Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

God Only Knows

Matthew 2.13-23

One of my greatest fears, a fear that sometimes keeps me up at night pleading with God, is the fear of losing a loved one.

I worry, with an extreme intensity, about things like my wife getting in a fatal car accident when she is driving around without me (you know, because I have a god-complex that leads me to believe I have the ability to protect her from ultimate harm when I am around).  

And, I worry, with the same extreme intensity, about outliving my own sons for a wide variety of reasons.  

The world can be violent and therefore emotionally devastating.  

Just listen to the news from any hour of any day — lives are always being taken away due to drunk drivers, overdoses, stabbings, shootings, people falling off ladders or down stairs in their own home, cancer, suicide, wars, genocide, and the list goes on and on and on.

If you have children, whether they are still in your care or grown and out on their own, I know you share my feelings, or at least have shared my feelings at one point, of being afraid for their safety.  

In this morning’s text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this first Sunday after Christmas, Jesus’ parents find themselves in a violent world that is emotionally devastating causing them to fear the death of their 2 year old son.

Let’s hear from Matthew 2.13-23 now.

Matthew 2:13–23 tells us this:

[13] Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” [14] And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt [15] and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

[16] Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. [17] Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

[18] “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

[19] But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, [20] saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” [21] And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. [22] But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. [23] And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. (ESV)

In 2022, Ozzy Osbourne released the record, Patient Number 9.

On that album, he has a track called “God Only Knows.”

The gut-wrenching lyrics strike a chord with us because the hopelessness contained within the words resonate with the dark places and dark thoughts that often define our human condition and experience.

Osbourne hauntingly croons:

Facedown on the pavement like a wounded animal

Don’t know if I’ll make it but I’m giving up control

The sky is laughing at me, shivers through my bones

Does it have to end so badly? Am I out here on my own?

God only knows what’s going on

My life has become the saddest song

Even though Christmas was just three days ago, do you feel like your life is the saddest song right now? Or, can you look back to a place that you would have said that your life had become the saddest song?

For Joseph, not too long after Jesus’ birth, he could have defined his life as becoming the saddest song.

After celebrating the birth of his first son, a son whom was actually the Son of God given to him to save him and the world around him from being eternally separated from God, Jospeh finds himself being told to run and hide in a foreign nation because the head of the government was searching for his son so that he could kill him.

If Joseph is like you and me, which he is because he is human, he spent time facedown on the ground crying out in prayer, not knowing if he was going to make it through this present trouble, thinking that maybe God is laughing at him in his pain, asking why things have to be so bad, asking if he is actually all alone.

In a relatively short period of time, Joseph went from singing, “Celebrate good times, Come on!” (Kool & The Gang, 1980), to singing, “God only knows what’s going on” (Ozzy Osbourne, 2022).

Why was this happening to Jospeh, Mary, and Jesus?  The answer is the self-centered living that Sin causes.

King Herod felt personally threatened when he heard the news that a child was born that people were calling, “the King.”  Herod feared losing his throne that gave him power and control.

So, in an attempt to preserve his ego, Herod, in his arrogance, calls for those at his beckon call to go to the place that Jesus was born and terminate the child’s life.

Unable to pinpoint young Jesus’ exact location, Herod has every single male child under the age of two (the estimated age of Jesus at the time) killed.

Each of us is similar.  We feel threatened when hearing about Jesus being the true King.  We feel threatened because we, like Herod, like believing that we are in ultimate control of our lives and have the power to control the lives of others.  We don’t want to believe that there is someone else that is able to hold us accountable for our thoughts, words, and actions.

So, like Herod, we try to deny Jesus’ Kingship and get rid of him by any means necessary. 

The interesting thing is that Joseph did not try to get rid of Jesus.

Joseph could have easily said,”This isn’t my biological child. I didn’t sign up for this. I am walking away so that I don’t have to deal with the problems that this kid is causing.”

Why didn’t Jospeh throw in the towel and call it a day?

Why didn’t Joseph take his ball and go home?

It wasn’t because Joseph is better than you or me.

Joseph persisted because Jesus’ presence with him resulted in God actively leading and protecting him.  With Jesus’ presence in Joseph’s life, God was reminding him of the promises God had made to him and the world for thousands of years.  With the knowledge of God’s promises and the evidence of fulfilling those promises in Jesus, Joseph was able to trust that God was good, God was in control, and God was working all things out for his good—even if it was hard to see in the current moment of violence and devastation.

When God tells Joseph to go to Egypt, God is reminding Joseph (and you) that just as God saved His people from slavery in Egypt, Jesus’ return from Egypt is your return to God as He saves you from slavery to Sin.

When God spares Jesus from Herod’s slaughter of the young children, God is reminding Joseph (and you) that just as Israel had hope and life in the midst of the hurt and death of being conquered by Babylon, Joseph (and you) will have hope and life in the midst of the hurt and death that is experienced over the course of your days.

And, when Joseph is diverted off course to the city of Nazareth and not allowed to go home, Joseph is reminded (and you are too) of the words of promise that Jesus will be one who is despised, rejected, and not accepted by those he came to save.  

The three quotations from Scripture used to describe Jesus are signs that God is doing what God said He would do.  God is giving you a Messiah.  God is giving you a Savior. God is giving you the One He has promised you from the very moment that Sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden.

Stress kills.

Literally.

Sixty percent of all illnesses and diseases are related to stress.

Seventy-five percent of all doctor visits are connected to stress.

Thirteen percent of all Americans between ages 18 and 54 suffer from acute stress.  That’s 19 million people.  

Forty-four percent of all Americans lose sleep every night because of stress.

If you’re 65 or older, your number one health issue is stress.  We have a greater chance of having a heart attack, heart disease, or stroke because of stress.

Why are we stressed? Because we walk around with the world’s weight on our shoulders, convinced that if we work more, exercise more, party more, and make more money, life will work out.

Life in these finite bodies will always give us reason to be stressed into a mess.

As our text for this morning proves, life will always have it’s ups and downs. 

One minute Joseph was celebrating the birth of his first son.  Not just a normal son, but the Son of God, Jesus who would fulfill every promise of God including saving men and women from their Sin.

And, a few minutes later, Joseph was grieving and mourning the death that the birth of Jesus led to.  

Christmas is always about two trees.

Two very different trees.

The first tree is the Christmas tree.  Even though there were no Christmas trees in Jesus’ day, the historical development of the Christmas tree provides us with a visible symbol of the festival and celebration of Jesus’ birth.  The Christmas tree is signal to world that Advent and Christmas are upon us.  Advent being the time you rest in the truth that in Jesus’ birth, you are given the only gift you ever need.  In Jesus’ birth, God comes to you and is with you.  In Jesus’ birth, you are given hope and peace in knowing that all the wrong in your life is made right and all of the darkness in your life is made light.  And, in Jesus’ birth you are given reason to rejoice because God’s love has been poured out upon you and will never be taken away from you.

The second tree is the wooden cross on which Jesus was crucified.  Death is always part of the Christmas story.  If death wasn’t an integral part of the Christmas story, you would have no hope, no peace, no joy, and no love.  In Jesus’ birth, and eventual death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, your self-centered and selfish Sin is forgiven.

Howard Rutledge was an American fighter pilot during the Vietnam War who was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese in 1965.  They locked Rutledge in a prison in Hanoi, North Vietnam.  The prison was infamously known as, “The Hanoi Hilton.”

Howard Rutledge was locked in a 6×6-foot cell.  There were no books, no magazines, and no newspapers.  The colors were drab gray and dirt brown.  He fought to keep his sanity.  

Sometimes life gets really dark when those in power choose to harm and hurt us.

The most accurate translation of Hebrews 13.5 is this:  Jesus says, “Never, never, never, never, never, will I leave you or forsake you.”  Howard Rutledge believed that.  He prayed for God’s presence while imprisoned by the North Vietnamese in the Hanoi Hilton.  One day, a glimmer of light dawned through the bottom of his prison door.  That was all he needed.  From that point, Rutledge knew that God would set him free.  And, He did!

When Jesus was with Joseph and Mary, they were set free from fear.  They were set free from fear because when Jesus was with them, God actively led them and protected them.

When Jesus is with you, God is actively leading you and protecting you.

How is God leading you and protecting you?  

God is leading you away from death and protecting you from the punishment that your Sin deserves.  

What you see in this morning’s text is that Jesus escapes death for you.

Through the love of God for you, God ensures that Jesus is able to give you hope, peace, and joy by escaping death as a toddler so that He could later escape death by rising from the grave three days after crucifixion so that you, through faith which unites you with every aspect of Jesus, can also escape Hell and find the comfort of God’s presence in Heaven.  

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

December 28, 2025.

Prayer:

Loving Father, help us to pray with Jesus, “Your will be done,” and follow where You lead. Amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Joyful, We Adore Thee

Matthew 11.2-15

God has a funny way of working in my life so that I am prepared each Sunday to stand in the pulpit and bring you a true-to-life message of how God’s grace meets the ground we are standing on.

God’s funny way of working is this: If the message’s theme is hope, like the first week of Advent, God allows most things in my life to lead me to the edge of insanity where I am tempted to give up all hope in good finally prevailing.  If the message’s theme is peace, like last Sunday, God allows me to have a restless week where I question every decision I ever made.

That being said, this week’s message, for the third week of Advent is always centered on the theme of joy.

Now, experiencing joy is something I struggle with on a regular week.  However, this week, God did his thing in my life and allowed me to experience the burden of a to-do list that exponentially generated more and more items that needed my attention alongside seemingly impossible relationships and seemingly impossible situations to navigate.

Midweek, as I was driving out to Garvie’s Point Museum to join my younger son on a field trip, I was experiencing great discomfort with a never-ending thought cycle that was attempting to figure out all of the current problems I had on my plate.

To help lessen some of that nervous anxiety, I decided to put on my mentor’s podcast just to hear the soothing and gentle and gracious tone of his voice.  

The podcast is always bookended with short musical content that pertains to the podcast’s topic of discussion.  

As soon as I hit play, I heard the 1963 bop from Lesley Core that contains these lyrics,

“Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows

Everything that’s wonderful is what I feel.”

I immediately and literally laughed out loud.  

“Everything that’s wonderful is what I feel.”  What a striking contrast to my then current feelings!

Life is filled with doubts and disappointments.

Life is filled with unmet hopes and expectations.

And, all of this can easily steal our joy.

If you remember from last week, God sent John the Baptist to the people of Israel to proclaim that when God shows up on the scene in the person of Jesus Christ, God is giving out the gift of peace.  To make sure we have what we need to meet God face-to-face, John the Baptist laid out the specifics of being prepared for that encounter. 

He tells those that have ears to hear that peace with God comes from confessing one’s sin and repenting of one’s sin.  He also mentioned that peace with God comes from being washed clean of sin through baptism and receiving the guarantee of forgiveness and salvation through God living with you daily in the third person of the Trinity—the Holy Spirit.

All of this work is accomplished for you, the work of forgiveness and salvation that makes you right with God,  is finished for you through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

This week, as we celebrate the Third Week of Advent, the Sunday that thematically centers on joy, we meet back up with John the Baptist.

