Third Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 9:35 – 10:20
June 14, 2026
The Gospel reading for today, the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost is a two-part reading of sorts. It starts with Jesus ministering to people and then ends with Jesus sending out the 12 to minister to people.
The first part considers the question of who. Who is the Gospel for? Who is Jesus for? For whom did He come?
Jesus came for sinners. Now, someone might object to such a statement and insist that Jesus came for the whole world, not just for sinners. But of course, saying that Jesus came for sinners and saying that Jesus came for the whole world is saying the same thing.
Imagine, for example, if you were a sheep and you were in the midst of a thousand other sheep and each one of you had a tag on your ear that marked you for the slaughterhouse. What’s the difference if you’re a big sheep or a little sheep, a fluffy sheep or a not so fluffy sheep, a clean sheep or a dirty sheep, a loud sheep or a soft-spoken sheep, a sheep who always follows orders or a rebellious sheep? What’s the difference if you’re all tagged for slaughter?
This is the point of the first part of the Gospel. When Jesus was out preaching and doing what He does, He didn’t look at exteriors. He didn’t look at how well-dressed a person was or whether the person was rich or poor, of high status or low, living in a big house or a little house, had lots of kids or no kids, was healthy or sick, was fast or slow, was young or old. Jesus saw their souls; their hearts, and He saw that they were all sinners who were in need of a shepherd.
He is the God who comes to us because He sees our hearts and He sees and knows our need and well-provides. He is our shepherd and we are the sheep of His pasture, no longer earmarked for slaughter, but instead marked by the name of God who has set us free from death and given us a kingdom.
Jesus was earmarked for us; He went to slaughter for us, and this makes Him not only our typical, run-of-the-mill shepherd, but our Good Shepherd. Jesus truly knows us and because we are baptized, we truly know Him and we learn to respond in thankfulness and praise, in humility and service to the neighbor.
What about those who don’t think they’re sinners, who reject Jesus as their Good Shepherd and do not know that what awaits them is the slaughterhouse of hell? Did Jesus die for them? 100% He did! And we pray for those sheep that God would see fit to bring to life in them repentance and faith and draw them to the Good Shepherd. We pray for those who, though baptized and brought up in the church, have since wandered away and embraced worldly living, that they would repent and return to the Lord their God.
And part of our prayer for the lost is that He send out workers into His harvest field. And here, the second part of today’s Gospel comes to light.
From where did Jesus call His disciples? From the elite, the well-educated, the influential, those who had good rhetorical skills, who were free from familial or vocation burdens? No. There was no special spark or extra grace upon Simon Peter or Andrew or James or John. There was no outward complexion exhibited by Philip or Bartholomew, Thomas or Matthew, James or Thaddeus which caused Jesus to look upon them more directly. Simon and Judas Iscariot, they were not taller or skinnier or wealthier or poorer than the rest.
We know they were all men and yes, there is significance in this, but that’s for another sermon another day.
But many of these men were fishermen. Matthew was a tax collector. Simon was a Zealot who was affiliated with a political movement going on in Israel at the time. They were all essentially normal, everyday people. Yet they were all chosen and called by the Lord to fill a specific office, the divine Office of Apostle, the precursor to the office of holy ministry. They would, as apostles, spend the rest of their lives, going out into villages and towns preaching the message of the kingdom. While Jesus was with them, they were not to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans; that would come later after Jesus ascended. He told them to only bring what they needed and to rely on the goodness of those folks who would receive them and listen to their message because, as Jesus says, “the laborer deserves his food.”
But He also told them that they might not always be well-received in some places. Jesus instructed them to not waste their time but to dust off their feet in judgment against those who bark at them and move on.
And then He warned them that because of the message they were to preach, they would be persecuted and physically assaulted, thrown in prison, and even brought before judges. And we know that every one of these Apostles, with the exception of Judas the betrayer, was martyred for their confession of faith.
This church exists because of a pastor or pastors who saw fit to bring the gospel to town. Over 110 years ago, a group of Germans from St. Cloud hopped on their horse-drawn buggies and made their way here and planted a church. Why? Because like their Lord, they saw sheep without a shepherd and they had compassion. And this is how it’s been throughout our world since Christ commissioned the Apostles to make disciples of all nations. And one of the very first things a missionary or pastor does when he comes to plant a church is what? He teaches and he baptizes. Why? Because that’s what Jesus says to do. It was no different here. Those first pastors who came to town may have taught and baptized in a very different building like in a house or in a school room, but it was the Good Shepherd coming here none the less to bring the kingdom to lost souls, those sheep earmarked for slaughter. And when the time was right, they would also prepare the blessed Sacrament of the Altar to those catechized and baptized believers who confessed the faith aright.
