LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Seventh Sunday After Trinity – Sunday, July 31, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:22	The holy gospel according
0:29	to saint mark the 8th chapter [Music]
0:38	in those days when again a great crowd had gathered and they had nothing to eat jesus called his disciples to him and
0:45	said to them i have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat
0:52	and if i send them away hungry to their homes they will faint on the way and some of them have come from far away and
0:59	his disciples answered him how can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place and he asked them
1:06	how many loaves do you have they said seven he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground and he took the seven
1:12	loaves and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples and set before the people and they set them
1:19	before the crowd and they had a few small fish and having blessed them he said that these also
1:25	should be set before them and they ate and they were satisfied and they took up the broken pieces of leftover seven
1:32	baskets full and there were about four thousand people and he sent them away this is the gospel of the lord
1:39	in the name of jesus amen y’all remember sesame street and when i was growing up that was like
1:45	cutting edge children’s television right remember this song one of these things is not like the
1:52	other one of these things doesn’t be long remember that they would always be like a comparison thing like
1:58	you know so they’ll take like three kids shoes and then put in an adult work boot and it’s like you have to figure out
2:04	which one doesn’t belong you just have to as a kid you sit there and go i think it’s the work boot i think that is the one that doesn’t belong so you’re gonna
2:11	note here we’re gonna do a little comparative work today and we’re gonna note that um one of these things is not
2:17	like the other as we look at our gospel text today you’ll note it’s another one
2:23	of these miraculous food miracles multiplication of food feeding of a large crowd of people in the middle of
2:30	nowhere and if you know your old testament this should invoke the exodus and there’s a reason why the exodus is
2:37	if you would a type and shadow map of our salvation we are in our exodus
2:43	right now you’re sitting there go how do you figure well let me kind of walk you through some of the highlights remember when exodus opens the people of god find
2:51	themselves enslaved to a false god king who wears a snake hat you know that
2:56	pharaoh guy right yeah yeah and so god then by ten mighty plagues of judgment
3:02	what does he do he judges the false gods of egypt and he mightily releases the
3:09	children of israel from slavery first order of business is what baptism
3:15	okay yeah the apostle paul makes this very clear that the children of israel they were baptized when they went
3:21	through the red sea and then begins the 40-year wilderness wandering
3:30	and you sit there and go how does that relate to us well you’ll note that christ by dying on the cross
3:36	christ is our passover lamb by the way and that whole passover is connected all the way back to the exodus itself christ
3:42	our passover lamb has been slain we feast on him when we have the lord’s supper and that being the case
3:50	he is the one who has set us free from slavery to sin death and the devil and
3:55	now we are in our wilderness wandering as we head towards the real promised
4:01	land which is not a postage stamp-sized piece of property in the middle east i know that there’s a tiny little bit of
4:07	property there and man everyone’s fighting over that place that’s a type and shadow of the thing to come the new
4:14	heavens the new earth right we’re going to live forever on the new earth all of that being said
4:20	you’ll note that when the children of israel got through the red sea and then began their wilderness wanderings
4:27	they were really known for grumbling all right i was liking it to a really
4:33	bad family vacation in a station wagon with a long long way to drive right and there’s
4:41	discontent there’s anger there’s there are we there yet no we’re not there yet and of course
4:48	my mom would which not my mom my wife when she would tell stories of stories like this when she would travel and she
4:54	would ask her mom are we almost there her mother would always say five minutes even if they’re worth like three hours
4:59	left right and that just could create all kinds of anxiety but all that being said we’re going to take a look at two
5:06	of these food miracles because god miraculously feeding a large multitude
5:12	in the wilderness that’s exodus stuff and we’re going to note we’re going to take a look at two accounts
5:18	one from the book of exodus one from the book of numbers and we’re going to then compare that with our gospel text and we
5:25	get to our gospel text we’re going to notice that something is missing
5:31	wonderfully something is missing it’s an important thing that that something is missing because you’ll note that the
5:37	children of israel during the exodus not many of them really believed or trusted
5:42	in yahweh and that’s really kind of the problem so in exodus 16 the account
5:48	reads this way the children of israel they set out from alim alim by the way
5:53	is that oasis with the 70 palm trees still exists to this day it’s just on the other side of the gulf of aqaba uh
5:59	from egypt and it’s got that it’s got palm trees to this day you can look it up on google earth you can actually kind
