Let God’s favor be the only reward you seek

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon


Service

To download this video, press here to go to the download page. You may need to scroll down to see the download button.

 Download Service Folder Download Bulletin

Sermon for Septuagesima

1 Corinthians 9:24-10:5 + Matthew 20:1-16

Why does the average person go to work, would you say? If you’re of working age, why do you spend all those hours usually away from home, away from your family, working at a job? I’d say that almost everyone does it to earn a living, to make some money, so that you have some money to spend on the things you need, or on the things you want. You expect your employer to pay you for your work, and, in a just world, you expect your wages to reflect how long and how hard you worked, and how well you performed at your job, and you would be rightfully upset if your employer decided, at the end of the day, to pay you the same amount he paid to another worker who didn’t work as long, or as hard, or as well at the same job. All of that makes perfect sense in the business world. Because the business world is all about working to earn your well-deserved wages.

But that all gets turned upside down in the kingdom of God. That isn’t how things work in God’s kingdom, and because things do work that way in our day-to-day lives, with our businesses and with our jobs, there’s a real danger that a person could begin to see his place in the kingdom of God just like his place in the workplace. Go to work, work hard, get paid for the amount of work you do or the amount of time you put in.

The apostles themselves began to think of their place in the kingdom of heaven that way. At the end of Matthew chapter 19, Matthew tells us about a rich young man who refused to part with his wealth in order to follow Jesus. He was unwilling to give it up, to pay that steep price. But the twelve apostles—they had given up everything to follow Jesus, which Peter went on to point out to Jesus, and then asked, “What will we have as a result?”

Oh, you’ll sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, Jesus said! And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But, those rewards come with a warning.

Some will be called by God to give up much as they live in God’s kingdom. They will have to work hard and suffer much, and long. On the other hand, some will be called to suffer less, maybe much less. They will not have to work as hard or give up as much during their time in God’s kingdom, and yet they will still receive the same promised reward of eternal life and eternal joy in God’s presence as those who worked hard their whole lives. That’s not how it works in the business world, but it is exactly how it works in God’s kingdom.

And here’s the warning, the thing to watch out for: Many who suffered much, and gave up much, and worked their whole lives will begin to view the reward at the end of the day as the just compensation for their hard work, just as it is in the business world. And that will cause them to become jealous and resentful toward their brothers and sisters in Christ who weren’t called upon to work or suffer as much. At the same time, they’ll grow bitter toward God, who dares to give the same reward to those who didn’t work as hard, revealing that they weren’t really in it to serve God, but to earn a reward that matched how hard they worked. The ones who came into God’s kingdom last, and who worked the least, will end the day with God’s favor, while these who came in first and worked the hardest will end the day with God’s contempt.

That’s a summary of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Now let’s walk through it piece by piece to see what it teaches us about work in the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a household who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. The vineyard is the kingdom of heaven, and God Himself is the master of the household or the “landowner,” as some translations say. And, understand, the kingdom of heaven isn’t only what awaits when a person’s soul is taken to heaven. No, the kingdom of heaven is already here on earth in the form of the Holy Christian Church. All believers in the Lord Jesus have entered the kingdom of heaven, whereas, to be outside the vineyard is to be outside the kingdom of God, to be among the lost who will not inherit eternal life, because they are still in their sins, responsible for their sins, separated from Christ. But, in His mercy, God comes to sinners, through His ministers, and calls them into His kingdom, into His Church, into the company of believers in Christ Jesus. Notice, there is no price of entry, no qualifications needed. Their works don’t get them into God’s kingdom or into God’s grace. Instead, they are called into God’s kingdom in order to be able to work. Repent and believe the good news! Live in faith and in God’s forgiveness each day!

After agreeing with the workers on a denarius for the day, he sent them out into his vineyard. God tells sinners what to expect when they come into His kingdom: His mercy, His love, His attention, eternal life in their souls now, eternal life in heaven at the end, for all who love Him, for all who believe in the Lord Jesus. Those who repent and believe in Him are welcomed into the kingdom of heaven, and begin their lives of sanctification, getting to work in God’s vineyard, with love for God and love for your neighbor, struggling against sin, praying earnestly, worshiping God, hearing His Word, receiving His Sacraments, taking up your cross, and suffering for Jesus’ sake, knowing that, at the end of the day, when your work on earth is done, you’ll remain in God’s presence forever. Living in the loving presence of God is the goal.