Let’s just say that John’s current situation tempts him to lose all hope and lack both peace and joy.

Matthew 11.2-15 tells us this:

[2] Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples [3] and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” [4] And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: [5] the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. [6] And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

[7] As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? [8] What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. [9] What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. [10] This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.’

[11] Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [12] From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. [13] For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, [14] and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. [15] He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (ESV)

When we meet back up with John the Baptist, we find him in prison.

Why is John in prison?

Well, besides people causing an uproar after being offended by his message of sin and salvation (when they should have rejoiced!), John found himself in trouble with one of the political leaders. John, in his God ordained task, confronted King Herod in  his commandment breaking action.  King Herod, one of the Roman leaders, was having an adulterous relationship with his sister in-law.  When John informed King Herod of his disobedience to God’s by saying, “It is unlawful for you to have her,” King Herod imprisoned John. 

As John becomes intimately acquainted with shame, hunger, physical torment, and emotional struggle, it would have been really easy for John the Baptist to loose his joy.

After a life of following God and doing things that aligned with God’s will, John found himself locked up behind bars.

Seeing this progression of events, we can find ourselves asking, “Why did God allow him to end up in jail (where he would eventually be beheaded)?”

In a similar fashion, people often ask me to answer their big question of, “Why?” — “Why is God allowing me to experience this current suffering?”

The answer is, I don’t know exactly.  I don’t have an exact answer as to why God allowed John to be imprisoned following a life of service to God.  I also don’t have an exact answer as to why God allows you to experience the pain and suffering that you experience.

And, I never will never have that full answer this side of Heaven.

But, what I do know is that Jesus tells us that we will experience suffering this side of Heaven due to the persistence of Sin in this world.  We find ourselves in some very dark places due to the problems our own sin creates as well as the problems that the sin of others creates.

Oswald Chambers, an early twentieth-century Scottish Baptist preacher, wrote, “Happiness depends on what happens; joy does not.”

So, how can I be joyful if life is a dumpster fire right now?

That was basically John’s question that he had his disciples ask Jesus.

And, Jesus gives them this answer:

You can have joy in every situation and circumstance by looking to Jesus, the assurance of God’s love for you.

2 Corinthians 1:20 tell us this:

[20] For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (ESV)

And, this is the exact message that Jesus gives John’s disciples to restore them to a place of joy.

Jesus tells them that, YES!, He is the Messiah, the Anointed One, God’s sent Savior.

He tells them that all they have to do is look at His actions and listen to His words because they match the exact description of the Savior that God has been talking about and promising for thousands of years.

Jesus lists off His qualifications.

He has restored sight to the blind.

He has restored the ability to walk to those that have been crippled and paralyzed.

He has restored health and wellness to the terminally sick.

He has raised people from the dead.

He has brought hope to the hopeless.

He has brought peace to the restless.

And, He has brought joy to the despairing.

All of this work of Jesus matches the promises of God.

One of those promises is found in the words of the prophet Isaiah who describes the coming Savior.

In verses 35:4–6, Isaiah tells us this:

[4] Say to those who have an anxious heart,

“Be strong; fear not!

Behold, your God

will come with vengeance,

with the recompense of God.

He will come and save you.”

[5] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

[6] then shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy…(ESV)                                                           

We often confuse joy with the absence of problems in our life.  

However, we hear James, the brother of Jesus, in his Epistle say this:

[2] Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, [3] for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. [4] And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4, ESV)

The Apostle Paul writes the following words from a prison cell, where he too was being held captive for preaching the Good News of sin and salvation.

To the church in Thessalonica, he writes:

[16] Rejoice always, [17] pray without ceasing, [18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, ESV)

Joy does not come from the absence of problems in our life.  

Romans 8:31–39 reminds us of this truth.

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?…

[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…

[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)

Karl Barth, another early twentieth-century preacher, this time from the Swiss Reformed tradition said, “Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.”

Joy comes from having faith and being thankful that God loves you and has made a way for you to find yourself in the comfort of His arms—even if you are experiencing difficulties right now.  

Joy comes from daily trusting that you have a Savior, Jesus, come to you and die for you and rise from the grave for you, so that you too can be dead to Sin alive to God.

“God’s Word is a rock, not because it makes everything easy, but because it keeps your feet out of sinking sand amid difficult situations and unmet expectations.

Even in the middle of difficult situations, unmet expectations, and limited perception, Jesus is worthy of our trust. Telling others about Him won’t be easy, but it is a calling worth giving our lives to. We fight doubt in this world and fight fear of this world with faith in the promised Messiah.”

Wherever you are right now, whatever you are experiencing, I leave you with a few other words, also written by the Apostle Paul from his own place of shame, hunger, physical torment, and emotional struggle, while being imprisoned for doing the work of God in the world.

Paul said this to the church gathered in the city of Philippi and he says it to you as well:

[4] Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. [5] Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; [6] do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4–7, ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

This is the Joy of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

December 21, 2025.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Keep Calm and Carry On

Matthew 3.1-12

In September 1939, the British government distributed a poster that said, “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution, Will Bring Us Victory.”  Soon another poster was printed and distributed. “Freedom Is in Peril; Defend It with All Your Might.” 

During World War II, these two posters showed up all over England—on railroad platforms and in pubs, in stores and in restaurants. The government created a third poster in the series but it never saw the light of day. British officials held it in reserve for an extreme crisis, like a German invasion of Britain. More than 2.5 million copies of this third poster were printed, yet the public never saw it until 2001. That’s when a bookstore owner in northeast England discovered one in a box of old books. What did that poster say? “Keep Calm and Carry On.” 

“Keep Calm and Carry On” became so popular that the bookstore began putting it on items like coffee mugs, postcards, and T-shirts. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Management guru Jim Collins studied leadership in turbulent times. He looked at more than twenty thousand companies, sifting through data in search of an answer to this question: in an extreme crisis, why do some leaders make it while others don’t? Collins concluded that successful leaders in a crisis aren’t more creative, more visionary, more ambitious, or more risk-taking. What sets them apart? They’re more self-controlled. They keep calm and carry on.

One of the major messages of Advent and Christmas is the message of peace.  

Another way to understand that is to say that one of the major messages of Advent and Christmas is the message to “Keep Calm and Carry On.”

The experience of peace can be elusive. 

The experience of peace can be here one second and gone the next.

And, for some of us, we may believe that experiencing peace is an impossibility.

On this Second Sunday of Advent, I want to let you know that experiencing peace is possible. 

God does not desire for you to live in a constant state of restlessness, anxiety, and worry.  

So, let’s hear more about that by following our Biblical text for this morning.

Matthew 3:1–12 tells us this:

[1] In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, [2] “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [3] For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

make his paths straight.’”

[4] Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. [5] Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, [6] and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

[7] But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [8] Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. [9] And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. [10] Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

[11] “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [12] His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (ESV)

The Bible tells us that it God’s will that every man, woman, and child would be able to live at peace.  

The peace that God desires for you to have is the peace that comes from finding rest for your heart, mind, and soul, by knowing and believing that in Jesus’ coming to you, living for you, dying on the cross for you, and rising from the grave for you, you are forgiven of your sin and reconciled to your Creator.

You can rest today because trusting in Christ gives you every last thing you need to be ready to meet God.  

Because of Jesus, God does not require anything else from you.  

Through Jesus, all of the work of has been finished for you!

The heart of God that wants nothing more than for you to live at peace with Him is spoken of by both the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter in their letters to the early Christian Church.

2 Peter 3:8–9 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. (ESV)

And, 1 Timothy 2:1–6 says this:

[1] First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [2] for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. [3] This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (ESV)

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this 2nd Sunday of Advent, the Sunday that celebrates the Peace that comes with Jesus on Christmas, we are given what we need to have peace with God today.

In this piece of history that describes the ministry of John the Baptist,  John the Baptist tells us where peace comes from and how peace comes into our lives.

First, John the Baptist says that peace comes from being prepared to meet God and His Kingdom.

God’s eternal Kingdom of Heaven is described like this:

[1] …I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

[5] And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [6] And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. [7] The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Revelation 21:1–7, ESV)

There is peace in God’s Kingdom because, as we are told in this text from Revelation, there will be no more reasons for tears, no more reasons for mourning loss, no more reasons for pain and suffering, and no more death.

There is peace in God’s Kingdom because in God’s Kingdom all wrongs have finally been righted. 

There is peace in God’s Kingdom because life has been restored back to what God originally intended it to be when He breathed life into Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden.

Second, John the Baptist says that peace comes from repentance and confession.

Confession is to say, “I have been doing the wrong thing.”

Repentance is to say, “I will turn around and do the right thing.”

In the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program, we confess our problem every time we open our mouth.  Any time you want to speak at an AA meeting, you have to begin with saying, “Hi, my name is Fred and I am an alcoholic.”  

This is statement of both confession and repentance.  By introducing ourselves this way, we are saying, “I recognize my extreme crisis.  I have a severe and life-threatening problem with alcohol and I am here to actively do what I can, with God’s empowering and leading help, to change this behavior.”

There is something freeing about admitting your faults and knowing that those that you are admitting your faults to will not judge you or expel you, but will rush to your side 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to encourage you, lift you up, support you, and correct you when needed.

The church is the same. It is the local chapter of a universal community. Call it Sinners Anonymous. Each week I stand up and say, “Hi, I’m Fred. I’m a sinner. I need help. And only a higher power can give me the help I need—though I admit I also need all of you to help me on the way.” 

As you well know, Christians know the name of that higher power. It’s Jesus. He is the help we need. He is where we’re going.  He is the way to where we’re going. His people, sisters and brothers in Christ, are fellow sinners on the way. They are Jesus’s uncountable hands and feet and eyes and ears, his friends guiding your steps along the path, one by one. When you fall, and you will, you can’t get up alone. He will pick you up with the help of those in this place. This is the Christian life. It is a fragile and vulnerable thing, but beautiful and peaceful for just that reason.

When our eyes are opened and we see the ways that we have been disobedient to God and we respond by confessing that Sin to Him, we find peace because we have the good news that He will always forgive us for the sin we confess (and even the sin we don’t! Praise the Lord!) and He will restore us into a right and eternal relationship with Himself.

Third, John the Baptist says that peace comes from baptism.

In his letter to the Christians gathered in the city of Rome, the Apostle Paul describes baptism this way:

[3] Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

[5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:3–5, ESV)

And, the author of Hebrews adds this to the baptism discussion:

[22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:22–23, ESV)

Baptism let’s us experience peace because the Word of God mixed with the water does what it promises to do—wash us and cleanse us from the dirt and filth of our Sin that keeps us away from God our Father in Heaven.

Fourth, John the Baptism says that peace comes from the Holy Spirit.

Again, the Apostle Paul helps us out here in his letter to the Roman Christians when he says:

[1] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1–5, ESV)

And,

[11] In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, [12] so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [13] In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11–14, ESV)

Peace comes from the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is God living in us.  With the Holy Spirit, we have God with us all of the time and everywhere.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, the piece of God that He puts in us, to lead us and guide us and help us and empower us and correct us,  so that we are continually being renewed in the likeness of Jesus Christ.

