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From “Keep Out” to “Welcome”

Easter Meditation 2026

This meditation follows the reading of The Garden, The Curtain, and The Cross: The True Story of Why Jesus Died and Rose Again, by Carl Laferton.

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The original Sin that dwells inside each and every one of us is Pride. 

Pride causes us to live day-to-day not wanting God to be in charge of anything that would affect the way we want to live.

Even for the most committed believer, pride causes a reversion to a state of living as a practical atheist.  This means that we say God is sovereign over all things and that we desire to live and love and He has first lived and loved us in Jesus Christ, but we move throughout our days as if God was not real and present.

Because of the indwelling Sin that corrupts every human being and therefore makes it impossible for every human being to be near God’s holiness, God placed a “Keep Out” sign at the entrance to His Kingdom.

However, this was not God’s will.  God’s will was to have a “Welcome” sign for you and for me to freely enter into His presence and His eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

So, in order to change the “Keep Out” sign to a “Welcome” sign, God committed (for your ultimate good) to have the worst day that could ever happen.  God stepped into the world in the person of Jesus Christ to provide forgiveness for all of our Sin by being the perfectly innocent sacrifice that was needed to heal, to forgive, and to restore us to place of peace and friendship with Him forever.

This was God’s plan before time and space existed.

God’s love caused Him to plan the ultimate rescue mission through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

Jesus’ perfectly sinless life is the perfectly spotless life that was needed to atone for your sins.

Jesus’ receiving of the wrath of God as punishment for your Sin by death of the cross is the substitution that you need to be set free from the condemnation and punishment that you deserve due to the corruption that Sin causes in your heart and being.

And, Jesus’ resurrection from the grave on Easter morning is the victory over Sin and Death that you need in order to be assured that you are fully at peace with God today and will one day be welcomed by your Creator with wide open arms into 

Through Jesus, God’s Keep Out sign that has been posted at the entrance to His Kingdom due to the universal human predicament of Sin has been ripped up and thrown out forever.  God’s wonderful place is open to you this morning and forever because Jesus walked out of the grave, fully alive, on Easter morning.

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection turns God’s Keep Out sign into a Welcome sign.

Through faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for you, you can now go into God’s Kingdom.

I leave you with this exhortation from the Apostle Paul’s letter the Church gathered in the city of Colossae.

Colossians 3:1–4 says this to you:

[1] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. [3] For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (ESV)

Christ the Lord is Risen today, Hallelujah!

Oh, Happy Day, Jesus washed our sins away!

This is the Resurrection of Jesus for you.

And, all of God’s people said, Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

April 5, 2026 — Easter Sunday.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

By His Blood

Good Friday 2026

We are both fascinated and horrified by blood.  Blood is a wonderful, powerful liquid that nourishes our bodies and keeps us alive.  It carries oxygen and nutrients to our cells, and removes wastes and toxins from our bodies.  Blood protects us from infection by its antibodies and fights disease.

We value blood highly.  Yet we are also rather squeamish about blood.  We avoid contact with it, because we feel that it somehow stains us and makes us unclean.  In the UK, they even use bloody as a swear word, as if blood made things repulsive and disgusting.

Because of this, many are put off by the whole business of sacrifices in the Old Testament, and messages of Christ’s bloody death on a cross.

However, it is by Jesus’ sacrifice in His bloody death on the cross that each of us is a recipient of God’s grace, mercy, and love.  

Our access to God does not depend on the observance of God’s Laws and Commands.  Our access to God depends fully on His forgiveness of our Sin, His purification of our hearts, and the gift of a Christ-like conscience.  

Through the blood of Jesus, shed for you, God cleanses you so thoroughly from your Sin that He no longer has any reason to remember it. 

Through the blood of Jesus, you become blameless in God’s sight.  

By His blood Jesus cleanses you from the guilt of Sin and your pollution by it.  He cleanses your conscience from the stain of all impurity, so that you can participate in the Heavenly service of worship with a pure heart so that you do not desecrate God’s holiness with your impurity.

Having atoned for our sins with His blood, Jesus now offers us the benefits of that atonement (Rom 3:24). 

By His blood Jesus pardons our sins and releases us from their effect on us; he rescues us from our guilt and its power over us; he sets us free from the accusation and condemnation of the devil (Matt 26:28; Rev 12:10–11). Jesus redeems us from our sins by forgiving us (Eph 1:7). 

By His blood Jesus justifies us before God the Father (Rom 5:9); by His blood Jesus sets us free from our sins and makes us members of God’s royal priesthood who have access to His gracious presence (Rev 1:5–6); He reconciles us with God and gives us peace through His blood (Col 1:20). 

By His blood you who were once far from God have now been brought near to Him (Eph 2:13). 

Through His blood you now have access to God the Father in one Spirit (Eph 2:18). Just as the high priest was able to enter the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement by means of the blood from the sin offerings (Lev 16:14–15), so you have the right to enter the heavenly sanctuary and approach God the Father there by the blood of Jesus (Heb 10:19–22). It qualifies  you for entry into God’s heavenly presence with bold confidence in Him and the complete assurance that He will welcome you and bless you. 

By His blood Jesus sanctifies you inwardly and completely (Heb 10:29; 13:12). By yourself you are not holy. But you are holy in Him. He shares his own holiness with you, so that you are now as holy as He is. 

By His blood, we are saints, holy people who stand before God together with his holy angels. Through the Holy Spirit Jesus sanctifies us by sprinkling us with his blood (1 Pet 1:2). We therefore depend on it for our sanctification. Like the priests in the Old Testament (Exod 29:21; Lev 8:30), our “robes” are made holy by the blood of the Lamb, so that we can stand with Jesus in the presence of His heavenly Father (Rev 7:14). 

Through His blood we are blood brothers and blood sisters with Jesus. As coheirs with Him we have a foretaste of our heavenly inheritance already in this life here on earth.

All that and much more is yours by faith in Jesus and his blood—the blood which was shed on the cross for you and which you will soon receive from Him in Holy Communion. 

Thomas Aquinas summed this up in his hymn, “Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior,” with these lyrics: 

Fountain of goodness, Jesus, Lord and God: 

Cleanse us, unclean, with Thy most cleansing blood; 

Increase our faith and love, that we may know 

The hope and peace which from Thy presence flow.

This is the Blood of Christ for you.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

April 3, 2026 (Good Friday)

*This message has been heavily influenced by excerpts from

John W. Kleining’s, The Lord’s Supper: A Guide to the Heavenly Feast.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Turkey Sandwiches and Nobel Prizes

Philippians 2.3-11

On January 28, 1986, NASA was planning to launch the space shuttle Challenger from Kennedy Space Center—a mission that included a schoolteacher named Christa McAuliffe. The launch had already been delayed a few times. On the night before the new launch date, NASA held a long conference call with engineers from Morton-Thiokol, the contractor that built the Challenger’s solid-rocket motors. Allan McDonald was one of the Thiokol engineers.

On the day of the launch it was unusually cold in Florida, which concerned McDonald because he feared that his company’s o-ring seals in the Challenger’s big joints wouldn’t operate properly at that temperature. Since the boosters had never been tested below 53 degrees McDonald recommended the launch be postponed again.

But NASA officials overruled McDonald and requested that the “responsible Morton-Thiokol official” sign off on the decision to launch. McDonald refused to sign the request, but his boss did. The next morning McDonald—and millions of people around the globe—watched as a mere 73 seconds into the flight, the shuttle burst into flames.

After the accident, a review showed the cause of the explosion to be what McDonald had feared: the o-rings failed to hold their seal in the cold temperature. In other words, some people in the know had foreseen the exact cause of failure. So why, even with that warning, did NASA push on? Allen McDonald claims that NASA fell prey to the oldest and most basic sin—pride. 

McDonald said:

NASA [had become] too successful. They had gotten by for a quarter of a century and had never lost a single person going into space … And they had rescued the Apollo 13 halfway to the moon when part of the vehicle blew up. Seemed like it was an impossible task, but they did it. So how could this cold o-ring cause a problem when they had done so much over the past years to be successful? [All of this success] gives you a little bit of arrogance you shouldn’t have … But they hadn’t stumbled yet and they just pressed on.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Pride comes before a fall,”?

Well, I don’t know if you know this or not but this saying comes directly from the Bible.

The book of Proverbs, the book known for it’s Godly wisdom, says this, in chapter 16, verse 18:

[18] Pride goes before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall. (ESV)

Why does pride come before a failing in your life?

Well, pride comes before a failure because pride causes you to think of yourself as an ultimate authority.  And, being an ultimate authority causes you to be arrogant and unwilling to seek help or listen to the advice of others who are more experienced than you.

We can even say that pride came before the original Fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden.

In the Garden of Eden, man and woman lived in perfect harmony with God, their Creator.  However, when the idea that they could possibly be better than God, know more than God, and make better decisions than God, entered their minds, they decided to trust themselves and do what they wanted, instead of trusting the very essence of love and wisdom—God.

Pride came before the first human Fall that has since affected every person who has lived after Adam and Eve.

Today, we celebrate Palm Sunday.  Many times, we view this event from a place of pride as we think that this is the day that Jesus shows up in town and “sticks it to the man” by showing the world how great He is.

