Julie Sermons

The Story That Tells Us Who We Are

A homily for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, by Fr. Joshua Leigeber.

Our lives are formed by stories. From childhood, our families, communities, and churches teach us what is true and good, who we are, and how we ought to live. Increasingly, however, many of the stories that shape us come from outside those natural communities. The question is not whether we are being formed by a story, but which story is forming us. In the Gospel (Luke 14:1-11), Jesus confronts the Pharisees’ desire for places of honor. Pride puts us at the center of the story, convincing us that we can define ourselves, establish our own righteousness, and determine what is true. But Christian humility means telling the truth: we are creatures, sinners, and utterly dependent upon God’s mercy.

The good news is that God has already told us who we are. The story of Scripture is the story of creation, rebellion, redemption, and resurrection—and Jesus Christ is its center. Through Holy Baptism, He has brought us into His death and resurrection and made us members of His Church: one body, with one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Week after week, the Church is where this story is told and given to us. We hear God’s Word, receive His forgiveness, and come to the altar to receive Christ Himself. Then He sends us back into the world to live according to the story He has given us.

Listen to the full homily below.

Julie Sermons

Death, Thou Shalt Die

A homily for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, by Fr. Dan Suelzle.

When the funeral procession of a widowed mother’s only son met Jesus and His followers at the city gate of Nain (Luke 7:11-16), life and death collide and the kingdom of God breaks in. One procession was led by death, and another led by life incarnate. But Jesus doesn’t stop the funeral procession in order to pay his respects. Jesus instead stepped into the path of grief with divine authority. Compassionately saying, “Do not weep,” He touched the unclean bier and commanded the young man to arise, restoring him alive to his mother. In this miraculous moment, Christ demonstrated that His compassion is not mere sympathy or passive condolence; it is the active, death-shattering power of the Creator who steps directly into our decay to make all things whole.

This miracle points forward to the ultimate crossroads of human history at the cross, where Jesus willingly bore the full weight of our sin and succumbed to real, bitter death so that its reign over us would be broken forever. Because Christ rose from the grave, death is not a natural final chapter or a permanent state, but a conquered enemy destined to be undone. Until that day when He returns to raise the dead, Christ continues to meet us in our sorrow through His Word and Sacraments, sustaining us within a deathless Church. We can face grief and mortal weakness not with empty platitudes, but with the bold, unshakable hope that because life has conquered death, we, too, look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Listen to the full homily below.

Julie Sermons

Crazy to the World

A homily for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, by Fr. Joshua Leigeber.

What does it look like to live as the Church in the world? The answer begins with recognizing that Christianity is not ultimately about isolated individuals trying to maintain a private faith in the midst of a hostile culture. In Baptism, Christ incorporates us into His Body and makes us members of a real household of faith—a holy community in which we hear the Word of our Father, bear one another’s burdens, and gather at the family table to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

That life together looks increasingly strange to the world, especially in a culture that urges us to organize our lives around careers, possessions, comfort, and the accumulation of mammon (Matthew 6:24-34). Yet it is precisely within the Church that Christ frees us from the world’s promises and teaches us to trust that God holds our future in His hands. Joined together in Christ, we are strengthened to resist the world’s lies, care for one another, practice generosity, and confess with our lives that God—not mammon—rules the world.

Listen to the full homily below.