The professional world has a slogan that goes like this:

“It’s not who you are.  It’s who you know.”

What that phrase is pointing out is that in order to get ahead in life, your qualifications often don’t matter.  You will get the job or position you are applying for only if you know the right people with the right names, the right titles, and the right money.

The fancy word for this unfair treatment is nepotism.

This is one of the sins that John the Baptist was confronting in our text this morning.

As John was preaching about God’s grace, mercy, and love coming to forgive and restore through His Savior, Jesus, the Jewish crowd was fighting back saying that they didn’t need Jesus because they were descendants of Abraham who was the Father of God’s people (see Genesis 12).

The Jews who were hearing John’s message of good news took offense to the idea that they were sinners in need of a Savior.

The Jews on the shore of the Jordan river that day believed they would get ahead in life, that is ahead in eternal life because of who they knew. 

However, peace with God doesn’t come from who you know—Peace with God doesn’t come from your past; Peace with God doesn’t come for the specific denomination listed on your church’s sign; Peace with God doesn’t come from the people you know; Peace with God doesn’t come from your family name; Peace with God doesn’t come from your grandfather’s spirituality and commitment to the church; Peace with God doesn’t come from your mother’s charitable giving and lifetime of service to a religious organization.

No, peace with God comes from who you are.  And, through faith in Christ, you are fully united with Jesus and everything Jesus every did, said, and thought, becomes yours when God looks at you from His throne.

Only when you are covered in the life and blood of Jesus can you rest in the assurance that God will accept you and welcome you into His enteral Kingdom.

Guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix once said, 

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

This morning, you are facing an extreme crisis.  Your freedom is in peril.  Because of sin, you are heading toward death and eternal suffering.  

As our Biblical text tells us this morning, it is not your courage, your cheerfulness, your resolution, or your families’ tradition and history that will bring you victory over this separation from God.  It is only God’s coming to you in the person of Jesus Christ and dying on the cross in Jesus Christ, and rising from the grave in Jesus Christ, that will make you into one who conquers Sin and Death. 

This morning, the power of love has overcome the love of power.  

The power of God’s love for you has over your love of worldly power.

Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.  This is the promise and guarantee that you are at peace with God today, tomorrow, and forever.

So, when life gets chaotic, take a deep breath and Keep Calm and Carry On because you have been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus Christ your Lord (1 Corinthians 6.11).

This week, whatever your lot, God has taught you to say, “It is well with my soul!”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

This is the Peace of God of you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

December 7, 2025.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

The Reason For the Season

Luke 23.27-43

THE season is here.

Clocks are set back.

The temperatures are around the point where water freezes.

Snow flurries have already fallen

Gloves, coats and hats are the dress code.

Hot chocolate sales are up.

Egg nog is back in stock at the supermarket.

The Hallmark Chanel is operating in all of its glory.

Mariah Carey is on the radio.

And, Mariah Carey is on the radio.

And, Mariah Carey is on the radio.

The season that I am, of course, talking about is the Christmas season.

Next Sunday, when we are back in this sanctuary, we will be celebrating the first official day of the Advent and Christmas season.

Some of you have all of your decorations prepped and ready to go up the day after Thanksgiving.

However, there are also many of you that have bi-passed Thanksgiving, tossed the turkey and the cranberry sauce aside, and have been living in the light of the tiny colored bulbs of your Christmas tree since November 1st.  

Whether you are preparing now to set up those Christmas decorations as soon as the Thanksgiving left overs are put away or you are of the kind that forsakes the calendar and lives lawlessly by setting up your Christmas decorations weeks before the turkey is served, what this planning and excitement show us is that almost everyone lives in anticipation of the Christmas season.

And, we live with this anticipation because we all see something special about this season.  We all enter this time of the year with a specific reason or set of reasons for the celebration that this season brings.

So, I ask you, what is the reason for the season for you?

Do you see the reason for the season being family gatherings?

Do you see the reason for the season being gift giving and gift receiving?

Do you see the reason for the season being the smiles on the faces of your kids as they tear the wrapping paper off of their presents?

Do you see the reason for the season being a few restful days off of work?

Do you see the reason for the season as being a time to go out to catch up with your friends who are home from school on winter break?

Do you see the reason for the season being an opportunity to flee to the cold whether for a tropical vacation?

When you think about this time of year, what is the reason for the season for you?

This morning, to define the reason for the Christmas season, we are going to look at what probably seems like a strange Biblical text to use in order to do so. It may seem strange to you because instead of talking about happy and fun things like babies and animals and presents, our Biblical text that answers the question, “What is the reason for the season?,” talks about things like suffering and death.

Our Biblical text for his morning, picked for us by the lectionary brings us to Luke 23.27-43.  It is in this graphic scene from Jesus’ life that we are set up and led into the right mindset for the Christmas season.

Let’s hear from Luke 23.27-43 together now.

The text tells us this:

[27] And there followed [Jesus] a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. [28] But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. [29] For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ [30] Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ [31] For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

[32] Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. [33] And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [34] And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. [35] And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” [36] The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine [37] and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” [38] There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

[39] One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” [40] But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? [41] And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” [42] And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” [43] And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (ESV)

Now, after hearing this text, this text about Jesus’ death on the cross, you may be thinking, “Pastor Fred, you must have read the wrong verses, those verses are for Good Friday and Easter.”

If you are thinking that, you aren’t alone.  When I opened up the lectionary and then opened my Bible to these verses this week, I thought the same thing.

But, as I asked the question, why are these verses chosen for the week before we officially begin celebrating Advent and Christmas, God, through the moving of His Holy Spirit, helped me understand why these verses are important in defining the reason for the Christmas season.

Although it is historically true that these verses tell us what happened on Good Friday and what led into the first Easter three days later, we have to remember that the Good Friday and Easter events, which are the reason we gather and celebrate every Sunday, were and are the driving force behind the Christmas season.

Yes, the Christmas season celebrates that a baby was born.

But, the Christmas season also celebrates that the baby, named Jesus, called “God with us” and “the One who would save men and women from their sin,” was born with the intention and goal of dying on the cross around 30 years later in order to provide what was needed to connect men and women back to God, the Father in Heaven.

Many of us are familiar with the Toys For Tots organization.  We see them out and about in the months and weeks leading up to Christmas collecting donations of toys that will eventually be distributed to families in need.

The Toys for Tots website states: “The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November, and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.” 

That being the case, it was surprising when the charity rejected a donation of 4,000 new, unwrapped toys heading into the 2006 Christmas season.

What was the reason for this rejection? The toys in question were battery-operated, talking representations of Jesus Christ. 

According to the website of the dolls’ manufacturer, One2Believe, the button-activated, bearded Talking Jesus doll is dressed in hand-sewn cloth outfits and sandals. It also recites Scripture verses, such as, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Bill Grein, vice president of the Toys for Tots program, said the charity chose to reject the dolls for several reasons. First, as a government entity, the Marines “don’t profess one religion over another,” Grein said. “We can’t take a chance on sending a Talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim family.”

He also added that, “Kids want a gift for the holiday season that is fun.”

Thankfully, this particular Christmas story does have a happy ending. About a week after his initial decision to reject the toys, Mr. Grein sent the following e-mail to their manufacturer: “Having reconsidered your kind offer of several thousand dolls last week, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation would like to receive them. We believe that with some effort we will be able to find homes for them all.”

Even though I find it ironic that Toys For Tots’ mission statement uses the word Christmas and then rejects Christ, I share this story not to point a finger at Toys For Tots initial decision to reject talking Jesus dolls (although the description of them seems a bit weird and creepy, even to me, a Christian pastor).

I share this story because like Toys For Tots, like many of us define the reason for the Christmas season wrong.

Toys For Tots defined the reason for the Christmas season as “Fun.”

In our commercialization of the Christmas season, we try to make the reason for the season pure fun by focusing on a jolly old man who laughs while surrounded by dancing and singing elves who hand out candy and presents to all the good little girls and boys.

Although the reason for the Christmas season is defined throughout the week’s of Advent leading up to Christmas morning as love, joy, hope, and peace, that love, joy, hope and peace is brought into the world and into your life through the least fun event possible — death through crucifixion.

One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus on his own cross rejected Jesus because what was happening in that moment wasn’t fun.

However, the other criminal knew the truth of God’s grace and mercy in that horrendous moment of suffering and death — sin creates a mess that is cleaned up by an equally appropriate mess.  Sin brings death into the lives of each one of us and can only be overcome and defeated by the death of a perfect substitutionary sacrifice. 

The reason for the Christmas season is God’s love for you driving Him with the single-minded purpose of bringing you to a state of hope, joy, and peace, by providing you with the Savior you need to forgive you of your sin and re-connect you back to God your Father in Heaven today and forever.

When God steps into your life in the person of Jesus Christ, born into the world on Christmas morning, He is saying to you the exact thing that Jesus said to the criminal who had faith in Him on Good Friday — He is saying to you, “Today, you will be with me in paradise!” He is saying, “I am hanging here and being punished and condemned for sin, not my sin, but the sin of others, so that through my sacrifice, their debt before God can be paid completely off and they can be forgiven and connected back to God in Heaven.” 

And, though fulfilling the promise of providing a Savior to rescue you from the mess of this life and that sin causes, God is giving you the assurance that He truly loves you, the assurance of the forgiveness of sin that instills hope for a future in Heaven, the assurance of having peace with God today and forever, and all of those Christmas gifts of love, hope, and peace, give the you the final gift of joy, knowing that everything you ever need, God has provided for you through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.

In their typical 80’s glam metal style, the Christian band, Stryper, sang these lyrics over double bass drumming and squealing guitars:

You, your life can be a holiday

Everyday when He is with you.

Hey, let’s get back to what it’s all about.

Shout it out. Christ is the reason.

We all know it’s better to give that receive

His gift is for those who believe.

You got it if you want it, just believe.

He is the reason for the season.

He is the reason for today.

He is the reason for the season.

Celebrate.

Another Christian musician from that same 1980s era said this:

This is an exciting time to be a Christian! There is more and more opposition to real Christianity which means that there will be more and more opportunity to shine for Christ. The darker the room, the brighter the light will shine. (Michael Bloodgood)

And, that thought comes from the Biblical statement made by the disciple John when was discussing Jesus’ coming into the world by saying:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

God’s ultimate goodness is revealed in Jesus nailed to a cross. 

Jesus allows His body to be beaten, stripped, whipped, and pinned to wood to forgive every sin of every person who ever lived. 

Jesus sees Mary and John at the cross to comfort Him and instead He comforts them. Jesus promises paradise to a dying thief. With His final breath, Jesus prays for forgiveness—for the very people who crucified Him. What does the cross tell us? God is good—very good.

Put the scenes together: Judgment is coming. God is forgiving. Paradise is offered. But the only ones who receive it are the humble who admit their sins and confess that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to atone for their sins and was raised from the grave three days later. 

Friends, this morning be humble enough to confess your sins and turn away from them, calling on the name of the Lord.  God promises he will forgive you of your sin and robe you in his righteousness. And today paradise will be your home.