6:05	of wander around it’s kind of neat but all of that being said then the congregation of the people of israel
6:11	they came to the wilderness of sin which is between alim and sinai on the 15th day of the second month
6:18	after they had departed from the land of egypt so the whole congregation the people israel they
6:24	grumbled against moses and aaron in the wilderness and the people of israel said
6:30	to them oh would that we had died by the hand of yahweh in the land of egypt when
6:36	we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full for you have brought us out
6:41	into this wilderness in order to kill this whole assembly with hunger
6:48	yeah um their their recollections of slavery are already getting fuzzy i i’ve never heard of slaves like lounging
6:55	around meat pots and just eating to the full and relaxing the slavery was one of
7:00	these things is one of these things that a person really doesn’t get the best things in life and yet that’s their
7:06	recollection at this point and note here what are they doing they’re slandering god
7:12	this is very much akin to what the serpent did to god in the in the in the
7:18	uh garden of eden right serpent says did god really say you shall not eat of any tree that’s in the fruit of the god in
7:24	the in the garden right and the question itself implies that god is horrible that god is mean that god is just an evil
7:32	taskmaster his intents are evil he has nothing good in mind and so already when
7:38	the devil asks that question he’s slandering god with a question and here the children of israel they are
7:44	slandering god horrifically but here’s the thing
7:49	you’ll note by acting in this way and saying these things that they are acting faithlessly they show that they
7:56	do not trust god they don’t have real faith in him and they believe and they project onto him
8:02	the most evil of intents but how many of us do the same you know when things don’t go our way
8:10	we sit there and go well my health isn’t good or maybe you my marriage is is in tatters
8:16	at the moment or maybe my boss he’s a real jerk and it just ah and of course
8:22	then of course i always consider having to go to the gym that’s a form of torture why doesn’t god just give him
8:27	bless me with skinniness i mean say the word and the pounds will come right off right and so you’ll know whatever
8:34	difficulties we have in this life we have a tendency to become annoyed with god
8:42	and to not trust that he has our best in mind with gas prices skyrocketing with
8:49	inflation running out of control have you noticed that you’re making less money this year than you were last year
8:55	and it’s going to take a little bit of time to figure out how to readjust our salaries to catch up with the inflation
9:01	all that being said it may be difficult for you to pay your bills right you’re just watching as your money supply is
9:07	dwindling and your expenses are expanding and you sit there and go what
9:12	are you doing god are you trying to kill me here
9:18	we do this we have a lot in common with these folks
9:23	now i always used to wonder and after preparing the sermon i don’t wonder anymore i always used to wonder
9:31	what god would have done had the children of israel not grumbled
9:38	what would he have done because you’ll know that it’s it’s hard to see god’s true character in the midst
9:44	of their slander so god acts contrary to their slander it says so yahweh said to moses behold i’m about to reign bread
9:51	from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day that i might test them whether they
9:58	will walk in my law or not and on the sixth day when they prepare what they bring in it will be twice as
10:05	much as they gather daily and so moses and aaron they
10:11	they went and told the congregation come near before yahweh for he has heard your
10:16	grumbling and as soon as aaron spoke the whole congregation of the people of israel they looked toward the wilderness and behold the glory of the lord
10:22	appeared in the cloud and yahweh said to moses i have heard the grumbling of the people of israel so say to them at
10:28	twilight you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall be filled with bread and then you shall know that i am the
10:34	lord your god then you shall know that i am the lord your god
10:40	now that’s kind of an important little sub note here because when jesus does the same thing not only once but twice
10:47	notice that the gospels contain two miraculous multiplication food miracles uh that should tell us who jesus is but
10:55	i digress the text goes on to say in the evening quail came up and covered the
11:00	camp and in the morning do lay around the camp and when the dew had gone up there was on the face of the wilderness
11:06	a fine flake-like thing fine as frost on the ground and when the people of israel
11:11	saw it they said to one another here’s how it is in hebrew
11:18	what is it that’s what mana means he saw you’ve ever heard the word manna mana means what is it and it’s pronounced
11:24	mana so for they did not know what it was and
11:30	moses said to them it is the bread that the lord has given you to eat so there’s account number one all right
11:36	so we kind of got this worked out people of israel grumbled well fast forward a
11:41	little bit to numbers chapter 11. we get a similar account the details are
11:46	slightly different and there’s one big difference you’ll
11:51	see this here in a second it says in verse 4 the rabble that was among them they had a strong
11:58	craving and the people of israel they wept again and they said
