riot of fun.

Double the size and you get Lady. Charli Sue now has a pink harness for walks and keeping out of trouble. Lady seems to be part Doberman and part Chihuahua, so I call her a Dobie-huahua. The two have the same coloring.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity7 - "For If You Have the True Word And Its True Meaning, The World Will Attack You On One Side, And the Devil Will Attempt To Tear You From It on the Other..."

 

Click here for the complete ->Trinity 8, Third Sermon

5. Thus it will come to pass also among us. God be praised, we and others have the Gospel in greater purity and abundance than at any time since the days of the Apostles. But when we and those who now assist to promote it are gathered to our fathers, you will have false teachers enough, as many have already commenced and they already bestir themselves. And blessed are they who are diligently on their guard according to this Gospel and believe not every wind of doctrine, but remain steadfast in what they have learned. This Christ first teaches here with the words: “Beware,” be warned, as if to say: you will most certainly have to contend with false teachers.

6. Here you may ask: why does God permit false prophets to come among his pious people and be the successors of his true ministers? Is he not powerful and strong enough to prevent it, so that the Gospel may continue pure and in its power? Of course he is. But he permits it in order to prove and preserve his own people, and to punish the unthankful. It is as St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:19 says: “For there must be also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you.” This means, that those whose faith is approved may become manifest, so that their spirit and word appear, and testify that they are true.

7. When God gives us his Word, his gifts and Spirit, it is not his will that we should be lazy, sleepy and idle. For if you have the true Word and its true meaning, the world will attack you on one side, and the devil will attempt to tear you from it on the other, not only by means of worldly tyrants who persecute the Word with the sword; but also by means of our own reason and the wisest people in the world. Thus God desires to develop you by his Word, and to give the Holy Spirit whom he has bestowed upon you something to do, so that you may learn that God’s wisdom is wiser than the world’s wisdom, that God’s strength is stronger than the strength and power of the world, which you will not learn unless you pass through this conflict with false teachers.

8. Wherever he permits the devil to create factions, he would thus stir you up, and say: Defend yourself, lay hold of the Word, and learn to experience God’s wisdom and power against the wisdom of the world and the lies of Satan. Thus the strength and wisdom of God’s Word will appear, that you may learn that it is not to be conquered with power and wisdom; but it conquers, and puts to shame all power, cunning and wisdom opposed to it.

This is one reason why God permits factions and sects among us, who enter in as it were edgewise, as though they were beneficial and served to the end that the Word, the truth and Spirit prove themselves to be better and plainer; however aside from this factions and sects serve no good purpose.

9. The second reason is, that he may punish the unthankful, who will not accept the Word, that they may be converted and saved. As Christ also said to the Jews, John 5:43: “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” Paul also says in 2 Thessalonians 2:10: “Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Thus God severely punishes these sins with blindness and error, which are also the greatest and worst sins, although we regard them to be so insignificant.

WELS-ELCA_LCMS-ELS Partnership Through Jeske's Thrivent - Projective Vomiting in Your Faces. Protestia Website

 

 ELCA Pastor Lura Groen

"Though some may want to dismiss her as a crackpot loon, Groen isn’t a nobody, even though it wouldn’t matter if she were. Instead, she continues to rise in the ranks through the ELCA. Four years ago, she was elected to the Discipline Committee of the Delaware-Maryland Synod, where she enjoys a close friendship with the Bishop. She has also spoken on at least one panel with Elizabeth Eaton, the head of the ELCA. Those in power know who she is and how she behaves and are entirely and utterly supportive."

I Photoshopped Liz Eaton into this touching Thrivent group portrait. "Thrivent builds" added! I moved the "It's a Girl!" poster from another ELCA photo, so proud of Liz. She makes sure diversity is selective.

"The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) is a simmering cauldron of blasphemy and mephistopjlean angst, to the point that sitting through an actual church service at one of their pagan temples is a foretaste of the hell that awaits them if they don’t repent. Some of the denomination’s greatest hits include:

Woke Church Newsletter Invites Congregants To Help Pay for Abortions and Abortion Pills
Pastrix Says Jesus Called Syrophoenician Woman a ‘B*****’ + “Jesus Screwed Up, She Redeems Him”
Queer ELCA Pastrix Ordained With Drag Queen Nuns While Jennifer Knapp Serenades

 Who could have predicted this? Find out by reading the Ichabod posts from yesteryear.

"This brings us to Lura Groen, the pastrix of Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Columbia, MD. She is quite possibly the grossest clergy we’ve ever written about, claiming that Jesus was trying to SEDUCE the woman at the well, that there are lesbian angels’ who ‘consensually’ flirt with queer christian women, and comparing the mystery of the Trinity to the luridness of sadomasochism and BDSM."

"Last we wrote about her, she was praising and endorsing hookups, premarital sex, and polyamory. and saying that Jesus has ‘Other Lovers’ besides the Christian church.In a series of posts on social media she writes:"

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 8 - Beware of False Prophets - "Paul Always Adds an Admonition, To Guard Themselves Against Other Teachings."