This morning and this season, follow Jesus from the manger in which he was born all the way to the cross on which he died.

Follow him, believe in his death on the cross for you, have faith, fear God, and hear him say to you, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do…Today, you will be with me in Paradise…God’s eternal Kingdom of Heaven.”

This is the Word of God for you today.

The is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

November 23, 2025.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

The Final Countdown

Luke 21.5-19, 25-28

What’s that taste?

It’s the taste of poisoned Kool-Aid.

During the 1960s and 1970s, American preacher/teacher Jim Jones formed the The People’s Temple. The  purpose of The People’s Temple was to create a socialist utopia free from American capitalism.  Jones convinced his followers that social justice, racial equality, and various humanitarian causes were the answer to humanity’s woes.  After finding himself in trouble in the United States, Jones fled with his cult to Jonestown, Guyana to keep his dream alive.

In 1978, after being investigated by the United States for human rights abuses and keeping hostages, cult leader Jones led 912 of his commune members to commit a mass act of suicide/murder by drinking Kool-Aid mixed with cyanide.

False teachers exist.

What’s that smell?

It’s the smell of burning human flesh.

In the first Century following Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, Emperor Nero attempted to divert attention from his own corruption and failure as a Roman politician by falsely placing blame on the early church and her Christian members for the problems of society.

In a government led religious cleansing campaign, Nero had Christians arrested and imprisoned.  He had some of the captured Christians thrown to wild animals to be torn apart while still alive.  Nero also had some Christians hung on the walls of his palace and set on fire as human torches.

Christians are persecuted.

What’s that sound?

It’s the sound of women and children crying, bombs being dropped, buildings crumbling, and tanks rolling by as national leaders vie for more and more position and power on the world map.

Wars are happening.

Alt-rockers, Hot Water Music, look at the suffering of the world around us and conclude, 

“Our state of grace is gone;”

They are then quick to offer this solution: 

“May we combine tradition, Science and innovation. To benefit what’s ailing…”

Yes, our world is falling apart.  

But, that is not a sign that grace is gone.

And, I would argue that as humanity has tried to use tradition, science, and innovation to solve problems, those things have only exacerbated our downtrodden situation.

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this 2nd-to-last Sunday of the church year, Jesus addresses all of these things.  Jesus talks about the pain, suffering, loss, and destruction happening around us.  But, Jesus also makes it clear that the grace of God is still at work for our ultimate good.

Let’s hear what Jesus has to say in chapter 21 of The Gospel According to Luke.

Luke 21:5–19, 25-28 tells us this:

[5] And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, [6] “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” [7] And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” [8] And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. [9] And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

[10] Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. [11] There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. [12] But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. [13] This will be your opportunity to bear witness. [14] Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, [15] for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. [16] You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. [17] You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. [18] But not a hair of your head will perish. [19] By your endurance you will gain your lives…

[25] “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, [26] people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [27] And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (ESV)

Our text opens with the people around Jesus standing in awe of the temple in Jerusalem. They believed that their religious monument, their worship center, constructed with the finest materials on earth, was an indestructible place of safety.  

The Jews who worshiped there and pilgrimaged there placed their hope in the strength and stability of their temple building.  They believed it was the greatest sign of God’s blessing.  They believed it was the undeniable evidence that they were God’s children.

However, for our benefit, Jesus tears down the things that we place our hope in and in fact, do not offer us hope at all.

Jesus tears down what we love in this world so that we will place our affections where they belong — on the God who gives, the God who takes away, and the God who redeems.

Jesus prepares the people in Jerusalem for the coming destruction of the temple by letting them know a day is coming when it will be nothing but a pile of rubble.  We now know that this happened in the year 70 A.D. 

And, just as Jesus prepared the temple worshipers for it’s coming destruction, Jesus helps us to be prepared for the eventual destruction of the created order as we know it.

So, as Jesus does, Jesus focused attention on what is truly important, what truly matters, and what truly gives us hope—His presence with us to rescue us from the destruction and death unfolding around us.

Jesus wants us to be ready for two things.

What does Jesus want us to be ready for?

The first thing that Jesus wants you to be prepared for is the suffering that you will encounter in this world.

If you have sat in this room for at least one Sunday morning church service, you are aware that every human being (and to be clear—that includes you and me!) is corrupted by Sin from the moment of conception.

Due to Eve and Adam’s disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden, the human experience in this world was broken by Sin and it’s effects.  The major effect of Sin for you and me is that we are separated from God and cannot, by any strength or accomplishment, find our way back into the holiness of God.  Sin takes our eyes completely off of God by making us self-centered, selfish, and self-righteous. 

On Bethel’s social media this week, I shared a quote from a book I am currently reading.

The quote goes like this:

“God is not for the little engine that could.  God is for the train wreck that can’t.”

The truth of being stuck in Sin is that we wrongly believe that we are the little engine that could.  We end up wrongly believing that with enough self-talk and focused determination, we will be be able to get ourselves up and over the hill that separates us from God.  However, Sin corrupts us so completely that there is nothing we can do to get over the obstruction it puts between us and God our Father in Heaven.

So, even though we think we are the little engine that could, the truth is that we are the train wreck that can’t!

Like I said, you are probably familiar with the effects of Sin on the human being.

However, you may not realize that with the entrance of Sin into the world in the Garden of Eden, the created order was also cast in corruption and decay.  As an example of that, Adam is told that the ground will now produce weeds that will make his work difficult.  

Did you know that?  After God’s creation, the earth was perfect in every way which meant that there were no weeds in the garden, only healthy plants!  However, because of the brokenness of Sin, weeds now grow as a sign of God’s judgment.

(I bet those of you with green thumbs have just a little more disdain for Adam and Eve now!)

We hear that Sin effects the created order, not just the human being, in Romans 8:19–22.

[19] For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. [20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. [22] For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (ESV)

Because of the effects of Sin on humanity, we destroy one another through persecutions and wars.

Because of the effects of Sin on Creation, decay and imbalance causes natural disasters—earthquakes, flooding, tornadoes—that often result in things like famine and pestilence.

The second thing that Jesus wants you to be ready for is the end of space and time and you know it.

In his book, Overcoming Life’s Sorrows: Learning From Jeremiah, R. Reed Lessing makes the observation that:

“It’s liberating to feel and grieve our suffering and our losses. They are serious. They are weighty and difficult. They are real. They will never stop being a part of our lives. Nevertheless, we are not the primary carrier of those losses. Jesus is. And Jesus is coming again. On the Last Day, Jesus will return and our bodies will rise out of the grave. We will be more alive than ever before. Our eyes will see God in His glorious splendor. We will rejoice over the new creation in all its majesty and perfection. Colors will burst forth in plants and animals with a rainbow of beauty. There is more. We will reach out and hold the hand of that person we so dearly loved—taken from us by death. What a grand reunion. And our taste buds? You think chocolates on Valentine’s Day are delicious now? Just wait until Jesus gives us redeemed bodies. Our tongues will explode with tastes and flavors like never before. And the sounds we will hear! Songs of praise, music, birds, laughter—all the happiest sounds, amplified in ways that will fill our hearts with joy. [Luke 6.21 gives us this hope:]

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh”.”

In the context of today’s Biblical verses, it is freeing to recognize and sit in sorrow over the destruction that Sin is causing in us and in the world that we inhabit.  This is freeing because it put reason to the rhyme of chaos.  And, it let’s us rest in the truth that God knows, God cares, and God is still in control moving all things together for our ultimate good—our redemption and salvation.

In Scripture, we are told that “…we are strangers before You and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding” (1 Chronicles 29:15, ESV). 

Throughout both the Old and New Testaments we read that this world, as wonderful as it can be, cannot sustain our deepest yearnings.

C. S. Lewis once said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” 

Amen to that—for we were made for a world that shall not pass away.

False teachers exist and will continue to exist.

The fallen and corrupted world, with the devil and his minions prowling around, has and will continue to persecute Christians in an attempt to annihilate God’s people.

Wars have happened and will continue to happen.

These things are signs that Sin is real and has the power to kill and destroy.

These things are signs that the world is in a downward spiral of decay.

These things are signs that the world as we know it has an expiration date.  

There are no caveats or escape clauses here.  The world that we inhabit today will not exist forever.  It is all coming to an end.

However, none of this is a sign of losing our state of grace under God’s sovereign care.

Jesus’ eschatological teaching reveals that wars, suffering, and death have no ultimate meaning or hold on Christians.

These things are warning signs for you and me to run to God and place our hope in His forgiving, saving, and redeeming love.  

Uncertainty and fear should lead us to focus on Jesus’ redemption.

It is not tradition that will save you or the world.

It is not science that will save you or the world.

It is not innovation that will save you or the world.

It is only the redemption that comes from faith in Jesus Christ that will save you and the world by making you and the world completely new creations untainted by Sin and it’s corruption that leads to death.

This morning, know that the end of life as you know it is eventually coming.  

Don’t drink the poisoned Kool-Aid of false teaching.

Don’t hide your faith and deny Jesus because of the threats made against the Christian Church.

Don’t cower in fear every time you turn on the news.

Instead, trust and hope in God’s grace.  Straighten up and raise your heads, Jesus is your Redeemer.  Jesus’ Sin forgiving death on the cross and resurrection from the grave will bring you home to the re-created perfect heavens and earth where pain, suffering, tears, and death do not exist.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

November 16, 2025.

Prayer:

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen. 

(Proper 20 — BCP p. 234) 

Benediction:

Go, in peace today.  In Jesus Christ, your redemption from the troubles of Sin, both in you and in the world, has come and is coming fully.  Amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Jesus’ Prayer List

John 17.1-11

When you pray, what do you pray for?

Do you pray that you would get a “good night’s sleep?”

Do you pray that you would pass your upcoming school exams?

Do you pray that the guy or girl that you really like would ask you out on a date?

Do you pray that you would get a call back from the job you interviewed for?

Do you pray that you would have the money to pay the rent this month?

Do you pray that a rebellious child would turn around and come home?

Do you pray for reconciliation in our currently divided and hostile nation?

Do you pray for the imprisonment of your political rivals?

Do you pray that a sickness or disease would be healed?

Do you pray that the addiction of a loved one would be broken? 

Or, do you pray that a personal addiction that you are enslaved by would be broken?

At the age of 16, in the year 371, Augustine ran away from his mother in Carthage. During the night he sailed away to Rome, leaving her alone to her tears and her prayers.

How were these prayers answered? Not the way Monica [Augustine’s mother] hoped at the time.

Augustine himself wrote, “And what did she beg of you, my God, with all those tears, if not that you would prevent me from sailing away? But you did not do as she asked you. Instead, in the depth of your wisdom, you granted the wish that was closest to her heart.

“For she saw that you had granted her far more than she used to ask in her tearful prayers. You converted me to yourself, so that I no longer placed any hope in this world, but stood firmly upon the rule of faith. And you turned her sadness into rejoicing, into joy far fuller than her dearest wish, far sweeter and more chaste than any she had hoped to find.”