But, the truth of the matter is that for Jesus, Palm Sunday is a day of humility.  Palm Sunday is the day that a humble servant rode a humble animal into a city that would humiliate him by killing him for the crimes of others.  And, Jesus willing did all of this, to be a humble servant of both God and you.  Even though He was God-in-the-flesh, Jesus chose the hard and low road to do what was needed to be done for God’s glory and your good, regardless of how degrading it was to His character.

In this morning’s text, chosen for us by the Epistle section of the lectionary, Jesus’ Palm Sunday, Jesus’ Good Friday, and Jesus’s Easter morning experiences are described in such a way that they are reframed as an exhortation.  In the words we are going to hear now, we are told that a life of faith is a life given to us for the purpose of following Jesus in humility so that God is glorified and others find themselves covered by God’s grace.

Let’s here from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians gathered in the city of Philippi during the 1st Century A.D.

Philippians 2.3-11 says this to you:

[3] Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (ESV)

Here at Bethel, we are not ashamed to do what the Bible does.  So, we proclaim over and over again that you are not saved from your Sin by doing good works but by faith in Jesus alone.

However, in this morning’s Biblical text, as in many Biblical texts, we are exhorted to do the good work of humbly living in a God pleasing way. 

So, what gives?  

Well, let’s hear a little bit about how faith and works are intimately connected.

The disciple Matthew recorded the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14–16 which tell us this:

[14] “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

In another letter to another city, the Apostle Paul writes this in Ephesians 2:8–10:

[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

The Christian life is a life saved by God for the glory of God and the good of others.  The new life created by faith in Jesus Christ is a life created to do good works, not for self-aggrandizement, but for helping those around us in their moments of need.

And, to do good works that first and foremost benefit others is a life of humility beau’s we are choosing to help others first instead of helping ourselves first.

Why do we need the exhortation to be humble?  Because it is very easy to be arrogant and prideful.  Do to the self-centering nature of Sin, we easily fall for the lie that we are the best, the wisest, the most knowledgable, the greatest in talent, and therefore deserve unending praise and recognition for our greatness.

To be prideful is to lift ourselves up.

To be humble is to lift others up.

In an episode of the 1990s television comedy, Seinfeld, famously known for being about “Nothing,” the star of the show, comedian Jerry Seinfeld goes into a new restaurant in his neighborhood owned by a Pakistani immigrant.  Seinfeld goes into the establishment to support the owner after seeing that he was struggling for customers.

As Seinfeld sits in the restaurant waiting for his meal to be delivered to the table, his inner monologue is revealed and he says, “I am a kind man. Who else would do something like this?  Nobody.  Nobody thinks about people the way I do!”

But, his thinking is quickly readjusted when he realizes how ridiculous he is being.

Seinfeld’s inner monologue continues on with, “All right, snap out of it you stupid jerk.  You’re eating a turkey sandwich.  What do you want, a Nobel Prize?”

We may laugh at this situation, but part of the reason that we laugh is because it is so relatable.  We see ourselves and hear our own voices in Seinfeld’s experience.

It is very easy to order a turkey sandwich and then immediately congratulate ourselves thinking we deserve an award that is recognized by the whole world.

On Friday, I had the opportunity to attend one of our school district’s Challenger basketball games.

The Challenger league is a division of our basketball program designed to allow our students with physical and intellectual special needs to participate in sports.

What I witnessed was nothing short of how our Biblical text defines humility.  During the game, there was no rivalry, each player was focused on helping and congratulating every other player—both on their team and on the opposing team, and others were consistently considered more important than the self.

This is how the game went:

Player A was given the ball and allowed to run down court.  They were given as many chances to score as it took.  If they missed, the players on their team and the opposing team would rebound the ball and pass it back to Player A.

After Player A scored, Player B was passed the ball.  Player B was allowed to run down the court and stand in front of the hoop shooting as many shots as they needed to make a basket.  

Again, the players on their team and the opposing team would rebound the ball and pass it back to Player B until they scored 2 points.

This went on for all four 8 minute quarters.  

When it neared the end of a quarter, the clock was stopped before the buzzer to allow the current ball holder to score before the buzzer.

This is humility.  Everyone looking out for everyone else’s best interest.

No one was interested in being the star player.

No one was interested in scoring 10 points when their teammates had scored 0 points.

No one was interested in winning the game.  The score was always tied and kept even.

This week, I was reading a recently released book titled, Disentangled: Taming Your Thoughts and Feelings to Live Freely for Jesus.

In the book, author Jo Johnson, points out that every day we makes countless decisions about what we will think, what we will believe, what will say, and what we will do.  In each of these decisions, we choose to either make a move TOWARD God and His will for us, or, AWAY from God and His will for us.  In a restatement of the greatest command and the close second commandment as taught by Jesus, Johnson points out that God’s will is that we live looking up to Him and out to others.

Palm Sunday shows us that Jesus always decides to live TOWARD God’s will by always looking up to God and out to others. 

Jesus wasn’t coming into the city of Jerusalem riding a war horse and brandishing armor, a sword and wearing a royal cape.  

No, Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the humble servant’s animal used for daily tasks, signifying to the people in the streets and to you today that He was a man of humility, peace, and service.  

Jesus was humble in that He didn’t consider His equality with God something to be held tightly onto.  Instead, Jesus left His throne in Heaven to be born into a human body, the human body of a humble working class carpenter’s son.  In that humble human estate, Jesus, God-in-the-Flesh, would be questioned, doubted, mocked, and eventually crucified on the cross (even though he was completely innocent of all charges), thinking only of your good, your need for forgiveness, and your need for reconciliation with God your Father in Heaven.

In line with the Challenger basketball game that I just described, here is what happened: after Jesus scored the ultimate and final goal of the game, securing victory over Sin and Death, He immediately passes His life to you so that you can score and have the same exact experience that He has—victory over Sin and Death culminating in forgiveness and eternal life in God’s Kingdom of Heaven.

President Theodore Roosevelt’s love of the outdoors is well documented. He was responsible for the creation of several national parks and monuments. In his first inaugural address, he spoke freely of the blessings of God upon our nation, saying, “I reverently invoke for my guidance the direction and favor of Almighty God.”

It is said that when President Roosevelt entertained diplomatic guests at the White House he was fond of taking them out to the back lawn at the end of the day. As the president stood gazing at the night sky, all eyes would eventually be cast heavenward, as his were. In his day, the vast array of stars was not dimmed by the city lights, and the magnificent display of God’s brilliant creation would overcome the party. After a long moment, Mr. Roosevelt would say, “Gentlemen, I believe we are small enough now. Let’s go to bed.”

This morning’s text from Philippians tells us that Jesus’ humility led God to exalt Him to the place of honor in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus was exalted to the place of being your Savior and Lord.

In a similar way, as we demonstrate our faith to the world by living TOWARD God’s will through looking up to Him and out to others, we too will be exalted and lifted up to a place of honor in God’s Kingdom of Heaven.  You are exalted to the place of being a child and friend of God forever.

First, I leave you with the call to humility from Jesus’ brother James who exhorts you with these words:

[10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10, ESV)

Second, I leave you with Jesus’ words found in Matthew 23:11–12:

[11] The greatest among you shall be your servant. [12] Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 29, 2026.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Where Is God?

John 11.1-45

Do you ever ask questions like…

Where is God when bad things happen?

Where is God when I am suffering?

Where is God when I am mentally and emotionally unstable?

Where is God when marriages fall apart?

Where is God when children are abused?

Where is God when cancer and disease show up?

Where is God when addiction ruins my life and my family’s life?

Have you ever asked these questions? Or, similar questions?

Maybe you asked similar questions this week after hearing some of the top news stories.

Maybe you asked, “Where was God when Hawaii faced record breaking flooding?”

Maybe you asked, “Where was God when Cuba’s electrical grid collapsed leaving millions of people in the dark?”

Maybe you asked, “Where is God as the Iranian war enters it’s fourth week leaving a trail of deaths and destruction causing people all over the world to fear nuclear retaliation?”

Maybe you asked, “Where is God as airport security workers are denied their fairly earned wages as the Washington politicians who are holding their money back continue to get paid?”

When life is interrupted by events that cause pain and suffering, both Christians and non-Christians often ask the same questions…

“Where was God?,”  

“How come God didn’t stop this from happening?,” and

“If God is all-powerful and sovereign over all things, why would He let this tragedy unfold?”

In this morning’s text from John’s biography of Jesus, chosen for us by the lectionary, we encounter a situation in which similar questions were asked about God’s whereabouts when bad things were happening.

Let’s here from John 11.1-45 together now.

John 11:1–45 tells us this:

[1] Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [2] It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. [3] So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” [4] But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

[5] Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [6] So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. [7] Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” [8] The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” [9] Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. [10] But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” [11] After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” [12] The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” [13] Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. [14] Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, [15] and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” [16] So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

[17] Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. [18] Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, [19] and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. [20] So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. [21] Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [22] But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” [23] Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” [24] Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” [25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, [26] and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [27] She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

[28] When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” [29] And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. [30] Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. [31] When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. [32] Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” [33] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. [34] And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” [35] Jesus wept. [36] So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” [37] But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

[38] Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. [39] Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” [40] Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” [41] So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. [42] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” [43] When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” [44] The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

[45] Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, (ESV)

About 2000 years ago, when Jesus’ close friend Lazarus passes away, we hear the question, “Where was God?,” being asked not once, not twice, but three times by three different people.

