The accounts from St. Matthew's Gospel the last few Sundays not only depict Jesus' authority questioned, but the flat and adamant rejection of the Lord. Such responses to Christ reveal the true reaction of our flesh towards the Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil. By nature we desire to cling to these and are hardened against God. This past Sunday's Gospel (St. Matthew 22:1-14), however, provides additional insight on how such rebellious attitudes are actually expressed. From verse 5: "But they paid no attention [to the invitation to the wedding feast/the invitation to the kingdom of heaven] and went off, one to his farm, another to his business." Many people are just disinterested and apathetic, caring less about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a simple fact. Their reaction is "Look, I've no time for that! I'm too busy, leave me alone!" In this case, the Word of God seems irrelevant; a totally unnecessary thing. I think of Laplace's attitude about God in the face of understanding the natural realm (creation) from his particular scientific perspective: "Sire, I did not need that hypothesis." Look around at our culture today. It seems that the easiest thing in the world is to get along without God and for heaven's sake, especially the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The other kind of rejection is different. From verse 6: "while the rest seized [God's] servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them." This rejection is a violent one. It is not enough for this attitude to dismiss, it must retaliate. Belief in God -- especially belief in the exclusivity of the Gospel -- must be the target of enmity and attack because we who are accused of being "intolerant" are not tolerated. It should surprise none of us that in the 21st century a Christian may be considered an infidel worthy of martyrdom. In the face of such rejection and attack, however, is the unwavering and powerful Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is amazing to take into consideration that for all who respond to Jesus in this way Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (St. Luke 23:34)." We also carry with us the sinful nature that says, "I don't care!" or "I hate you!" But in Christ's mercy, not only have we been called (as all have been called through the universal atonement of Jesus Christ), but we have also been chosen. How is that? We have been chosen through Holy Baptism which has united us to Jesus; through the Word that has entered our ears and our hearts and created faith in the One who died even while we were still His enemies (Romans 5:10); and through the Holy Sacrament which marks us as receptors of the blood that covers our sin (God's blood, Acts 20:28). We know indeed that many are called, but thank God that you who confess the saving name of Jesus are also chosen, chosen no longer to reject, but to rejoice that He has clothed you and welcomed you into His kingdom. He is your clothing, your righteousness, your life. Thanks be to God! Dr. Espinosa

It's easy to feel a little confused about what the Lord once said in respect to His parables: "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand (St. Luke 8:10)." The Lord was of course speaking to His disciples, but why would He say this about "others" for whom He also lived, died, and rose? It is true of course that God loves all and "desires all people to come to the knowledge of the truth (1st Timothy 2:4)." And this is where it is important to step back and consider to whom Jesus is actually speaking the parables to in the latter chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel. Take note that in the parable of the tenants (St. Matthew 21:33-46) "the chief priests and Pharisees...perceived that he was speaking about them (St. Matthew 21:45)." It just so happens that in this particular instance the chief priests and Pharisees are named, but the underlying characteristic of having parables your favorite dish served from God is because of the sinful state of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. The state of affairs is nevertheless challenging for even the most devout disciple of Christ. Isn't it true that the sinful nature dwells in us all? Isn't true that on account of this sinful nature that all of us fight against God? Yes, these things are absolutely true. By nature we are "good" chief priests and Pharisees every one of us. Quite frankly the grace of God cramps the sinful mind. If we are won over to God's side, we will lose our side and our pride will complain every step of the way. If therefore we are not drawn (St. John 6:44) there is no crossing over from death (in all of its rebellious glory) to life (St. John 5:24). But those who are in Christ have crossed over. This is not our doing, it is His. And at the same time, every one "born again of water and the Spirit," is no better than the one who is not. If nothing else this should so humble anyone who confesses Christ as Lord to such an unimaginable degree that our greatest preoccupation ought to be sharing the wealth, sharing the news, giving unto other sinners that saving Gospel that pulled us out of the pit of hell. We were worthy for God's Word to remain the deepest, darkest mystery on account of our sin, but in Christ the light has shined on us and God has unraveled His parables for us and now we see: the saving work of Christ has kept us in God's vineyard, kept our landowner the Lord, kept the wall and fortress of His Word around us, kept the winepress feeding our souls with the blood of immortality and the antidote against death (St. Ignatius), and kept the tower of His holy ministry watching over our souls. Thank God that the One rejected has in love and mercy not rejected us who are baptized into His Name most holy! In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

