Messiah Lutheran Church

Third Sunday after Pentecost

June 14, 2026

Plentiful Harvest

God is, the theologians say, transcendent—beyond us, always exceeding our easy grasp. Recognizing God’s awesome transcendence brings a reevaluation of other values. The God of vertigo-inspiring infinitude is also the God who know the hairs of our head. Trusting this God, fear is defanged and faith becomes a sort of courage. We live in faithful relationship to the hair-counting God as we joyfully “acknowledge” the one who acknowledges us. And as we do so, reveling in the intimacy of God’s loving regard for us, other relationships, even familial ones, take on a different cast. God comes first, we realize, not only in priority, but ontologically, “in the beginning” (John 1:1). Before the God who is at once gracious and transcendent, we “lose” our lives and discover the true life in following the way of Jesus the crucified Son.

God does not promise that the path of the disciple will be easy. Jeremiah feels the pain of rejection from those who do not want to hear what he has to say. Jesus declares that his words may bring stark division. Even so, we need not be afraid for God accounts for each hair on our heads. Though we may experience rejection, frustration, division, and death, God’s grace and love make us a new creation each day. Marked with the cross and filled with holy food, we are sent from worship to witness to Christ in the world.

 

Comments from the Cloud of Witnesses

Most high, all-powerful, good Lord, yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing. To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no one is worthy to mention your name.

Praised be you, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces varied fruits with colorful flowers and herbs.

Praised be you, my Lord, through those who give pardon for your love and bear infirmity and tribulation. Blessed are those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be you, my Lord, through our sister bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape. Blessed are those whom death will find in your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks and serve him with great humility.

—Francis of Assisi

[Francis of Assisi, Francis and Clare: The Complete Works, ed. Regis J. Armstrong OFM CAP and Ignatius C. Brady OFM (NY: Paulist, 1982), 38-39.]