God always has our best and his glory in mind, and he is willing and able to answer our prayers with more than we could ask or imagine.

Through a mother’s prayer, a once rebellious teenage son became a 4th Century philosopher who majorly influences Christianity.  Today, when we discuss his theological contributions to the Church, we refer to him as Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Prayer happens in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes we pray with other people in church using pre-writen, guided words of prayer on a screen.

And, sometimes we pray, using our own words, in our bed at night after reviewing the day we just completed and anticipating the new day that will begin in a few hours.

Sometimes we pray because we are thankful.

And, sometimes we pray because we are desperate.

We all pray.  

But, the questions that come with our prayer habits are:

“Who do you pray to?”

“What drives you to pray?”

And, “What do you pray for?”

In this morning’s text from the Gospel of John, or, in other words, John the disciple’s biography of Jesus, we are going to hear who Jesus prays to, what drives Jesus to prayer, and what Jesus prays for.  

In John 17:1–11, we hear this:

[1] When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, [2] since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3] And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [5] And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

[6] “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. [7] Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. [8] For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. [9] I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. [10] All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. [11] And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (ESV)

This morning, we find ourselves in the room and at the table where Jesus is eating The Last Supper with his disciples.  This is the night that Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, and set up for the death penalty.

Jesus’ disciples were troubled at the news of Jesus no longer being physically with them on a daily basis.  They had many questions about who would lead them, guide them, teach them, protect them, defend them, and strengthen them for the hardships associated with everyday life.

They were filled with fear, anxiety, confusion, doubt, and were experiencing an existential crisis that demonstrated a great need for help.

In the texts leading up to this morning’s pericope, Jesus addressed their concerns and gave them confidence through assuring them that He would fulfill his promise to them—the promise to be with them always (see Matthew 28.20)—by living with them and in them through the third person of the trinity known as the Holy Spirit.  In His presence with them, in the person of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would do everything He did for them while present with them in the flesh and bones of Jesus Christ.  He would continue to strengthen them to know the truth of God when confronted with the lies for the world and He would strengthen them to be obedient to God’s commands for life and love while always providing forgiveness when they stumbled.

After speaking with the disciples about what life will be like once He was gone from the earth, but present with them in the Holy Spirit, Jesus turns his attention to pray.

Just as we mentioned a few minutes ago, prayer begs three questions whenever we do it.

The first question is, “Who do you pray to?”

Why is this an important question?

This is an important question because there is only One person you can pray to that is alive and powerful and can therefore hear you and respond.

And, this One person is the exact person that Jesus prays to.

In verse 1 of our text, Jesus begins His prayer by acknowledging that He is asking God, the Father in Heaven, for His help.

In 1 Peter 5.6-7, we have this directive:

[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (ESV)

And, in Proverbs 15.29, we are told:

[29] The LORD is far from the wicked,

but he hears the prayer of the righteous. (ESV)

God cares for us and wants us to speak with Him about EVERYTHING,  He wants to know when we are content, happy, and thankful.  But, He also wants to know when we are in despair, dealing with depression, and have questions about His love for us.

We also have a warning about addressing our prayers to the wrong people and places in Psalm 115:4–13 when we hear the song writer say this:

[4] Their idols [the false gods that they pray to] 

are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

[5] They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

[6] They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

[7] They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

[8] Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

[9] O Israel, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[10] O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[11] You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[12] The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;

he will bless the house of Israel;

he will bless the house of Aaron;

[13] he will bless those who fear the LORD,

both the small and the great. (ESV)

This Biblical text is saying that,

You cannot pray to a statue and expect results;

You cannot pray to Allah or Mohammed and expect results;

You cannot pray to Mother Nature, and expect results;

You cannot pray to “the god of your understanding” and expect results;

And, you cannot cause a manifestation of a wish or desire by speaking it out into the Universe and expect results.

All of those examples are just man-made fictitious gods and prophets who have no divine power.

This Biblical text is also saying that,

You cannot pray to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and expect results;

You cannot pray to man-named “saints” and expect results;

You cannot pray to Buddha or Confucius and expect results;

And, you cannot pray to your ancestors—your parents, grandparents, or other relatives—and expect results.

All of those examples of people that are prayed to are just plain humans, like you and me, who have passed on from this life.

Regardless of what other people or places tell you about who to address your prayers to, you should always be wise and go back to the Bible to find the truth about who is listening and wants to respond to you.

And, this is what the Bible says about who we pray to:

[1] First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [2] for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. [3] This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:1–6, ESV)

Jesus knew the truth that God, the Father in Heaven, the Creator and Redeemer of all things, was the One and Only true God who is eternally alive and active.  

So, Jesus’ prayer aligned with the truth that would later be recorded by the disciple John in his first letter to the Christian Church in which he states:

[14] And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:13–15, ESV)

The second question that has to be asked when we pray is, “What is driving us to prayer?”

Well, for Jesus, we see and hear that Jesus is driven to prayer because He knows God is good and He wants the world to know that God is good by having him provide for the needs of His friends.

Jesus asks over and over again in prayer for God to be glorified.

What does this mean?

For God to be glorified means for God to receive the recognition and honor and praise and thanks that He deserves for being good and gracious and merciful to the world.

We actually ask the same thing when we pray the Lord’s prayer.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, we open in a similar way to the way that Jesus opens his prayer during this Last Supper conversation.

We say, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be your name.”

When we ask, “Hallowed be Your name,” we are asking God to let His name be known everywhere by every person so that He receives the recognition and honor and praise and thanks that He deserves for being good and gracious to the world.

So, Jesus is driven to prayer so that God can act graciously and mercifully and be known by more people in more places by His miraculous answers to prayer.  Jesus is praying for people to be saved.  He is asking for people to recognize God and their need for forgiveness and eternal life.

And, finally, the third question that has to be asked when we pray is, “What do we pray for?”

Well, in Jesus’ prayer this morning, he asks for two things.

The first thing we just discussed, Jesus asks that God would be glorified as people believe in Him as Lord and Savior.

The second thing that Jesus prays for is unity among all who follow him.

Jesus knows that the Church is made up of people from different ethnicities, different socio-economic status’, different upbringings, and so on.  

And, on top of all of those differences, the Church is made up of individuals corrupted by sin who are all self-centered, self-seeking, and self-preserving.  The Church is made up of changed and transformed individuals who will continue to struggle with the temptation to sin by always seeking their own good above the good of others.

But, Jesus knows what God reveals as truth—when humans find themselves believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and they are strengthened by the Holy Sprit to love one another and put the needs of others above their own, the love of God is shown to the world because they are demonstrating that this is the way that God loves humanity—He puts the needs of others, meaning you, above His own.

Through the unity of Christian brothers and sisters, the love that God has for you, the love that God demonstrated to you by giving Himself over to death on the cross in the person and work of Jesus Christ for you—to forgive your Sin, which includes a messed up prayer life and your part in the disunity of the Church—God points us back to what the song writer says in Psalm 133.1 when he tells us this truth:

[1] Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity! (ESV)

Tim Keller, reflecting on the passage, “Don’t be anxious but make requests to God with thanksgiving”, writes that, “We would expect Paul to say first you make your requests to God and then, you thank him for the answers. But that is not what Paul says.” Keller then illustrates his point with a story from his early twenties:

I prayed for an entire year about a girl I was dating and wanted to marry, but she wanted out of the relationship. All year I prayed, “Lord, don’t let her break up with me.” Of course, in hindsight, it was the wrong girl. I actually did what I could to help God with the prayer, because one summer, near the end of the relationship, I got in a location that made it easier to see her. I was saying, “Lord, I am making this as easy as possible for you. I have asked you for this, and I have even taken the geographical distance away.” But as I look back, God was saying, “Son, when a child of mine makes a request, I always give that person what he or she would have asked for if they knew everything I know”

Jesus, being God in the flesh, knew everything that God, the Father, knew.  Therefore, when he prayed, he prayed for the exact things that He needed and that those He was praying for needed.

In this morning’s text, Jesus prayed that God would be glorified in all things done by Him and in all things done by those that had faith in Him as Lord and Savior.  Jesus prayed for the disciples at the table during The Last Supper, and Jesus prays for you.

I will say that last part again…

Jesus is always praying for you!

You are on Jesus’ prayer list!

That means the God that created and sustains the universe knows your name, knows your troubles, and knows your needs, and has you on His prayer list every second of every day.

So, with the good news of Jesus’ prayers for you, 

Go this week and pray only to God the Father in Heaven.

Go this week, let the love that God has for you in the person and work of Jesus Christ—the love that leads to your forgiveness, your reconciliation, your righteousness, and your eternal life—lead you into moments of prayer.

And, go this week and pray that God would be glorified in your thoughts, words, and actions, and that God would allow you, and the Christians in your Church, and in the world around you, to be unified so that that people are drawn to the cross of Christ where there is rest, peace, encouragement, support, help, and hope.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

November 9, 2025

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

I Want To Be Free

John 8.31-36

In 1984, Freddie Mercy, and his band Queen, could be heard on radio stations all across the world lamenting, 

Oh, how I want to be free

Oh, how I want to break free.

In 1995, when Mel Gibson’s historical war drama, Braveheart, depicting the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England, took movie theaters by storm, the world was witness to what would become one of film’s classic moments as Scottish warrior William Wallace screams out in his last breath during his execution, “Freedom!”

After New York City’s iconic Twin Towers were destroyed in 2001, a new structure was erected on the site and was named The Freedom Tower.

And, a few weeks ago, when a high-profile political activist was assassinated on a college campus, the dark crimson of his blood stained the simple white t-shirt he was wearing which had the word “Freedom” emblazoned across the front.

All of this shows that the human heart is longing for the experience of freedom.  And, because the human heart has to make a point about asking for freedom over and over again, we are admitting that we are not, by nature, free.

So, what does it mean to exist in a state a freedom?  What are we longing for and asking for?

Well, freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

Freddie Mercy wanted to experience freedom from the burdens and oppressions and unfair expectations of an unhealthy relationship.

William Wallace wanted to experience freedom from the burdens and oppressions and unfair expectations of governmental overreach.  

In the naming of The Freedom Tower, America wants to experience freedom from the burdens and oppressions and expectations of terrorists who want our country defined by their rules and laws, not the rules and laws of our own Constitution.

And, in the wearing of a t-shirt that simply said, “Freedom,” the young political activist wanted to experience freedom from the burdens and oppression and unfair expectations of those that had different opinions than him.

Today the Christian Church around the world is celebrating the 509th anniversary of the Reformation.

For those of you unfamiliar with this history-changing event, the bass player from Megadeth, yes, you heard that correct, the bass player from Megadeth, also an ordained Lutheran Elder, sums up the Reformation succinctly and beautifully for you.  (I love this quote and I share it almost every year.)

In his biography, My Life With Deth, he says,

“In 1517, the German theologian, Martin Luther challenged the political agenda of the [serving] priesthood, which taught at the time that believers could buy their way into heaven.  Luther went back to Scripture, read it, and declared that the church was doing it all wrong. They were not following what Jesus said.” (Dave Ellefson, My Life With Deth, 174)

On the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Martin Luther was standing on the church steps, holding up the Word of God, the Bible, metaphorically yelling, “Freedom!”  