The Greek word exousia as used at St. Matthew 21:23 when the members of the Sanhedrin challenged Jesus by asking where His authority came from means "absolute power" and "warrant." The person with this "authority" has both the right and the power to do what they do. God is our authority. Jesus the Son of God, God en-fleshed has "all authority in heaven and on earth (St. Matthew 28:18)." What He says goes! At least that's the way it's supposed to be! He permits us to disobey, but we do so only at our own peril. To resist the One with all authority is just dumb, but even worse it sets us against God and that puts our lives in jeopardy not because God is this celestial ogre waiting to pounce on someone, but because His authority does not stand by itself: it is designed to protect and bless us. So to reject it is to simply harm ourselves. When I was a little boy -- about five -- I already knew the thrust of the 4th commandment: to obey one's parents was to obey God; to disobey one's parents was to disobey God. I knew this clearly. Yet one evening dinner included sweet potatoes. For whatever reason, I had already determined at such a tender age that sweet potatoes were repulsive. The word "sweet" and "potato" just didn't go together! Both my parents -- my dear father of sacred memory -- and my dear mother ordered me to eat my sweet potatoes. I reasoned at this "innocent" age that since I did not like sweet potatoes, I had every reason in the universe to disobey. My sin had grown that much that soon! I was in fact disobeying God. Back in the day (of the Old Testament), it was easy to see why this sort of thing was so overtly evil. Parents -- God's appointed authority for the family -- stand for God's authority and this was especially seen by the severity of punishment for any child who disobeyed his parents. Deuteronomy 22:21: "Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid." Thank God that when Jesus came He kept the 4th commandment for us all and then He died to cover our breaking of it! None of us need be stoned anymore! However, how easily this reminds us of how much we take fudging on God's authority for granted. We assert our will over God's will constantly and this is why sinners -- on their own apart from grace -- simply cannot stand before God and live. Doesn't work; we reject Him too much and His rejection of such a one is simply an acknowledgement of sin-sick rebellion. So Christ came. Ironically, the Sanhedrinists questioned the authority of the One given authority to save them! That's why it is just plain silly when we commit the same sin. It's worse than shooting yourself in the foot; it's denying your entire life since Christ is the Lord of life. But we cannot deny the truth of the Gospel. Jesus came to honor God's authority! John 6:38: "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me." And because He did, we are saved, forgiven, redeemed, put into His authority-honoring life and now that He has all authority, we who rejoice in His forgiveness are viewed by the Heavenly Father as authority-honoring children of God. This is true because Jesus honored authority for us; but it is also true that in the midst of rejoicing in our forgiveness, we are given a new life -- even as it battles with the old -- so that by God's grace we actually desire to honor God's authority.  That new desire is forged by the One with all authority which includes making new His children who confess Him and His authority! May we worship Him tomorrow and forever as a result of His authority to draw us unto Himself! In your service and to Christ's glory, Dr. Espinosa

Talk about crushing Law! It is this terrifying saying of our Gracious Savior to those in the visible manifestation of the kingdom of heaven on earth, the Church. Jesus is speaking to Christians in Matthew 20 when He says, "So the last will be first, and the first last." For our Savior to speak this way means that we Christians are sinners. That sounds like a simple thing to say, to think, to write, to confess, but it is totally true. Sometimes Christians just doubt this. After-all doesn't Scripture call Christians "born again," "a new creation," "children of God," "a royal priesthood," etc.? Of course God calls us these things, and that is what we are! But this does not cancel the fact that Scripture constantly employs a figure of speech called synecdoche when the whole is put for a part, or a part for the whole. We are forgiven this is true, and we are sinners who constantly confess our sin. The sinner is a saint, the saint is a sinner! We are both; we are "simultaneously justified and sinner," which is why all of us should be able to relate to St. Paul's commentaries on the battle between the two natures (Romans 7 and Galatians 5). So Christ our Lord in Matthew 20 speaks to His forgiven people, His saints, His Church and gives us an invaluable warning: our sinful nature is such that we are constantly led to gravitate towards St. Peter's insecurity expressed in Matthew 19:27: "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" Even after we have received the grace of God through faith in Christ alone apart from the work's of the law, our sinful flesh starts working overtime. It leads us to play the game of comparison with others and enter into the presumption of righteousness. We know that the synergistic idea that "God has done His part, we must now do ours" is not what we confess, but it is the way we act. Our assurance of salvation begins to creep over into human security, especially as we strive to point out that we are indubitably better than others, at least a few anyway! But this is the game of the heart "deceitful above all things and desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9). We are to realize that our natural tendency is to claim we are first and to hold God to our way of Law. If we do, that same demand will lead us to forfeit and reject the grace of God. There is no hope for those who insist that they are first or that they should be in any way put above anyone else. The only right confession is that we are last, dead last. That we are helpless to save ourselves; that God had to go out searching for us when we were not included in the kingdom and by grace welcome us to work in His vineyard. We must confess that receiving our "denarius" is not because of our merit, but because of His grace; in fact His kind and generous gift is His grace in Christ. This situation leads us to have a new mind (even as we battle with the old); we now accept the truth: "For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself." (Galatians 6:3) AND "So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'" What else is there to say about what we do? After all, it is only through the life, death, and resurrection of  our Savior Jesus Christ that we last ones are said to be first; not for boasting over others, but for marveling that while we are chief of sinners, God would claim us as His own! In Your Service and To Christ's Glory, Dr. Espinosa

