Bloghardt's Reflector

St. Matthew 11:25-30 – Pentecost 9a
St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX
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In the name of Jesus. Amen. O what wretched man I am. Tired. Weary. Unable to do good. The good that I want to do, I don't do. The very things I hate, I do.

My sins weigh me down, like a weight on my back that I can't get rid of, like a sickness with no cure that saps my strength, and leaves me just... tired. And with all my will, I fight to be good just once, to pull myself up the hill but I just can't do it.

And when I look at my life, I see only my sins. The war – the constant battle between what I should do, and what I end up actually doing. From the good that I want to do, and the evil that I do daily and much. The war between Christ in me and my constant failures... And it seems that I'm losing...

St. Mathew 10:29 – Pentecost 6A – 2008
St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX
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In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Don't fear. Don't fear dying. Don't fear living. Don't fear what they will do to you. Don't fear what you can't control. Don't fear what's around the corner, tomorrow, or the next day. Don't fear losing those your life. Don't fear losing your love ones. Don't fear losing anything.

Don't fear because you have a Father in Heaven. A Father who makes everything work out for you in Christ. The good, the bad, the ugly, the things that seem accidents, the things that seem rigged, the wins, the loses, everything works out for your salvation in Christ.

St. Matthew 19:5 – Lindsay Jonnson & Landon Reed Wedding
St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX

In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Clearly, our Lord Jesus loves

"You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word." (Ps. 119:114)

In the name of Jesus. Amen. What happens when I look around my life and I feel like the gum that is on the bottom of God's shoe and it's like He's tracking me around, stretching me all over the place. What then?

Little here, little there, each part of me left behind. It may be for good works, it may be for bad ones. But, a little bit of me only goes so far and then I look down and I feel like there is nothing left.  Every feel like that?

It's lived out in my body. How could it not? People see me and they do that genuine, “You don't look like yourself. Is it me? Am I bothering you? Should I leave you alone? Why aren't you fun any more? Where is that twinkle in your eyes? Do you have too much on your plate?”

In the name of Jesus. Amen. A construction crane falls and two die in New York. That's two deaths too many. Cranes are used in every city to do work every day. We see them without thinking that they are dangerous. They aren't supposed to fall. They just aren't. What happens when they do? Why did this one fall?

Sin. Fall. Adam. Eve. That blasted fruit that they ate and shouldn't have eaten. That's where sin and death originated. They took what wasn't given to them. Today, we sin too – daily and much.

Events like this should cause us all to pause, mourn, and pray for salvation. Your sins and my sins are the reason these things happen. As the Psalmist says, “ Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight “ (51:6) With all my sins, it's a wonder the stars don't fall down on me! One day, they will.