 

 

Click here for the complete ->Trinity 8, Third Sermon

1. Christ our Lord preached this part of the Gospel in concluding his long sermon on the mount, When he had taught his disciples all they should know, he proceeds and warns them to be ever on their guard against false doctrine; as all good ministers try and should do at the close of their sermons, namely, warn the people to hold fast to the true doctrine and beware of false teaching.

Thus St. Paul also did, Acts 20:28-31, when he was about to depart from Ephesus, among other things, he said: “Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.”

Thus here and there in all his Epistles Paul always adds an admonition, to guard themselves against other teachings. Just as St. Peter also gives an admonition in his second Epistle, 2 Peter 2:1f, when he says: “But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of. And in coveteousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you; whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.”

2. Christ here proceeds in like manner. When he finished his sermon he warns his disciples and the people and admonishes them ever to remain faithful to what he had told them, and to be very careful not to be misled by false teachers, and says: “Beware of false prophets.”

3. First from this we are to understand that we are under obligation to reflect upon this fact and that it will always be that after the true preachers depart false teachers will come; yea, they will even enter along with and mingle with them. Otherwise, why were it necessary for Christ so faithfully to admonish us when he says: “Beware,” take care! if he had known that all his teachings would continue pure? Therefore he gives us this warning, that we may be certain of false prophets appearing after the true and pure doctrine is preached. For it has come to pass in all periods of the world’s history that after faithful and true ministers, prophets and rulers of God’s people labored, others followed who corrupted the pure doctrine, faith and worship; as the Book of Judges 2:10f, also describes. When those were gathered to their fathers whom God had given the people as teachers and judges, who knew the will of God, what was and what was not acceptable to him, immediately the people of Israel began to turn away from God and his Word. One worshiped this idol, another that, and they were divided into factions so that they fell from the true teachings and strayed from the ways of their fathers.

4. So it was also in the times of the Apostles. Then the doctrine was yet pure; but when they died who held to their true teachings, false apostles and factious leaders came, who perverted everything and desired radical changes in all things, as the Epistles of St. Paul sufficiently show. Now, inasmuch as this is so, and we cannot expect anything else, Christ our Lord warns us here in the spirit of a true shepherd and bishop, that we beware while we have the Gospel preached in its purity and simplicity, that we hold firmly to it and depart not from it, even at the risk of losing our life and possessions. For it cannot be otherwise than that God’s Word will not continue always pure and unadulterated in all generations.

5. Thus it will come to pass also among us.

 

Mozart's Adante in C Major - Exquisite Musical Piece

 

Dayou Kim is an extraordinary talent. I found this by accident and cannot listen to it often enough.

I love the way she nods for the musicians to start and exhibits a slight, warm smile. As the experts say, this is a work which is not another fireworks display but one where each note on the piano is expressed with great beauty. 

The orchestra accompanying the young artist surrounds the tiny girl and provides all the supplemental music to make the piano music even more beautiful. 

I was forced to learn to play the flute and even worse - forced to learn from an excellent German tutor. I had to practice! I was in bands and orchestras, too. I was the only one of us four siblings who continued in music. 

I did not display much talent or enthusiasm, but I learned to love Bach and Mozart, Beethoven and many others. One friend responded to my enjoyment of Vivaldi - "Seven hundred pieces - all of them sounding the same." He never played the Goldfinch Concerto, poor soul.

I like pop music, not the garbage thrown at us today. No wonder pop "Christian music" is so dreary and annoying. We used to laugh about which popular new hymn was introduced in the latest Lutheran hymnal. Consider - the Liberal Book of Weirdness, LBW. "Lift high the cross" and "This is the fee-ee-ee-est of victory for our God." 

Great Christian hymns are directly related to classical music. The best hymns include a Christian message from the Scriptures and beautiful music to move that message into our souls. 

The Seventh Week after Trinity, 2023. Mark 8 - The Feeding of the Multitude

 

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Vimeo Link to Trinity 7 Service

The melodies are linked in the hymn title. 

The lyrics are linked from the Bethany Hymnal Blog.

• The melody site is linked here.
• TLH lyrics are found here.

The Hymn #480      Lord of the Worlds Above - Isaac Watts      

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Oh, clap your hands, all ye people! 

Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

Psalm. He shall subdue the people under us: 

and the nations under our feet.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

Collect

O God, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth, we humbly beseech Thee to put away from us all hurtful things and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual       

Gradual

Come, ye children, hearken unto me: 

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

V. Look unto Him and be lightened: 

and let your faces not be ashamed. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. Oh, clap your hands, all ye people:

shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Hallelujah!

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Sermon Hymn #400    Take My Life and Let It Be

           

Faith and Miracles

The Communion Hymn #313   O Lord We Praise Thee, Luther

The Preface p. 24

The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #12         This Day - Bishop How   

Announcements and Prayers

• Pastor and Mrs. Jim Shrader - 41st wedding anniversary July 10th. 
• Christina Jackson's birthday, July 20th. Andersons will arrive  here that day.
• Glen and Esther Kotten's first anniversary is Saturday, July 22nd. 
• Alicia Meyer's birthday, July 27th.
• Medical treatment - Matt Howell, accident; Kermit and Maria Way; Pastor and Mrs. Shrader; Sarah Buck; those dealing with metabolic and stress disorders.
• Best Buy sent a Geek Squad member to address sound issues and alternatives.