Now, the landowner went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, ‘You also, go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ So they went. He did the same thing again at the sixth hour, and at the ninth hour, and even at the eleventh hour, when the sun was beginning to set and the day was almost done. Who are the ones who start at the beginning of the day, and who are the ones who are called into the vineyard later? Well, we can look at it, first of all, as a reference to people groups. A few centuries after the Great Flood, while the rest of the nations had already gone their own way, after their own false gods, God came to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then, eventually, to Moses and the children of Israel, and called them into a special covenant with Him, ratified at Mt. Sinai. The Israelites, the Jews, were the first to know the true God, to be called into His kingdom, and to be given work to do and toil to suffer within His kingdom. Then, at the time of Jesus, still within the people group of the Jews, He called tax collectors and sinners, who had abandoned God’s kingdom by their sins, called them back into His kingdom. Then He called the Gentiles, one group of them after another, into His Christian Church. The Jews, as a people, had borne the burden of the Law of Moses for 1500 years before the Gentiles, as a people, were invited in.

But we can also look it at with regard to individuals, some who are called to the faith early in life, others later, and still others toward the very end. We can look at it, not only as different lengths of time various people spend within the Church, but also as the different circumstances under which people are called. For example, some Christians are called to suffer more at the hands of persecutors, some less. Some are given more opportunities to serve, some fewer. Some are called to sacrifice much, others (seemingly) little. There are disparities in the kingdom of heaven when it comes to such things. If we were talking about the business world, the ones who work the longest and the hardest should get something better than the ones who work the least.

But we aren’t talking about the business world. We’re talking about God’s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, which isn’t gained through our work, or through our suffering, but is gained for us, through the work and the suffering of the Lord Jesus. If we lose sight of that, then we’re in big trouble.

That’s what we see at the end of Jesus’ parable. Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ Now, when those who were hired about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. So when the first came, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, received, each one, a denarius. And when they received it, they grumbled against the master of the household, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden and heat of the day.’

The hearts of the longest and hardest workers are revealed at the end. All their hard work, all their suffering, caused them to lose sight of God’s free gift in Christ, caused them to begin to believe that they deserved God’s favor, caused them no longer to desire God Himself, but only the good things He might hand out. Those who worked longer expected more, thought they deserved more, revealing that, for them, the work was not done in service to the owner, but was done entirely for the reward. For them, there was no concern at all for their fellow workers, or for the owner himself. For them, the generosity of the landowner was despised, not praised. When that happens, those hard workers who have become bitter toward God because they aren’t getting all the things they thought they deserved—it will not go well for them. They will be greeted by God with contempt. He answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I give you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is mine? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.

As always, Jesus’ warnings aren’t given in vain. It doesn’t have to turn out this way for you. If you’ve worked long and hard in the kingdom of God, if you’ve pursued the Christian life with zeal and devotion, that’s good! But why have you done it? Was it to earn more blessings from God in the end? Was it to compare yourself with others, to compare your sacrifices with their sacrifices? Would you dare to think of God as unfair for giving you no more than He promised to give you in the beginning? He promised to give you Himself! Was that not enough?

Let it be enough. Let God’s favor be the only reward you seek. As Jesus promised His apostles, you will receive, at the end, a hundred times more than you ever gave up. But don’t serve God for those things. Serve Him, here in His kingdom, because He gave His Son into death for your sins. Serve Him, because Christ loved you and gave Himself for you. Serve Him, because it is an honor just to be counted among His children. And, whatever you do, never, ever, ever start to think of yourself first, to depend on yourself, or on your past obedience, or on all the time you’ve spent in the kingdom of God, as if that were a guarantee of your future. Depend on Christ, and on Him alone. Think of Him first, and of yourself last. Then you will be counted among the first, being both called into the kingdom of God and chosen to remain there, in God’s favor, for eternity. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , | Comments Off on Let God’s favor be the only reward you seek

The even more dependable prophetic word

Posted on January 28, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon


Service

To download this video, press here to go to the download page. You may need to scroll down to see the download button.

