Mark's thoughts: When a pastor falls in sexual sin

God has given the Means of Grace - the Word, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution and the Sacrament of the Altar - to his Church. It is through these Means that the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith, and delivers forgiveness. However, these Means of Grace do not take place all by themselves. In order to provide the means by which the Means of Grace are offered to his people, God has also instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry.
Jesus Christ instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry after his resurrection. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus commanded his apostles that disciples were to be made by baptizing and teaching. In John 20:21-23 he commanded that sins were to be forgiven in Holy Absolution. In the Words of Institution Jesus had already commanded that the Sacrament of the Altar is to be celebrated in remembrance of him (1 Cor 11:23-25). This work is to go on until the end of the age – until our Lord returns (Mt 28:20; 1 Cor 11:26).  
Naturally the apostles could not do all of this work by themselves, nor could they do it beyond their death. We find that immediately the apostles began to place authorized representatives who carried out the same actions that the apostles did as they preached, baptized, absolved and celebrated the Sacrament of the Altar (Tit 1:5; Acts 14:23). The apostles considered the presence of a pastor to be something necessary and willed by God for the Church.  

At Miletus the apostle Paul said to the pastors gathered there (the term “elder” in verses about the ministry refer to what we today call a pastor): “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (ἐν ᾧ ὑμᾶς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἔθετο ἐπισκόπους), to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28 ESV). Here we see that the Holy Spirit works through the Church to place a man in the Office of the Holy Ministry in a particular place.  

This man in the Office does not only administer the Means of Grace in the stead and by the command of Jesus Christ. He also acts as the shepherd – the pastor – who cares for God’s people as the undershepherd of Jesus who is the chief shepherd (τοῦ ἀρχιποίμενος;1 Pet 5:4). God has placed the pastor in the midst of the congregation to be the shepherd of that congregation – he has allotted them to his charge (τῶν κλήρων; 1Pet 5:3). This also means that the pastor must give an account to God for the manner in which he takes care of God’s people (Heb 13:17).

Scripture is explicit in stating this is a position of authority. Since the pastor has been placed in Christ’s Office of the Holy Ministry through the work of the Spirit, congregation members are told to, “Obey your leaders and submit to them” (Πείθεσθε τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν καὶ ὑπείκετε; Heb 13:17). St. Paul told the Thessalonians, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord (προϊσταμένους ὑμῶν ἐν κυρίῳ) and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 ESV).
 
It is Christ’s Office of the Holy Ministry – a position of tremendous responsibility as well as authority. Our Lord has not left to chance how the Church is to choose men to serve in this Office. Through his apostle Paul he has provided two descriptions of the qualifications required of those who can serve in the Office:

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV)

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:5-9 ESV)

For those in the Lutheran tradition, the first thing that is surprising about these descriptions is how little they say about matters related to education and training. While certainly the more education in Scripture and theology the better, it must be recognized that Scripture does not provide any specific directions regarding how a pastor is to be trained. The process for doing so has varied in the life of the Church, and no doubt, always will.
 
Unmistakably, the focus instead falls on the Christian character of the individual. The man who can serve in the Office of the Holy Ministry is a person whose faith in Christ guides the general conduct of his life through the work of the Spirit. It is also immediately apparent that there are individuals who are not permitted to serve in the Office. Those who manifestly do not meet these qualifications cannot serve in this way. This is not a denial that through repentance and faith they are forgiven Christians as they face the struggle against sin. But it is recognition that Scripture says there are sinful behaviors that have consequences – they exclude a person from serving in the Office of the Holy Ministry.
 
These qualifications do not simply guide the Church in placing men in the Office. They also direct the Church about who can remain in the Office. They are descriptions of what a pastor must be in order to continue to be a pastor. More literally Paul says in Tit 1:5, “For it is necessary that the overseer be irreproachable as a steward God” (δεῖ γὰρ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνέγκλητον εἶναι ὡς θεοῦ οἰκονόμον). Likewise, 1 Tim 3:2 says, “Therefore it is necessary that the overseer be blameless” (δεῖ οὖν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνεπίλημπτον εἶναι). A man must be this in order to enter into the Office of the Holy Ministry. He must continue to be this if he is to remain in the Office of the Holy Ministry.
 