Martin Luther and his reformation colleagues weren’t seeking a revolution and split within the Church community.  They simply wanted the leaders and teachers of the Church to return to teaching the people about Jesus Christ, as presented by God Himself, in the Word of God, the Bible.

In order to return the truth of the Bible back to the common man and woman, Martin Luther translated the Bible from it’s original Hebrew and Greek, into the language that the people could read for themselves and used the newly developed printing press to make copies that individuals could keep in their homes and study for themselves.

Once people read the Bible for themselves, they clearly recognized the lies, deceptions, and false burdens that the big “churches” in town were feeding them and enslaving them with.

In this movement, back to the actual words and truths of the Bible, God’s Word to them, people were finding freedom and being set free from the unGodly burdens the church was placing on them.

However, as history has shown us, the church leaders were not interested in teaching their people about Jesus as found in the Bible.  And, after rejecting Luther’s call for church reform, which clearly meant they were rejecting God and His Word, the Pope and his church used their seemingly unlimited power in society put Luther’s life at risk.  This caused Martin Luther to live the rest of his life hidden away in a friend’s castle in an attempt to stave off assassination. 

Our Biblical text for this morning, chosen for us by the lectionary for Reformation Sunday, comes from the Gospel of John.  

It is in these words of Jesus that Jesus makes it explicitly clear where freedom is found and how you and I can live a truly free life.

John 8.31-36 says this:

[31] So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, [32] and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” [33] They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

[34] Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. [35] The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (ESV)

In this Biblical text, we hear that even though these particular Jews placed their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of Sin and eternal life, they continued to struggled with falling into their old patterns of thinking.

Even though they repented of their Sin and confessed faith in Jesus as the only way to the Father in Heaven, they often returned to the burdensome rules and lies of the religion that they grew up in.

When pressed with the question, “Why are you free from your Sin, and the condemnation and punishment your Sin deserves?”, these Jews stumbled back on the idea that they were loved and saved by God because of their ethnicity.  They say, of course we are free to love God and love others, we are Jews and sons of Abraham!”

This return to lies and religious rules returned free men and women back into slaves as they put back on the burdens associated with trying to prove your worth to God.  After all, being a Jew and son of Abraham meant that you had to perfectly keep 620+ rules if you had any hope of being loved by God.  

In a song that I have been listening to on repeat for several weeks now, The Devil Wears Prada speaks of this same return to a burdensome situation when they present us with the following hauntingly beautiful metaphor:

Something’s f***ing wrong with me

I fall back on what I know

That same place where the flowers never grow

In these lyrics, admitting a struggle with returning to the place that has proven to be unfruitful and full of death, even after knowing freedom from that place of burden, oppression, and unfair expectations, I am quickly reminded of how this behavior is a continual struggle for those of that have tasted the freedom that comes through knowing God’s for love us in Christ.

Proverbs 26:11 speaks to this ridiculous part of our human experience when we are told:

[11] Like a dog that returns to his vomit

is a fool who repeats his folly. (ESV)

And, the Apostle Paul, yes, even the Apostle Paul, who wrote the majority of what we call The New Testament in our Bible, describes his struggle with finding himself often lacking the freedom that God’s love bought for us in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

In Romans 7:15–25 and 8.1, the Apostle Paul admits this:

[15] For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16] Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17] So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

[21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. [22] For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, [23] but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. [24] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? [25] Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!…

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

So, where does true freedom come from?

How do we find the ability to take deep peaceful breaths while checking the “done” boxes on our our never-ending to-do list?

How do we lay down at night with a mind that can be free of anxiety, stress, and worry?

How can we walk into our jobs, our schools, and our homes, with our head held high in strength and confidence?

There is only one way to be truly free today.

True freedom comes when you are able to say that God does not require anything more of you or your life. 

That’s right, God, the only one who is worthy to judge you, does not require you to follow any more rules to prove your worth to Him because His love sent Jesus to perfectly follow every Godly rule for you.

True freedom comes when you can wake up in the morning and prepare for the day ahead by saying, “I am not perfect.  I will not be perfect today.  I will make wrong decisions.  I will use wrong words.  I will think wrong thoughts.  But, because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for me, God loves me now and will love me at the end of the day.  Regardless of what happens today, God will never stop loving me.”

God has done and provided all you need in Jesus Christ. 

Who then is the pope, the priest, the pastor, a spouse, a child, family members, friends, a boss, a teacher or, who then am I, to make me feel guilty for not living up to some ungodly criteria and unBiblical expectations.

Jesus brought you the good news of freedom through God’s grace.

God is not a God of burden.

God is the God of love.

God is the God of forgiveness.

God is the God of restoration and reconciliation.

God is the God of freedom because God requires NOTHING from you in exchange for His love, forgiveness, and eternal freedom.

Everything God required from you was completed for you in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It was a freely offered gift from Him to you. 

A gift that was purchased by Him, for you, with the blood of His own Son.

This is the truth that sets you free.

Jesus lived the perfect life of obedience to God the Father.

Jesus took on your sin and died on the cross to take the punishment that your sin deserved.

Jesus rose from the grave defeating the power of death once and for all.

And all of that perfection,

all of that completed work,

all of that victory,

all of the meeting of God’s requirements

was finished for you because God is gracious and God loves you.

This morning, you are free from rules.

This morning, you are from from expectations.  

This morning, you are free from religion.

This morning, you are set free from a fear of letting God down.

This morning, you are set free from worrying about being rejected.

This morning, you are set free from being anxious about end-of-life matters.

This morning, you are set free to worship and thank God however you can right now.

This morning, you are set free to rest in knowing that whatever happens today, God will still wrap his arms around you at the end of the night and say, “I love you!”

There is nothing more that has to be done to solidify your relationship with God.  Jesus Christ has eternally connected you to God, the Father in Heaven.

This morning, if you find yourself with faith in Christ, Jesus, God’s Son has set you free and you are free indeed!

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

This is the Freedom of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

October 26, 2025.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Don’t Let Me Fall Apart

Luke 17.11-19

Dear God, don’t let me fall apart

Dear God, surround me as I speak

The bridges that I walk across are weak

In 1994, when Jars of Clay released their debut album, I loved the tune that contained these lyrics.

Back then, when I was 14 years old, I didn’t love the song for the lyrics.  I loved the song because there was finally a Christian band that grooved and bopped.  

However, 31 years later, and more importantly, 31 years older, I know find myself loving this song for this simple prayer that is the lyrical content of the track, “Like a Child.”

I love this simple prayer because it is very similar to the prayers that I pray all day everyday.

Let me tell you a little about the past couple weeks of my life.

Three weeks ago, on the second day of my vacation in Alabama, I got a text message telling me that one of the founding members of our congregation had died.  So, I spent my time of personal retreat helping a grieving family navigate the loss of their 98 year old patriarch.

When I returned to Huntington and was continuing to plan the funeral for this 98 year old man, I received a call from a father who just lost his 39 year old son to suicide.  In his death, he left behind a wife and two children who are 4 and 8 years old.

So, in the midst of holding up one family experiencing unimaginable pain and suffering, I now began to help hold up a second family experiencing unimaginable pain and suffering.

On Friday, as I was driving away from the graveside of that second burial, my cell phone rang.  While I was still on the grounds of the cemetery, I was being told that the UPS worker’s union was looking for Fred Scragg as the next of kin because my Uncle Wayne suddenly passed away the day before.

Life can be relentless.  It seems as if one of our hands is always holding onto what we would categorize as unimaginable pain and suffering.  

But, that unimaginable pain and suffering doesn’t have to just be death and loss.

Maybe you find yourself laying in bed at night, reviewing the day’s events, most clearly, all of your personal failures, but sprinkled with the pains and hurts you experienced, questioning absolutely everything, and the only words that you have the strength to speak are “Don’t let me fall apart,” or, “Jesus, have mercy on me,” or, “God, help me.”

Maybe, for you, your hands are trying to hold onto and manage the burdensome weight of your nation’s political assassinations and government shutdowns. 

Maybe, for you, your hands are trying to hold onto and manage an exhausting, never-ending to-do list that comes with the responsibilities and commitments of the vocations that God has placed you in.

Maybe for you, your hands are trying to hold onto and manage a rebellious child who is actively walking away from and challenging everything you have taught them and every ounce of love you have poured into them.

Maybe, for you, your hands are trying to hold onto and manage a marriage that is more difficult than you ever could have imagined marriage to be.

Maybe, for you, your hands are trying to hold onto and manage instability in your career, an ever depleting bank account, and an increase in the cost of living at that same time.

Maybe, for you, your hands are trying to hold onto and manage sickness and failing health.

The truth is that for each of us unimaginable pain and suffering exists but takes on different shapes and forms.

 You may think that because I am a pastor, my days are filled with hours and hours of praying.  You may think that because I am a pastor, my prayers are filled with big theological words.  

But, the truth is, because of the struggles of living life, just like you, in a broken body with a broken heart and a broken mind in a broken world, most of the time, the only words I can summon to pray to my God in Heaven who asks me to cast my burdens upon Him because He cares for me, are short statements like, “Dear God, don’t let me fall apart.”

And that is perfectly OK because God who created me, knows what I need before I even ask Him.

With that being said, when I come to church on Sunday morning, I don’t need to and I don’t want to come to a place that is going to lecture me on a topic.  I don’t need to and I don’t want to come to a place that has to prove itself to me by using big theological words.  I don’t need to and I don’t want to come to a place that is going to tell me that I don’t have enough faith in God if there is pain or suffering or sickness in my life.  I don’t need to and I don’t want to come to a place that is going to make me feel guilty for not feeling and acting happy when I don’t feel joyous or excited in that moment.

When I come to church on Sunday morning, I always need church to be the Church as Jesus Christ intended it to be.  

Church, as defined by Jesus, needs to be a place where God’s grace meets the ground that I am standing on.  Only then can I find the comfort, the peace, and the rest that I truly need to keep moving forward.

And, in this morning’s text, I know we have just that.  We have a true example of God’s grace meeting the ground we stand on.  We experience that as we see a group of people standing on the shaky and shifting ground of sickness, death, and separation from God and His people.  As they recognize that they need God’s grace to meet them and help them and restore them, God does just that and is merciful to them in the person and work of Jesus.

Luke 17:11–19 shares this piece of Jesus’ story with us:

[11] On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. [12] And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance [13] and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” [14] When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. [15] Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; [16] and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. [17] Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? [18] Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” [19] And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (ESV)

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on me.”

Or, in other words,

“God, help me.”

The only cry left for the men and women plagued by physical sickness and separation.

In our Biblical text, those who are experiencing unimaginable pain and suffering are a group of lepers who cry out to Jesus from a distance.

Let’s ask, “Why are these ailing individuals calling out to Jesus from a distance and not coming near to Him?”

Well, the lepers were forbidden from coming near Jesus, and every other human being who did not have the same disease that they had, because the disease which caused their skin to rot and fall off was highly contagious.  Therefore, the society in which these lepers lived classified them as outcasts and untouchables.  They were forced to lived outside the safety and security of the city walls.  They were only allowed to live where the garbage was taken and piled. 

