Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - August 9, 2026
The M3 - Monday Morning Mail
God is Not Far From You! (Slides)
Yesterday's sermon began with three anecdotes from my life in which I went increasingly farther and further away from those who loved me the most. In the first story I recounted what I felt like after my parents "dropped me off" at Concordia Seminary. We drove two cars to St. Louis from Denver, my 1985 white VW Jetta and they followed in theirs. I still remember them driving away after a busy weekend of getting my room ready–we actually had to repaint it because paint was peeling off the wall. At that moment, I literally knew no one at the seminary. I felt far away from anyone!
Next, I told how far away culturally when I moved to Washington, DC for my vicarage. I was going to the heart of DC to serve at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, the LC-MS's first African-American congregation from inception. My assignment was split between serving the congregation and doing mission work with African people who lived in the DC area. Although I lived with a member of the congregation for a bit, I soon moved into the parsonage next to the church between Thomas and Logan circles. I was in a completely foreign environment, 24-7, witnessing things I never had before that moment. I was far away from anything I knew.
The last anectdote recounted my trip to the Soviet Union in the summer of 1990. Literally on the other side of the world with a group of people I was just getting to know, I was experiencing something totally new. I was so far away from anything I knew. I felt the furthest away from anything I had ever known.
Of course, physical distance is not a requirement to feeling distant. We can be distant from our spouses, our children, our neighbors--people physically close to us!
Do you feel far from God? The Apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Rome, "But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)... " (Romans 10:8). Of course, Paul means "word" in all of its senses: the written Word which he is sharing with the Christians in Rome, the proclaimed Word, and the Incarnate Word--Jesus himself! For when the Word is proclaimed, Jesus comes to you, just as he does through his written Word. The Holy Spirit uses this Word in all its forms to remind you regularly that God is not far from you! He is there in His Word!
Explicitly, this Word comes to you in Baptism, being poured on your head and taking life in your heart. Also, in the Lord's Supper, the Word Incarnate incarnates himself in you! For sure, God is not far from you!