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I remember being very distressed by splinters when I was a

I think this is helpful for what can happen to us

But besides that dull ache of disappointment, the splinter

With splinters we can easily see the childishness of

We are not as good at seeing how childish it is to believe

But sins are nasty and ugly, full of puss and consequences.

However, a very powerful spiritual force fights against this

And maybe I haven’t quite caught the tune that would make

When people believe that sins do not matter, that they do

The devil starts to lose his grip on people when they move

This is when tax collectors, prostitutes, drug addicts, liars,

The fundamental posture of all disciples is always the same.

When such people come to believe that Jesus forgives them,

What I’ve spoken about today—a kind of insanely long introduction—is

John hated sin. He wasn’t scared of it either. He didn’t

So, to use the analogy we’ve been working with today, John

But some people loved the possibilities that opened up by

All of us, including me, have our splinters. They are not

But don’t be too afraid. Jesus is good at what he does. He

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Our Gospel reading today gives us a description of what John

Some who heard John were persuaded. They repented. They

At the end of our reading John the Baptist talked about

This was John’s preaching. Luke speaks of it as being “good

It might not. It is easy to be troubled by what John says. He

Questions like these are unavoidable for modern day

It is much easier to imagine a god (whom many people believe

Hearing rhetoric like this is quite common. Many people assume

This story should be familiar to you. God commanded Adam and

Then the serpent explained that God wouldn’t punish them as

What comes after this is what I’d like you especially to

Notice what was “good news” for Adam and Eve during this

God showed up. God did care. God would punish. Adam and Eve

God—amazingly—did not give Adam and Eve what they deserved. He

Already with this first telling of the story of Jesus, there

Is this violent retribution good news? It depends on whose side

The alternative is to say to God, “Thy

“Thy will be done!” turns our

Believing that it will be good is the only way we can make

Despite whatever misgivings we might have, the preaching is

Hopefully you have heard enough about Jesus to know that you

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“Blessed is the King who comes in

The Gospel reading today is when Jesus entered Jerusalem on

The animal upon which Jesus sat is also unusual. Donkeys are

All these strange details are not just strange for the sake

And these last two elements are really the key features.

You are familiar with the signs Jesus did. These, also, were

Especially, “What is he going to do next as he enters

I’m pretty sure that the disciples on Palm Sunday were

Jeremiah, another Old Testament prophet, speaks of Jesus

This is exactly what Jesus went on to do during Holy Week. You

On the days following this the powers that be tried to

I think by the time of Maundy Thursday the disciples were

Given the disciples’ eager expectation, you can perhaps see how

Those in power know how to get things done for their own

They better enjoy whatever they have gained for themselves

The disciples were not wrong with their thoughts about Jesus

If we lived at the time of these disciples we would

Jesus works now by the Holy Spirit to turn the hearts of

And the miracles of the future will be even greater. They are

Therefore, we are not all that different from the multitude

“Blessed is the King who comes in

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In our Gospel reading we meet a woman with whom we might

But whereas Jesus might not be all that impressed with us,

We might not want to be like her, at least not at first, but

The first thing we must consider is why this woman gave what

It seems to me that the only reason why she could give what

This faith caused her to be like another creature whom God

Now you might ask: “How?” From a certain perspective it

Faith has little to do with reason and common sense. The

We are given this rule regarding faith: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of

Therefore, whether a Christian is rich or poor, healthy or

Paul says in Philippians chapter four: “I have learned whatever the situation I am in to be content.

Oftentimes that last part, “I can do

But as you heard the context of that passage, it is clear

Consider, again, the old woman. We know that she has

This power to do all things, even to suffer negative things,

Given all these abilities and all these accomplishments, you

Isn’t it strange that at the very time when we have reached

We have a spiritual problem. Spiritual problems need

Jesus gives us great spiritual abilities. Jesus gives us the

Therefore, do not be afraid. Be bold and very courageous

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When we think about being blessed or being happy we usually

Did you notice how Jesus’s teaching was strange along these

He said, “Blessed are the poor in

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who

“Blessed are the meek.” The

“Blessed are those who hunger and

From these examples, you can see how Jesus teaches strange

Don’t these worldly beatitudes make more sense? We more

That’s one way of thinking, and it’s pretty persuasive. It’s

Is there a way that I can prove it? No, I’m sorry, I can’t. The

Today as we observe All Saints’ Day we must consider this faith

He says, “Yours is the kingdom of

Jesus says, “God will comfort you.”

Jesus says, “You will inherit the

 “You will be filled with righteousness.” Instead of

Jesus says, “You will receive mercy.”

Jesus says, “You will see God.”