And, as these lepers lived in homeless colonies outside the gates of the civilized cities, they were required to announce their presence whenever they saw healthy men and women coming in their direction.  This was a warning for the healthy to stay out of danger’s way.

To protect the healthy in society, lepers would announce their presence as a warning sign, by banging metal objects as loud as they could, pots, pans, or, scraps of metal from the garbage dump that they called home, while screaming the name of their disease as loud as they could.

Because life had taken it’s toll on these ailing individuals and they found themselves absolutely desperate for help.  They knew that they had no hope of being healed and restored unless someone came to their aid.

So, in their desperation, caused by their unimaginable pain and suffering, as well as their inability to help themselves, they place their trust in Jesus, having faith that He is able to help them in their moment of need.

And, what happened?  What did Jesus do?

Jesus, hearing and seeing their faith in Him, does exactly what they asked.  Jesus had mercy on them and brought God’s grace to the exact ground that they were standing on—the ground of sickness leading to death and the ground of separation from Jesus and others.  

This mercy-driven healing restored them back to health and enabled them to be restored back into the fellowship and friendship of regular life inside the city walls.

We could say, Jesus brought these men and women from death to life.

It’s no wonder that the Samaritan returned praising and thanking Jesus for the miracle that was the restoration of his life.  He was now able to be near to Jesus and other people.

The good news we have this morning, as witnessed in our Biblical text, is that when we call out to Jesus, with faith that believes and trusts in Him as the incarnate God, Jesus will always hear us and do what we ask.  Jesus will have mercy on us in our deepest moments of need.

Does that mean that God will take away every problem that we are facing and dealing with?  No.  There is no promise from God that He will end your suffering in this life.  However, there is the promise from God that He will be with you through it all until the day He calls you to your eternal home.  And, in your eternal home, and only in your eternal home, will you finally experience a complete rest from the unimaginable pain and suffering caused by the corruption of Sin in you and in the current world.

In Confirmation this morning, we were studying God’s grace in His act of creation and we looked at God’s promise of creating Heaven for us.

That promise and it’s description of Heaven goes like this:

[1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1–4, ESV)

Even though God doesn’t guarantee a life for us here and now that is free of pain and suffering, He does promise, through Jesus, we can know that He cares for us and will always be with us and have mercy on us.

First and foremost, God’s grace meets the ground that we are standing on when He has mercy on us in our sinful state by providing the forgiveness we need and the restoration into a relationship with Him and His people.

Through Jesus’ death on the cross, the ultimate act of mercy was shown to you.  In Jesus’ death, He took the sickness of Sin that led to death, paid the debt that your Sin created with God, and He provided forgiveness for you that is needed to be able to be in God’s presence today and forever.  Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection also restore you into the fellowship and friendship of the righteous—the spiritually healthy—God’s family, the Church.

In addition to that ultimate mercy, Jesus promises that He will also have mercy on you by providing you with the knowledge, the wisdom, and the hope you need to keep moving forward in the darkest of times.

In verses that I share at every funeral we are told of God’s grace that causes Him to have mercy on us.

Romans 8:31–39 tells us this:

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? [33] Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? [36] As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)

As I mentioned earlier, this past Friday, I was once again given the privilege and responsibility to stand next to yet another family as a casket was lowered into the ground 

This time, we buried a 39 year old man who was a son, a husband, a father, and a younger brother to those who stood alongside of me.  

This man, who served our country through serval Naval tours in the Middle East, sadly gave into the struggles that often come home with those who give their lives to protect us from harms and horrors we will never know about.

As I always do, I bring God’s grace to the ground that we are all standing on in moments like this by sharing from Psalm 121.

Psalm 121 tells us about God’s ever present help in all seasons of our life.  The Psalmist writes,

[1] I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

[2] My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

[3] He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

[4] Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

[5] The LORD is your keeper;

the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

[6] The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

[7] The LORD will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

[8] The LORD will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

As I was reading these verses and looking into the faces of those with me, I could visibly see the glimpses of smiles and the melting away of unimaginable pain and loss.

As we cried out together, “Jesus, have mercy on us,” Jesus did just that through the promises and assurances of His love and care for us that are found in His Word to us, the Bible.

When God gives us eyes to see the clear battle between good and evil around us, and also recognize the battle between good and evil inside of us, there is nothing for us to do except ask God to be merciful and gracious, providing us with the hope and peace of knowing that He is still in charge and that this battle will be over once and for all when Jesus returns to make all things right, or, when we leave this world through physical death and end up comforted in His arms—whichever of those comes first for us.

Today, I invite you to cry out to God knowing that His grace is always willing to meet the ground you are standing out.

1 Peter 5:6–7 reminds of this:

[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (ESV)

You can use the words of the lepers, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on me.”

You can use the 1994 words of Jars of Clay, “Don’t let me fall apart.”

Or, you can use any words you wish, there are no “Rules to Prayer.” 

But, pray and call out to God knowing having the same simple faith that the Samaritan had in today’s text.  Jesus hears.  Jesus knows.  Jesus cares.  And, Jesus will have mercy on you in you need.

And, when Jesus answers with the mercy you need, God’s grace for the ground you are standing on, praise Him, along with the Samaritan, with words similar to the song that we often sing:

You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger

Your name is great and Your heart is kind

For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

So bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before, O my soul

I’ll worship Your holy name

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

October 16, 2025.

Prayer:

Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.  Amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Treasured In Heaven

Matthew 13.44-50

What do you consider to be a treasure?

What is something you search for, keep for yourself, and collect?

By definition, a treasure is something that you consider valuable for your life both today and in the future.

And, here’s the thing about treasure—acquiring whatever it is that we personally consider to be a treasure motivates us to get up and move into action to try and get it and hold onto it.  Or, in other words, we are willing to work as hard as we can to gain access and possession of that which we call treasure.

Some people consider things like money, jewels or jewelry, and precious metals like gold and silver to be treasures worth chasing after.  To picture these valuables, mentally imagine every photo or drawing of a pirates chest that you have ever seen.

However, some people consider things like power, equity, personal peace, world peace, and relationships to be treasures worth chasing after.

In a thoughtful blog that I was reading this week, the author presented a different road to go down when we think about treasures in our life.

On a list that the author labeled, “The 10 Most Important Things to Treasure in Life,” she included:

Music; Loved ones; Food & Nourishment; Shelter; Learning & Education; Nature and Natural spaces; Plants & Animals; Culture & Discovery, Spirituality; and, Your Health.

What this author is doing is moving our minds away from the materialistic worldview and showing us that valuable and important things for our life today and in the future aren’t always shiny and expensive.

In this list, we are encouraged to see the value in peace, health, and safety.

In our text for this morning, from the Gospel of Matthew, or, the Good News for You according to Matthew, we hear about treasures being found and treasures being chased after.

Specifically, we hear about two people who found items that the considered to be of such great value that they had to sell everything else that they owned to buy the treasure that they found.

Let’s hear Jesus’ two stories of treasure being found.

In Matthew 13:44–46, Jesus says:

[44] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

[45] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, [46] who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

In both of Jesus’ stories we hear about people who found items of great value.  

The value of the items found, the treasure in the field — whatever it was — and the most precious pearl in the entire world, caused the finder to give up everything they had to buy the item.

These two short stories are parables.

That means they are fictitious tales told to make a spiritual point.

Now, let me be honest.  

It is easy to read these two parables and think, “I have to find God and then give up everything I have to follow Him because He is worth more than anything else I could ever own.”

Now, even though there is some truth in that statement, it is not the lesson of this parable.  

On default mode, we believe we can be good enough for God.  We wrongly believe we can dig and search. In our broken understanding, we believe we can find the treasure that is God in Heaven without any help.

However, we have to think Biblically when interpreting the parables. The Scripture makes it clear that because of the sin that we are born with, we cannot and do not look for God, EVER!

Paul tells us this outright, without beating around the bush, in his letter to the Christians in Rome when he says:

“None is righteous, no not one;

No one understands;

No one seeks for God.”

In sin, we are called blind and deaf.  We cannot see and we cannot hear God.  Therefore, we cannot dig or search.

Not only can’t we hear or see God, but we also don’t want to see or hear God because we are so self-centered and self-righteous.  And, in that state of mind, God is just a cosmic buzzkill wanted to control us and boss us around for his own sadistic pleasure.

If these two parables are not about us playing the part of the brilliant, eccentric Sherlock Holmes, following the clues to God’s great love, what then is the point of these two stories that Jesus tells us?

What is the treasure, what is the item of great value, and who gives up everything to buy it?

Are you ready for this?

Are you ready for the answer to these questions?

Well, 

You are the treasure.

You are the pearl of great price.

You are God’s treasure.

You are the one that God continually searches for.

And, God gave up everything to purchase you when He found you.

You may have heard throughout your life that you are trash, that you are good for nothing, that you are useless and a waste of flesh and bones.

You maybe have even been treated that way by family members, friends, romantic partners, teachers, bosses, or pastors.

But, God tells you this morning that you are not trash, but treasure!

You have worth.  You have value.  You are important to the well-being of this world.

God, in Jesus Christ, found you and considered a restored relationship with you a treasure worth giving up everything He had, including His own life.

God gave up all that He had, His One and Only Son, Jesus, on the cross to buy you and bring you home to Heaven with Him.

God, in Jesus, forgave your self-righteous and self-centered sin of seeking after all of the wrong “treasures” in this world—none of which included Him.  Those false treasures, as you have, or, will find out, give you a false sense of peace, health, and security today and for your future.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20

[19] … You are not your own, [20] for you were bought with a price.

And, because you were bought at price by God, when the last day comes and the net is drawn into the boat you will be sorted out and welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven forever.

This is what was promised from the beginning of time and all throughout the Old Testament and this is the promised that was fulfilled in the New Testament when Jesus gave up everything to leave his throne in Heaven and come to earth to bring you back to God.

Those are the things that the last part of our Scripture tells us when we hear:

[47] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. [48] When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. [49] So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous [50] and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God came to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ to find you and bring you home to Heaven.

When Jesus finds you and gives up everything to buy you, meaning that He gives His own life over to death on the cross for you—to pay the price for you sin, your sin that makes you think you can earn God’s favor by finding Him first by your good thoughts, words, and deeds—it is only then that you can find yourself believing in the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven.  In that grace of God searching and finding you, you can’t help but rejoice!

There is no better news in the world than God considers you to be His greatest treasure.

In a devotional that I am working through that focuses on the Biblical truths found in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, one writer says this:

“He could stay in His heavens and be disconnected from us, but He does not.  He could come to us in ways that would leave us guessing, “Is that God?” But He does not.  Rather, He presents to us one very clear way to saving faith, and so we run, jump, and dance to be part of it in His Church…God is active…God pours salvation on us.”

God is always actively looking for you who need to be comforted.

And, God always gets His way because He does not give up.

God finds you, celebrates that He found you, and then makes you His own through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, all for you.