The context of the New Testament makes it clear that the apostle Paul’s words in Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Tim 3:1-7 include the sexual conduct of pastors. The New Testament contains the massive presence of material which indicates that fornication is sin (Mt 15:10; Mk 7:21; Gal 5:19; 1 Tim 1:10; Rev 2:14, 20; 9:21; 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3, 9; 19:2; 21:8; 22:15) and that Christians are to avoid it (Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25; 1 Cor 5:1-5, 9-13; 6:12-20; 7:2-5; 10:8; 2 Cor 12:21; Eph 5:3, 5; Col 3:5; 1 Thess 4:3; Heb 12:16, 13:4). Likewise it continues to uphold the teaching of the Sixth Commandment that adultery is sin (Mt 5:27-28; 15:19; 19:18; Mk 7:22; 10:19; Lk 18:20; Rom 2:22; Heb 13:4; Rev 2:22). This material is all the more striking because it explicitly contradicts the sexual behavior of the Greco-Roman world.
 
In the past it has been self-evident that a pastor who fornicates/commits adultery no longer meets the biblical qualifications to be in the Office of the Holy Ministry. Such an offense is the all the more egregious when it involves a woman under his spiritual care He must be removed and can no longer serve as a pastor..
 
However, today in Lutheranism some are advocating the position that if a man is repentant he can be restored to serving in the Office. There are two factors that are driving this. First, there is in Lutheranism an extreme emphasis on grace that is paired with antinomian tendencies. Such a view denies that there can be significant consequences for the sinner because he or she is forgiven. Grace triumphs over everything, and therefore the sinner is freed from the consequences of his sin. Second, this reflects the broader manner in which our culture’s views about sexual behavior have influenced the Church. Christians are far more willing to accept immoral behavior, and concomitantly they do not find it to be as offensive.
 
A brief examination of Tit 1:5-9 and 1 Tim 3:1-7 soon reveals that such an approach contradicts the clear statements of God’s Word. In Tit 1:5-6, Paul twice uses the word ἀνέγκλητος which means “blameless, irreproachable” (BDAG 76). First he applies it as a general description of a candidate in 1:5 (“if anyone is above reproach”). Next in 1:6 he explains why (“for”; γὰρ) this is necessary. It is because the overseer must be blameless. Paul begins the description of the overseer in 1 Tim 3:2 in the same manner. He uses a synonym ἀνεπίλημπτον which also means “irreproachable” (BDAG 77). Luke Timothy Johnson has noted that 3:7’s statement, “Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders,” brackets the section as it begins and ends with an emphasis on the good reputation (Luke Timothy Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy. Doubleday: New York, 2001, 213).
 
Both 1 Tim 3:2 and Tit 1:6 immediately follow the assertion that the overseer must be “blameless/irreproachable” with the statement that he must be the husband of one wife (μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἀνήρ). Although the phrase can be understood as a reference to the need for a man to remain unmarried after the death of a wife (see: Jerome D. Quinn, The Letter to Titus. Doubleday: New York, 1990, 86-87), it is far more likely that following the word “blamless/irreproachable” in 1 Tim 3:2 “the main point would seem to be first the avoidance of any appearance of immorality” (Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy, 214). The same is true in Titus 1:6 (“‘the husband of one wife,’ indicates that marital and sexual fidelity are required of the potential elder. This assumes that the church officer is married [the usual situation in life] and thus prescribes fidelity in these terms”; George W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1992, 289).
 
Next 1Tim 3:2 says that the overseer must be νηφάλιον which in this setting pertains “to being restrained in conduct” and so means “self-controlled, level-headed” (BDAG 672.2). Paul uses a term that seems to be synonymous in Tit 1:8 when he says the overseer must be ἐγκρατῆ . This word pertains “to having one’s emotions, impulses or desires under control” and so means “self-controlled, disciplined” (BDAG 274). Significantly, Paul uses the cognate verb cognate 1 Cor 9:25 when he says:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control (ἐγκρατεύεται) in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV)

Paul goes on to add in 1 Tim 3:2 that the overseer must be σώφρονα. He uses the same word in Tit 1:8. It also pertains “to being in control of oneself” and so means “prudent, thoughtful, self-controlled” (BDAG 987). In addition in 1 Tim 3:2 he adds κόσμιον which pertains “to having characteristics or qualities that evoke admiration or delight, an expression of high regard for” a person and so means “respectable, honorable” (BDAG 561.1).
 