 Download Bulletin

Sermon for the week of the Transfiguration

2 Peter 1:16-21

It would have been pretty amazing to see the Transfiguration, as Peter, James, and John saw it. You heard Matthew describe it on Sunday, who must have gotten his account of it from one of those three, or from Jesus Himself. You heard Peter’s own account of it on Sunday, too, and again this evening. On Sunday, we focused on the Transfiguration and the shining light coming from the face of Jesus, but tonight we’re going to focus on the other amazing, extraordinary light Peter talks about in his epistle, the light that shines from another place. Tonight let’s consider the even more dependable prophetic word.

Now, don’t misunderstand. Peter’s eyewitness account of Jesus’ transfiguration—and of all that Jesus said and did—is absolutely dependable, and the Holy Spirit made sure that Peter’s account was written down for us and preserved for us through the ages. You can absolutely depend on Peter’s account as he writes about what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration. But notice, even in that description, he doesn’t focus on what he saw with his eyes. He describes what he heard with his ears: Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice such as this came to him from the majestic glory: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

On only two other occasions had God the Father spoken audibly from heaven prior to this, as far as Scripture tells us. The first time was when God thundered down the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai. They all heard the words—and cowered in fear. Then, nearly 1500 years later, the Father spoke from heaven at Jesus’ baptism (the same words He spoke at Jesus’ transfiguration). We aren’t told who heard the voice at that time. But on the Mt. of Transfiguration, the voice and the words were heard by Jesus and by those three apostles who were with Him. The words were heard clearly by them. There was no doubt at all about what the Father had said, how He claimed Jesus as His beloved Son, how He proclaimed how well-pleased He was with Jesus. The word was clear. The word was dependable.

But, as I said, it was only heard by a handful of people. According to Peter, we all have something even more dependable: the prophetic word.

What is the prophetic word? Peter is referring to the inspired Scriptures of the Old Testament. The Scriptures are a flawless record of the words spoken and/or written down by the prophets whom God chose to speak for Him to the people of Israel, from Moses to King David to Malachi. We confess it every Sunday in the Nicene Creed: I believe in the Holy Spirit…who spoke by the prophets. When the prophets spoke, it was the Holy Spirit speaking through them. When the prophets wrote, it was the Holy Spirit writing through them. For example, when the writer to the Hebrews cites a passage from one of the Psalms, he simply writes: “The Holy Spirit says” such and such. And while the Spirit surely spoke many things through the prophets that were not written down and preserved for future generations, the things He did write down through them and preserved through countless copyists over the ages are the things God intended for us to read and hear, even thousands of years later.

You do well to pay attention to this prophetic word, Peter says, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Now, if you’re in a dark place, and there’s a lamp there, no one has to tell you to pay attention to the lamp. The lamp is obvious, and so is its importance. But Peter does draw our attention to the lamp that is the inspired Word of God, because we sometimes forget that we’re in a dark place, because we’re dealing with spiritual darkness, which requires spiritual perception. We sometimes forget that the Word of God is “a lamp to our feet and a light for our path,” as the Psalm puts it, thinking we can see clearly enough without it. Because human reasons pretends to be a light, too.

For example, “science” (so-called) pretends to be a light, telling us where the universe came from, and how life appeared on earth, and how God had nothing to do with it. In reality, though, that’s like men flailing around in the darkness, proclaiming as loudly as they can, “I know the way! I know the way!” No, they don’t. Because human reason and science are limited and clouded and darkened by the sin that corrupts our flesh. Remember, Peter says. The inspired Scriptures are your lamp, not human reason, not human science.

Or, as others pretend, “The Church and its leaders and its councils are your lamp! Live by them, and you cannot fail!” But no, that’s not what Peter wrote. You do well to pay attention to the prophetic word. That word is the lamp shining in a dark place, which means that the Scriptures are clear enough that any believer can understand them. That word is the lamp that reveals Jesus to you as the fulfillment of prophecy. It’s the lamp that shows you where the universe came from, where man came from, where sin came from, where death and violence and hatred came from, and how God made and unfolded His plan throughout the Old Testament to nurture the nation of Israel until it was time to bring His beloved Son into the world, with whom He was, and remains, well-pleased. Just as light shone brilliantly from the face of Jesus at the transfiguration, so the light of the prophetic word shines brightly at all times and in every place, guiding people to Christ Jesus, so that we see in Him the true Light of the world, who reveals to us the love of God in giving His Son into death for our sins.