How do we begin to address what we might feel towards the terrorists responsible for the September 11th, 2001 massacre of 2,740 Americans? How were our hearts apt to join in the "joy and jubilation" (as one news source put it) when al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed in Pakistan by the U.S. SEALS on May 2nd, 2011? My first reaction -- called and ordained as I am -- was gladness. Surely, if there was ever a man who got what he deserved, then this was the man! The justice of Romans 13:4 prevailed. Before President Obama gave the green light for Operation Neptune Spear, God did! But I was then struck by the spectacle of some of the dancing in the streets coming over the news. There was still a war going on, the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 was coming (and is now here), we still live in a very dangerous world, and finally, I really had to back up and check my heart. How was I really reacting towards this wicked man Osama bin Laden? Did I hate him? Had I forgiven him even in light of the God-given justice that ended his life? And what about the monstrous and cowardly hijackers themselves? Those responsible (for example) for over 3000 children losing a parent on 9/11? Was forgiveness just something I theorized about? I was called -- once again -- to repentance! When Jesus tells Peter that his optimistic "up to 7 times" isn't good enough, it appears that the more reliable translation of Christ's correction is "70 x 7 times," not as some English translations say "77 times." Either way, however, the point is that Peter was taught as we are that Christ's forgiveness (and also ours now) is limitless. But while St. Augustine may have been a little too creative in his exegesis with "77 times," he did make a good theological application at least. After pointing to St. Luke's genealogy, he says that just as the Scriptures list 77 generations from Christ all the way back to Adam, that the Lord's forgiveness is so powerful, so pervasive, and so thorough that ALL the sins of ALL generations of man are covered by the forgiveness that comes through Christ. And this forgiveness is now ours, not only in affirming our reception of it, but in living in the glow of gratitude that leads us to share Christ's forgiveness with others. Compared to the petty twenty bucks our neighbor owes us on account of his or her latest offense, the Lord has already forgiven us millions and millions and millions of dollars "worth" of our sins (sin is also treated as debt in Scripture and it is a debt we could never repay). In Christ you are debt-free so that you may finally understand the parable: you do not forgive in order to be forgiven; no, you forgive because you have been forgiven completely, forever by the blood of the Lamb. Psalm 103:12: "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." Hope to see you this Sunday! In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

The Holy Scriptures make it clear that Satan went after Adam in the Garden, tempted our Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness (and had drastically different results with the Second Adam Christ!), and here in our Gospel in Matthew 18, the evil one was attacking the apostles. Luke 22:24 states the situation plainly: "A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest." This is the embarrassing and shameful truth about sinners: all of us are concerned about our status, all of us are prideful, all of us want to be in a better position and fear being left out or lacking recognition. Selfish ambition, however, is an idol. Timothy Keller in his book Counterfeit Gods quotes Helen Rubin in the magazine Fast Company: "Of all the subjects we obsess about...success is the one we lie about the most -- that success and its cousin money will make us secure, that success and its cousin power will make us important, that success and its cousin fame will make us happy. It's time to tell the truth: Why are our generation's smartest, most talented, most successful people flirting with disaster in record numbers? People are using all their means to get money, power, and glory -- and then self-distructing." (92) Christ the Lord took a child into his arms and said to the ambitious apostles, you have to turn and become a child (Mark 9:36 & Matthew 18:3). It was like Christ was saying, "Does this little child look like he cares about running a kingdom?!" No! He is content and happy to be in my arms. What wisdom poured out from our Savior! The place to be isn't running after our false gods of success, but to be found in the arms of Christ. The only problem is that we resist God's counsel at every turn and unless our hands and feet and eyes that cause us to sin are addressed (through cutting them off and tearing them out, Matthew 18:7-9) we will remain stuck in the condemnation of sinful ambition. Jesus who is the Greatest in the kingdom of heaven (the apostles should have known the answer to their question at verse 1) took the initiative to save us while we were still enemies of God (Romans 5:10). For us, His hands and feet were "cut off" when the 5-7 inch Roman spikes went through them on the cross; for us, the Father "tore out" His eyes as He turned from the Son's perfect payment for our sins, and in Christ and in Christ alone is humility achieved, the humility which saves...but make no mistake about it, when this humility of Jesus is given to you and me (as we are incorporated into His life through Holy Baptism, the Word of Christ proclaimed, and Holy Communion), it always shows and gives a new way, a new life...we become children of God and rely on Christ for everything. By God's grace, the Holy Spirit then leads us to a humble confession that expresses the desire for the old man of ambition to die and for the new creation in Christ to remain in the arms of Jesus today and forever. See you Sunday! Pastor Espinosa