Finally, Tit 1:8 contains δίκαιον which pertains “to being in accordance with high standards of rectitude” – in this case God’s will revealed in the Ten Commandments and expounded by Jesus and the apostles – and means “upright, just” (BDAG 246.1α). It also adds ὅσιον which pertains “to being without fault relative to deity” and so here means “devout, pious, pleasing to God, holy” (BDAG 728. 1α).
 
When considered along with the New Testament’s teaching about sexual conduct, the emphasis on a blameless/irreproachable character, self-control, and just/holy life makes it clear that a man in the Office of the Holy Ministry who has sex outside of marriage, and especially if it is with a congregation member under his spritual care, no longer qualifies to be in the Office. Such a gross failing means that he can no longer be considerd blameless/irreproachable and he cannot again be regarded as someone who exhibits the characteristics of self-control and restraint needed to be a pastor.
 
It is key to recognize that the issue is not forgiveness. In Christ, the repentant sinner is forgiven. But such forgiveness does not change the consequences of how the Church must view the individual in relation to the requirements and qualifications set forth by Paul. This point is particularly important when considering two of the most commonly cited justifications that are offered for the the belief that a man who has sinned sexually can return to serve in the Office of the Holy Ministry.
 
Some call attention to David who was forgiven by God and was not removed from the postion of being king of Israel (2 Sam 11-12; Psa 51) and to Peter who denied Christ and yet was restored by the Lord and continued to serve as an apostle (John 21:15-19). These certainly are illustrations of the fact that God forgives the repentant sinner. However, two points demonstrate that this argumentation is not valid. First, we cannot assume that what a biblical narrative describes then goes on to prescribe practice in the Church. Yahweh chose to deal with David in this manner and Jesus with Peter. These are facts, but since we are not God we can’t presume that they tell us what we are to do. Second, such a position ignores the direction that God has provided to his Church through the apostle Paul. God has provided very specific instructions about who can serve in the Office of the Holy Ministry. When an individual violates those qualifications, he can no longer be a pastor.
 
The matter is more complicated when we turn to consider the internet and parachurch. It is not uncommon for a pastor or seminary professor who has been removed from the Office of the Holy Ministry because of sexual sin, to become involved in writing a blog or doing a podcast show. They also speak at events organized by parachurch groups. The argument made in support of this is that no specific biblical text forbids him from doing this. He is, after all, “just a layman talking about Jesus and his love.”
 
It is true that Scripture does not directly address this situation. How could a first century A.D. text specifically mention modern phenomena? Yet to say that it is permissible because there is no Bible verse that specifically forbids it is a very weak argument. It is rather like saying the Church shouldn’t practice infant baptism because there is no verse that explicitly says, “Baptize babies.”
 
Instead, we need to recognize that Scripture provides ample material for addressing this matter. As we have seen Scripture is clear that the Office of the Holy Ministry is a position of authority (Heb 13:17; 1 Thess 5:12-13; Acts 20:28). An essential part of this Office is teaching. Candidates for the Office must be able to teach and give instruction (1 Tim 3:2; Tit 1:9). This teaching of those in the Office is authoritative. It is teaching that is charged with correcting or silencing those who are in error (1 Tim 1:3-4;. 2 Tim 2:24-26; Tit 1:9-11) It is done in a assertive manner that delivers what is true (1 Tim 6:2; 2 Tim 4:1-2). In fact 1 Tim 2:12 pairs teaching and exercising authority (“I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man”; διδάσκειν δὲ γυναικὶ οὐκ ἐπιτρέπω, οὐδὲ αὐθεντεῖν ἀνδρός) .
 
There is admittedly a gray area when we consider the internet and parachurch. To what extent is the teaching there intended to be received as authoritative? To what extent is it actually received as authoritative? The answer will not always be the same and will be open to dispute.
 
Yet this very fact explains why pastors and seminary professors removed from the Office of the Holy Ministry because of sexual sin should not be engaged in this kind of work. They can never be “just a layman” in these teaching settings. They were in the Office of the Holy Ministry charged with doing authoritative teaching, and were then removed from this position because of public sin. Certainly in such writing and speaking they seek to continue to teach the Church. However removed from the Office, they cannot now be involved in something that looks like authoritative teaching or that can easily be construed in this way. Teaching the Church is no longer something they are permitted to do.  The recognition of this on their part is a fruit of repentance. It is an acknowledgement that according to God's Word their sin has consequences in life, even as they live forgiven in Christ.

