Substitute Fish Sauce

If you are trying to make Southeast Asian food and need a homemade fish sauce. I might need that. Here is a recipe that will give you the sauce you need when there is no way to make it to an Asian market.

Thai Fish Sauce

1 can (2 ounces) anchovies, drained (if you do not want too much salt, soak the anchovies in a water (or milk) bath before you use them. That will leach out excess salt.)
2 cloves garlic, lightly bruised (smash it with the flat of your knife) and peeled
1/2 teaspoon (packed) dark or light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water

1. Place all the ingredients in a small heavy saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes without stirring.

2. Remove from the heat, cool slightly, then strain through a double layer of cheesecloth. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 3/4 cup

Obviously, this recipe is for a special occasion, perhaps even less than once a year. It is like the recipe I posted yesterday, it is a treat.

Fish sauce though is pungent, slightly salty, and sweet. This is an essential ingredient in any Southeastern Asian cuisine. It is often available in Asian markets and specialty food stores. Though it is not always possible to get a bottle that way.

Vietnamese Cooking Class

Last night, Thursday, I went to a local class taught by the High School Home Economics teacher. She taught us how to cook a Vietnamese menu. Vietnamese cooking uses a range of fresh produce. Such distinctive ingredients as are used sets it apart from other Asian cuisines. Such cooking as this, as with much Asian cooking, is a simple and healthy way to eat. However, for our area this is a special occasion menu as all the recipes include specialty items best purchased at an Asian market.

Our menu included: a Saigon Pancake (Bahn Xeo), Rice Paper Rolls (Goi Cuon), Rice Noodles with Stir Fried Beef in Chili and Lemongrass (Bun Bo Xao), a classic Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham), and a Table Salad (Sa Lach Dia). There were five other students there, we all had a lot of fun cooking and talking. It was fun to get out and learn something new.

Once we were all done, then we sat down to a nicely set table and enjoyed trying our new creations. Everything was very good, especially the Saigon Pancake. I am not just saying that because I made that recipe, everyone at the table agreed that this was the best of the menu. Most of the students also took leftovers of this dish home with them. This surprised our teacher, she had included kind of on a lark. She thought it seemed more difficult and just was generally not sure about how it would go. The best part of this, the teacher made copies of all the recipes used for each student to take home.

This surprised me, I thought it was not that difficult of a recipe. The directions were not the best but it only took time to finish it.

Saigon Pancake recipe

Serves 4

200 grams (g) Rice flour (we used regular wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
250 milliliters (ml) water
1/2 teaspoon salt
150 ml Coconut milk
1 tablespoon Spring onions, finely chopped (we used green onions)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
200 g (1/2 lb approximately) lean pork, thinly sliced
200 g shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
100 g bean sprouts
100 g split green beans, soaked and steamed until soft
10 sheets Vietnamese rice paper, sprinkled with hot water to soften

Garnish:
2 tablespoons mixed fish sauce
1 lettuce leaf
4 mint leaves
1/4 cucumber, thinly sliced
Pickled carrot and radish, to serve (optional)

Directions:

--In a large mixing bowl, blend rice flour and turmeric powder with water, then add salt, coconut milk and spring onion. Mix well into a batter.

--In a large frying pan (skillet), heat cooking oil over medium heat until very hot. Add pork, shrimp and onion. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until meat is lightly cooked.

--Stir batter well and scoop into pan. Add bean sprouts and green beans.

--Cover for 5 minutes until pancake is crisp. Fold pancake into half and combine to cook for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

--Serve pancake with mixed fish sauce for dipping and rice paper, lettuce, mint leaves, cucumber and pickled carrot and radish on the side (this means each of the condiments are arranged like a relish tray and you add them at the table.).

--To assemble, place a sheet of rice paper on a plate and top with a small piece of pancake and some garnishing ingredients. Wrap and dip into mixed fish sauce before eating.

These ingredients are all surprisingly available. The only things that for our rural area that would require an Asian grocery would be the rice papers, fish sauce and the pickles that are an optional garnish.