Also this Sunday: the Holy Baptism of Isabel S. Wickam. We rejoice that Isabel will receive the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit!

"Discipleship" is not just a biblical teaching of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, but it is also a popular buzzword in American Christianity that has taken on other shades of meaning. Oftentimes it is a word used to lean dangerously close to replacing the Gospel of Christ with a return to the Law as if to suggest: "Now that God has done His part in saving you and forgiving you, it is now time for you to get busy and engage in serious discipleship!" If we are not careful, we will commit the grievous error that occurred among the Galatians (O foolish, bewitched Galatians!). This Sunday -- the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost -- we are given what is perhaps the most important Scripture on "discipleship," Matthew 16:24 which reads, "Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'" And yet by virtue of our sinful nature, we haven't the power to lift one finger to 1) deny ourselves; 2) take up our crosses; and 3) follow Christ our Lord. It is the Lord Christ -- THE DISCIPLE who heard and obeyed the Heavenly Father -- who denied Himself, took up HIS cross and followed for the joy that was set before Him, namely to give glory to the Father and to save YOU and me and all sinners. This work of Christ, however, continues. Through Holy Baptism for example, He is the One who kills us, buries us, crucifies us so that we may daily rise up again in the grace of God through His powerful Word. Then in Christ, it is His life that permits -- in mercy -- our cross. That cross may be an illness, an injury, a hardship...perhaps it is your call to take care of someone and to bear their burden with them in fulfillment of Galatians 6:2 for example. And these crosses which we are not to go out looking for, are crosses placed upon us by the Lord as we live lives of faith. These crosses teach us to lean not on ourselves but on Christ, to fall into the arms of the One crucified and risen for us so that His life and His life alone marks our lives. We deny ourselves when we say to our sinful flesh: "I don't know you!" Instead we say, "I know Christ, I follow Christ, He is my life, He is my Savior, and He will lead me by grace to be His disciple!" We rejoice in the Lord and invite you to come worship with us! In Christ, Dr. Espinosa

In Matthew 16:15, we have recorded that Jesus asked His first disciples: "But who do you say that I am?" Before the Lord had asked this question, the disciples spoke of the diversity of answers coming from the general populace: 1) Some thought that Jesus was a great king who had come to threaten Herod's rule. That is a political figure, but still a man; 2) others thought Jesus was a great herald of the Messiah who would continue to prepare the way for the true Anointed One, but still a man; and 3) Yet others believed that Jesus was a great prophet who was legend and who perhaps may have been raised from the dead, but -- you guessed it -- still a man, and I should qualify that these answers were really saying that Jesus was merely a man. In the culture, Jesus was just one flavor of ice cream among many. As one theologian put it, "They thought well of him, but not well enough." This of course is our colossal problem. We think just well enough of Jesus to coax our consciences into qualifying His identity. But while we have grown past the straight-jacket of the Enlightenment which over-invested in the power of human reason, we have graduated into the season of postmodernism. People now believe that the good thing to do is to treat any personal opinion about Jesus as equally as valid and true as any other idea about the Christ. This won't do and the Christian faith offers so much more than mere opinion. God breaks into our lives through the Holy Spirit working through the Word of Christ and when this Word reaches us, it puts us into contact with Jesus Himself so that we may speak the divinely commended answer recorded in Matthew 16:16: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." This answer does not come from man's intellect or reason, but from God Himself. It is the answer of faith and it unites us to the single most important truth we will ever know, because it is in this truth that Jesus is He who forgives all our sins; and the One whose victory over death and the grave wins for us eternal life. May we rejoice in the gift of faith given to us when Christ is the rock upon Whom we are built! When Christ builds us poor sinners into the living stones of His Church and into His people built and equipped with the answer from God Himself for the most important question we will ever be asked. Let us worship the Christ, the Son of the living God!