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent - Judica: Gen 22:1-14

                                                                                  Lent 5

                                                                                  Gen  22:1-14

                                                                                   3/13/16

 
It will probably not surprise you to learn that I am friends with a lot of Lutheran pastors on Facebook. It has been fun to get to know pastors around the country, and then as I have gone to speak at pastors’ conferences to meet many of them in person.

In two weeks, a yearly Facebook ritual will take place. On Easter Sunday, the pastors all post pictures of themselves in their vestments, standing in front of the decorated chancel with their wife and children. Now as I have looked at all of these pictures during the last few years, it has confirmed with certainty an impression that I already had: Generally speaking, Lutherans pastors have big families.

Amy and I have four children. But as Lutheran pastor families go, we are pretty average in size. It is very common to see pastors who have five or six children. I have seen this so often, that now I just take it for granted.

Not long ago I was speaking to Lutheran pastors and met a pastor whom I had known at the seminary. I hadn’t seen him in more than fifteen years. As we talked he asked me about my life and I described to him our family.

Then I immediately asked him, “So how many children do you guys have?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I sensed that something was amiss. In a very good natured way he responded and told me that the Lord had not blessed them with any children. They had pursued infertility options as far as they felt morally comfortable as Christians … but to no avail. I felt so bad for him and for the way I had asked the question. At that moment, I wanted to crawl into a hole.

Nobody expects infertility. When you are dating and looking to get married, it never occurs to you that there is the possibility you and your spouse won’t be able to have children. Once a couple begins to realize there is a problem, they usually seek out doctors who they hope can help them. Various problems can cause infertility, and there are often a range of morally acceptable options for Christians. When couples find themselves in this situation the ideas they once had about how many children they hoped to have in their family fall by the wayside. Instead, they pray fervently for the gift of one precious child.

Abraham and Sarah had been in this situation. They lived in a time and culture when people had huge families. Yet despite the many material blessings God had given to them, he had never given them a child. And then, miraculously, in their old age when it should not have been possible to have a child, God gave them Isaac.

It is hard to imagine how dear Isaac was to them – how much they loved their only child. Yet those emotions are just the beginning. For you see, God had called Abraham. He had told Abraham to leave his extended family and go to a new land – a land that eventually turned out to be Canaan. God promised Abraham that he would make him into a great nation. He promised to give the land of Canaan to his descendants – descendants who would be numerous like the stars in the night sky. And he promised that in Abraham’s seed – in his offspring – all nations would be blessed. God had promised that through Abraham the Savior - the seed of the woman to bruise the serpent’s head – would be given.

Even when Abraham was waiting and nothing had happened, he believed. In fact when God promised that his offspring would be numerous like the stars, Moses tells us: “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Our text begins by telling us, “After these things God tested Abraham.” Holy Scripture is very clear in telling us that God does test his people. While from our perspective this may not make much sense because God is omniscient and knows all things, God reveals to us that he actually cares about how we respond and what we do. It really does matter to him.
 

The test that God directed to Abraham boggles the mind. He said to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” God told Abraham to take his precious only son – the one through whom the salvation of the world would take place – and offer him as a human sacrifice. He told him to kill Isaac and burn his body on an altar.
 

Now this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It is a tragedy in the making. In fact, it reminds us of the kinds of tragedies that we see all the time on the news. ISIS commits unspeakable horrors against men, women and children. Families are killed in terrible car accidents.
 

Or if we move closer to home, we see it when we or a friend gets cancer or serious mental illness. We see it when a son or daughter grows up and abandons the Christian faith.
 

When these things happen, our reaction is often to ask, “Why?!?” We want to put God on the spot and demand answers. We want him to justify to us what he has allowed. We get angry at God because it seems that either he isn’t really in control; or he doesn’t really know what he is doing; or he doesn’t really love us.
 

But this is not how it works. The creature doesn’t get to lecture the Creator. We don’t get to demand anything of God. He doesn’t have to do or allow anything that makes sense to you because he is God … and you are not.
 

Abraham didn’t do any of these things. Instead, he responded to God’s word in faith. He believed and trusted God, and so he was obedient. He made preparations to offer Isaac as a burnt offering and began the journey to the land of Moriah along with Isaac and two servants.
 

For three days they journeyed. For three days Abraham bore the burden of knowing what he was about to do. For three days he bore the burden of doing this thing that contradicted everything God had told him.
 