First Martha, who runs to find Jesus when tragedy strikes, approaches Jesus on the road and says: “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died!”

Secondly, Mary, who stays behind to mourn, weep, and grieve, says to Jesus when He calls her to come to him:  “Lord, if you would have been here my brother would not have died.”

And thirdly, some of the Jews who were present and watching the tragic situation unfold, asked: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”  

As Lazarus was sick, dying, and then dead, questions arose about God’s love, God’s goodness, God’s care, and God’s concern for those He claimed to love.

Some of those questions being,

“Where was God when I was anxious and worried watching my brother get progressively sicker?,”

“Where was God when my brother died at a young age?,” and

“Where was God as I was forced to deal with grief and loss of a loved one?”

In all three statements we see Jesus being accused of not being present when tragedy struck.  And in the same vein, of not caring about those whom He loved and who loved Him in return.  

In this text from John 11.1-45, Jesus answers the question, “Where is God when we are suffering and hurting because bad things happened?”

But, Jesus answers the question of God’s presence in suffering differently than humanity ever could or would.  

Because of sin, when we don’t get a perfect life with all of our desires, wants, and wishes perfectly met by the “Genie-in-a-Bottle” god, we say that God is no longer there or has left us when we needed Him most.

But, Jesus’ answer to the question of God’s whereabouts in tragedy, suffering, and pain, points us to the truth and good news that He is most present with you at those times.

Psalm 34:15–18 says this:

[15] The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

and his ears toward their cry.

[16] The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

[17] When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

[18] The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit. (ESV)

Jesus is there with you, speaking loudly to you in the most difficult moments of life.  

That may seem like an odd statement because when we think about God, we want to think “happy” thoughts like joy, peace, rest, and heaven.  We don’t want to hear or think that God comes closest in the hardest and most painful moments of life. We want God to eradicate pain and suffering instead.

But this is the truth of scripture.  It is only when sin shows its full power—to kill, destroy, damage, and hurt—that we are able to understand the predicament of humanity.  It is in suffering that we see the brokenness that needs to be fixed.  It is in pain that we realize our imperfection.  And it is in those moments that we recognize our need for a fixer, a healer, a rescuer, and a giver of perfect and unending life.

David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group points out that 

“National and global events can get our attention for minutes and weeks, but personal crises—divorce, losing your job, death, and economic instability—really can recalibrate spiritual priorities.”

Jesus begins, before Lazarus passes away, by telling His disciples that Lazarus’ sickness was for the purpose of ensuring that they and others would believe that Jesus was in fact the Son of God sent to save men and women from their sin.

And, to show them the hope that they had during this time of loss, Jesus demonstrates His power, right there, on the scene, in the very moment, to turn mourning into dancing, to bring life out of death, by raising Lazarus from the dead so that God our Father in Heaven would be glorified and people would come to faith through repentance of sin and belief in God’s Savior.

Jesus, God in flesh, simply calls Lazarus’ name and he comes walking out of the tomb, raised back to life, for all to see and hear about.

You can even imagine that as Lazarus is making his entrance back into the world of the living, House of Pain’s Back From the Dead is playing as the soundtrack with the lyrics:

“Erase my name from off the tombstones

Alive and kickin’, breathing the air

Call out my name…and I’ll be there

…’Cause I’m back from the dead.”

The historian Paul Veyne calls himself an “unbeliever,” and yet he extols the message of human dignity that we find in the sacrificial love and death of Jesus. Veyne writes:

“[In the gospel, a person’s life] suddenly acquired an eternal significance within a cosmic plan, something that no philosophy or paganism could confer … The pagan gods lived for themselves. In contrast, Christ, the Man-God sacrificed himself for his [people] … Christianity owed its success to a collective invention of genius … namely, the infinite mercy of a God passionate about the fate of the human race, indeed about the fate of each and every individual soul, including mine and yours, and not just those of the kingdoms, empires and the human race in general.”

For Martha and Mary, Jesus was present in their suffering, pain, grieving, and mourning.  He was with them, listening, comforting, and healing.  The text says that “when Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.”  And when He visited the place of burial with the family members, “Jesus wept.”

In their moments of sorrow Jesus was there.  

In their moments of questioning the pains of life Jesus was there.  

In their moments of weeping Jesus was there weeping with them.  

Jesus was troubled by the brokenness of life because of the effects of sin on humanity and Jesus stood by those suffering to have compassion on them, comfort them and provide hope that this is not over, this is not how life will end.  

And, the same is true for you!

In the threats of death and destruction there is always the promise of resurrection and eternal life.

This life, often defined by pain and suffering is not all that there is.

With Jesus, we are not nihilists.

With Jesus, we are awaiting our resurrection and Heavenly home where we are promised that there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more suffering, and no more tears.

In your moments of sorrow Jesus is there.  

In your moments of questioning the pains of life Jesus is there.  

In your moments of weeping Jesus is there weeping with you.  

Jesus is always troubled by the brokenness of your life because of the effects of sin on humanity and Jesus stands by you to have compassion on you, comfort you and provide hope that this is not over, this is not how life will end for you who have faith.

In the midst of your sorrows, Jesus calls your name, bringing you into the hope of eternal life, where no bad things will ever happen.

There is meaning and purpose in everything that happens even when you don’t understand.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Believe in him and even though you die, you shall live.

The is the Word of God for you.

This is the Grace of God for you.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 22, 2026

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

With or Without Jesus?

Matthew 5.1-12

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

What thoughts do you have about the person you are looking at?

What we usually see when we look at ourselves is unrealistic.

For some of us, we see an inflated version of who we are.

We see someone who is always strong and never weak. 

We see someone who is capable of conquering every obstacle that life throws at them.

We see not just a human but a superhuman.

We see someone who is invincible and not able to be defeated.

But for others of us, we see a deflated version of who we are.

We see someone that is weak and never strong.

We see someone that will never accomplish their goals in life.

We see someone who has been beat down and defeated by what life has brought their way.

We see someone that we consider less than human.

In this morning’s text, we return to the beginning of one of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  In this opening statement to His sermon, Jesus describes what we should see and say about ourselves when we look in the mirror.

Jesus is describes the life that we have through faith in Him and He is also telling us about the life we have without faith in Him.

Let’s hear Jesus’ words now.

Jesus’ says:

[1] Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

[2] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

[3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[4] “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

[5] “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

[6] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

[7] “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

[8] “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

[9] “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

[10] “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[11] “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

In Jesus’ words to his disciples, he is describing two lives.

The first life that Jesus directly describes is that of a Godly person.  

This is the blessed life; the life where one has a relationship with God and therefore reaps all of the benefits of God’s goodness, grace and mercy.

The second life that Jesus indirectly describes is that of an ungodly person.  

This is the unblessed life; the life where one does not have a relationship with God and therefore does not reap any of the benefits of God’s goodness, grace and mercy.

It is easy to look at Jesus list of Godly characteristics and see them as goals to accomplish in order to earn the rewards mentioned.  

However, because of sin, we are unable to enter into the blessed life when left to our own strength and efforts.  We can only enter into the blessed life described here through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus makes that clear when he says to us,

[6] …“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, ESV)

In a book I was reading this week, the author masterfully describes us before we find ourselves believing in Jesus.

He says:

“[Let’s turn] to man as he is before his conversion, while still in his natural, sinful, unrenewed state. In this state of sin, the will shares, in common with all the other parts of his being, in the ruin and corruption resulting from the fall. The natural man has the “understanding darkened;“(Ephesians 4:18) “is alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in him, because of the blindness of his heart”(Ephesians 4:18). He “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned”(1 Corinthians 2:14). He is “in darkness,” “dead in trespasses and sins”(Ephesians 2:1). Thus is the whole man in darkness, blindness, ignorance, bondage to Satan, and at enmity with God. He is in a state of spiritual death. The will is equally affected by this total depravity. If the natural man cannot even see, discern, or know the things of the Spirit, how much less can he will to do them! Before his conversion, man is utterly impotent “to will or to do” anything towards his renewal. 

In the Formula of Conconrd, Martin Luther speaks these strong words:

“In spiritual and divine things which pertain to the salvation of the soul, man is like a pillar of salt, like Lot’s wife, yea, like a log and a stone, like a lifeless statue, which uses neither eyes nor mouth, neither senses nor hears (Matthew 3:9).”

That means that:

Without Jesus, we do not have God’s favor poured out upon us.

Instead, we have God’s anger poured out on us.

Without Jesus, we are not blessed.

Instead, we are cursed.

Without Jesus, nothing stated here is true about us.

Instead, the exact opposite of what Jesus states is true about us.

Without Jesus, we are not living with God’s favor in our lives.

Instead, we are living with God’s condemnation of our lives.

Without Jesus, we are not poor in spirit.

Instead, we are arrogant and self-exalting.

Without Jesus, the kingdom of Heaven is not ours.

Instead, the kingdom of Hell is ours.

Without Jesus, we do not mourn.

Instead, we find pleasure in ungodly living.

Without Jesus, we are not comforted.

Instead, we are burdened.

Without Jesus, we are not meek.

Instead, we are prideful.

Without Jesus, we do not hunger and thirst for righteous.