Why can the prophetic word, the Holy Scripture, be such a dependable light? Well, it couldn’t be if it were just the musings of men, the pious ideas that a handful of men (even the best of men!) came up with and decided to preach. Because then it would still be just a human book filled with the thoughts of fallible men. No, Peter says, you must know this, first of all: that no prophecy of Scripture comes from a person’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were driven by the Holy Spirit. “Driven.” Driven, not by their own interpretation of things, but by the Holy Spirit to prophesy as they did, to say what they said, to write what they wrote. The Holy Spirit is the true Author of the Bible, and just as God cannot be wrong or mistaken about anything, neither can the inspired Scriptures be wrong or mistaken about anything. The Spirit of God is the Author, and, therefore, the Spirit of God is the true Interpreter of what He inspired to be written.

Doesn’t that truth drive you to back to the Word of God? Doesn’t it inspire you to spend even more time in the Holy Scriptures, reading and meditating on the things your God inspired to be written for every generation of His children? You do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place. Amid all the darkness in this world, there shines a brilliant light, and it shines for you and me even more brilliantly than the light that shone from Jesus’ face at the transfiguration, because while that light wasn’t for any of us to see in this life, the light of the prophetic word is for you and me, and by it, the Lord God will guide us safely through this darkness into the light of His glory in heaven. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged | Comments Off on The even more dependable prophetic word

The glory that awaits is worth the pain of the cross

Posted on January 25, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon


Service

To download this video, press here to go to the download page. You may need to scroll down to see the download button.

 Download Service Folder Download Bulletin

Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

2 Peter 1:16-21 + Matthew 17:1-9

If a person is serious about living a Christian life in this world, he’ll find that it involves plenty of pain and sacrifice. He (or she) will no longer fit in with the surrounding culture and society. He’ll experience strained or broken relationships, public shaming, persecution, struggles with temptation, confusion about the path forward (for oneself and for the Church), maybe also feelings of loneliness and isolation, as we live in the midst of the many lies, injustices, and acts of lawlessness that fill our world. In fact, it was just six days before Jesus’ transfiguration, which you heard about in today’s Gospel, that Jesus summarized all this to His twelve apostles: If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Taking up one’s cross is not a symbol of comfort, or ease, or relaxation. Quite the opposite. The Christian life is symbolized by the cross, which is a heavy burden all by itself, and which leads inevitably to crucifixion.

But Jesus went on to explain to His apostles that taking up one’s cross, even losing one’s life, would turn out very well for those who follow Him. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

The cross and death—losing one’s life—comes first. But one of the basic truths of the Christian faith is that death is not the end for the believer in Christ, just as it was not the end for Christ Himself. The entire eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews teaches that truth, listing Old Testament believer after Old Testament believer who looked ahead in faith, past this life, with its joys and with its sorrows, to the glory of the life to come. Then it picks up at the beginning of chapter 12 with this encouragement for Christians: Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

How was Jesus able to endure the pain of the cross? By looking past it to the “joy that was set before Him,” the joy of providing the atonement for the sins of mankind by His cross-bearing, by His suffering and death, the joy of the resurrection from death and eternal glory afterward, first for Himself, and then for those who would follow Him into glory. That’s what’s pictured for Jesus’ disciples in the Transfiguration. In it, Jesus gives them a vision, an appetizer, if you will, of the glory that awaited Jesus, and all believers, on the other side of pain and death, enabling them to endure the cross that was coming.

Jesus took just three disciples—Peter, James, and John—up onto the mountain that day. It was enough for just three of them to see the vision. They would bear witness to the other apostles, and, later, to the whole Church of what they saw there that day, and the Holy Spirit would bear witness through them, so that those who hear, as you’re hearing today, might believe.