Our text is a masterful piece of Hebrew narrative. There is an artistry here that conveys the pathos of the moment in a way that really can’t be conveyed easily in a translation. But we see one very obvious example of this in the words of Isaac’s question directed to his father: “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” To this Abraham replied, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” There is a gut wrenching irony here because God has provided the lamb for the burnt offering. It is Isaac who is walking with Abraham.
 

In spite of all of this, Abraham continued in faith. He believed and trusted in God. He believed and trusted and so the moment arrived when he had built an altar, and bound his son, and raised his knife in preparation to kill him.
 

At that moment – and only at that moment – did God intervene. We hear in our text, “But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ The angel said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’”
 

Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and at that moment behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. God had indeed provided the burnt offering Isaac had asked about! Abraham offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. And so Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide.”
 

During the course of the events in our text, God provides no explanation for why he has told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He never tells Abraham how things are going to turn out. And that’s how it is for us. But the events narrated in our text point us to the reason that we are able to walk in the footsteps of Abraham’s faith.
 

Our text begins as God says to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering.” Abraham the father is sent to sacrifice his only beloved son. These are words that remind us of what God the Father said at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
 

In Isaac we see a type that points forward to Jesus Christ. Jesus entered into the water of his baptism to take our place. There he took on the role of the suffering Servant. God the Father sent him to be sacrificed for our sin, not on an altar, but on a cross.
 

At the critical moment in our text, Isaac was spared and a ram was sacrificed in place of Abraham’s son. But it was not so with Jesus. Instead his mission was to die on the cross in the place of every sinner – in your place. Jesus said that he had come to give his life as a ransom for many. He was the One who fulfilled Isaiah’s inspired word: “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
 

Jesus was sacrificed on Good Friday and buried in a tomb. But on the third day, God the Father raised Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ resurrection we find that not only has sin been forgiven, but that the product of sin – death – has been defeated.
This is the reason we cling firmly in faith to Jesus Christ – because he is our crucified and risen Lord. Through our baptism into his death we have forgiveness and the assurance of resurrection life on the Last Day. Because of Jesus, we know that we are saints – forgiven sinners who already now have eternal life.
 

This is God’s answer to us. It is the only answer he has given. It is the only answer we need. God has never promised to give an answer to our “why?” questions. The almighty God is not bound to do things in ways that we understand and approve. He is God and we are not. As he said through Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
But what he has done is to reveal his love in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. And this love has provided the answer to the source of every evil – to the source of death itself. This love in Christ has forgiven our sin and brought the beginning of new bodily life that will never die.
 

This is God’s answer. And so like Abraham we walk in faith. We believe and trust in God because of what he has done in his Son. There may be times when we feel like Abraham, burdened as he journeyed during those three days to the mountain. But we walk in faith and hope, because we know that on the third day, Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent - Laetare: Jn 6:1-15

                                                                                               Lent 4
                                                                                               Jn 6:1-15
                                                                                                3/6/16

My school day mornings follow the same routine every week. The alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m. I go into Matthew and Michael’s room to wake them up. Our golden retriever Luther always sleeps on Michael’s bed, and so when I open the door he greets me. Then I go downstairs and let Luther and Abigail’s little dog Noel outside.

I give the dogs a treat when they come in, and then I head to the kitchen. There I put away the clean items in the sink and empty the dishwasher. By that time Matthew and Michael have come down stairs. I pour cereal and milk for the three of us. As we are eating our breakfast Timothy and Abigail, who get up on their own, usually show up and get their breakfast. Then when breakfast is done, everyone makes their lunch – unless they are going to use their one day a week when they can get a school lunch.

Generally speaking, it all runs pretty smoothly. There are, however, two circumstances that I dread. The first is that I discover we are out of milk. Now let me tell you, we go through a lot of milk. When my brother and I were in middle school and high school, my mom rationed the milk because we drank it so fast. We were limited as to how many glasses a day we could drink. It prompted Matthew and me to call milk, “white gold.” I have suggested a similar approach in our house, but Amy says the kids are growing and milk is good for them – and how do you argue with the Nurse Practitioner about issues of health?

The problem arises when nobody mentioned that they finished the last gallon of milk. The easy answer for breakfast is gone, because who wants to eat dry cereal? Instead, dad has to figure out something else … and at 7:00 a.m. dad doesn’t want to have to figure anything out.

The other thing I dread is that we don’t have enough bread. With five people making lunches almost every day, we go through a lot of bread. If no one mentioned that this was the last loaf, it can turn out that those making sandwiches first, finish the bread and there is not enough for everyone else – a situation that is sure to enhance my morning.