Instead, we hunger and thirst for the pleasures of this world.

Without Jesus, we are not satisfied.

Instead, we are unsatisfied, always searching for a feeling of wholeness.

Without Jesus, we are not merciful.

Instead, we merciless.

Without Jesus, we do not receive mercy.

Instead, we receive exactly what we deserve — punishment and condemnation for our sin.

Without Jesus, we are not pure in heart.

Instead, the evil inside of us motivates us to be self-serving. 

Without Jesus, we will not see God.

Instead, we are separated from God.

Without Jesus, we are not peacemakers.

Instead, we are troublemakers.

Without Jesus, we will not be called children of God.

Instead, we will be called children of the devil.

Without Jesus, we will not be persecuted for righteousness sake.

Instead, we will be rightly persecuted for the wrong that we do.


Without Jesus, the kingdom of Heaven is not ours.

Instead, the kingdom of Hell is ours.

Without Jesus, you will not rejoice at the saving of your life.

Instead, you will mourn the loss of your life.

In that same book I quoted earlier, the author also does a masterful job of talking about the change from the life we just heard about to the life that Jesus describes in his words this morning.

The author states:

“[Conversion means a turning from sin to righteousness, from Satan to God. The transgressor who had been walking in the way of disobedience and enmity against God and towards eternal death, is turned about into the way of righteousness, towards eternal life. This is a change of direction, but it is also something more. It is a change of state—from a state of sin to a state of Grace. It is still more. It is a change of nature—from a sinner unto a saint. It is finally a change of relation—from an outcast and stranger unto a child and heir. Thus there is an outward and an inward turning, a complete change. That this is the scriptural meaning of conversion is very clear from Acts 26:18. The Lord is about to send Paul to the Gentiles for the purpose of converting them. He describes the work of conversion thus: That they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

So let’s hear about the blessed life that Jesus describes for those with faith in him.

He tells us that:

With Jesus, God’s favor is poured out on us.

With Jesus, we are blessed.

With Jesus, we are poor in spirit.

We recognize our spiritual deficiencies and our need for a Savior to rescue us.

In this place, God makes the kingdom of Heaven our home.

With Jesus, we mourn over our sin, our disobedience to God, that has offended God.

In this place, God comforts us with the good news of forgiveness.

With Jesus, we are meek and live in submission to God our Creator.

In this place, God gives us with everything we need for life and love in this life and the next.

With Jesus, we hunger and thirst for righteousness.  That is, we desire to think, say, and do things that please God in this life.

In this place, God satisfies our need to be saved from our sins.

With Jesus, we are merciful.

We see the needs of others and rush to help them.

In this place, God sees our needs and rushes to meet them.

With Jesus, we are pure in heart.  

We are motivated to love God and love others more than we love ourselves.

In this place, we will see God at work in us and the world.

With Jesus, we are peacemakers.  

We seek to make peace with others because Jesus has first made peace with us.  

In this place, we are called sons and daughters of God because we carry on the family legacy of peacemaking.

With Jesus, we are persecuted for righteousness sake.  

We will be treated badly for doing the right things because this was how Jesus was treated.

In this place, you are have home in the kingdom of Heaven.

With Jesus we will rejoice. 

We are saved from our sins and God our Father in Heaven in preparing a place for us right now.

I beg you, have faith this morning and know that Jesus has come to you to bless you and give you all of the benefits of God’s goodness, grace, and mercy.

Hear God’s voice calling you and turn from the unblessed life of self-centered living to receive the abundant life that Jesus gives you, complete with righteousness through his life, the forgiveness of sins through his death on the cross, and eternal life through his resurrection. 

When you look in the mirror, see the reality that you are a child of God. You are one that God loves and takes care of.

And believing in Jesus, think this about yourself, “I am blessed!”

So you can sing this song:

I know that my Redeemer lives! 

What comfort this sweet sentence gives! 

He lives, He lives, who once was dead, 

He lives, my ever-living Head. 

He lives to bless me with His love, 

He lives to plead for me above, 

He lives my hungry soul to feed, 

He lives to help in time of need. 

He lives to silence all my fears, 

He lives to wipe away my tears, 

He lives to calm my troubled heart, 

He lives all blessings to impart. 

He lives, all glory to His Name! 

He lives, my Jesus, still the same; 

Oh the sweet joy this sentence gives, 

I know that my Redeemer lives!

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 15, 2026

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

McNuggets and Murder

Matthew 5.21-26

Anger makes us do crazy things.  

When we get to a place where we are blinded by how upset we are, our judgment often goes right out the window.

In February 2009, a 27-year-old woman from Fort Pierce, Florida, walked into a McDonald’s restaurant and ordered a 10-piece McNuggets meal.

The person behind the counter took the order and received payment. The McDonald’s employee then discovered that they were out of those bite-sized, warm, tasty McNuggets. 

The employee told the customer that the restaurant had run out of McNuggets and she would have to get something else from the menu. 

The customer asked for her money back. 

However, according to McDonald’s policy, all sales are final. The told the hungry woman that could have anything she wanted from the menu, even if it was a higher priced item.

The customer got angry. She wanted McNuggets—not a Big Mac, not a McRib, not a Quarter Pounder. She was angry, this was clearly an emergency, and she knew what to do in an emergency: she took out her cell phone and called 911 to complain. Apparently the 911 workers didn’t take her seriously, because the McNuggets-loving woman called 911 three times to get help!

She never got her McNuggets that night, but she did later get a ticket from police for misusing 911.

Anger twists our perspective. 

Anger skews our judgment. 

Anger makes small things big and big things small. 

When we’re angry, having to eat a burger instead of McNuggets is a earth shattering disaster, and calling 911 simply because a restaurant is out of our favorite food is a must.

Besides causing us to call 911 to help us with our fast food problems, anger can also lead to murder.

Right now, you may be saying, “Pastor Fred, how the heck did we get from McNuggets to murder?”

Well, as our text for this this morning shows us, in God’s eyes, when anger takes over, there isn’t much difference between McNuggets and murder.

Today, the lectionary has us hearing from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

In this morning’s portion of Jesus’ sermon, Jesus is talking about God’s desires for us when it comes to murder, anger, the words we use, and finally, reconciliation.

Let’s hear together from the disciple Matthew’s biography of Jesus, specifically, Matthew 5:21–26, now.

The text has Jesus’ preaching this message:

[21] “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ [22] But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. [23] So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. [25] Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. [26] Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

When we read this part of Jesus’ sermon, we hear words that make sense for those of us that know God’s 10 Commandments as well as for those who understand the basic rules of right and wrong.

Jesus’ sermon centers on the 5th Commandment which says, 

“You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20.13)

When we hear those words, we think, “Yes! Of course! That makes perfect sense, murder is wrong.”

If I were to ask you, “how many people have you murdered in your lifetime?,” what would your answer be?

The majority of the human race would answer, “Zero. I have never physically stopped another person from living.”

So, far, most of us are on track and in agreement with Jesus’ words thinking, “I have obeyed this commandment of God, put a check next to the ‘completed’ box on the list.”

But, then Jesus says something a little strange.  He goes on to say:

“[22] But I [also] say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

When we hear these words, we think, “Say what?,” or using the words of Arnold Drummond from one of my favorite childhood shows, Different Strokes, “What you talking about Willis?”

In these words, Jesus is equating our anger—the anger that often leads us to use our words to put down, make fun of, and insult the one or ones that we are upset with—with murder.

Do you see the gravity of Jesus’ words in this part of his sermon?

Jesus is saying that every single word that comes out of your mouth matters to God.

If you use your words to make fun of someone, you are guilty of sin and deserve to be punished eternally in Hell.

If you use you words to tear someone down, you are guilty of sin and deserve to be punished eternally in Hell.

If you use your words to spread gossip, you are guilty of sin and deserve to be punished eternally in Hell.

It is not uncommon to hear the misconception that God is loving and would never send anyone to Hell.  Many even claim that Jesus never talked about Hell.

Well, as this morning’s text shows us, these are nothing but lies.

At this point, we may be thinking, how can Jesus equate something silly, like the words that come out of my mouth with murder?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran Pastor who lived in the first half of the 20th Century, is best known for his opposition to Adolf Hitler, the Nazi regime, and their genocidal persecution of the Jews.

In one of Bonhoeffer’s books, The Cost of Discipleship, he comments on the text from Matthew 5 that we are hearing from this morning and answers that questions about the equality of murder, anger, and words in God’s eyes.

Bonhoeffer comments this:

“Anger is always an attack on the brother’s life, for it refuses to let him live and aims at his destruction.  Jesus will not accept the common distinction between righteous indignation and unjustifiable anger.  The disciple must be entirely innocent of anger, because anger is an offense against both God and his neighbor.  Every idle word which we think so little of betrays our lack of respect for our neighbor, and shows that we place ourselves on a pinnacle above him and value our own lives higher than his.  The angry word is a blow struck at our brother, a stab at his heart: it seeks to hit, to hurt and to destroy.  A deliberate insult is even worse, for we are then openly disgracing our brother in the eyes of the world, and causing others to despise him.  With our hearts burning with hatred, we seek to annihilate his moral and material existence.  And the murderer will himself be judged.

