“Performative Word” (Isaiah 55.10-13; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23)

Isaiah 55.10-13
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

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“Performative Word,” Isaiah 55.10-13; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
Pastor Tom Johnson, July 12, 2020

Our Scripture from Isaiah says, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sewer and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.” As rain and snow come down from the sky, so God’s Word precipitates from heaven. Like water in its liquid and frozen form enrich the ground, so Scripture in Law and Gospel enriches our lives.


Water is amazing. It’s a molecule with two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. I get excited learning about it. Scientists will tell you that without water, life is impossible. And from a purely naturalistic view of the universe, it is highly unlikely and improbable that water would gather in such abundance for one planet. Water can be liquid, solid, and gas. Rain and snow—liquid and solid is in our text today. The description of the Garden of Eden is of its gas or vapor form which came upon the plants and soil as a daily mist and dew to nourish plants and soil. When I was in seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana we lived in an old farm house. The owner was excited that there was such a deep freeze and so much snow on his land. He said that the ice expands in the ground breaking up and tilling the earth. In the spring, the melting ice slowly and deeply waters the soil.

It’s amazing and almost miraculous that moisture will activate seeds to germination. Water wakes seed up to grow into plants and trees. Water is what carries nutrients from the soil into the roots of plants and trees. You and I are somewhere between 55-78% water! Without water, we would have no blood flowing carrying oxygen and nutrients to the cells in our bodies. Water is the super highway through streams, rivers, and ocean currents that spread minerals, life, and organisms all over the world. Climatologists warn that there is a growing shortage of fresh water around the world. We are so blessed to be two blocks from one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world! Water works. It performs a service to God’s creation.

The wonder and miracle of what water is and does is inside us and all around us all the time. It permeates all creation. And yet, when is the last time thought about the preciousness of water when it rains, when we turn the sink faucet, or drink a cup of water? How often do our hearts well up with gratitude? 

As God sends rain from the sky, so God sends his Word from the heavens. The Ten Commandments are the only Word from God that literally came down from heaven. Like water, Scripture takes different forms. It has been written over the course of many centuries, three different continents, and three different languages. God used different personalities, cultures, and experiences of human beings to be the streams, river ways, and currents to deliver his Word. Even today, his Word is delivered through faithful reading and preaching of the Bible in countless languages, cultures, and all around the globe.

The wonder and miracle of what the Word is and does is inside us and all around us all the time. It permeates all creation. And yet, when is the last time thought about the preciousness of the Word when it comes into our ears, through the eye, into our minds, and into our hearts? How often do our hearts well up with gratitude?

During the last months of this pandemic, I hope we all have grown in our appreciation and thanksgiving for the gift of the Word of God. It seems that technology has been more a blessing than a curse in some ways. God’s Word continues to go out unhindered. We pray for a growing thirst for the Word of God! We ask God to give us a growing gratitude for the gift of Scripture. As the Psalmist prays in Psalm 42, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

The Word works. It performs a service to God’s creation. Just like God who spoke creation into being, so God’s Word continues to go out. “it shall not return to me empty,” God says, “but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it…For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace.” God’s Word not only nourishes the soil of our hearts and lives, it prepares the soil. It goes deep into the crevices, breaks up rigid minds, and tenderizes calloused hearts. Water reaches the seed, the seedling, sprout, plant, and then the fruit—joy and peace that God that wants us to experience in our daily lives.

The Word performs this. The Word made flesh accomplishes this. Jesus is the eternal Word of God who was sent from heaven to earth. In Revelation, he is the River of Life that flows from the right hand of the Father and his heavenly throne. The tree of life grows beside, above, and over this river. It’s abundant and diverse fruit and leaves are food for the nations. Jesus himself says (John 4): “Whoever drinks of the water that I give will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” God promises us, “You will go out in joy and be led back in peace.” Next time it rains, snows, or we take a drink—let the flood of joy and peace and gratitude flow for his earthly blessings. And the next time you hear, read, or meditate on God’s Word—let the flood of joy and peace and gratitude flow for his heavenly blessings.

“You that are weary” (Matthew 11:25-30)

Matthew 11:25-30

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Pastor Tom Johnson, July 5, 2020

Jesus’ message is for the weary. He is speaking to those whose backs are weighed down with the many worries, troubles, and distress of this world. Just a few chapters earlier in Matthew, Jesus has compassion on the crowds because they are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd (9:36). Jesus offers himself as the antidote. He says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens.” This message is not for those who are self-sufficient. Jesus does not speak to those who are going through life fueled by their own strength. It is for the weary—of body, mind, and spirit.

How many of us are not sick and tired of sheltering in place and maintaining our distancing and isolation these months? Where are those who are not fed up with all the political rhetoric, arguing, polemics, and increasing animosity? Is there a person who is not fatigued by the news of another person—another child—shot dead in the streets—or sleeping or watching television in their homes? Who among us is not exhausted by our seemingly fruitless attempts to get through these difficult days? This is the message for the faint of heart and squeamish among us. I am weary by all the division we see in our society, the violence, isolation, fear, pandemic, economic decline, dependence on technology, and struggle to keep up with technology. I don’t have the strength to watch another heartbreaking video. Maybe some of us carry heavy burdens deep within our minds, our souls, and our past. We might be afraid to unload these burdens because we have never found a place or a person where we have felt safe. That is too much for us to hold. Jesus is that safe place for us to unload all our embarrassment, our guilt, and our shame.

Jesus speaks to us who know ourselves as vulnerable and weak—as unable, by our own reason or strength, to come to him. These are words for us who search through the archives of our own souls and only find despair and hopelessness. Jesus breaks out and thankfulness and praise: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants: yes, father, for such was your gracious well.” This is is the wisdom of Christ—to discover God’s mountain of strength through the dark valley of our inability and poverty of soul and spirit.

When Solomon becomes king of Israel, he confesses to God, “You have made me king although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or to come in.” In Solomon’s bold and vulnerable confession God gives him unparalelled wisdom. Oh that we as a nation and as God’s people would live up to lady liberty’s welcome  to the nations which may be plagiarizing but is certainly echoing Jesus’ invitation:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door! 

“Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens.”

If we all come together in our weakness and poverty of spirit—if we all come to Jesus, we unite around the common good and against a common enemy. Our weariness becomes a gift. Our weakness is a teachable moment—to lead us to him who is stronger than we. We have the highest call of all—to come under the yoke of the King of kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus, at whose name every knee will bow and confess! Jesus says his yoke is easy; his burden is light; we will find rest for our souls. Jesus was the son of a carpenter. I imagine Jesus learning to move great and heavy beams of lumber. I see his stepfather Joseph playfully teaching his adopted son to take the yoke upon him. I see Joseph with his broad and strong shoulders arms and legs doing all the work. I see the child Jesus come underneath the yoke, locking arms with him. They do the work together by the strength of the father. So we are, as we come to Jesus as his little children. Jesus’ yoke means we do it by his strength not ours.

I vividly remember my father playing “marionette” with me when I was learning to walk. It is one of my earliest memories. He took each of my hands in his. He put my toddler feet on top of his. I walked by his strength—by his balance. It brought laughter and joy to both child and parent. So it brings joy to Jesus—so it will bring  joy to us when we come to Jesus—when we accept his gracious invitation—journey forward by his might. We will find rest for our souls. He has made his promise: his yoke is easy; his burden is light.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, O weary one,
Lay down your head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
So weary, worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
And he has made me glad.
          “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” (LSB 699, v. 1)

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