12:03	oh that we had meat to eat we remember the fish we ate in egypt
12:09	that cost nothing of course it cost nothing you were enslaved you didn’t even own yourselves
12:16	you were being fed like you were a pet okay yeah you get the idea here this this is
12:21	just horrible so they got this strong craving oh we missed the cucumbers the melons the leeks the onions and the
12:28	garlic but now our strength is dried up there’s nothing at all but this men had to look
12:35	at right huh remember keith green and his song so you want to go back to egypt it
12:42	kind of reminds me of of that right yeah this is this is horrible but you’re going to note there’s a big craving
12:48	going on now my question is this is had they asked kindly
12:56	if they had asked god kindly lord we thank you for the mana that you give
13:02	us we thank you however is it possible lord that in your mercy
13:08	that you would add a little variety to our menu that’s uh you know we would we’d like some cucumbers or some meat or
13:14	some other thing to go along with the menu but uh we we do not despise what you have given us and it’s quite
13:20	miraculous that you feed us the way you do this entire multitude over a million people in the middle of nowhere and we
13:26	are so honored and humbled by the fact that we can see your glory when we can see your visible
13:32	presence with us night and day and we would also like some meat as well
13:38	and we pray that you would forgive us if this is if this is out of line to ask for but
13:43	we’re not we’re not not thanking you we would just like a little bit more you think what would god say in a situation
13:50	like that right and you’re going to know that many things that we desire in our lives
13:55	there’s cravings for them all right and hunger itself and you know the desire to
14:01	pay our bills or maybe you’re single and you want to be married and and you really desire to do this but note here
14:08	that what they’ve done their desire has caused them again to slander god and to act faithlessly to treat god as if his
14:16	intent is evil or that he doesn’t care about them at all and so they are grumbling in a way that is patently
14:24	sinful and beyond excuse at this point considering all the ways that god has
14:30	met their needs and shown them by his actions his kindness and his mercy and
14:35	his love toward them in the same way then we are tempted and we often times do our cravings cause us to blame god
14:42	for the things that we don’t have and we are not satisfied with the good things that god has given us you’ll note that
14:50	i’m still more than a million dollars away from being a millionaire and it always irks me that those rank pagans
14:56	who have no fear of god they fly around in private jets and things like this
15:03	yeah you get the idea right would it be wise for me to sit there and go well what’s the deal god
15:09	maybe not maybe not you see um we are taught to be content with the
15:16	good gifts that god has given us and in our day and age we have a saying the grass is always greener right the grass
15:23	is always greener where just across the fence in the other yard right how is it that my neighbors
15:30	flowers that they just bloom and this looks spectacular and in my yard
15:35	weeds why why right i desire for people to look at my yard
15:42	and go ah a slice of paradise instead they think this is what hell must look
15:47	like right and so you’ll know that rather than
15:55	being content with the good gifts that god has given them they are
16:00	not content they are discontent they have a craving and so god now is going
16:06	to answer their grumbling
16:12	but he’s going to do so in a way that shows that he’s acting in judgment
16:17	so moses he heard the people weeping throughout their clans every one at the door of his tent and the anger of yahweh
16:24	blazed hotly and moses was displeased moses said to yahweh why have you dealt
16:30	ill with your servant why have i not found favor in your sight that you lay the burden of all this people on me
16:36	don’t you remember when god met with moses at the burning bush moses said send someone else
16:43	he didn’t even want the assignment and now everyone’s grumbling to him about the menu
16:49	and he’s now well forwarding the grumbling he says did i conceive all this people did i give
16:55	birth to them that you should say to me carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing child to the land that
17:01	you swore to give them give their fathers where am i to get meat to give
17:07	to all of this people huh that sounds a lot like our gospel text it sounds a lot like the same
17:13	question that the disciples ask when jesus says that you need to feed them in the feed in the feeding of the five
17:18	thousands were we supposed to get enough of that right they so for they weep before me saying
17:24	give us meat that we may eat am i able to carry all this people alone the burden is too heavy for me if you will
17:30	treat me like this kill me at once if i find favor in your sight that i may not see my wretchedness this assignment’s so
17:37	hard moses is all just kill me i just want this to be done with this right
17:43	and you’ll note that many times many times when we are made to suffer you’ll note
17:49	that christ says that we are to deny ourselves take up our crosses and follow christ
17:55	to our death that crosses are not fun things to carry
18:01	they hurt they’re heavy they’re difficult and you’re not permitted to take your cross off of you
18:08	and i don’t know what you’re suffering with i don’t know what god is working