All Saint's Day

Today is the day in the church year when much of Christendom commemorates those who have fallen asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:13-18) in the past year as well as those for whom we still mourn even after years. This was the festival upon which Dr. Martin Luther's 95 Thesis' were first read. After all, he nailed them to the church door in Wittenburg on the eve of this festival. We now have commemorated that event with a festival of its own. We call it, Reformation Day. On that day, we celebrate that God, through His servant Martin Luther, gave His church back the pure unadultarated gospel of free salvation for all mankind (Rom. 3:19-28).

So today, it is fitting that we now remember those who sleep in Jesus. 'These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb' (Rev. 7:14).

All Saint's Day-Isaiah 26

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,+ and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

‘You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.’ (V. 3)

During his years of conquest, Alexander the Great became ill. He had great confidence in his friend and physician. After the physician had mixed for the great conqueror a potion to heal his illness, a letter was placed in Alexander’s hand. This letter warned him not to drink the potion as it contained poison.

He held the cup in one hand and the letter in the other hand. In the presence of his friend and physician he drank up the draught. After Alexander had drained that potion, he encouraged his friend to look at the letter and what it said. He wanted the physician to judge his confidence. Alexander had unstaggering faith in his friend that did not admit of doubt. “See now,” he said, “how I have trusted you?”

This is the assurance you and I should exercise toward God. Though the cup is very bitter, and some tell us it will prove deadly. That is, it is so terrible and nauseous that we will never survive drinking it. Unbelief and doubt whispers in your ear, “Your coming tribulation will utterly crush you.”

Drink down the cup to the dregs, saying, “If the Father slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” It cannot be that God should be unfaithful to His promise or unmindful of His covenant.[1]

This is exactly what Isaiah is telling us to do in this song that the Holy Spirit records through the prophet here. Why is it that you or I can have such perfect peace? We do have such peace because of the words that begin this song. Isaiah speaks to us of a ‘strong city’ of walls and towers and ramparts to protect. The song proclaims that the gates should swing wide for those who keep faith should enter.

This is how God keeps the faithful man in perfect peace.

We are able to do this not because of anything that you have done. It is not because of anything that I have done. No, this is not what keeps us in that peace. Instead, it is something entirely outside of you or me. This is what keeps us in His peace. That which keeps us in this peace is the strong city Isaiah speaks of. Who does Isaiah refer to by speaking of a ‘rock’ or a ‘strong city’? It is Christ (1 Cor. 10:4)! He is the rock and strong city we are hearing about.

‘My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.’ (V. 9)

It is all very easy to say ‘dwell in perfect peace’. It is also something that we all know very well. Yet, this is not often how many of us feel in our daily life. We do not feel as if we are dwelling in perfect peace. This is what the just quoted verse is getting at. This present life is the night. We yearn for our Savior in the night of this life. More often than not, we live by faith. That is, we live our life covered in a mist of uncertain imaginations so that we cannot feel or even see our life in Christ.

It is there nonetheless. Our faith is not a faith that is based on feelings.

So, Isaiah sings for us that when God’s judgements are on this earth, those of us who still dwell in this world learn righteousness. That is the cup of which we drink. You drink it to the dregs trusting that your Savior will not abandon His promises. Though He may kill you, your will be kept safe in Him. He is your strong city.

With our eyes of faith we see our Savior in this life. Yet, we long to see Him with these physical eyes as well. We do not want to wait until eternal life to see our Savior face to face. So, we cling to the promises we have been given in His word. We long to learn righteousness. This in spite of being surrounded by the mist of infirmity even still.[2]

‘O LORD, you will ordain peace for us; you have done for us all our works.’ (V. 12

However, it is possible for us to dwell in perfect peace. This is not so because of anything that you or I do. No. Rather, peace is yours because the Lord has ordained this for you. This is outside of anything that you accomplish. This peace is yours not because of any work that you have done to earn it or deserve it. Instead, this peace the Lord ordains is yours because He has said so.