Jesus says, “You will be called sons

These are good promises. But then Jesus makes a different

It can be scary to be reviled and persecuted and to have all

Except it’s not. Jesus said, “I have

But these false rules and false gods are bad. They don’t

No matter how rich you are, no matter how powerful you are,

Believe in him! Are you poor? Will you become poor? Are you

Faith, therefore, makes all the difference. John says in his

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On my day off last week I was at my dad’s farm near Albert

As I was sitting next to my nephew I couldn’t help but

Not all fear is bad. Fear goes together with learning new

It is not uncommon for people to think that being a

First of all, Jesus said, “How

But Jesus did not back down. He went on: “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It

The third time the disciples are spoken of as being astonished

The challenge that Jesus says down for his disciples is not

What might be frightening—if you are willing to take Jesus

Now, one way that you could take Jesus’s words is that he is

If we are going to enter the kingdom of God we have to

These are not childish teachings. These are very grow-up,

To arrive at the place where God dwells, where love dwells—what

Suppose I said to my nephew: I know that you want to run the

Jesus does not want his disciples to remain immature and

And you do not go on that adventure alone. If you get

Or take another command of Jesus’s: You might be afraid to

But suppose you try to carry out Jesus’s commands and you fail.

On these adventures it's almost certain that mistakes will

Right next to the forgiveness of sins, growing up in love as

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Jesus’s commands can seem unreasonable and unrealistic. Let

But there is another way of looking at it. A person could

We heard Jesus’s commands concerning the irrevocability of

When Jesus was asked about the permissibility of divorce I

It seems that the disciples were surprised by this command

Upon hearing Jesus’s teaching our immediate reaction might

But we all know that not all divorces are because of

Although this seems reasonable, it doesn’t seem to play out

When Jesus teaches about the irrevocability of marriage and

Although this might be a common way of hearing Jesus’s

But is this what Jesus really wants? Does he want us to be

So it is also with Jesus’s commands about the irrevocability

Looking at your marriage with faith is to realize that God

Now, I wish that there weren’t any troubles. I wish that everyone

I understand how what I have said could be painful for those

There is no way for me to prove to you that obeying Jesus’s

What is good for you to know, though, is that you are not

Hopefully today you have seen that none of us believe as we

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Jesus said, “If anyone would be

Being recognized is a deep human need. Being recognized is

This is simply how we are. There would be no sense in trying

For example, what often happens is that a person not only

What is to be done? I think a lot of people believe nothing

This is a very powerful philosophy. It makes sense. It’s

But Jesus helps us with what he says after that. “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant

Consider something I’ve already mentioned—prettiness. It can

Boys can do this too. Boys often value different things than

You know how it usually goes, though, don’t you? A hierarchy

That’s not correct if Jesus is correct. Maybe Jesus is a

Think of the way that Jesus is. If ever there was anyone who

No. Jesus doesn’t do this. He could if he wanted. He truly

And there’s no one who’s too low for him. There’s no one

You can see how Jesus’s friendliness, Jesus’s reaching out,

There are a lot of people who want to be recognized. They

And, as I mentioned before, the lowlier the person, the

Jesus’s saying is a strange recipe for greatness: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant

To do the opposite of this cannot turn out well. This is an

You know how good love is, so don’t shut yourself up away

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If you can imagine what it would be like to be deaf and

Hearing well and speaking well can easily be taken for

Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 35 talks about changing

There are several videos on the Internet that show something

Jesus’s bringing of abundant life is, again, fulfilling what

What features most prominently in Isaiah 35, however, is life

If you think about it, isn’t it the case that we need to be

So it can be also for those who are physically blind, deaf,

Consider your daily routine. It’s so easy to go through an

I could almost see Jesus groaning over us like he did with

Now, I can hear some critics saying that all that stuff

They’re wrong! They don’t live in the real world. They’ve

Imagine if there were a blind man who didn’t believe that

I know a lot of people like this. I know myself. I know that

Jesus says, “I came that you may

We can know God by his Word. We can learn how to live with

But, as the apostle says, “Now we

What will it be like to see God? What will it be like to

Therefore, do not be deceived. Don’t be tricked out of this

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Let’s begin by defining a couple words: defilement and

Being sanctified is the opposite. When we are holy, we

Defilement describes a state of being where we have no

Understanding defilement and sanctification is essential for

One of the regulations that God gave at that time was about

This is important background information for our Gospel

Let’s apply Jesus’s words to unclean food. Unclean food is

There seems to be an obvious contradiction between what

But instead of thinking that Jesus is contradicting the

In Deuteronomy 18, which is at the same time as Mt. Sinai, Moses

In order to do this, however, you must understand who Jesus

This question, of who Jesus is, is important and highly

When it comes to what we’ve been talking about

You can hear defilement language and sanctification language

Does what Jesus says describe you? Do you have evil

But there is sanctification language too—the opposite of

In conclusion, defilement and sanctification might not be

The stakes have been raised, so to speak, from what was

Jesus is the one about whom Moses prophesied. We should