Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35 (Pentecost 15: Series A)
In this parable, notice how Jesus invites us to consider that forgiveness is something more than a moment. It is a way of grace that extends throughout an entire kingdom.
Contributors
David Schmitt
David Schmitt (MDiv, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; PhD, Washington University, St. Louis) is the Gregg H. Benidt Chair of Homiletics and Literature, Professor of Practical Theology, and Chair of the Practical Department at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO.
Most Recent
Gospel: Matthew 18:1-20 (Pentecost 14: Series A)
Sunday after Sunday, God’s people appear to have it all together… which makes you wonder why Jesus even continues to come. After all, everything is great among God’s people here.
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52 (Pentecost 8: Series A)
These parables invite us to consider the mysterious way of the reign of God. The Kingdom of God comes by grace to those who are seeking and not seeking it.
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (Pentecost 7: Series A)
In Christ, God promises to forgive sin and bring about new life: Life after being canceled.
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (Pentecost 6: Series A)
We cannot control the resistance of people to God’s Word, but we can trust in God’s power and promise to work through His Word.
Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30 (Pentecost 5: Series A)
Jesus did not come to be first. He came to be faithful, faithful to His Father’s mission for you.
Gospel: John 7:37-39 (Pentecost Sunday: Series A)
Whether we are sheltering at home on Pentecost or gathering together in church, we have reason for praise. Jesus Christ is the source of the Spirit and that Spirit will never fail.
Gospel: John 17:1-11 (Easter 7: Series A)
A wonderful intimacy, eternal and beyond our understanding, lies beneath the surface of these words. What is even more wonderful is how this intimacy is also ours. Through the saving work of Jesus, this intimacy is extended unto us.
Gospel: John 14:15-21 (Easter 6: Series A)
Jesus is not celebrating diversity or difference. He is promising sameness. Redundancy. A repeat of what has happened before.
Gospel: John 14:1-14 (Easter 5: Series A)
Jesus sees His disciples facing future uncertainty and responds not with details about dates and times and procedures to follow, but with His promise and His presence.
Gospel: John 10:1-10 (Easter 4: Series A)
We have one thing which will never change. We have a shepherd who knows us by name and who promises to speak to us in all of life’s situations.
Gospel: John 11:1-45 (46-53) (Lent 5: Series A)
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. But if you pause the story...then it is not just about Jesus raising Lazarus.
Gospel: John 9:1-41 (Lent 4: Series A)
When the story begins in creation and ends in restoration, all the moments in between are filled with the working of God.
Gospel: John 4:5-26 (27-30, 39-42) (Lent 3: Series A)
Jesus sits by the well as a shepherd, coming to offer this woman a life-giving stream.
Gospel: John 3:1-17 (Lent 2: Series A)
Jesus promises to work for you, forgiving your sins, but He also promises to work through you, forming you into a witness to the world.
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11 (Lent 1: Series A)
But this is not a story of Jesus being taken many places. This is a story of Jesus remaining in one place and deepening in His love of the Spirit and the Father.
Gospel: Matthew 4:12-25 (Epiphany 3: Series A)
This is the wonder which is present in the calling of the disciples. Not how they drop their nets to follow Jesus, but that Jesus does not need to go far to find disciples. He chooses the people He lives among.
Gospel: John 1:29-42 (Epiphany 2: Series A)
This is what makes the reading from John so frightening and yet so exciting. Notice how Jesus appears. Not in miracles, not in marvels, but in relationships.
Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17 (The Baptism of Our Lord: Series A)
Jesus did not need to be baptized. But he did it. Why?
Gospel: Luke 2:40-52 (Christmas 2: Series A)
God reveals Himself to us in Word and Sacrament but sometimes these revelations happen in unexpected ways.
Gospel: Luke 23:27-43 (The Last Sunday in the Church Year: Series C)
God invites us to have intimate conversations in a world filled with mockery and hate. To trust Jesus reigns whenever and wherever He extends a word of promise to the displaced and the disfavored, welcoming them home.
Gospel: Luke 21:5-28 (Pentecost 23: Series C)
Jesus offer us this vision of violence not so we might be drawn into it but so we might be drawn through it to come closer to Him.
Gospel: Luke 20: 27-40 (Pentecost 22: Series C)
If the resurrection were just a repetition of this world, then it would be ridiculous, indeed. But the resurrection is different. It is a world without death.
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12 (All Saints Sunday: Series C)
On All Saints Day, the beatitudes remind us how God in Christ claims people, frail, humble, poor, mourning, and makes them His own.
Gospel: Luke 10:17-20 (The Festival of St. Michael and All Angels: Series C)
No, we may not be casting out demons, but the battle continues and all of God’s people are involved in it. At baptism, we are taken from the Kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of God.