When a man gets angry with his brother and swears at him, when he publicly insults or slanders him, he is guilty of murder and forfeits his relation to God.  He erects a barrier not only between himself and his brother, but also between himself and God.  He no longer has access to him: his sacrifice, worship and prayer are not acceptable in his sight.”

Jesus’ brother James also speaks to this issues of the power of words to both give life and kill in the letter that he wrote that is now including in the New Testament part of the Bible.

James 3:4–12 says this:

[4] Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. [5] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! [6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, [8] but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9] With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. [11] Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? [12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. (ESV)

In fact, the importance and power of words to give life and to kill, to build up and tear down has been pointed out by God’s people throughout  history and recorded for us from the beginning to the end of the Bible.

Listen to these texts:

Proverbs 18:6–7:

[6] A fool’s lips walk into a fight,

and his mouth invites a beating.

[7] A fool’s mouth is his ruin,

and his lips are a snare to his soul. (ESV)

Proverbs 18:21:

[21] Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruits. (ESV)

Ephesians 4:29–30:

[29] Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (ESV)

And, Colossians 4:6:

[6] Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (ESV)

Here is the flow of Jesus’ thought so far.

1. Murder breaks one of God’s commands.

2. Anger that leads you to use your words to say things that communicate the idea that someone else’s life isn’t of value, or of any worth, or is less important than yours, is equal to murder because it disrespects another one of God’s creations.

And then we move on to:

3. Do everything in your power to seek forgiveness and reconciliation after anger has led you to use unkind and sometimes untrue words.

What this text is ultimately telling us is that reconciliation is of utmost importance to God.

One of the rightfully most respected scholars of the last Century, John Stott, says this about Jesus’ words in this morning’s part of The Sermon on the Mount:

If you are in church, in the middle of a service of worship, and you suddenly remember that your brother has a grievance against you, leave the church at once and put it right.  Do not wait till the service has ended.  Seek your brother and ask forgiveness.  First go, then come.  First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your worship to God.

Did you hear that?

Jesus is saying to you that if you are aware that your anger has caused division between you and another person, you should get up from the pew that you are sitting in and go seek forgiveness and reconciliation with that person.  And, don’t come back into this place until that is done.

Reconciliation is of utmost importance to God.

So much so, that the entire Bible from beginning to end is about God’s great desire to be reconciled to you—you who have been disobedient to his commands for life and love over and over again—you who have used your words to make fun of other people, tear people down, spread lies, and pass along gossip.  

Jesus speaks of God’s great desire to forgive you and be reconciled to you when He shares about the reason that God stepped into the flesh to come to you to rescue you from being separated from Him.

Jesus speaks of God’s great desire to forgive you and be reconciled to you in what is probably the most famous words from the entirety of Scripture.

In John 3.16-18, which was part of last week’s sermon text, Jesus says to you:

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned…(ESV)

And, following that good news that God, our Father in Heaven, has no greater desire than to forgive you and be reconciled to you and live with you eternally in His Kingdom of Heaven, regardless of how many times you broke his commands about watching your words, anger, and ultimately the murder that he considers those things to be, the apostle Paul reiterates this good news in several of his letters to the churches gathered in the Mediterranean region during the first Century with encouragement like:

[21] …you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, [22] he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, (Colossians 1:21–22, ESV)

[10] … while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, [how] much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10, ESV)

And,

[32] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32, ESV)

Are you guilty of letting things like missing McNuggets turn into something that God equates with murder? 

Yes, over and over and over again.

But, God’s grace is ALWAYS bigger and stronger than the sin of murder.  As hard as that is to believe and as mind-boggling as it may be, it is the truth.

There is nothing in all of creation that God will allow to keep you separated from him.

Not even the crucifixion of His one and only Son.

Have faith in Jesus.

Be forgiven and reconciled to God.

Then, go and forgive and be reconciled to others.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V

March 8, 2026

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Misunderstanding Jesus

John 3.1-17

Have you ever been misunderstood?

Has anyone ever questioned your thoughts, words, or actions?

Has anyone ever questioned your motives and morals?

Has your quietness been misunderstood as weakness?  When, in actuality, your quietness is just your way of listening and thinking through things so that you can be stronger and more confident when you speak and act.

Has your friendliness been misunderstood by the opposite sex as an unwanted relational advance?  When, in fact, you are just genuinely concerned for everyone’s happiness and comfort.

Has your spouse or significant other ever misunderstood your mood, tone, or inflection?

Have your parents ever misunderstood your mood, tone, or inflection?

Misunderstandings happen all of the time.

And, misunderstandings often lead to strained or broken relationships.

A few years ago, Garth Brooks hit the stage in Detroit wearing the jersey of retired Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders. 

However, the photo he posted confused some of his fans. 

Because of the name “Sanders” and the jersey number 20, they thought the shirt was meant to convey support for Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who at the time was embroiled in a race with former Vice President Joe Biden for the right to run against President Trump as a Democratic challenger for that year’s presidential election.

“Good grief,” responded one Instagram user. “Can’t you just do what you get paid to do? Why, why does it have to involve politics!!! So sad. We don’t pay good money for anything other than to watch you perform. Thought you were different.”

While there were plenty Garth Brooks fans online to correct the mistaken assumption, there were also more than a few Bernie Sanders supporters happy to play along:

“Welp. Looks like @garthbrooks just became my favorite country singer!” wrote one user, concluding, “#FeelTheBern2020.”

Even the Detroit Lions’ running back, Barry Sanders, himself got in on the fun. “Hey @garthbrooks you wanna be my VP? #Number20for2020.”

I am not sharing this story to make any kind of political point.

I am sharing this story to make the point that everyone is misunderstood at one point and everyone misunderstands at some point.

In this morning’s text we are going to listen in on a conversation where misunderstanding led to a strained, tense, and even broken relationship.

Our text this morning, from the lectionary is John 3.1-17.  Let’s listen in on this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus now.

[1] Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2] This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” [3] Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [4] Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

[9] Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” [10] Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? [11] Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. [12] If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? [13] No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. [14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)

In this back and forth exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus, we see that Nicodemus was misunderstanding Jesus on many levels.

First, Nicodemus misunderstood who Jesus was.

We see in this in the way he addresses Jesus. Nicodemus calls Jesus, “teacher.” Nicodemus lumps Jesus in with all of the other Jewish scholars around him. 

Nicodemus doesn’t recognize Jesus as God’s Messiah, the Anointed One, the Savior.

Second, Nicodemus misunderstood the things Jesus did.  

At the point of this meet up, Jesus had been traveling for some time, speaking about the Kingdom of God and doing miracles.  Nicodemus witnessed some of the unbelievable things Jesus was able to do and he certainly heard about most of the others.

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river by the seemingly crazy homeless man John the Baptist with the voice of God speaking audibly afterwards for all to hear.

Jesus was getting successful businessmen, fishermen to be exact, to walk away from their means of income in the blink of an eye to follow him from town to town as he taught and healed people.

Jesus turned water into wine for all of the hosts and guests at a big blowout wedding party.

Nicodemus knows these events are out of the ordinary but has no reasonable explanation for how they could happen.

Third, Nicodemus misunderstood how a person enters the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus mentions being “born again” Nicodemus was confused.

Nicodemus was under the impression that a person entered the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, through hard work, perseverance, and doing the things God’s Law commanded a person to do.

However, through all of this, Jesus doesn’t leave Nicodemus lost in his misunderstanding of who He is and what He is on earth to do. 

Jesus doesn’t walk away from Nicodemus saying, “I am sorry, you are too stupid to figure it out right now. But, if and when you put the clues together and figure out the riddle, then you can come and see me and then God’s love will be yours.”

Instead of judging and condemning Nicodemus, Jesus, in an act of complete mercy and grace, fills in all of the gaps in Nicodemus’ misunderstanding and gives him the truth that will set him free.

Jesus lays it all out on the line so that Nicodemus can understand, believe, have faith, and enter into God’s eternal Kingdom.

Jesus explicitly reveals who he is first through saying that he is the Son of Man.  

The Son of Man is an Old Testament name for God’s Son who would save people from their sin through kingship and conflict.

When Jesus used this term in his conversation with Nicodemus, Nicodemus, being well versed in the Old Testament theology, would know right away that Jesus was referring to Himself as God’s Savior.

Jesus next explicitly reveals what He is going to go through in order to make God’s promise to humanity a reality.

Jesus says that He will be lifted up on a cross and all that have faith in his death for them will be forgiven of sin and granted eternal life.

And, then, Jesus sums up who he is and what he is going to do and what it is going to accomplish with what I would say are the most famous words in the Bible.

Jesus says to Nicodemus:

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3.16-17, ESV)

In late October of 2022, Erin Hatzi reported to police that her red Subaru Impreza had been stolen out of her driveway—according to her surveillance footage, “a woman [had] calmly enter[ed] her car and [drove] away” with it. Calmly, indeed: In fact, the woman had sat in the car for a couple minutes to scroll through her phone before driving away. “We were really confused because it didn’t seem like the normal actions of a car thief,” said Hatzi.

The next day, “[p]olice stopped a woman attempting to return the car outside of Hatzi’s home.” The driver offered up this explanation: The night before, “she had been sent to the neighborhood to pick up her friend’s car and accidentally took Hatzi’s vehicle instead.” The friend did not see the car until that morning, and upon realizing the mix-up, left a note and gas money inside the car and sent it back to its rightful owner.