Jesus was transfigured before them. (That means, His form, His appearance underwent a drastic transformation.) His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white like the light, shining and white, like snow, Mark describes it, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. We’re used to seeing things like that in movies, but imagine it happening in real life, right in front of you, to a man you’ve spent almost three years with, every day, watching Him do miraculous things, yes, but never once looking any different than any other man. Before, the eyes of faith told them that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, as Peter had confessed one week earlier. Now, suddenly, they see Jesus looking like the Son of the living God, with all the glory and splendor of the Creator.

But there was more to this vision. Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Remember how Hebrews chapter 12 spoke of the Old Testament saints as a “great cloud of witnesses,” all urging us onward and upward, to live as strangers here as we focus on the goal of heavenly glory? Well, God chose just two from that great cloud of witnesses to appear here with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Why these two? Oh, there are all sorts of reasons we could point to. Jesus had much in common with both Old Testament prophets, but I’ll mention just a few. Both Moses and Elijah faced their share of opposition from the unbelievers in Israel, just as Jesus had. Both of them trudged through this life, hoping for something better at the end. Moses knew he wouldn’t be allowed to enter the earthly Promised Land of Canaan, and yet he went on faithfully leading the Israelites through the wilderness for those forty years, because he had his heart set on the heavenly Promised Land that he did enter when he died. Elijah, for his part, was taken to glory early. He readily left behind this sinful world when God was ready to take him, and he left in a most extraordinary way: he ascended into heaven alive, being carried up in a whirlwind. In both cases, how did things turn out for them? Well, here they are, alive and well, conversing with the Son of God in His glory. Clearly, for them, the glory that awaited was worth the pain of the cross they bore.

Luke adds that they were talking with Jesus about His “departure (literally, about His “exodus”) which He was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Ironic, isn’t it?, that Moses was talking about an “exodus,” and Elijah, too, given his extraordinary “exodus” from this world. Jesus’ own departure or “exodus” would also be rather extraordinary. He had a few months left to preach and teach, and then He would depart via death, as Moses had, but then come back to life, and finally depart by ascending into heaven alive, as Elijah had. This was the plan. It was the plan all along. It was the plan since Old Testament times, and, in fact, since the creation of the world. The Christ would come, not to conquer the world or dominate the world, not to sit on a throne in comfort and glory, but to suffer the pain of the cross, and then to enter into His glory.

Only a glimpse of that glory was being given to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, but they sure wanted it to last. Lord, it is good for us to be here, Peter said. If you wish, let us make here three shelters—one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. St. Mark adds that he didn’t know what to say, since they were all so afraid. But Peter’s instinct to remain on the mountain, to keep the glory going, to not have to think about the cross they’ll have to face down at the bottom of the mountain—that instinct lives in all of us. We want the good times to last. We want to avoid the pain of the cross. In fact, Peter is almost repeating what he had said six days earlier when Jesus began to predict His suffering and death, “No, Lord! This will never happen to You!” At which point, Jesus had to rebuke him sharply, Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.The things of God include the pain of the cross in this life, for Jesus, and for those who would follow Him, without fail. But the flesh shrinks back from those things.

While Peter was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Hear him!” God the Father speaks from heaven for a second time. The first time, you recall, was at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when He was baptized. “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!” The Father was pleased with His Son at the beginning. And He remains pleased now toward the end, even after Jesus has foretold the way of the cross, for Himself and for His followers. The Father was pleased to lead His Son to that cross for our salvation, and He was pleased with Jesus for being willing to set aside comfort and glory for a time, to bear the pain of the cross for us. And He is also pleased to bestow a glorious kingdom upon all who follow Jesus until the end.

Hear Him! Listen to Him!, the Father commands. No better advice can be given, at any time, but especially when it’s time to head down the mountain, away from the glory, when it’s time to bear the cross. When you’re tempted, when you’re disappointed, when you’re confused, when you’re depressed, when you’re persecuted, when you no longer fit in in this depraved world, Hear Him! Listen to Jesus! Not to a whisper in your ear, or to something you feel inside. Listen to the word of Jesus, to the things He has said, and has inspired to be written down in the Holy Scriptures, and has commanded His ministers to preach until He comes again in glory. As Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 8, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. That’s the lesson in the Transfiguration. The glory that awaits in the future is worth the pain of the cross now. It’s okay to go down the mountain and face the pain that awaits below, as long as you’re walking behind Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Keep following Him to the cross and the grave, and you’ll also follow Him into glory and life everlasting. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , | Comments Off on The glory that awaits is worth the pain of the cross

An epiphany of Christ’s saving purpose

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon


Service

To download this video, press here to go to the download page. You may need to scroll down to see the download button.

