Real renewal will not come by whipping the workers harder. Real renewal will not come with “butts in the pew” or “capital campaigns.” Real renewal is throwing wage-thinking into the fire and letting the whole parish live from gift-thinking. Everything good in this place comes from what Christ hands out. The Church is not built by spiritual overtime. The Church is built by Christ giving himself—again and again—in Word and Sacrament.

Thesis 5: “The works of human beings—we speak of works which appear to be good—are thus not mortal sins as if they were crimes.”

Thesis 6: “The works of God—we speak of those that are done through human beings—are thus not merits as if they were sinless.”

Nazareth couldn’t handle Jesus—not because He was flashy, but because He was too close: “just the carpenter.” That’s the old sin in us too: we want a manageable God, not a Lord who calls us to repent. Romans 2 cuts through our excuses—“God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:11)—and exposes our habit of judging others to dodge our own guilt. The good news: the righteousness God demands is the righteousness God gives in Christ. Stop treating Jesus like background noise. Receive Him where He actually gives Himself—His Word, forgiveness, and gifts—and live as an adopted heir, not a self-justifying critic.

Prices aren’t a judgment on your worth, and they aren’t an excuse for greed. They’re one of the ordinary ways God lets people coordinate life in a world with limits—so needs get met, work gets rewarded, and neighbors can deal with one another honestly.

The Transfiguration teaches you how to be in church. It teaches you what to expect: not entertainment, not novelty, not spiritual fireworks—but Christ, hidden and given. It teaches you what to fear: not long readings, not a slow sermon—but ignoring the Son. It teaches you what to desire: not the pastor’s charm, not the congregation’s warmth, not a fog machine of “experience”—but the clear, saving voice of Jesus.

Thesis 3: “Although the works of human beings always seem attractive and good, it is nevertheless probable that they are mortal sins.”

Thesis 4: “Although the works of God always seem unattractive and evil, they are nevertheless really immortal merits.”

When Scripture speaks about “calling,” it usually doesn’t mean chasing the perfect job or discovering a hidden destiny. It means something steadier and better: God places you where neighbors can be loved—through ordinary work, daily responsibilities, and quiet faithfulness.

Today, Christ is revealed as the Messiah for sinners. Today, He speaks. Today, He gives His Spirit through the Gospel. Today, He puts His favor on you. Today, in your hearing, He is doing what He promised: forgiving, freeing, opening eyes, lifting the poor, strengthening the weak, sustaining the bruised.

From empty jars to an overflowing cup. That is not your doing. That is His. He did it at Cana. He promised it through Amos. He delivers it here. “In this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast,” Isaiah says. Today, that mountain is right here at this altar. Today that feast is for you. And for Hudson. And for all who have no wine and dare to say it to Jesus.

Thesis 1: “The Law of God, which is the most beneficial doctrine of life, is not able to advance man toward righteousness but rather stands against him.”

Thesis 2: “Much less could the work of men, that is to say even works which are done over and over again with the help of natural law, move someone toward righteousness.”

God doesn’t hand you your life and say, “Don’t mess this up.” He says, “You’re not alone—and you’re not the owner.” Everything belongs to Him, and that’s good news: it steadies anxious hearts, humbles our pride, and frees us to manage His gifts with quiet faithfulness for the good of our neighbors.

You have been baptized into Christ. That means where He is, you are. If He has stepped into the sinner’s water and taken your sin as His, then your sin is not free-floating anymore. It has an address: on Him. And if His righteousness is His—and He gives Himself to you—then His righteousness has an address too: on you.

10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

So what is the Father’s “business”? To send His Servant, His Son, filled with the Spirit, to bring justice, to be a covenant, to open blind eyes, and to free prisoners. That is not a vague “mission statement.” That is concrete: forgiveness for the guilty, light for darkened consciences, and release for people chained to their sins and fears.

The star is a mercy. The Scriptures in Jerusalem are a mercy. But the center of it all is this: God leads people to Christ through the preached Word—through promise, through Gospel, through the proclamation that the Child born in Bethlehem is the Savior for sinners, the Shepherd-Ruler who forgives, rescues, and raises the dead.

God places His salvation in the hands of people the world has already moved past. Not kings. Not managers of religion. Not the impressive. An old man ready to die. An old church lady who will not stop talking. That is the Lord’s way.

2 Thessalonians 2 (NKJV)

1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

The Christian life is not you trying to manufacture a better name. It is you receiving a better Name. And receiving what comes with it: forgiveness, adoption, access to the Father, and a future you did not earn. That’s why Scripture talks about a “new name.” God is not done with you yet. You are being carried toward what He intends—toward resurrection, toward holiness, toward glory—and He will finish what He started. The world measures you by your record. God names you by His promise.

Christ’s kingdom on earth is a cross-kingdom. Not because God enjoys pain, but because this is how He conquers. The throne is a cross. The crown has thorns. The victory is hidden under weakness. And if that is true for the King, it will not be different for the people who belong to Him.

The Word became flesh so that nothing human would be left unredeemed. Not only the “spiritual” parts of you. You. Your body. Your mind. Your will. Your suffering. Your death. Christ has entered the whole human condition so that He can heal the whole human condition.