So what had happened? How was the woman allowed to easily access the wrong car and easily drive away?  Well, according to police, “older Subaru keys are interchangeable and can be used to open different cars.”

Because of sin which corrupts our thinking and understanding, many people in our world misunderstand God’s forgiving love and replace God’s forgiving love with the idea that you can live anyway in this world that you want while believing whatever you want about who God is and how God acts.     

The common belief is that all roads lead to Heaven.

However, that very way of thinking and living causes you to get into the wrong car which will only take you to a place of trouble and imprisonment.  

Believing the wrong thing about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done leads you away from God’s forgiveness and love.

When Jesus met Nicodemus, Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus and was in the wrong car, headed for the trouble of being separated from God forever.

However, Jesus, through the grace of God that chases after and rescues those headed in the wrong direction—the direction that takes one away from the Kingdom of Heaven, clearly points Nicodemus to the right car that will take him down the road, the narrow path, that leads to God, his forgiveness of sin, and his eternal love.

Jesus does the same for you today and everyday!

Jesus doesn’t want you to misunderstand him and the things He has done for you.

Jesus lived for you.  Jesus’ perfectly lived life completes all of God’s requirements for you.

Jesus died on the cross for you.  Jesus’ death provides the forgiveness for your sin—the sin that often causes you to misunderstand him.

And Jesus rose from the grave for you.  Jesus’ resurrection defeats the power of sin and death that keeps you blocked from God’s presence and disqualifies you from the Kingdom of Heaven.

If you ever find yourself confused and misunderstanding who God is and what God has done for you in the person and work of Jesus, return to Jesus’ words that make everything clear for you which are found in John 14:1–6.

Jesus says to you:

[1] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. [4] And you know the way to where I am going.” … [6] Jesus [says to you], “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V. 

March 1, 2026.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Salt, Light, and Righteousness

Matthew 5.13-20

In 1987, British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac released their fourteenth studio album Tango In the Night.

Tango In the Night contained a song which would go on to become one of the band’s biggest hits of their career.

The song was titled Little Lies and contained the following lyrics:

If I could turn the page

In time, then I’d rearrange just a day or two

Close my,

Close my,

Close my eyes

But I couldn’t find a way

So I’ll settle for one day to believe in you

Tell me,

Tell me,

Tell me lies

Tell me lies

Tell me sweet little lies

(Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies)

Oh no, no you can’t disguise

Tell me lies

Tell me sweet little lies

McVie said of the lyrics: “The idea of the lyric is, if I had the chance, I’d do it differently next time. But since I can’t, just carry on lying to me and I’ll believe, even though I know you’re lying.”

‘Little Lies’ sees McVie speak from the viewpoint – perhaps her own – of someone who has been tortured by the emotional uncertainty that romantic relationships bring. They have ultimately brought the curtain down on a past relationship but cannot help but think, “what if?”. This is most clearly exemplified when she sings the lyrics, “If I could turn the page/In time then I’d rearrange/Just a day or two.”

At one point or another, we have all been duped by the lies that someone else was telling us.

What lies have you believed?

What lies are you believing right now?

What lies do you want to continue to believe?

In this morning’s text, where we hear from one of Jesus’ sermons.  We are going to hear some really good news that brings freedom into our lives. However, this freedom is often covered up and made into a burden for us by the lies the world tells us, the lies Satan tells us, the lies that we tell ourselves, and sadly, the lies that some churches often tell us.

Let’s hear from The Gospel of Matthew, the disciple Matthew’s biography of Jesus, together.

Matthew 5.13-20 has Jesus preaching this message:

[13] “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

[14] “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

[17] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. [18] For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. [19] Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [20] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (ESV)

This text from the Gospel of Matthew, which is the disciple Matthew’s biography of Jesus, allows us to hear part of a sermon that Jesus was preaching on a mountainside.  If you have been in the Church world for a while, you have probably heard of this text referred to as The Sermon on the Mount.

In this section of Jesus’ sermon that we just heard together, Jesus is pretty much saying, 

“God wants you to be a good person who does good things for those that you come into contact with each day.”  

Or, in other Biblical words,

[37] …“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37–39, ESV)

Seems simple enough. Right?

Well, we actually come into a problem when we hear about God’s desire for us to do good things in this world.

The problem rears its ugly head by presenting us with two lies that we often believe when we think about the good deeds that God wants us to do.

The first lie that we believe is this:

“Since it says that Jesus did everything for me in verse 17, I no longer have to do anything that God says.”

This lie is known in in the theological world as anit-nomianism.

When we break down that term we have the word anti which means against and the Greek word nomos which means law.

So, together antinomianism is the idea that as Christians we are against God’s Law and Commands.  Meaning that after we come to faith, we have no need to do anything that God’s Word tells us to do.

However, that idea is a lie because it goes against everything that God’s Word says about the Christian life.

Specifically, Jesus’ brother James, in the book named after him, tells us this:

[22] But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. [24] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. [25] But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.  (James 1:22–25, ESV)

The second lie is the more common lie and that lie that we often believe is this:

“Good deeds will get me into Heaven.”

What we mean by this is that if our perceived good outweighs our perceived bad at the end of our life, God will finally love us and accept and let us into Heaven.

This line of thinking, that is completely wrong, unBiblical, and a lie straight out of the pits of Hell, is probably the biggest lie that people inside and outside of the Church believe.

It is wrong, unBiblical, and a lie, because God tells us over and over and over again, in his Word, that forgiveness of sin and eternal life only come to us through faith in Jesus Christ.

Here some of the Scriptures that tells us this:

In his letter to the church gathered in Galatia during the first Century, the apostle Paul says:

[16] yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:16, ESV)

And, finally,

[22] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Romans 3:22–25, ESV)

There is no amount of good that you can do in your lifetime that will make God love you, forgive you, accept you, and welcome you into Heaven.  

That’s because without faith in Jesus which brings the knowledge and comfort of God’s love into your life, all of your attempted good deeds will also be stained and corrupted by some sort of false motives for self-exaltation and personal glory.

Good deeds done only to earn blessing or escape punishment are inherently self-seeking—the kind of good deeds that [the Apostle] Paul says God doesn’t recognize as good in Romans 2.6-7 which says:

“[God] will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.”

C.S.Lewis, the author of the acclaimed Chronicles of Narnia, was also an Oxford University professor and a convinced atheist who became a Christian in his thirties.  

One afternoon he was walking through the corridors of Oxford when he heard someone call his name from inside a classroom.  A group of his colleagues were gathered in a lecture room, listing out on a blackboard all the things world religions have in common—things like morality, accountability, judgement, worship.  Knowing that Lewis was a Christian, they challenged him: “Jack (that was his nickname—I have no idea how you get from Clive Staples to Jack), tell us what Christianity believes that is not already listed on this blackboard.”  Lewis went in, looked at their list for a moment, walked up to the board, took a piece of chalk and wrote just one simple word:

“Grace.”

Lewis put down the chalk and walked out without a a word.  

That’s an Oxford don’s version of a mic drop.  

Two things to learn from this story: one, never try to outwit C.S. Lewis.  Two, grace is what distinguishes Christianity from every other religion.  

Christianity at its core, is not good advice about what we must do for God, but rather, good news about what [God has] done for us.  It’s not primarily instructions in morality or accountability or goodness but a declaration of grace.

Grace means “underserved kindness.”

Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, you, while you are still in your sin, are a recipient of God’s grace, or God’s underserved kindness.

The most important thing about Jesus is not what he taught but what he did.  

It’s not what Jesus taught that saved us, but what he did.  He lived in perfect obedience to God the Father in Heaven.  He died on the cross as the innocent and perfect sacrifice needed to replace you and me, in order to provide forgiveness for our sin.  And, he rose from the grave on the first Easter Morning, defeating the power of sin and death enabling us to walk into God’s Kingdom of Heaven with eternal life. 

We don’t go out into the world and treat others with love, grace, and mercy because we have to.

We go out into the world and treat others with love, grace, and mercy, because we get to.

And, we get to because Jesus treated us with love, grace, and mercy first.

1 John 4:9–11,19 tells us this truth with these words of encouragement: 

[9] In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. [10] In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [11] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (ESV)

[19] We love because he first loved us. (ESV)

In this beginning portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we are comforted by the truth that Jesus is the salt that never lost its saltiness.

We are also comforted by the truth that Jesus is the light of the world that never goes out and can never be fully hidden.

And, we are finally comforted by the truth that Jesus did everything that God’s law commands to be done in order to reach perfection, acceptance, and welcoming by God the Father in Heaven.

We are comforted by all of this because Jesus was all of this and did all of this for you and me.

Having faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for you means that you will hear from God:

“You have never lost your saltiness. Therefore, you won’t be thrown out.”

“You have never hid your light. Therefore, you have brought glory to God by showing others the way to him through faith in Christ alone.”

“You have fulfilled and accomplished all of what the Law and Prophets say to do and not do.”

“You have taught the ways of God, the Father in Heaven, to others.”

“Your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees.”

“Welcome home! Enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

February 15, 2026.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

The Blazing One

Matthew 4.12-25

In his novel, This Is Happiness, Niall Williams’ elderly narrator, Noe (pronounced No), remembers when electricity and light came to their little Irish village of Faha.