 Download Bulletin

Sermon for the week of Epiphany 2

Luke 19:1-10

What a beautiful little story we heard this evening, the story of Zaccheus, one that we don’t hear in our regular lectionary, so I’m glad we have the chance to ponder it tonight. We see here, really, the same thing we saw on Sunday in Jesus’ miracle of changing water into wine, that Jesus came, not to condemn sinners, but to bring joy to sinners. To bring salvation. To seek and to save that which was lost.

We’re introduced to this man named Zaccheus—the only time he shows up in the Bible. We learn that he’s not just a tax collector, but a chief tax collector. He has likely participated in and overseen more theft and fraud in one year than most people could commit in a lifetime. Imagine how many lives of his fellow Israelites he has damaged and maybe even ruined! But now, at the end of Jesus’ ministry, as He’s approaching Jerusalem for Palm Sunday and Holy Week, Zaccheus finally has a chance to get a look at Jesus. But he has to climb up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because Zaccheus is a short man, and the crowds are blocking his view.

The fact that Zaccheus is so keen to see Jesus tells us something important. Clearly it isn’t just raw curiosity. It’s hope! Because Zaccheus has heard, over the past three years, that this Jesus doesn’t just write off tax collectors and sinners, like so many in Israel. He has time for them. He’s been giving them hope that, on the other side of repentance, there is a gracious God who will gladly have them back in His good graces, who will forgive them all their many trespasses and welcome them back as His children. And so Zaccheus, spurred on by hope, climbs that tree to get a look at this Man whom many are calling the Christ who has come from God.

And he is not disappointed.

Not only does Zaccheus catch a glimpse of Jesus, but Jesus looks straight at him, and knows him—knows his name, knows his profession, knows his sins. But He also knows that Zaccheus is not up there in that tree because he wants to throw apples at Jesus, or because he intends to go on living in his sins. He’s up there in that tree hoping for redemption. And that’s just what he finds. Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today!

Stay at the house of a tax collector, of a man who is despised by everyone who knows him in Israel? That’s what grace looks like, Jesus reaching out to a sinner, eager to spend time with him, unashamed to be associated with him. And so Zaccheus hurried and came down and received him joyfully.

And you and I rejoice together with that sinful man, because we know that it’s the same grace and forgiveness that we have received from Jesus, the same acceptance of us, not as we stubbornly remained in our sins, but as we sought a way out of our sins, as we sought in Him redemption.

But the crowds did not rejoice. They all grumbled and said, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Oh, what a tragedy! These people still didn’t know Jesus, didn’t know the grace of God, and they certainly didn’t know themselves, because if they had, they would have rejoiced instead of grumbling. You only grumble at Jesus’ kindness when you think you deserve it, while other people don’t. But that’s never the case. There isn’t a soul on earth who deserves Jesus’ kindness or God’s acceptance. All have sinned and earned for themselves the wages of sin, which is not kindness or acceptance, but eternal death.

How to silence the grumbling of the crowds? How to prove to them that this man has been changed and is no longer the greedy, thieving sinner he was before? Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will restore it fourfold.”

Look at the power of the Gospel—the promise of free acceptance through Christ! Look at the New Man step forth, revealing the faith that lies beneath! Does Zaccheus sound reluctant to give up his former sins? Does he sound like he’s being forced to make restitution to those from whom he stole? Hardly! Zaccheus is simply doing spontaneously what John the Baptist told the crowds to do: Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. He shows the truth of what Jesus would soon say to His disciples in the upper room on Maundy Thursday: If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. A person who comes to Jesus unwilling to mend his evil ways is not coming in faith but still in unbelief. A person who is truly converted does what Zaccheus does here—seeks to mend his ways and make up for the things he’s done wrong, not before God, but before men. Before God, the blood of Jesus is the only thing that can make atonement for evil deeds. But before men, if it’s in a Christian’s power to make atonement, to make restitution, to give back what was stolen or to mend what was broken, he will do it, gladly, as Zaccheus did, out of thankfulness to God for His free acceptance in Christ.