18:13	out in you where you are in a situation that despite your best efforts despite all your money despite all of your
18:20	intent you can’t make this problem go away you’ll note that when we are in those
18:28	situations we have nothing else to do but to cry out to god to give us strength
18:34	and i assure you that if you don’t have a heavy cross right now one will be
18:40	given to you eventually because we are all heading to the grave i always like to point out my physical appearance is
18:46	proof that we’re not here for very long you’ll note that the skunk thing is getting bigger okay it’s just a matter of time before
18:54	the skunk thing is gone and it’s just a big shock of gray hair right
18:59	it’s coming i’m trying to prepare you now i’m trying to prepare myself but all that being said this these are we these
19:05	are little reminders of the fact that we all are suffering the consequences of
19:11	sin and receiving the wages of our sin which is death and it comes to us slowly for some
19:18	and all of a sudden for others but all that being said moses it says in
19:24	this text a wind then came from the lord and sprang up and brought quail from the sea and let him fall beside the camp
19:30	about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side in the camp and about two cubits above the
19:36	ground the people rose all that day and all that night and all the next and they gathered the quail those who gathered
19:43	least gathered 10 homers and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp while the meat was yet between
19:50	their teeth before it was consumed the anger of yahweh was kindled against
19:56	the people and the lord struck down the people with a very great plague therefore the name of that place was
20:03	called kibroth because they buried the people who had the craving and
20:09	the people journeyed to azeroth and they remained in hazerath terrible outcome
20:15	god fed them but also god judged them you want meat i’ll give you meat
20:22	it’s not a good outcome and again you’ll note acting faith faithlessly slandering god not being
20:30	content with the good things that god has given them they they blaspheme god they act faithlessly
20:38	and so you’ll note that paul tells us in first timothy wise words for us as christians
20:45	godliness with contentment this is great gain
20:50	we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of it
20:56	this is most certainly true if we have food and we have clothing
21:02	with these we will be content but those who desire to be rich and i
21:08	would note be desiring to be rich is a form of a craving it’s an idolatrous craving in many senses and it doesn’t it
21:15	doesn’t have to be limited to just being rich this can be all kinds of desires
21:21	that lead us to exchange the eternal promises and gifts of god
21:27	for the temporal pleasures of this fleeting and passing life so paul points out to the rich that they
21:33	those who desire to be rich they fall into temptation they fall into a snare into many senseless and harmful desires
21:42	that end up plunging people into ruin and destruction
21:48	this is all a form of idolatry a breaking of the first commandment the second commandment the third commandment
21:54	it’s it’s all of them for the love of money
21:59	it’s like the craving of the children of israel it’s a root of all kinds of evil it’s through this craving that some have
22:06	wandered away from the faith and they have pierced themselves with many pangs
22:11	and i would note that maybe your temptation isn’t money i’ll single out the singles again here the world we live
22:18	in have you noticed that if you’re a christian and you’re single it’s hard to find someone to date
22:23	it really is and i actually feel for the people who who are young who are
22:30	who are faithful in their commitment to the faith but here’s the thing loneliness is a real thing
22:37	and many people often times christians through their desire their craving to no
22:43	longer be single and to alleviate the loneliness that they have they compromise
22:49	and end up marrying somebody who doesn’t share the same faith that they have
22:55	and as a result of it they jeopardize their faith and it’s a very very tragic thing so
23:01	you’ll know this isn’t just limited to money any kind of craving for something that
23:08	is contrary to the word of god or that would lead you to act faithlessly this is idolatry and sin and it’s a taking of
23:15	god’s word and casting it behind your back and saying that you know better than god when you
23:21	don’t which then leads to our gospel text remember one of these things is not like
23:27	the other and it’s in our gospel text we see something quite fascinating
23:32	it says in those days when again the great crowd had gathered they had nothing to eat and jesus called
23:40	his disciples and he said and and called them to him and said to them i have
23:45	compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and they have nothing to eat
23:51	let that sell in for a second three days three days
23:58	these people have been with christ for three days and they haven’t had a pitch in they haven’t had potluck no
24:05	many people have come and they’ve run out of food in their hat and they haven’t eaten for days
24:11	notice what’s missing there’s no grumbling there’s not a mention at all that the
24:18	people complained to jesus that they had nothing to eat and that he needed to do
24:23	something not a word was spoken against christ and as a result of it we get to
24:29	see what exactly god would have done in the exodus had the children of israel