Noe narrates the life changing moment that light entered his world like this:

“I’m aware here that it may be hard to imagine the enormity of this moment, the threshold that once crossed would leave behind a world that had endured for centuries, and that this moment was only sixty years ago.

Consider this: when the electricity did finally come, it was discovered that the 100-watt bulb was too bright for Faha. The instant garishness was too shocking. Dust and cobwebs were discovered to have been thickening on every surface since the sixteenth century. Reality was appalling. It turned out Siney Dunne’s fine head of hair was a wig, not even close in color to the scruff of his neck, and Marian McGlynn’s healthy allure was in fact a caked make-up the color of red turf ash.

In the week following the switch-on, store owner Tom Clohessy couldn’t keep mirrors in stock, as people came in from out the country and bought looking glasses of all variety, went home, and in merciless illumination endured the chastening of all flesh when they saw what they looked like for the first time.”

When we are used to the darkness, light can be shocking to our system.

Light can be shocking because light has the power to expose the truth that we are trying to hide—an aging face, a wig to cover a balding head, the caked on dirt and grime from laziness in cleaning our home.

However, just because light can be shocking doesn’t mean that light is bad.  Light does the job of exposing the truth so that we can make the proper attempts to clean up our messes and live in the freedom of reality. 

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary, we head back into the Gospel of Matthew, or, in other words, the disciple Matthew’s first hand account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In this text from Matthew’s experience with Jesus, we hear that when Jesus comes into our life, He shines a light on the truth of the way we are living and He shines a light on the truth of how we are restored into a healthy and life-giving relationship with God, our Father and Creator.

Matthew 4:12–25 tells us this:

[12] Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. [13] And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, [14] so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

[15] “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

[16] the people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”

[17] From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

[18] While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. [19] And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” [20] Immediately they left their nets and followed him. [21] And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. [22] Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

[23] And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. [24] So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. [25] And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (ESV)

Think about the ways light helps you on a daily basis.

You use your cell phone flashlight to look for something under the couch.

You use you cell phone flashlight to read a menu at a darkly lit restaurant.

You use your cell phone flashlight to illuminate the path from your car to your front door when you get home after the sun has gone down.

You need the help that light provides on a daily basis because there is a lot of dark and darkness in our world.

As our text makes clear, Jesus is the light that we need to help us on a daily basis.  Jesus is the one that shows you the way, the only way, to God the Father in Heaven.  

To make that point, our text for today has Matthew quoting from the prophet Isaiah to tell us about what happens when Jesus comes into the world and into our lives.

However, without a little history lesson, the prophecy about Jesus made in verses 15 and 16 can leave us scratching our head in confusion.

So, what does all of this talk about the ancient cities of Zebulun and Naphtali have to do with Jesus?

Well, Jesus went to the region of Galilee to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2. 

Centuries before Jesus went to the Galilee, when the northern empire of Assyria had conquered Israel, the darkness of the Assyrian invasion had fallen first on the northern tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. But Isaiah had promised that they would be the first to see the light when God came to liberate his people. Matthew says that that’s now happening.  Through the ministry of Jesus, a new day or era is coming.

The Bible tells us that the world was cast into darkness because of Sin.  The darkness came because Sin causes humanity to give up loving one another in order to focus on serving and loving themselves.  Due to the inward, individual focus that Sin brings, people love themselves more than they loved God and therefore, more than they love those around them.

As the world became a place where you and I played the game, “Everyman, woman, and child for themselves,”  we all lost the safety and security that love brings to us.

As we heard from the Gospel of John around Christmas, 

[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

[9] The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. [11] He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. (John 1.1-5, 9-11, ESV)

However, as John continues on, there is good news for you and for me.

[12] But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, [13] who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1.12-13,ESV)

Jesus is the light.

Jesus is the light of salvation.

Jesus is the light of rescue.

Jesus is the light of forgiveness.

Jesus is the light of freedom.

Jesus is the light of life.

First, out text shows us that Jesus shines brightly in every dark place so that your Sin can be exposed, and you can come to repentance and faith.

And, it is faith in Jesus, as the light of God for salvation that brings you the hope of forgiveness and life eternal.

1 John 1:5–7 tells us this:

[5] This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. [6] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (ESV)

Second, our text shows us that Jesus shines the light on our lives and reveals that our lives have been given to us and are meant to overflow with Godly, eternal meaning and purpose.

Jesus transforms the lives of simple fisherman by using their gifts, talents, and passions for a greater purpose.  Jesus tells Simon and Andrew that they are going to put down their nets on the seashore and instead focus their attention on going into the towns and villages around them to catch men, women, and children for the Kingdom of Heaven.  They would do this by sharing the good news of God’s Savior, Jesus, who has come to rescue them from the darkness of being separated from God because of Sin.

By the light of Jesus Christ that shines on the will of God for you and me, we are shown what it looks like to live in a manner worthy of one who is righteous and holy. By living with the fruit of God’s Spirit moving us, we are made to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled so that those we interact with will experience Godliness and will be drawn to the light of Jesus for themselves.

Finally, our text shows us that Jesus shines the light on our life and heals us from the sickness, disease, and spiritual forces of evil and Sin that hold us back from living in the freedom of being a child of God.

In our text, Jesus heals physical diseases.  Does that mean that Jesus will heal all of your physical illnesses and diseases in this life?  No!  There is no where in the Bible that promises that.  Instead, Jesus’ healing miracles point us to the fact that we are broken and unwell because of Sin and need to be spiritually healed if we are going to have the hope of being accepted by and reconnected to God our Father in Heaven.

In 2021, The Washington Post shared this story:

It started in November with a single string of Christmas lights on a Baltimore County street. Kim Morton was home watching a movie with her daughter when she received a text from her neighbor who lives directly across the road. He told her to peek outside.

Matt Riggs had hung a string of white Christmas lights, stretching from his home to hers. He also left a tin of homemade cookies on her doorstep. The lights, he told her, were meant to reinforce that they were always connected.

Riggs said, “I was reaching out to Kim to literally brighten her world.” He knew his neighbor was facing a dark time. Morton had shared that she was dealing with depression and anxiety. She was also grieving the loss of a loved one and struggling with work-related stress. The mounting pressure led to panic attacks.

A bit of brightness was in order, he decided, but he certainly did not expect that his one strand of Christmas lights would somehow spark a neighborhood-wide movement. In the days that followed Riggs’ light-hanging gesture, neighbor after neighbor followed suit, stretching lines of Christmas lights from one side of the street to the other.

When Leabe Commisso, who lives on the other end of the block, saw what Riggs had done, she wanted in. She said, to her neighbor, “Let’s do it, too. Before we knew it, we were cleaning out Home Depot of all the lights.”

Quickly, other neighbors caught on. Kim said, “Little by little, the whole neighborhood started doing it. The lights were a physical sign of connection and love.”

She and Riggs were stunned to see neighbors with drills and ladders, up on their rooftops and tangled in trees, doing whatever they had to do to hang the lights. For the first time in a long time, a feeling of togetherness—and light—had returned.

Riggs said, “What blows my mind is that it was all organic. It just happened. There was no planning. It just grew out of everybody’s desire for beauty and joy and connection.”

But the impromptu effort has perhaps had the most profound impact on the person for whom it was originally intended. Kim said, “It made me look up, literally and figuratively, above all the things that were dragging me down. It was light pushing back the darkness.”

When you see that Jesus has come to you, you see the sign that God has connected your home, in the darkness of a fallen world, to his home—the Kingdom of Heaven—through the light of Christ  your Savior.

Colossians 1:12–14 encourages us with these words:

[12] [give] thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. [13] He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (ESV)

As a sinner living with other sinners in a fallen world, you encounter darkness every day. While you may experience Instagram-worthy, sunny day picnic lunches, the reality is that life is more of a midnight walk through the woods. On any given day, you probably encounter more darkness than you do truth. So, to move forward without danger and get to where you are meant to go, you need something to light your way.

As a Christian who now has the light of God in Christ in your life, your proper response is to connect the light of Christ to others living in the darkness of this world so that they too are included in the ever expanding neighborhood family that makes up God’s eternal Kingdom.

All of this is brought together in a beautifully poetic way in a late 17th Century hymn:

O Christ, our true and only light,

enlighten those who sit in night;

let those afar now hear your voice

and in your fold with us rejoice.

Fill with the radiance of your grace

the souls now lost in error’s maze;

enlighten those whose inmost minds

some dark delusion haunts and blinds.

O gently call those gone astray

that they may find the saving way;

let ev’ry conscience sore oppressed

in you find peace and heav’nly rest.

Shine on the darkened and the cold,

recall the wand’rers to your fold;

unite all those who walk apart,

confirm the weak and doubting heart,

That they with us may evermore

such grace with wond’ring thanks adore

and endless praise to you be giv’n

by all your Church in earth and heav’n.

Or, in a more modern late 1990s Christian rap song, the truth of today’s Biblical text goes something like this:

The Light of Christ is a blazing one

there’s a fight to live right and it’s major son

but the grace has come so we praise the Son  

and celebrate Him cause we know what He saved us from 

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

February 8, 2026.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

A Little Bit of Patience

Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43

What makes you impatient?