This peace belongs to each of us as Christians because Christ Jesus has done all your works for you. As St. Paul tells us that there are works created for us from before the beginning of the world (Eph. 2:10). So, Isaiah tells us that these works have been done for us. It is Jesus living in you who does the good works created for you (SC II: 3rd). ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, … For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.’ (Rom. 3:24-24, 28)

So we do not lose heart. We know that this outer sinful nature of ours is wasting away and that we are being renewed day by day. Thus, this momentary affliction prepares us for eternal glory that is beyond comparing to what comes now. We keep our eyes on the things unseen, those eternal things which bring us a true joy and peace not dependent on our daily experience.

Again, when we think on this verse, the first thought is, ‘what man can understand His way?’ (Prov. 20:24) The words of Isaiah make clear that whatever good dwells in us is of our Savior’s making. Thank God that this is true. If we were left to our own, our thoughts would be only evil continually. As the Psalmist reminds ‘There is none who does good, no not one.’ (Ps. 14:3; Rom. 3:12)

‘Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for you! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.’ (V. 19)

We know from the Gospel accounts that this is true. After all, since Jesus lives, so shall you! You and all those who sleep in Christ shall live eternally (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Even at the resurrection of Jesus we see this being accomplished. As Matthew records for us, the rocks were torn apart and those saints who slept rose in their bodies (St. Mt. 27:51-52).

Even before the coming of the fulfillment of the promised Messiah. That Redeemer who would come and cleanse us from our sins for so many centuries in the Old Testament, even before that fulfillment Isaiah again proclaims this for you and me. He declares very plainly that there shall be joy at the resurrection. There will be joy of this nature at the resurrection of the just[3]. Those who have been committed to the dust before the return of our King, this rising gives you joy. You have joy; you have peace unlike that of the world because you know what is to come. Death now has no mastery over any of us here because we know what comes on the other side.

You know that everlasting life awaits you and those who have gone before you in the faith.

‘From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl, streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!’ (TLH 463:7)

In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.

[1] Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations, CPH pp. 75-6, entry #324.
[2] ACCS OT X pp. 171-2 St. Gregory the Great Morals on the Book of Job 5.23.39.
[3] ACCS OT X p. 181 Irenaeus Against Heresies 5.34.1.

Tuna Chowder

This is a wonderfully easy dish. It takes time to cook the potatoes through, but other than that it is very simple. I made this while the housemother and boys were at ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education). Also, any kind of canned fish would work in place of the tuna, assuming it can be flaked like tuna usually is (e.g., salmon, sardines, etc.).

Tuna Chowder

Serves 2

2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped (3/4 to 1 cup)
8 ounces all-purpose or new potatoes, peeled (if thick-skinned), cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup milk
One 6 1/2 ounce can tuna (chunk light, in oil or water), drained
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter and saute onion for about 8 minutes, until golden.
2. Add the diced potatoes and milk. Bring to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes, until potatoes are very tender.
3. Add tuna and salt. Stir and heat through.
4. Serve very hot.

You may multiply this dish as you need. We doubled it and it was just enough for the five of us. I did not include the salt. I figured between the natural salt in the onions and the salt in the canned fish we did not need any extra. I also had a few minutes to allow this to thicken and it was even better. We did not serve this to the boys very hot, because I had that few minutes for it to stand it cooled so that the boys could have it out of the pot and we adults could have it out of the pot and it was still hot enough for us as well.

So, you might be wondering, what is the difference between chowder and soup? Very little, except that chowder is made with potatoes, the fat is usually salt pork or bacon, and most chowders are made with milk or cream. This is meant to be a quickie supper, but if you let it stand awhile--even refrigerate it overnight--the potatoes thicken the liquid even more and make the chowder even more comforting.

Thank you to "What to Cook..."

