Northwoods Table Talk

Lection for Cantate Saturday Leviticus 26:21-33, 39-44       Luke 14:1-24 On one Saturday, Jesus was invited to the home of a ruler of the Pharisees for a meal. He had been invited for a purpose, "they were watching Him carefully." You see, many people were following Jesus, listening to what He had to say, hanging on Jesus’ words. On the other hand, the Pharisees seemed to have less of a following. Jesus was invited over on this particular Sabbath in order that they might catch Jesus in a slip-up. They set up the conditions so that He would break the Sabbath, because the Pharisees believed Jesus had a different view of the Sabbath than they did. This healing is the third which Jesus performs on a Sabbath. When He first healed on the Sabbath, they were enraged at Him. On His second Sabbath healing, the Pharisees were humiliated by His teaching. Jesus knows what they are up to, so He asked them, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” If they said yes, they wou...

Lection for Cantate Friday Leviticus 26:1-20       Luke 13:18-35   Today I am going to venture off my normal pattern. Someone asked me a question the other day that I would like to address here - because I have seen it is something people struggle with and ponder. The question was this. "Pastor, I have noticed some people talking about their loved ones who died as becoming angels, is this true?"  For you to read this devotion you will need your Bible to look things up. (It's OK, you can go get it, I will wait... welcome back!) I would truly love to know where this belief/understanding came from. I know it was already a something some believed by the time the classic Christmas film, It’s A Wonderful Life , was made back in 1946. This devotion's intention is to let Scripture do most of the talking, so what is here might seem a bit disjointed. But it will let you do the searching and come to understanding by letting God's Word say what God wants to t...

Lection for Cantate Thursday Leviticus 24:1-23       Luke 12:54-13:17 In the name of Jesus. Amen. We Lutherans know grace pretty well. We know we are forgiven, redeemed by the work of Christ on the cross, and that our works do not help in any way to save us. We also know well Paul’s passage which proclaims that even our faith is not our own work, but a gift of God – the workmanship of Christ in us – in Ephesians 2:8-10. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that (faith) not of yourselves, it (faith) is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. But God does expect us to be doing “good works,” in fact, that is the meaning of the parable Jesus tells in the text from Luke’s Gospel you read earlier. 6 And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; a...

Lection for Cantate Wednesday Leviticus 23:23-44       Luke 12:35-53 In the text from Luke’s Gospel which you just read, there are some parts that come off rather confusing, and some other things which many find downright discouraging. Let us take a few moments to consider what Christ is talking about in regard to what He says about the family. “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (vv. 51-53) This seems difficult, but it truly is not. In fact, most people understand it immediately, they simply do not like to admit what it is saying. These words of Jesus do not fit our 21 st Century definition of being nice. ...

Lection for Cantate Tuesday Leviticus 22:1-22       Luke 12:13-34 What is going to be the new plan for how to be “safer-at-home,” and still open up the businesses so that life can return to some semblance of order? What is going on with my 401K? Where will I get my haircut? Will I still be able to retire in twelve years? Jesus said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! 25 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? 26 If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all...

Lection for Cantate Monday Leviticus 21:1-24       Luke 12:1-12 How would you feel if your pastor did a baptism, "I baptize you in the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier, one God, Mother of us all."? Yes, this is actually wording being us for baptisms. When those who do are asked how they can say this, when it is in direct contradiction to what Scripture says, they claim, “the Bible is not the sole source of religious truth.” What would you say if I told you that we cannot be sure that Jesus is really who the Bible tells us He is, that Paul and the other Apostles fabricated the stories about Jesus? He was just a man! What if I told you that we cannot be sure that all the things the Bible says Jesus did are true? Sadly there are Christians who “confess” just such things. By God’s grace we confess something different, “Jesus Christ is God who truly did ALL the Bible claims He did. How many believe you can confess that you believe in Buddha...