24:36	not grumbled and complained and that is is that he would have had compassion on them
24:41	in the same way that god has had compassion on all of us you’ll note that the exodus tells us that we were born
24:50	dead in trespasses and sins enslaved to sin death and the devil that’s the whole point of our epistle text talking about
24:56	in our baptism we have been set free from slavery to sin and all of that because god has had compassion on us
25:03	god had so much love and compassion that he sent his only begotten son so that
25:08	whoever believes in him even if they’ve grumbled horribly against god and blamed him for the misery that they are in
25:17	that he would forgive them of all of their sins so that anyone who believes in him would
25:22	not perish but instead would have eternal life christ has borne our grumblings in his
25:29	own body on the cross so that we can be forgiven have you ever had a
25:34	conversation with a pagan and the pagan says if god is good and if he’s loving then why does he permit all of this evil
25:41	to happen in the world it’s like are you kidding are you kidding you’re blaming god for
25:47	that don’t you think you should instead be blaming us and notice i’m using all of us you think
25:53	god is the one responsible for the war in the ukraine we are you think god is responsible for all the
26:00	misery that we suffer in this human life the broken relationships the failed
26:06	economies the the horribly inept politicians you think god is responsible
26:12	for that we are and so we don’t have anything to
26:18	complain against god and you’ll note this crowd in spending three days with
26:24	jesus jesus preaches and teaches and comforts and heals them for three days
26:30	but he doesn’t feed them even a morsel of food and there isn’t a single complaint because everyone is listening
26:38	by faith and trusting in the words the christ is speaking
26:45	they’re convicted of their sin they’re also confronted with who their god is and how loving and compassion god
26:53	now moves and he has compassion on the crowd and he says if i send them away
26:58	hungry to their homes they will faint on the way and some of them will come as some of them have even come from far
27:04	away now we can see the character of god clearly it’s not obscured by human
27:10	slander and so the disciples answered jesus much the same way moses answered god how can one feed these people with
27:17	bread here in this desolate place but if we remember from exodus 16 that
27:23	it is this kind of miracle that shows who their god is
27:29	and so jesus divulges his deity when he has the people sit down
27:36	and he takes the seven loaves and the few fish that they have he blesses them
27:42	and he distributes them and everybody ate
27:47	and they were satisfied
27:52	it’s amazing they were utterly satisfied you know the lutheran table
27:59	prayer in the small catechism begins with a psalm and the psalm goes something like this the eyes of all look
28:05	to you o lord you grant them their food at the proper time you open up your hand
28:12	and you satisfy the desires of every living thing
28:18	you know the things that we desire oftentimes are the very things that we need we need food we need clothing we
28:26	need shelter do you think god doesn’t know that of course he does and this is the whole
28:33	point of jesus’s sermon on the mount in the in chapter 6 starting at 25 jesus
28:38	says don’t be anxious about your life what you’re going to eat what you’re gonna drink or about your body what
28:45	you’re gonna put on is not life more than food and the body is it not more
28:52	than clothing and if you know your scriptures you know that’s true you see man doesn’t live by
28:58	bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god and for three days those
29:06	people got to be fed by christ in their souls through the preaching and teaching
29:12	and ministry of christ so much so that they didn’t even complain at all about
29:17	the fact that there was nothing in their belly so jesus says look at the birds of the air they neither sow they don’t reap
29:24	they don’t gather into barns yet your heavenly father he feeds them are you not more valuable than they
29:33	yeah in my yard we got all kinds of little cute little birds we have blue jays and
29:38	these little chickadees are cute they’re just amazing to watch all the different
29:43	and all the stuff going on plus the squirrels you know i’m tempted to get a pellet gun for them but
29:48	that’s a different story right right but all of that being said you’re going to note here
29:54	they are thriving and they don’t have jobs
30:00	they don’t have bank accounts they’re well taken care of and who is it that takes care of them god and are you
30:08	not more valuable than the chickadees and the squirrels so which of you by being anxious could add a single hour to
30:16	his lifespan what a great question because we now know from science and you know evidence evidence-based you know
30:23	things like this that anxiety doesn’t lengthen your life it shortens it
30:30	a lot not a little anxiety oftentimes is the underlying
30:36	issue when it comes to different kinds of cancer that’s been proven right
30:41	so jesus says why are you anxious about your clothing consider the lilies of the field how they grow
30:47	they neither toil nor spin yet i tell you even solomon in all of his glory was
30:53	not arrayed like one of these but if god so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and then
31:00	tomorrow is thrown into the oven will he not much more clothe you
31:05	owe you of little faith and there’s the issue