Reformation Sunday-Jeremiah 31:31-34

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,+ and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

‘"And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”’ (V. 34)

We as Christians know this is true. We know the gospel that we heard in the letter to the Romans today. You and I know that our salvation is pure gift. None of us do any thing to earn it nor do we do anything to prepare ourselves to receive it. It is given to us by the Holy Spirit as He makes us new creations in Christ Jesus. We know this and yet there are times in our lives when we do not understand how we could still be on this path.

Such a time may be a period of unemployment. It may be a time in our lives, such as retirement, when we make a transition from one stage to the next and become unsure of ourselves. When this happens, you or I seek to regain our footing regarding “who am I”. Such a time may come if we are told that we have some disease like cancer or diabetes or a form of dementia or ________. Such a time may come when a family member or friend of ours is in danger for a time. We are rightfully afraid for that individual.

These situations are made all the more difficult more often than not, because we may lose our job because of economic hard times. This difficult situation may come regardless of how well we have done at doing our best at what had been given to us to do. You or I may be in a job where we were an exemplary employee, and yet have our job terminated any way.

It is at times like these and in many other circumstances when we may feel that God is far from us. You or I might come into such a situation and think that we are abandoned. This is a frequent topic in the book of the Psalms (see, Ps. 69, 17, 10, 42, 13, 22, 38, 25, 51, 55, 88, 41, 6). ‘The LORD knows the way of the righteous’ (Ps. 1:6). This is a reversal of the oft repeated statement that the righteous know the way of the LORD; that is, His law. Yet, this is true.

As we read in this passage from the prophet, we know the destination. You also know that this is a certain destination for you. It is impossible for anyone or anything to snatch us from our heavenly Father’s hand (St. Jn. 17). What the psalmist is telling us is, “yes, you know the destination, but you are blind as to the path. You are being led about in the darkness”.

Which is to say, you who are the righteous do not know your way. You do not know where you are going as you walk the path of the righteous. You travel on an unseen journey with an unseen guide. We who are the righteous, our Lord and Savior knows your way. It is He who invisibly leads you step-by-step along on your way with Him. That narrow way which leads to eternal life.

The Holy Spirit, as He speaks through the prophet Jeremiah, is encouraging the people of Israel. They have not been following their Lord and they are headed toward exile. That is the constant drumbeat of Jeremiah’s book. He is continually speaking woe and condemnation to any number of nations and individuals. Here chapters thirty and thirty-one stand out like an oasis in a desert. They tell us of the destination that we are headed to. The Israelites along with us are reminded as we read through Jeremiah’s book, that it is not all condemnation. God, in Christ Jesus, really has rescued you and me and all mankind out of that quicksand pit of condemnation we were caught in. ‘This God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end’ (Ps. 48:14)

‘[Jeremiah writes:] “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”’ (V. 33)

Praise God that He has placed you on that road to salvation. For this is the covenant to which Jeremiah refers: ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus’ (Vv. 23-4). This is your faith. This is my faith. This is the faith of every Christian. We all trust in Jesus to have done it all for us. So, praise God that He has placed you on the road to salvation.

This is the real thanksgiving for us as Lutherans. For us, we know that in Dr. Luther, God gave us confidence in the knowledge of our own salvation. What joy these words of the Holy Spirit in the book of Jeremiah bring to us. After all, the old covenant, that one given to Moses at Mt. Sinai, was nothing but demand and requirement. All that does for you or me as a sinner is to give humiliation. No matter how hard we try, the law of God cannot be fulfilled. What glorious news this must have been for those who first heard Jeremiah’s words.

The prophet was telling them, and us, “yes, you did not keep the law. Yes, you have failed to do as your God commanded at every turn. In spite of that, God still loves you and wishes to be your God. He declares that He will be your God and you will be His people. He will make this reality.” Jeremiah, and St. Paul, tells us this morning that in Jesus, God has now accomplished this prophecy.

Praise God that He has effected your salvation!