KJV Romans 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

KJV Mark 8:1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? 5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

Lord God, heavenly Father, who in the wilderness didst by Thy Son abundantly feed four thousand men besides women and children with seven loaves and a few small fishes: We beseech Thee, graciously abide among us with Thy blessing, and keep us from covetousness and the cares of this life, that we may seek first Thy kingdom and Thy righteousness, and in all things needful for body and soul, experience Thine ever-present help; through Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.            

Faith and Miracles

KJV Mark 8:1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 

The Gospel of Mark can be divided into two parts - 

1. The Miracles - Mark 1 - 10.
2. The Atoning Death and Resurrection - Mark 11 - 16:20.

This is my quiz where I described the disciples irritated with Jesus for praying alone when they had so much work to do. 

KJV Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. 37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. 38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.

Jesus praying to the Father emphasizes the Two Natures of Christ - human and divine. If you do not worship the Savior regularly, you are suggesting you are better than Jesus. He worshiped, prayed, and taught in the synagogues all the time. These verses also illustrate that the disciples at this stage thought the work was mostly miracles but Jesus combined the miracles and teaching to prove the divinity of His teaching - "with divine authority, not like the scribes and Pharisees." His miracles were so great that people rushed out of their villages to find Him. (Note the "rumor" in Isaiah 53 and Romans 10 - faith comes by hearing the Word (rumor).

When we study a Biblical text, it is essential to see the entire picture and to connect with the unified view of the entire Bible. There has been far too much of picking a verse or two and making a case for a particular idea. 

• The Bible is the Book of the Holy Spirit (Luther) and 
• not a jar of fortune cookies with useful quotes (most Biblical "scholarship" today).

This miracle shows how God provides all we need when nothing at all seems to be there. Secondly, the miracles deepen our faith in God's unlimited mercy and power. The great fallacy today is that miracles belong to the past and many reject the truth of those events. It is not just the "Biblical scholars" who reject the miracles, but also the church members who have been conditioned to follow the "scholars." The worst examples are not just ELCA, but also LCMS, ELS, CLC, Eldonuts, etc. The ELCA worships Barth and Tillich, the rest bow to Walther and Pieper - even down to the Pope himself.

3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?

The people followed Jesus at the risk of fasting and fainting, so much that they endangered their lives by being so far away from food. Jesus presented the problem to the disciples, similar to the logic of Project Management. The facts are - nothing to eat - and - how can these people get bread in the wilderness. They have water, because they are stopped  where the vegetation is green - an oasis. In the American West, formations that hold rainwater are called tanks, as in the White Tank Mountains.

There is not enough money, not enough food, not enough for clothes, not enough for education. The disciples despair about obtaining enough food for the multitudes in the desert.

5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

I can imagine the downcast looks when they said, "Seven." The finance committee would say, "Seven - IF we are lucky." I named them - at one church - after the movie - The Bad News Bears.

If we look at Creation - a word that makes many cringe, so I use it all the time - Creation Garden - God clearly organizes everything in a miraculous way. Every part of the Creation Garden has its own role, at the least, and carries out all kinds of beneficial duties. The rabbits walk casually by me, a few feet away, because they are not afraid. The timing of plants is astonishing. I grow for bees and butterflies - pollinators - and they show up from the earliest suggestion of spring. The humble Poke and Joe Pye Weeds improve the soil while providing flowers that turn into fruit. Each plant has more stations than I can count, more flowers that turn into buds that turn into fruit or seeds (Poke berries have seeds).

Luther reminds us that God is the best farmer, the best animal minder, the best miner for minerals, the best everything. Without the miraculous abundance we would fail to have good food and good water to drink.

Get To Work!

6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.

We do two things in error. One is that we demean what is there, as if it is not enough and will never do. We discourage ourselves, as if God could not handle our needs. "What is that among so many?" Clergy think the building is not good enough or grand enough or filled with enough people. Members will make sure the new church has a kitchen large enough for a hotel - but that is not enough, either. Guaranteed - the church fridge will always have one jar of ketchup, one of mustard - just what everyone needs in an emergency. (I have tested this in many different churches - two condiments, nothing else.)

Faith in Jesus Christ is not a shopping list. Just as the Bible teaches the "faith of Jesus," so our faith in Jesus sets the work of God in motion.

KJV Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 

κατα την δυναμιν (dynamite) την ενεργουμενην (energy, efficacy) εν ημιν

     21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus             throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

The Holy Spirit is always building us up in the Gospel, in the faith of Jesus. This comes from Jesus Christ and glorifies His Name.

8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

The more they ate, the more they had to eat, so they had seven baskets full - but before they barely had enough for a few.

Soon the Pharisees were questioning Jesus, who had provided miracles greater than Moses. But it was not enough for them, and there never will be enough. We only need to wait for what God has already set in motion. 

The key is to express our thanks for everything God has done for us, for every person. Secondly, we should express our concerns within the family and among those we know.