31:11	oh of little faith therefore don’t be anxious saying what are we going to eat
31:16	what are we going to drink what are we going to wear the gentiles they seek after all of these things and your heavenly father he
31:23	knows that you need all of them instead listen to the solution seek first the kingdom of god and his
31:31	righteousness and let me explain what that is right the kingdom of god well that’s the kingdom where jesus is king
31:37	right jesus is king of kings and lord of lords but what about this phrase end his righteousness seems like a little bit of
31:43	an attachment right oh in his righteousness and you sit there and go i know what that means that means i need to go out there and strive harder and do
31:50	gooder and be a righteous dude no that’s your righteousness
31:56	it’s his righteousness this is seeking first the
32:01	kingdom of god and the righteousness that god gives you out of his great compassion and love for you by grace
32:08	through faith the righteousness of god the righteousness of christ which clothes you and covers your sin and your
32:16	faithlessness seek first the kingdom of god and the gospel is a good way of saying it and
32:22	note then all these things will be added to you all of them you don’t have to strive
32:29	your god knows you need them so that being the case coming back to
32:34	our our text we see a great example in our gospel text of the compassion that
32:41	christ has and him taking the initiative to make sure that his people who have
32:48	heard about the kingdom of god from him and about the righteousness of god through the lips of christ for three
32:54	days without anything in their belly jesus now feeds them to the full and they are
33:00	completely satisfied they took up broken pieces left over seven baskets full
33:06	about four thousand people ate that day that’s just the men and then jesus sent them away
33:14	so the idea here is through this miracle jesus is letting you know
33:20	that he is the one who feeds us body and soul if you were to kind of think
33:26	about it here this miracle divulges who he is god in human flesh
33:31	but that being the case you’ll note then our bodily food each year jesus causes
33:38	the crops to grow on earth i love the fact that we live out here in the you know in this rural area with all these
33:44	farmers and farms around us right because it always amazes me every year you get these ginormous
33:50	combines and and farm implements that go out there and plant these tiny little
33:56	seeds right you barely see them with a microscope i need glasses anyway but you get the idea
34:03	and what ends up happening after they put those seeds into the ground god multiplies those seeds
34:11	and they have a harvest later in the season have you ever stopped to think that that
34:17	food multiplication miracle that jesus took is just exactly the same miracle that jesus performs for us year after
34:23	year after year we see it out here with our own eyes
34:30	and if you live in the city i feel bad for you it’s fascinating to watch and there’s a great smell that goes along
34:37	with being outside with these fields full of crops right it’s it’s it’s
34:43	amazing and as we get close to the harvest have you noticed how the smell changes just a little bit it’s a unique
34:49	thing and i never experienced that until i got out here but here’s the idea jesus
34:54	causes the crops to grow and it’s these things that pertain to him he is the one who feeds us the same
35:01	way year after year and note he does it out of his divine mercy and his
35:06	compassion for all of his creation he causes the sun to come up and the rains
35:12	to fall on the just and the unjust out of his great mercy and love for those
35:17	whom he has created but we also note here that christ feeds us with spiritual food
35:24	he feeds us with the manna of his word he teaches us he comforts us and
35:30	strengthens us strengthens us with his word he enlightens and governs us by his
35:35	holy spirit and when we have the lord’s supper he even gives us his own very body and blood to eat and to drink
35:42	so that our souls may be nourished and we might have comfort in the forgiveness of our sins despite
35:48	our unworthiness but also one more thing
35:54	jesus also promises to feed us with eternal food there is a world to come
35:59	and the first order of business when jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead after everybody is
36:06	sorted out there is a big party and you all have been invited and even god has
36:13	made clear what’s on the menu fine aged wine and meat with morrow we know
36:21	that god is going to feed us in the world to come and we also learn from the
36:26	book of revelation that that tree of life that god had the bar the way to
36:32	it makes a reappearance in the book of revelation and we will eat and be satisfied from the tree of life
36:39	in a world without end so much here in this text if you take
36:46	the time to just compare and see why it is that one of these things is not like the other
36:52	you see one of them absolutely isn’t like the other no grumbling no faithlessness and we see now the
36:59	compassion and glory of god so repent of your anxiety repent of your
37:04	sinful cravings repent of blaming god for your misery
37:09	christ has died for you he has he loves you and he has offered you and given you
37:14	eternal life as a gift he feeds you body and soul and promises you the food of the earth
37:20	to come all is a gift because of his great love mercy and compassion
37:26	in the name of Jesus amen

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