I mean, when you are out there just trying to live your life and get things done, what frustrates you and brings your lack of patience to the surface?

The comedian Louis C.K. did a routine many years ago that starts with the line, “Everything’s amazing right now, but nobody’s happy.”

Here’s what he said to poke fun at our ingratitude and impatience:

In my lifetime the changes in the world have been incredible.

When I was a kid, we had a rotary phone. We had a phone you had to stand next to, and you had to dial it. Do you realize how primitive that was? You were making sparks. And you would actually hate people who had zeroes in their number because it was more [work]. And then if you called and they weren’t home, the phone would just ring lonely by itself.

And then if you wanted money you had to go in the bank-and it was open for like three hours, and you’d stand in line and write a check. And then if you ran out of money, you’d just say, “Well, I just can’t do any more things now.”

Now we live in an amazing, amazing world, and it’s wasted on [a] generation of spoiled [people] that don’t care. This is what people are like now: they’ve got their phone, and they go, “Ugh, it won’t [work fast enough].”

Give it a second! It’s going to space. Will you give it a second to get back from space? Is the speed of light too slow for you?

I was on an airplane, and there was high-speed internet…. And I’m sitting on the plane, and they say, “Open up your laptop, you can go on the internet.” It’s fast… it’s amazing …. And then the thing breaks down. They apologize, “The internet’s not working.” And the guy next to me says, “O, great] this [stinks].” Like how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only ten seconds ago.

People come back from flights, and they tell you their story, and it’s a horror story…. [They say], “It was the worst day of my life.

First of all, we didn’t board for twenty minutes. And then we get on the plane, and they made us sit there on the runway for forty minutes.” [And I say,] “O, really, and what happened next? Did you fly in the air, incredibly, like a bird? Did you partake in the miracle of human flight?” Everybody on every plane should be constantly [screaming], “WOW!” You’re flying. You’re sitting in a chair in the sky!

Here’s the thing: People say there are “delays” on flights. Delays, really? New York to California in five hours! It used to take thirty years to do that, and a bunch of you would die on the way.

It is often said that, “patience is a virtue.”

Or, as sung by Lois Reeves in her #1 1991 soul hit, 

“Patience is a virtue

And, good things come to those who wait.”

What that means is that the ability to wait for something without getting frustrated, angry, or upset is a sought after, useful and valuable quality for life.

However, one thing we can be sure of is that being patient isn’t easy for us.

We don’t like to wait for what we want.

We want immediate satisfaction.

What frustrates you and brings your lack of patience to the surface?

Think about ordering something from Amazon with a Prime membership.

Even though you know the package is coming today or tomorrow, it still isn’t fast enough.

You check several times a day to see when it is shipped and then you follow the tracking number to find out exactly when the package will arrive on your doorstep.

Impatience is on display when we are waiting for a simple delivery.

Think about getting stuck behind a slow driver.

After only a few seconds, our blood pressure rises, we start moving side to side in our own car to see if there is anyone else in front of the slow driver-possibly making the slow driver in front of us slow as well- and we strongly consider breaking the law and speeding around the slow driver as our minds become

filled with all kinds of profanities that we want to shout out as we get in another lane and speed past them. 

Impatience is on display when we want to get to our destination a few seconds faster.

Think about being online at the supermarket when the person in front of you asks for a price check.

Now, you have to wait for the cashier to call someone to the register, for that person to take the item all the way back into the store to check the price tag on the shelf, and to return to let the cashier know if the customer was correct in their understanding of the cost of the item.

Again, impatience is on display when we want to get out of the grocery store so that we can get back to our couch to continue doom scrolling on Facebook.

Those are a few examples of how we lose our patience with minor issues in our life.

However, we are also impatient with major issues in our life.

Some of us are impatient when we waiting for our boyfriend to get down on one knee and ask us to marry them.

Some of us are impatient when we are waiting for the results of an MRI or biopsy.

Some of us are impatient when waiting for a promotion or pay raise.

Some of us are impatient when we are waiting for the next election season to arrive.

And, some of us are impatient when we are waiting for our kid or and spouse to get their act together and do the right things.

In this morning’s text, from Matthew’s biography of Jesus, we hear about our impatience that comes to the surface when justice is delayed — you know, when we see evil happening around us that is going unrecognized and unpunished.

In this Biblical text, we are going to hear why we should have patience when the world around us seems to be getting away with fraud.

Let’s hear together what Jesus says about why the world is the way it is and why we should be patient in the middle of what seems to be a mess.

In Matthew 13.24-30, we are told:

[24] He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, [25] but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. [26] So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. [27] And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ [28] He said to them,

‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ [29] But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. [30] Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”'” (ESV)

Now, you and I, not having been raised in an agricultural society—meaning a society where everyone’s livelihood comes from farming — may have a bit of trouble understanding the meaning behind this parable—this story with a spiritual point.

And, Jesus knows that, so Jesus interprets the parable for us so that there will be no confusion as to what He is revealing to us.

Jesus says this in Matthew 13.36-43:

[36] Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” [37] He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. [38] The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, [39] and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. [40] Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. [41] The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, [42] and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [43] Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (ESV)

What we hear in this parable—a story with a spiritual message—is that a farmer goes out and sows seed in his field. However, when he goes into his house, washes up, sits down for dinner, and goes to bed, his evil neighbor hops the fence and plants weeds all around the wheat crop.

When the wheat and weeds begin to grow, the workers in the field see what is going on and are confused.

They see that something bad has grown where the farmer has planted only good seed.

So, they ask the farmer if they should go out and rip out all of the weeds so that the wheat can grow unhindered.

However, the farmer points out that if the workers were to go in and rip out the weeds, they would also end up damaging and ripping out some of the good wheat as well.

So, the farmer tells them to wait until the end of the season when it is harvest time.

At that point, everything that has grown in the field can be pulled out and easily separated because the weeds are so vastly different from the wheat.

So, what is needed by the workers is patience.

And, they can be patient because they know that the farmer knows exactly what is going on and has a plan to make it all better.

We are very often impatient with others.

We are very often impatient with ourselves.

And, we are very often impatient with God.

When we see wrong doing, we want it punished right away.

When bad things are being done, or at the very least, what we personally perceive to be be bad things being done, we immediately want to take matters into our own hands to make sure what we think should be done is done.

In the context of Jesus’ parable, we want to run out into the field and rip those weeds out of the ground.

In an article from The Mockingbird Journal that I read a few years ago, the author made this observation:

People facing immediate danger want to hear an authoritative voice they can draw assurance from; they want to be told what will occur, how they should prepare, and that all will be well. We are not well designed, it seems, to live in uncertainty.

The history of humanity is the history of impatience. Not only do we want knowledge of the future, we want it when we want it.

The Book of Job condemns as prideful this desire for immediate attention. Speaking out of the whirlwind, God makes it clear that he is not a vending machine. We must learn to wait upon the Lord, the Bible tells us.

Good luck with that, Job no doubt grumbled.

At some level, people must be thinking that the more they learn about what is predetermined, the more control they will have.

This is an illusion. Human beings want to feel that they are on a power walk into the future, when in fact we are always just tapping our canes on the pavement in the fog.

God often has other plans-plans that don’t fall in line with our self-centered and self-righteous way of wanting things accomplished.

God wants to wait because sometimes, in a sheer God ordained miracle, weeds turn into wheat.

And, that is exactly what happened to us because of God’s great love, grace, and mercy.

God was patient with us in our messed up, ungodly living because of the sin that dwells deep inside of us, and because He was patient with us and didn’t rip us up and destroy us, we had the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and

believe in the forgiveness of sins, and the gifts of righteousness and eternal life that come through faith in Him.

The Bible speaks of God’s patience with us and explains why He (and we) should be patient with him and others as well.

2 Peter 3:8-10 says this:

[8] But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [9] The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. [10] But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (ESV)

Augustine, the first century theologian, called a Church Father, said that when Jesus explained this parable he told us this:

“The field is the world, and the church is spread throughout the world. Let the one who is wheat persevere until the harvest; let those who are weeds be changed into wheat. There is this difference between people and real grain and real weeds, for what was grain in the field is grain and what were weeds are weeds. But in the Lord’s field, which is the church, at times what was grain turns into weeds and at times what were weeds turn into grain; and no one knows what they will be tomorrow.”

The Egyptian lawyer and preacher, Adel Bestavros, who passed away in 2005, once said it this way:

“Patience with others is Love…Patience with God is Faith.”

Patience is no doubt something that helps you live a healthier life.

However, it is not a virtue in the sense that it makes you better than others.

Being patient doesn’t make God love you more.

Before you are patient, you are already fully loved and fully accepted by God because of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.

Being patient with God and others is a proper response to God, the One who was first patient with you so that you could come to a saving faith and be grafted into His Heavenly family.

When, in the words of Guns ‘N’ Roses, “All you need is just a little patience,” remember that everything’s amazing right now, be happy!

God is patient with you.

2 Peter 3:15, tells you to:

[15] … count the patience of our Lord as salvation…

Your salvation.

And, the salvation of all of those weeds that God turns into wheat as well.

God, in Jesus Christ, is always patient with you so that you can be forgiven and saved.

So, be patient with God. this week.

And, be patient with others this week.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

February 1, 2026.