On Friday, I had the privilege of leading a funeral service for one of Bethel’s founding members.

Near the close of the service, I shared a bit of what it was like to spend time with the now deceased man.

Here are the words that I used to encourage Mike’s family and I want to use to encourage you as well:

If you ever had the privilege of spending time in Mike and Anny’s home, the one thing that Mike would never let you do is leave without seeing his upstairs trophy room.  With a smile on his face, Mike would recap the planning, the execution, the adventure, and the joy in each one of his hunting expeditions that led him to bring home a prize to be hung on the wall, or made into a table or a lamp.  These were Mike’s treasures.

Although those of us left behind are experiencing the pain of loss, we can find encouragement in knowing that at this very second, Jesus is giving Mike a tour of his heavenly trophy room.  

With a smile on his face, Jesus is recapping all of the planning, execution, adventure, and joy that went into his life, death on the cross, and resurrection.  The works that Jesus did for Mike to secure forgiveness and salvation for Mike and for each one of us.  And, Jesus has handed Mike his heavenly trophy, the prize that he has won, a God made crown, that will not rot or fade with time, saying to Mike, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”  Mike is now Jesus’ treasure and because of Mike’s faith, Mike has full hold of the treasures that will last eternally.

This morning, as you receive the benediction and leave, it is my hope and Mike’s family’s hope that you would leave knowing that in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God has purchased forgiveness, salvation, and a heavenly crown that is waiting for you once you too leave this current life.

You too, through faith alone, are Jesus’ personal treasure.

Right now, if you are in a place where you believe that the so-called good things that you do are earning you a place in God’s Kingdom, I ask you to repent.  I ask you to confess that sin to God.  And, I ask you to receive the free gift that is the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal life which was bought for you by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

I leave you with Philippians 2:5–11:

[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)

You are God’s treasure.

Go, and let other’s know that Jesus’ death on the cross shows that they are God’s treasure as well.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

October 12, 2025

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Heaven and Hell

Luke 16.19-31

Abraham Lincoln ran for Congress in 1846, and he faced a formidable opponent: Peter Cartwright. Cartwright, a raw-boned, circuit-riding Methodist preacher, was known throughout Illinois. During his sixty-five years of riding the circuit, he would baptize nearly ten thousand converts.

During the intense 1846 Congressional campaign, some of Cartwright’s followers accused Lincoln of being an “infidel.” In response, Lincoln decided to meet Cartwright on his own ground and attend one of his evangelistic rallies.

Carl Sandburg, in Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years, tells the story this way:

In due time Cartwright said “All who desire to lead a new life, to give their hearts to God, and go to heaven, will stand,” and a sprinkling of men, women, and children stood up. Then the preacher exhorted, “All who do not wish to go to hell will stand.” All stood up–except Lincoln. Then said Cartwright in his gravest voice, “I observe that many responded to the first invitation to give their hearts to God and go to heaven. And I further observe that all of you save one indicated that you did not desire to go to hell. The sole exception is Mr. Lincoln, who did not respond to either invitation. May I inquire of you, Mr. Lincoln, where are you going?”

And Lincoln slowly rose and slowly spoke. “I came here as a respectful listener. I did not know that I was to be singled out by Brother Cartwright. I believe in treating religious matters with due solemnity. I admit that the questions propounded by Brother Cartwright are of great importance. I did not feel called upon to answer as the rest did. Brother Cartwright asks me directly where I am going. I desire to reply with equal directness: I am going to Congress.”

Lincoln did just that. He went to Congress.

In this morning’s Biblical text chosen for us by the lectionary, Jesus tells us a story of Heaven and Hell.  Just like the Civil War politician and evangelist did with the crowd before him, Jesus asks you to answer similar questions this morning.  Do you desire to avoid the punishment of God in Hell?  And, do you desire to receive the comfort of God in Heaven.

Let’s hear from Jesus’ teaching this morning.

Luke 16:19–31 has Jesus telling this story:

[19] “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. [20] And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, [21] who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. [22] The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, [23] and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. [24] And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ [25] But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. [26] And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ [27] And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—[28] for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ [29] But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ [30] And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ [31] He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (ESV)

What we see clearly in this text is that Jesus is acknowledging the presence of a real Heaven and a real Hell in everyone’s eternal life after death.

This is very important because they are many, both outside and inside the Church, that deny the presence of Hell.

The argument goes like this:

“If God is truly loving, He would never send anyone to Hell where they would suffer torment forever.”

This argument even made it to the forefront of Christianity about 20 years ago while I was in seminary.

At that time, there was a movement inside Christianity called The Emergent Church.  The Emergent Church removed the Bible from it’s proper place at the center of Christ’s Church.  In place of the Bible, The Emergent Church put the individual’s emotions, feelings, and experiences, at the center of their so-called Christian faith. This heretical teaching led people to believe that they needed to feel warm and fuzzy when they were sitting in Church in order to know that they were a spiritual person and God was real.  In many ways, this led to the popular methods used by Mega-Churches. These “churches” are more like concerts at Madison Square Garden—darkened sanctuaries so that you can’t see your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ which is telling you that you are all alone in your relationship with God; emotionally manipulative light shows paired with and a perfectly curated set of songs performed by paid musicians to create an atmospherically ambient environment to provoke your clapping, dancing, and crying at just the right moments.  It is in this place of “good vibes” that you are ready to receive the Christ-less, sin-less, gospel-less, motivational talk that parallels the Saturday Night Live skit mantra, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”

Coming out of this movement that promoted the idea that “Christianity is about feeling good about God,” and a dangerously incorrect and damning understanding of “love,” two celebrity pastors of the day both authored books denying the existence of Hell.  Both false teachers, Rob Bell and Francis Chan, masquerading as pastors for millions of people around the world, used the emotionally manipulative Emergent Church moment to remove the doctrine of Hell from it’s home in the Bible.

Another important truth that we need to takeaway from this morning’s Biblical teaching from Jesus is that once we leave this world, and we all will because everyone dies regardless of what you have in this world or what you lack in this world, our destination is final.

Again, there are many false teachings about the presence of after death waiting rooms, some call it purgatory, some call it limbo.  These teaching about people left behind on earth being able to light candles, make monetary donations, and say prayers for those that have already died, are are completely made up and not Biblical at all.  

There is no bridge across the chasm that separates eternal suffering from eternal comfort in the arms of God.  

Jesus himself, with many other Biblical texts, make it clear that your faith or unbelief in this current life have already decided your eternal home.  There is no second chance once you breath your last breath.

The rich man had a very strong faith.  However, his faith was in the completely wrong thing.  

The rich man had faith that his wealth and possessions had the ability to provide for all of his needs.  He trusted in his wealth and possessions so much that he greedily hoarded them.  He refused to share them with those around them that needed help.

We know that the rich man lacked mercy and was completely selfish as he walked past Lazarus, the poor and needy invalid, every day and would not even give him the food scraps off of his dinner table to sustain the poor man’s life. 

The rich man’s money and possessions could not guarantee him a place in the comfort of God’s arms in eternal life.  Instead, the rich man’s faith in the things of this earth, and not in the merciful and forgiving God of Creation and Redemption, that was outlined for him in the Holy Scriptures of Moses and the Prophets—our Old Testament, led him to miss out on the eternal comfort that God, the Father in Heaven, desperately desired for him to have.

As we heard from Jesus last week in the Biblical text that immediately precedes this morning’s text, [13] No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 16.13, ESV)

And, in a Biblical text that follows this morning’s text, we hear about a conversation that Jesus has with another wealthy ruler. That conversation unfolds like this:

[18] … a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” [19] And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. [20] You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” [21] And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” [22] When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” [23] But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. [24] Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! [25] For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” [26] Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” [27] But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” [28] And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” [29] And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, [30] who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:18–30,ESV)

The rich man’s Sin was ultimately his unbelief.  He denied God’s existence and God’s commandments as laid out in the Old Testament scriptures that he was well aware of.

However, that ultimate Sin of rejecting God the Father in Heaven who desires nothing more than to cover him with grace and mercy and forgiveness and love, led him to place his trust in something else.  As we have seen, the rich man placed in trust in what he owned.  In his focus on retaining what he had and gaining more, the rich man misused what he had in this life and did not show mercy and care for those around him. The rich man relied on his material goods to meet his needs.  Even though his material goods could meet his earthy needs, they could not meet his eternal needs.  

The rich man refused to provide comfort to Lazarus.  So, the rich man will not be comforted by God.  Instead, he will experience an eternity of separation from God in a place of torment, anguish, and flame.

The good news that this text contains for each one of us this morning is the good news that God will comfort you who place your trust in Him.

God’s comfort isn’t just for your time in Heaven.  God’s comfort is for here and now as well.

As you live in a world broken down by the corruptions of Sin, you can find rest and comfort in the truth that this is not all that there is.

As Christians, we are not nihilists.

As Christians, we do not believe we suffer and then we are snuffed out by death with nothing to follow. 

No, we believe the truth of God’s Word to us, the Holy Bible, that tells us that He is a just and right God.  He tells us that both Heaven and Hell exist.

Hell, Hades, Sheol, the pit, whatever Biblical name you hear for the place of eternal punishment and suffering for those who do not repent of their unbelief, their Sin, their wrong doing, and disobedience to God, should bring you comfort, not because you rejoice in someone else’s punishment, but you should be brought comfort because you know that God will not just brush the suffering and pain, inflicted on us by evil, under the carpet.  No, in God’s justice, evil will be receive it’s right punishment.

The knowledge of that truth should bring comfort because it means that the injustices that we experience and witness in this life will not go on forever.  God will bring an actual end to all wrong-doing.

The knowledge of that truth should also bring comfort because we who find ourselves believing in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our own Sin, we be ushered into God’s eternal presence once we exit this life.

Here is a vision of the Heaven that you who trust in Jesus will experience.

Revelation 21:1–4 says this:

[1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (ESV)

If you realize that in Sin, you are the rich man placing your trust in what you have and what you can get in this life, while looking past the needs of others selfishly refusing to bring comfort to those around you, even though you have plenty of means to do so, repent and believe in Jesus, who died on the cross to forgive you of that selfishness, self-centeredness, and self-righteousness.  Jesus died on the cross so that you could ultimately be brought back to God where you find comfort in His gracious and merciful arms all of the days of your life and into eternity.

What we have to realize is that each of us is Lazarus in this text.  We are invalids completely unable to help ourselves into a place of comfort.  We can’t buy God’s comfort.  We can’t earn God’s comfort.  We can’t trade what we have in this life for God’s comfort.  

However, God, in Jesus Christ, comes to us as we are laying in the gutter outside of the city and picks us up, holds us in his arms, heals our wounds, feeds us, nourishes us back to perfect health, and comforts us with His love, grace, and mercy forever and ever.  

This morning, you who have heard the good news of Jesus Christ crucified for your Sin of unbelief, your Sin of trusting in the false god of earthy possessions, your Sin of living without mercy for others, and in response find yourself believing in God’s love and forgiveness, can now confidently stand to lead a new life, daily giving your hearts to God, while being comforted today and eternally in heaven. 

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 28, 2025.