So, as Martin Luther intended, find rest in the words of his great hymn of comfort.
‘A mighty fortress is our God,
A trusty Shield and weapon;
He helps us free from every need…
For us fights the Valiant One,
Whom God Himself elected.
Ask Ye, Who is this?
Jesus Christ it is,
Of Sabaoth Lord,
And there’s none other God;
He holds the field forever.’ (TLH 262:1, 2)

What comfort it is that Jesus holds the field. That is to say, He has now defeated the devil. The devil now has no power of you or I, we who believe the gospel. None of this is to say that there were none under the old covenant who had the law in their hearts. All we have to do is read our Introit Psalm for this morning to understand that. After all, it begins with a verse from Psalm 119: ‘I will speak of your statutes before kings, O Lord, and will not be put to shame’ (V. 46). The writer of that psalm makes it clear that he, at least, has the law of God in his heart. We are also repeatedly told, there is a remnant that remains faithful to our God. This could be in the Old Testament (1 Kgs. 19:1-18). This could be in the New Testament (Rom. 11:5, 6). This could even apply to us today. There will always be a remnant, ‘chosen by grace’.

This new covenant will be made reality when this prophecy is brought to full completion at the end of time. It is then when we will be made saints in reality. For now we ‘see as in a mirror darkly, then we will see face to face’ (1 Cor. 13:12). It is even now ours. We live in the “now, not yet”. We are now saints, but we are also sinners. Then we will no longer be sinners.

It is of that time that the prophet speaks of here, when we will have that intimate knowledge of God’s holy will. It is only when the Holy Spirit pours this out, as He has done, can you truly be God’s people and He your God.

‘"And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”’ (V. 34)

All of this must have comforted the Israelites amid all of the woe in the rest of the book. This is a great comfort for you and me as well. We are comforted in these words as we give thanks to our merciful God for making this gospel of forgiveness clear again in the work of His servant Dr. Martin Luther.[1]

We are assured now that, despite our own wickedness of which we repent of daily, we have broken the law of God just as surely as the people of Israel to whom Jeremiah spoke his prophecy had broken the old covenant. The promise of salvation was still theirs, it is still yours, through the new covenant established by God. That covenant is a covenant of pure grace, pure mercy.

Praise your merciful Father that you are a recipient of this salvation by grace in Jesus.

In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.

[1] Sermon Studies on the Old Testament, Series B pp. 397-8.

Pentecost 20-Hebrews 2:9-11 (12-18)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,+ and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

‘But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.’ (V. 9)

So what is this verse saying? The writer is not simply speaking about himself and those who first received this letter. When the Holy Spirit wrote the Scriptures, He intended that such as was recorded would be taken to heart even by you and me. So, when this writer, by inspiration, states here that we see Jesus, he speaks to you.

So, how is it that you and I see Jesus? Where do we see Him? As Jesus himself states, we see Him in the least of those in this world. Those who are in need that we give them clothes, we visit them when they are sick or in prison, we feed them or give to someone a cold drink of water. (St. Mt. 25) However it is that we show mercy to those around us. It is in those that we see Jesus.

This is not the only way in which we see Jesus with our eyes of faith. We do not see Jesus in these with the eyes that are inside of our heads. You here today also see Jesus here in church, not just in your day to day life. You see Him in the word preached and in the sacrament when it is offered. Jesus comes to each of us, and we see Him, when we consume Him in His body and blood.

What the writer to the Hebrews is saying in our lesson is that death has been defeated! Our old foe has been de-fanged. Death for the Christian is like an old wolf or bear, toothless and weak, unable to harm anyone any longer. What Jesus did for you and me is prefigured in an old Greek myth that, for its hearers, held no hope.

It runs like this.

One day, Ulysses returned home from one of his adventures only to find his entire nation in mourning. Naturally, he asked what was wrong. The reply came back that the queen had died! Not believing such shocking news, Ulysses ran to the palace only to find that this news was sadly true. So, he went on his most dangerous adventure. He went to the lonely tomb and wrestled with the ancient enemy, death, and fought death for the life of the queen.

