Northwoods Table Talk

Lection for 2nd Sunday after Trinity  Proverbs 24:1-22        John 19:1-22 The readings above are for the June 21 in the Daily Lectionary used in   Lutheran Service Book  and also found in the   Treasury of Daily Prayer.  As this is Sunday, it is my prayer that you will be fed and nourished in the Divine Service, and your devotional time gathered around Word and Sacrament.  As we are still struggling with the presence of COVID-19, we are still in some sort of semi-exile.  I readily acknowledge that some, for very good reason, do not desire to venture out into a place where many gather. So, the reading for this Sunday in the church year are (click the link to be taken to the reading): Proverbs 9:1-10       1 John 3:13-18       Luke 14:15-24 Here is printed version of today's sermon. Scoffer? Or Wise Man? Proverbs 9:1-10 In our Old Testament passage, it talks about scoffers. What exactly is a scoffer? Well, if we look at other English translations, there are man

Lection for Saturday after Trinity I  Proverbs 22:23-23:12        John 18:15-40 I love to ask people if they paid attention to the text? Why do I do that? Because I have found that many people who claim to be Christian are really something quite different. What do I mean by that? If I say I am a Christian, then I follow Christ. I am not allowed to believe whatever I want to believe. I cannot blend God’s clear Word with the things I want to believe and call it Christianity, it is not. That would rightly be call Jerabekianity, because it is my own blending of things to believe. Do you remember when Peter rebuked Jesus after He had explained to them that He must suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day? He said to Jesus, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” Do you also remember what Jesus said to him? “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind

Lection for Friday after Trinity I  Proverbs 22:1-21        John 18:1-14   Did you pay attention to this text? In it, there is contained something which to me is astounding. So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth… Went forth for what? To have all the things that were coming upon Him, happen. He knew what was coming and endured it for you! He knew what was coming and endured it for me! He knew what was coming and endured it for every person who ever lived, who is living, or will ever live. As God incarnate, He knew the Law. There is no leniency in the Law. It cannot be broken or there will be consequences. We see God’s Law in the things of nature, things that cannot be broken – they happen according to their Divinely ordained purpose. Gravity for example is what holds this planet, the moon, the other planets in our solar system in place. It is what causes night and day to happen like clockwork. It keeps things from (literally) spinning o

Lection for Thursday after Trinity I  Proverbs 20:5-25        John 17:1-26   Our reading from John’s Gospel continues what came yesterday, Jesus in the upper room with His disciples, but now this is His prayer before He goes out to Gethsemane. In that prayer, is this portion that I’d like to consider: But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me t

Lection for Wednesday after Trinity I  Proverbs 17:1-28        John 16:17-33 Who do you know that keeps all their promises? Nobody! Whether intentionally or not, we have all broken promises, even mothers have broken promises. There is one who has never broken a promise – the man Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, also true man, born of the virgin Mary is the only one who has never broken a promise. Jesus makes a promise in our text that I wish would not come true. He says, “In the world you will have tribulation.” You are probably thinking, “Thanks a lot for pointing that one out. I already know that. I was looking for some promise from God which gives me evidence of God’s love.” We don’t like to hear such things because what we want the most, is a quiet place to which we can retreat from the worries and troubles of life. We want a place where we can be refreshed and renewed, and when we come out, our troubled life will be smoothed over.  

Lection for Tuesday after Trinity I  Proverbs 16:1-24       John 16:1-16 In our text, Jesus is talking about the things that are to come – the things for which the Father will glorify Him. What exactly are the things to come, for which the Father will glorify Him? Put into historical context, in other words, where and when is Jesus speaking these words? At the time of our text, Jesus is in the upper room with His disciple on Holy Thursday. He has already washed their feet, and has already spoken about a few things, He is preparing them for what is about to take place. What is it that is about to take place? His betrayal by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane, His arrest, mock trial before the chief priests, His abuse at their hands before they turn Him over to Pilate, and then His suffering, crucifixion, and death by the hands of Roman soldiers. But the disciples do not understand, they need the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. When Jesus tells them that is to t

Lection for Monday after Trinity I  Proverbs 15:1-29        John 15:12-27 (This was scheduled to be posted, but for some reason it did not publish. Forgive me for not checking as I am on my 35th Anniversary getaway with Pauline.) Yesterday was confirmation at St. Peter Lutheran Church, a glorious day in the church, a day of joy. People know the confirmands have accomplished - memory work, sermon reviews, and tests they had to pass. These young people are glad that all the hard work is done. Personally, I am hoping that some of what was taught to them they will remember – forever. Confirmation really is not about what Catechumens have accomplished, it is about confessing the faith into which they were baptized. Did you pay attention to that reading from John? Jesus said, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain.”   A Lutheran pastor wrote a devotional study that ties in well. I adapted a po