Having shown his faith through the good works that flowed from it, Zaccheus heard an even sweeter sentence from Jesus. Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. Now, genetically speaking, there was never any doubt that Zaccheus was a son of Abraham. He was a Jew by birth, like everyone else in Israel. But once again Jesus reveals that to be a true “son of Abraham” is not a matter of genetics, but a matter of faith. Those who share the faith of Abraham in the God of Israel, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, are sons of Abraham and will inherit the heavenly Promised Land.

That title, “son of Abraham,” given to Zaccheus by Jesus, is also a reminder to the rest of those who call themselves “sons of Abraham” that Zaccheus is their full-fledged brother, and they ought to receive him as such and treat him as such, no longer “a man who is a sinner,” but “a man who has been forgiven through faith in Christ, just like the rest of us sons of Abraham.”

The same lesson applies to us Christians. If a person shows himself to be a believer in Christ, then social status and past sins no longer define that person. Christ now defines that person, who has become our brother in the family of Abraham.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. And there’s the beautiful truth. Jesus, the Son of Man, didn’t come to praise those who are doing well on their own, nor did He come to tell the lost that they’re doing fine in their lostness. He came to go looking for those who are lost, like Zaccheus had been for much of his life, and to save, to rescue those who are lost from the guilt of their sins, and from living as slaves to their sins, and from the eternal death they (we!) have deserved because of our sins.

And so, in this beautiful little story of Zaccheus in the sycamore tree, we see again the truth so clearly expressed in John chapter 3, God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Take comfort in this epiphany of Christ’s saving purpose, and rejoice in His eagerness to come searching for you. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged | Comments Off on An epiphany of Christ’s saving purpose

Water into wine, an epiphany of glory and of joy

Posted on January 18, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon


Service

To download this video, press here to go to the download page. You may need to scroll down to see the download button.

 Download Service Folder Download Bulletin

Sermon for Epiphany 2

Romans 12:6-16 + John 2:1-11

I know that you Christians were glad to hear again today the Gospel account of Jesus’ first miracle, when He changed water into wine at that wedding feast in the town of Cana. You’re always glad to hear the word about Jesus, aren’t you?, no matter what it is—the things He did and the things He said during that brief time when He walked the earth, among that blessed generation that got to share this earthly life with God in the flesh for a little while. You’re glad to hear about Jesus because you already know Him and love Him, because you know how much He loved you, how much He desired your salvation, how much He did so that you could escape eternal condemnation and have eternal life. You’re glad to hear how Jesus changed water into wine at a wedding feast.

But some might wonder how relevant it really is, with all that’s going on in the world. Does it do any good for those who don’t know Jesus, to hear about this one-time miracle of changing water into wine? Does it affect how a person approaches life or faces the trials of today? It really does, if you pay attention to it. In fact, Jesus chose this as His very first miracle, as a sort of introduction of Himself to the world, to show those who were paying attention not only what He could do, but who He truly was, and the purpose of His life and ministry. Here in this unique miracle of changing water into wine, we’re given an epiphany of Jesus’ glory as the Son of God, and of the joy He came to bring.

The apostle John tells us about the very first things Jesus did as He began His ministry. First, He was baptized by John the Baptist, as we heard on Wednesday, where He was revealed as the Son of God by God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Then He went out into the wilderness to fast and be tempted for forty days. Then He came back, was revealed by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, chose His first five disciples, and then headed straight for Cana with them, to this wedding to which they had all previously been invited.

Was it a coincidence that they had all been invited to this wedding that had obviously been planned for some time? Of course not. It was all part of God’s plan to begin revealing Jesus to His disciples. At a wedding, showing that marriage is good, and that celebrating marriage is good, and that even including wine as part of that celebration is good.

Throughout the Old Testament, wine is almost always treated as a blessing from God and as something that “makes glad the heart of man,” as it says in Psalm 104. Now, we all know that wine, like any of God’s blessings, can be abused. But it can also be used well, to make glad the heart of the Christian who gives thanks to God for all His many blessings, including the fruit of the vine. Jesus’ attendance at that wedding was an endorsement of God’s good gifts to His people, including marriage, including celebration.