In the Gospel lesson for today the disciples discover that they do not have enough bread. In fact, it’s not even close. However, Jesus takes this moment of need and uses it to perform a miracle. He works a sign at the time of the Passover. Like all the signs in John’s Gospel it points forward to Jesus’ death. And in this particular sign we learn about what Jesus means for us. We learn in our text that Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee which was also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd was following Jesus, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. John’s Gospel talks about Jesus’ miracles as “signs.” After Jesus turns water into wine at the wedding at Cana, John tells us, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” Next Jesus heals the officials son, and John says, “This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.” Clearly, John wants us to pay attention to the signs and what they mean.
 

As we hear after the first miracle at Cana, these signs called forth faith. We learn the same thing when Jesus makes his first trip to Jerusalem in the Gospel and we hear, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.” This was not yet mature faith, but it was the realization that God was at work in Jesus in a unique way – a realization that prompted people to seek to hear and see more.
 

That is not to say that everyone who saw the signs followed Jesus in faith. Certainly, many people just wanted to see a show. Others harbored their own ideas about who Jesus might be and what he might do for them.
 

We learn that a large crowd of more than five thousand people had gathered on a mountain with Jesus. John tells us, “Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.” Most likely the crowd was swelled with pilgrims who were making their way to Jerusalem. When Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw them he said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” We are told that he said this to test Philip, for he himself knew what he would do.
 

While Jesus asked about where they could buy bread, Philip instead focused on the cost. He answered, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” A denarius was a day’s wage. Each of the apostles would have had to work sixteen and a half days to earn that much money – and Philip is clear that it would not even begin to be enough.
 

John tells us that Jesus said this to test Philip. Rather obviously, Philip failed the test. But then, we do too. Philip failed to frame the question around Jesus. He failed to return the problem to Jesus – to entrust it to the Lord. So often this is where we find ourselves. There are questions and problems for which we have no answer - things for which we cannot possibly know the answer or outcome because they are not under our control. Yet instead of entrusting these things to Jesus in faith, we hang on to them and try to figure them out on our terms.
 

The disciples weren’t going to be able to solve the problem. They simply didn’t have the means. What they did have was laughable. Andrew said to Jesus, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Our Lord told the disciples to have the people sit down.
 

Then he took the loaves of bread, and when he had given thanks, he had them distributed to the people. He did the same with the fish. Because Jesus was in charge, the paltry source never ran out. The whole crowd was filled with bread and fish. In fact twelve baskets full of bread were left over.
 

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” And we learn that because Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. The people saw the sign – the miracle – and they drew conclusions about Jesus that fit with what they wanted. Most likely the proximity of the Passover fired their imagination about God providing someone who would deliver them from the Romans.
 

The coming Passover is an important factor in our text, but not in the way it probably influenced the crowd. Jesus’ signs – his miracles – begin to reveal his glory. It is a saving glory that will manifested at that Passover. But this saving glory will be revealed on the cross. All of the signs point to the salvation Jesus will bring through his crucifixion and resurrection. Six days before the Passover, when Jesus was just outside Jerusalem he said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Then John tells us, “He said this to show – literally “to sign” - by what kind of death he was going to die.
 

The saving glory of Jesus was revealed on the cross as he gave himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – who takes away your sin. Jesus, the Son of God, had come down from heaven in order to be lifted up on the cross for you. Buried in the tomb, on the third day his glory burst out of the darkness and revealed that he had defeated death. Jesus has defeated sin, death and the devil. He has given you life – eternal life. He has given you not just life that has no end, but life lived in fellowship with God as God intended.
 

In this sign that points forward to the cross, Jesus uses bread. Later in this chapter Jesus says, “my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” When those who have followed Jesus ask for this bread he replies, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
 

Jesus gives us life. And now the one who used bread in a miracle that pointed forward to the cross, uses bread in a miracle that delivers the salvation won on the cross. Jesus the bread of life uses bread to give us life in the Sacrament of the Altar. Here he gives us his true body and blood to eat and to drink. The body given and the blood shed on the cross give us forgiveness. They sustain faith in Jesus through whom we have life.
 

Here in Christ’s Word and in the Sacrament of his body and blood we behold Jesus. Like the miraculous feeding in our Gospel lesson, we see Jesus’ saving glory revealed to faith. And as we behold Jesus in faith the Father’s will is fulfilled. For as Jesus says later in this chapter, “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”