And what’s amazing about all this – these gifts of heaven such as forgiveness of sins and salvation and the Holy Spirit and a home with our Lord – it’s all freely given! We receive all that our Lord offers without payment; He requires nothing of us. For 2,000 years, the extravagant gifts of heaven, the feast of His table, food for the soul, has come down to us, week after week, year after year, without cost. When we collect our offering, what you give is not your dues that you owe God for what He provides. God provides whether you give of your time or talents or treasures or you don’t. It’s free.
You have freely received – so freely give. Everything you have; everything you are; everything you think you’ve earned or have acquired possession of, be it house, home, cars, trucks, money, savings, even your spouse and children – none of it is yours. It all belongs to God. But He has made each of you stewards of His kingdom, to use what you’ve freely received to freely give. He does not give you all the gracious things He does so that you can horde it all for yourselves as your creature comfort blanket and hope that it will make you somehow more saved than Jesus has already done.
“But I need my retirement; I need my house; I need my belongings…” Of course you do…in a temporary, in the here and now context, yes, you have need of them, as do I with the things I have. But we take this too far when we conclude that our lives and our souls depend on them for happiness, purpose, or fulfillment.
In life, lots of money might get you a big house, along with all the troubles that come from living in a big house, but it gets you nothing in heaven. In life, owning a fancy car might get you from point A to B in style, along with the costs of maintenance and repairs, but it gets you nothing in the kingdom of God because the Lord does not judge you by the size of your car. A big bank account makes no difference to the Lord, but it may make a difference for your neighbor, your church, a person struggling on the street, all toward whom Jesus exhibits great compassion.
But more importantly than how we use our possessions for the good of the kingdom is how we confess the faith. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing out there everywhere preaching a message they call the “good news” but is ultimately a message of destruction and damnation. They are leading many sheep away from Christ. And you may be confronted by these charlatans, these liars, these devils dressed as angels, and you will know them by their fruits.
If their message is anything but Christ and His cross for sinners, they are not to be listened to, not even the stuff they might get right. God dealt very severely with false teachers and false prophets in the days of old when stoning was commanded against such fiends. Today, while we may no longer stone people to death, we do speak up and speak out against them and mark and avoid them.
And we do not compromise the message of the Gospel for the sake of the Gospel. Our compassionate and loving Lord calls to all sinners, that they would repent and believe, turn from sin and evil and abide in He who gave His blood for them. Jesus never affirmed sin or sinful living but called sinners to look to Him, to gaze upon His hands and side and see the salvation He won for them by wounds which still show to this day.
Jesus is the great and compassionate shepherd who has come to save sinners. He has given to us freely everything we need for true life and freedom with Him, and He calls us to also give freely from what He has so graciously and abundantly given us. And He sends us out into our stations in life, be they pastor or teacher, farmer or machinist, laborer or politician, to freely give to our neighbors our Lord’s compassion, calling sinners to repent and pointing them to the cross.
You may suffer for the message of the kingdom just as Christ Himself suffered. But to bring people out of the illusion the world creates and into the light of truth and freedom is worth every unkind word or glance, every threatening fist, every pain that comes from these unglorified bodies, all of it.
And you may not all be pastors who preach from pulpits, but whatever station you have been put into in life, in any of your stations, work to the best of your ability to love and serve your neighbor, especially with the message of the kingdom. Parents, raise your children in the faith, bringing them often before Word and Sacrament as our Lord commands. Children, avail yourselves of God’s gifts such as the Scripture, prayer, and even the Small Catechism, so that you grow up in the faith. Workers, present yourselves before your fellow workers as Christ, full of grace and kindness, forgiveness, and mercy, truth, and justice.
And whatever gifts you’ve been given, use them for the kingdom. The Lord will always take care of you, He will always forgive you when you fall short, so take care of your neighbor and forgive your neighbor, through your loving service. For this is the Lord’s way. Amen.