But the celebration was about to be diminished a little bit. They ran out of wine at the wedding reception. It wasn’t the end of the world. In fact, of all the miracles Jesus would perform over the next three years, this one would seem almost inconsequential and unnecessary. But Mary was troubled by the wine running out, so she mentioned it to Jesus, seeming to expect Him to do something about it. What she expected, we aren’t told. But His response to her was a gentle scolding: What have I to do with you, woman? Calling Mary “woman” was not at all disrespectful in that context, but it does reveal a distancing that has taken place, now that Jesus has stepped out of His home and into His role as the Teacher of Israel. Jesus would never again speak of “His mother” by that name. In fact, on a later occasion, when Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were outside looking to speaking with Him, He said, Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.

The other thing Jesus said to Mary is the most important part. My hour has not yet come. Which hour is that? On several occasions during His ministry, usually when people were trying to kill Him, it says that they were unable to harm Him, because “His hour had not yet come.” But finally, when Holy Week arrived, at the very end of His earthly ministry, Jesus said, Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, referring to His death, resurrection, and ascension. The wedding at Cana wasn’t the hour when Jesus would fully reveal His glory as the Son of God and as the Savior of mankind. He wouldn’t do anything so visibly as to reveal His divinity to everyone in Israel, or even to everyone at the wedding. But to the eyes of a few chosen people, including His first disciples, Jesus would begin to reveal His glory as the Son of God.

Mary didn’t know what He would do, but she suspected He would do something, so she ordered the servants to do whatever He told them. What He told them was to fill up six large stone pots with water, each one holding about twenty to thirty gallons. That’s a lot of water! Then He told them to draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. When he tasted it—the water that had suddenly been changed into wine—he was amazed. Not at the miracle itself—he didn’t know where the wine had come from—but at what he thought was the strange behavior of the bridegroom. He called the bridegroom over and said, “Normally people bring out the best wine first, and then the inferior wine once the guests are drunk. But you have saved the best until now!”

So what’s the point of this miracle account? John summarizes it for us at the end: This was the first of the signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Jesus did all sorts of miracles throughout His three-year ministry, from healing the sick to casting out demons to raising the dead. But this one was one of a kind. He revealed His glory as the Son of God by taking water and, with a word, turning it into something entirely different, and not just different, but better, something that doesn’t only sustain life, but that makes glad the heart of man. It’s a miracle of creation, the supernatural manipulation of molecules, something only God can do. But it was only known to the servants and to Jesus’ disciples, and that was the point, that Jesus’ disciples should begin to see His glory, to see Him, and to believe in Him, as their God, so that they could later be eyewitnesses of His glory, so that you and I might believe in Him, too.

This miracle account does point us to Jesus as our God. It is an epiphany of His glory, of His divinity. But the miracle tells us even more than that. It tells us of Jesus’ kindness. It tells of His mercy. It tells us that He came to bring joy, not only to that wedding party, but to fallen mankind, to give gifts to sinners instead of the punishment we deserve for our sins. It tells us of His generosity, how He gives His gifts not in meager measure but in superabundance. It teaches us that He has good gifts, the best possible gifts, in store for those who believe in Him: forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation, the peace of having God committed to helping you as your God, the joy of life forever in His glorious and loving presence. The miracle at Cana is an epiphany of joy.

That joy is intended for all, it has been earned by Christ for all through His death on the cross, and it’s given freely to all, just as all that wine was given freely to the guests at the wedding. But it comes only through faith in Christ Jesus. If you’re still seeking joy in the sins that God hates, you’ll find that those things don’t actually lead to joy at all but to shame and emptiness, guilt and condemnation. If you think you can have joy in the passing things of this passing world, you’ll find that joy like that will always run out before the end, like wine at a wedding feast. But if you seek joy through Christ, in the forgiveness He offers, in the life He offers, then true joy will be yours, because it’s the very thing He came to give, that we all may have life, and have it in abundance. Trust in the One who was willing to change water into wine at a wedding feast, to show His disciples that He was God, and that those who follow Him will have joy that knows no end. Amen.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged , | Comments Off on Water into wine, an epiphany of glory and of joy