In this battle, the hero of the fable was able to snatch from death the life of his queen and take her back to the palace in his arms, giving her back to a stunned king alive. As I said, in the ancient tale, there was no hope that this was true. Even after hearing this story, those hearers long ago still saw their loved ones snatched from them by death. They had no hope of seeing them alive again.

If we bring this story over into Christianity, we can see how it is actually true! After all, our hero, our Christ, went to that lonely grave and wrestled death and conquered it for us. He now stands outside the tomb victorious, saying to all, all those who will listen, “I am alive, and because I live, you shall live also!”[1] In this way, we see how our God has used even ancient pagan myths to pave the way for this old wicked world to be ready for the coming of His Son in the incarnation at Bethlehem.

However, there is more to this verse. After all, for whom is this salvation for? Why was Jesus made a little lower than the angels? For whom is it that Jesus suffered and died as a human?

Your Savior did not just die for you. He did not only die for me. Jesus did not die only for those who believe in Him. Jesus did not even die only for the redemption of humanity. Jesus died for each and every human who has lived, is living and will live. This death was adequate for all, and able to rescue everyone from sin. Though, this death of Christ was effective only for some. Jesus also died for all of creation. It would be a strange thing indeed if Jesus had tasted death only for human sins and not for any other creature, when He knew all of creation had fallen.

We know this is real because of the witness of Scripture in other places. This is most obvious in the book of Romans: ‘For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.’ (Rom. 8:21; see also, Gen. 3:14)

Jesus also speaks of this when He speaks to us of creation groaning and of the birth pangs before the end. (St. Mk. 13:3-13) The patriarch Job also refers to the redemption of creation by saying: ‘the stars are not clean in His sight’ (Job 25:5).

‘For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.’ (V. 10)

So, we now see that Jesus is one of us. He truly became part of our family when He came as a baby in Bethlehem. All that we need to do is think of that familiar verse from John’s gospel: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ (St. Jn. 3:16) In this way, we get the idea of what the writer is getting at. This passage is showing us what kind of humility this is. This was a proper thing for God to do however. That is, Jesus the Son being made a little lower than the angels. The thought of this statement does not seem to make sense to us. Our fallen human reason does not want to allow for the possibility that God could be humbled.

Much less that God could be put to death in so cruel a fashion.

Our sinful nature wants to say that the incarnation was somehow not what the Bible presents it as. That is, the incarnation was the Son of God, true God Himself, taking on our fallen flesh and blood that He might redeem it and make that humanity, mine and yours, new again.

This does not make sense to us because, as this writer states for us ‘that he, for whom and by whom all things exist,’ took on this fallen humanity. We want to be offended by all of this. Your eyes of faith are not offended though. That faith, given to you by the Holy Spirit, remembers that God’s plan for your salvation did in fact include even this great humiliation. Even this works out to the glory of God.

Jesus is our elder brother. He is the author, He is the founder of our salvation. He is the leader of the sons of God (Rom. 8:29). There was no sin in Jesus, but He lived His human life in order to be truly our sympathizing and effective leader in His work of salvation. One cannot know human life without living it.

All of this was necessary. The shedding of blood was necessary for your salvation, as the writer to the Hebrews will later speak of (9:14). This High Priest of ours is Himself both host and sacrifice. He enters into the Holy of Holies before God and sacrifices Himself for the forgiveness of your sins and mine.

This death was offered once for you and me in order that we might be saved. You and I have now been changed from despicable sinners into the Father’s children. This was done so that we, each of us, might live forever with Jesus before the Father in heaven. We are our heavenly Father’s sons by adoption (Gal. 4:4). We will ‘dwell in the house of the Lord forever’ (Ps. 23:6). Because of this, we now sing:

‘So let us keep the festival
Whereto the Lord invites us;
Christ is Himself the Joy of all,
The Sun that warms and lights us
By His grace He doth impart
Eternal sunshine to the heart;
The night of sin is ended. Hallelujah!’
(TLH 195:4)

In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.


[1] Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations, CPH, p. 57 entry #223.