Last Sunday, we were given the honor to celebrate in Christ the beginning and end of life in Christ. We administered the Sacrament of Holy Baptism for Alyssa Anne Orozco during the morning divine service, then that same afternoon Saint Paul's conducted the Holy Memorial for Martina Johanna Escher Clark, aka Omi. We thank the Lord for permitting us such service in the Name of the Lord through the ministration of Christ's Holy Word. We rejoice that the Lord baptizes His people and keeps them in the palms of His hands and then welcomes His children into heaven when they leave this earth. We are so blessed to be the people of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ! Amen! Pastor Espinosa

It seems remarkable to read a Gospel account that actually depicts our Savior and Lord as seemingly: 1) ignoring someone asking for help; 2) avoiding someone asking for help; and 3) insulting that person asking for help by calling them a dog! Surely, every description we have ever heard of Jesus Christ as merciful and compassionate has just been thrown out the window! Not so fast. First of all, there was a reason for the Lord's hesitancy and it wasn't to be cruel to anyone. Secondly, the Lord wasn't playing a game so as to provoke the woman. Christ's hesitancy was legitimized by virtue of His clear mission to prioritize "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." She was a Canaanite and frankly, Jesus is found here juggling two projects at once: 1) He had to remind his disciples of His perfect obedience to the Heavenly Father and the fulfillment of God's promise to send a Messiah "first to the Jew" (Rom. 1); and 2) He had to also be completely consistent with the heart of God. Luther said that this woman caught Jesus at His own words and that further, Jesus "loves to be caught this way." Jesus had automatically made provision for mercy to be given to the Canaanite woman. How so? By calling her a dog. Words are always crucial to consider. This particular word was not the word for a "wild dog" despised and considered unclean, but the word was the word for a house dog, a little dog, a beloved pet; the word was one of affection and endearment. The little dogs are always provided for. What child will not hesitate to share their food with their little dog? My dog Henry is a pug and we don't call him "Henry" ("Master of the House") for nothing. In fact, he enjoys the house that I pay for more than I do (he's in it more than I am). He's got it made-in-the-shade. Jesus knew what He was doing. In the end, the woman grabbed on to what Jesus said and would not let go until Jesus blessed her. This is faith! Jesus said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs (Matthew 15:26)." The woman answered, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table (Matthew 15:27)." Confess like the woman did. Confess that you are a sinner, just a little dog desperate for the crumbs of God's blessings and then know that to such a one as this -- a confessing sinner -- Jesus will grant you blessings that overflow, life and salvation, and a change in status from a little dog to a forgiven child of God.

Update on "Table Talk" at CUI. We are taking a three-week break as the students at CUI get settled in for a new school year. We will let you know very soon when we will be starting up our on-campus Bible Study at Concordia University Irvine.

Also for this Sunday: The Holy Baptism of Alyssa Orozco! We look for to Alyssa's reception of the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)!

Come to Church so that through His Word and Sacrament Christ will shine on you (Ephesians 5:14).

Pastor Espinosa

In facing the serious problem of doubt, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." (Matthew 14:27). This Sunday we look at this very real issue. On the one hand, we mustn't soft-peddle the fact that doubt is a serious threat to faith and whatever threatens our faith threatens our salvation in Christ. Doubt isn't our friend, but as one theologian put it, "Doubt is the beginning of unbelief."  At the same time, we cannot condone "Christian" attitudes which present true believers as stoically never being confronted with doubt. St. Peter is presented in this week's Gospel in Matthew 14 as very much experiencing doubt. The account is there not for us to criticize Peter, but to take heart in that the Lord understands His children. We do experience doubt. It is what flows from the hearts of poor sinners who need the Savior Christ! This is the human side of the equation which we cannot ignore or suppress. The Gospel this Sunday does not exist to condemn us for doubt, but to teach us what God does about our doubt. First of all, our Heavenly Father sends His Son Jesus to save us from all doubt; and secondly, we are taught about how -- in our lives with Christ -- to deal with our tendency to doubt not in order to replace His grace in Christ by returning to works of the Law, but by living in what the book of Hebrews describes: "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..." Not to oversimplify, but the Word seems clear: when Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked on water. This Scripture is not here for us to go out and test God with a bunch of weird self-serving experiments, but it is here to give us God's answer to what makes faith strong -- not faith itself, not anything we do -- but Christ and Christ alone! Dr. Espinosa